Hello everyone. I have been buying videos, reading tons of articles and reading in this forum.
I would really like to post a ton of info and questions but thought I should first just check in and say hi and thank you all for the wonderful info I have been reading in this forum to date.
I am a great-grandma with a new male pup coming in 10 days. Mom is pure Belgian and dad is pure German and both seem to have even temperament and live in the house with a family with 6 children.
I have a 5.5 YO tiny poodle mix rescue who has just had surgery for bladder stones and 3 dog savvy cats.
I have raised and rescued dogs of all breeds (rotties, GSD and mutts (love mutts as I am one too) of all descriptions) all of my life (along with all the other "lost" critters my kids brought home) but this is my first time owning a large breed in 10 years.
I sure hope those of you who know so much will help me with questions and tell me if I am posting too much. The reason I am so wanting this dog to be well trained and not make mistakes is that in all truth this will be the last large breed I will get due to my age and the demands of training. I want him to grow old with me and have the best life.
Thank you - Maggie

Hi, Maggie!

The new pup will be a companion dog? How old is he?

Are you thinking about how best to introduce the new pup to the existing household?





You will get loads of help here.

Did you get the DVDs Power of Markers and Power of Food*? Have you marker trained before?


*
http://leerburg.com/219.htm
http://leerburg.com/training-with-food.htm

Thank you Connie for the warm welcome!

So far I have the DVDs - The Power of training dogs with food
Training the recall, Your puppy 8 weeks to 8 months, Living with Your Puppy - Establishing Pack Structure.

I also ordered the Expen to help my new pup (he will be almost 8 weeks old when I take him home - his name is Heiland - pronounced Highland) get used to the other animals safely. A crate for the night and he will be leashed to me when he is outside for - well, as long as it takes. I do have a huge kennel that I can put him in if I had to go to an appointment and it was a nice day.

I live on about 2 acres but it's all fenced in. There are two other dogs who live on the property too - an old Australian Heeler and a goofy German Pointer who are used to new dogs coming and I have trained them not to chase my cats so they will become part of the pack in time.

I always trained with positive reinforcements even though I never knew that was what it was called - I could never spank my kids so making my beloved dogs listen to me by hurting them wasn't something I could have done. But I didn't do it as well as the DVDs do as far as marking their behaviors and rewarding them with food - I just used praise and no praise and my best stern mom voice - none of my dogs ever bit anyone but they were never as well behaved or knew as much as what the DVDs show me they can so I am very excited.

I know I will wonder about my sanity in getting such a large dog especially when he becomes a teenager but I am retired, live in a very isolated place and my husband works from 6PM to 6AM and I think having Heiland will be a comfort.

As for working him, I want to train him to search out mushrooms as we hunt them and love finding new patches - so I will order the DVD and the kit and see if he has the nose for it.

I do have two professional trainers who will come to my home - one who has attended a lot of the training by Michael Ellis and uses his methods and I might even take Heiland to his training facilities as he is about a 2 hour drive from where I live. Expensive though so I hope that you good people will help me with the problems that will come up as I am not unaware that my pup will present me with lots of challenges.

Sorry for the length of this - I hope no one minds. I just want to give some b/g info so you will know my situation when I am frustrated and need guidance.

Now I am off to read more of the information in this forum - thank you again - Maggie

You are going to have the time of your life discovering marker training.

" ... will be leashed to me when he is outside for - well, as long as it takes"

In addition to a leash for outdoors, have you read about tethering the pup to you (attached to your jeans or belt) indoors? I just wish I had learned that a few decades before I did.

Adopted adults are now tethered to me indoors while I learn their body language around potty, etc. What a boost to bonding, and what a great aid to management!

Here's a thread about it (and there are others, too):

http://leerburg.com/webboard/thread.php?topic_id=25086&page=1

Connie, thank you!

Even though I have had lots of large breeds in my life and did well, it was under very different circumstances.

I have been preparing for a year before deciding I am up to the challenge, reading about all the different types of training methods and watching so many YOUTUBE videos.

I will indeed follow your advice and keep him leashed to me when he is inside (when not in his crate or the Expen). I was planning on getting a GSD but I fell in love with this little guy with the Belgian blood so I know I will have to train him every day for many years and be ever vigilant.

I don't have the experience you all have and I am very willing to state that and take your suggestions to heart. I will be so grateful for all help.

I really want this puppy to grow into a confident wonderful companion who will alert me to dangers and be a happy dog.

Any directions on where to learn how to train him to search out smells so he can help me and my husband find mushrooms would be so appreciated as well.

Welcome Maggie! Your definitely in the right direction with Michael Ellis DVDs. MANY of us here are huge fans.
As for the scent work there are also some DVDs that cover what is required in a new dog sport called Scent Work. The basics would still apply for your new pup to become a truffle dog.
There are a number of us here that have also done scent work in SAR so any questions you come up with you can probably get an answer here.

Thank you Bob - I really appreciate the warm welcome. I will check out that new sport my dog has to earn his keep lol

I was also fortunate enough to have a member email me with the site of Ramsey Nosework and he lives in my neck of the woods so I am going to check him out for sure.

I know I will have a lot of questions once I start reading up on how to teach my pup how to do the scent work - I will definitely take your advice of posting in this forum as this is all very new to me.

Welcome to LB. Good luck with the new pup.

 Quote: Maggie MacDonald

Thank you Bob - I really appreciate the warm welcome. I will check out that new sport my dog has to earn his keep lol

I was also fortunate enough to have a member email me with the site of Ramsey Nosework and he lives in my neck of the woods so I am going to check him out for sure.

I know I will have a lot of questions once I start reading up on how to teach my pup how to do the scent work - I will definitely take your advice of posting in this forum as this is all very new to me.

Questions always welcome!

Thank you Anne - I am counting the days down to when he gets here - a week from tomorrow.
I know it will be like bringing home a new baby so sleep deprivation is a given - which is fine with me as I don't sleep that much anyway.
Thank you Connie - I have a list of questions and I am writing them down and trying to find the answers in the forums so as to not have people answer what has already been answered.
I will have a lot more to share but I feel like I found the perfect place to help me correct the mistakes I have made and actually learn how to train a dog the right way .. I also have my tiny dog to post about but I will start a new one for that - she has so many health issues.
I am so impressed by the pm's I have received - believe me when I tell you that your kindness will never be taken for granted - I have been made to feel very welcome.
I will be bombarding you all if I don't find the answers soon - my eyes are buggy from reading so much. This place has amazing information - I just feel so happy I found you all.