Hello everyone,
I have a 4 moth old gsd and have been doing obedience training with her since eight weeks old. Recently she has decided not to follow my platz command when we are outside. Mind you i have alternated inside the home and outside training which includes tracking. We found out that she did have fleas and was treated accordingly 3 weeks ago. Anyone have any ideas or tricks I can tryout. She does now the command and has done it plenty of times with varying distractions. I haven't done any corrections with her due to her age.
Thanks for the help!

Solid inside? Change to another room and get it solid there.

Go to a porch or carport or somewhere else "almost inside." Get it solid there. Move a few feet closer to outside and get it solid there.

Have someone walk by. Is it solid? If not, have them walk by farther away, gradually moving closer.

Have someone walk by with a leashed dog. Have someone come and stand nearby.

Move into driveway.

Each is solid before you introduce more distraction. Don't change venue and add distraction at the same time. Don't distance yourself and add distraction or venue change at the same time. Don't introduce duration while adding distraction.

Etc.



JMO! She didn't "decide" not to do it. Something has confused or distracted her beyond her present proofing.

I betcha you won't need corrections. Foundation, and lots of markers/rewards along the way.

JMO!

It is solid inside, we have gotten to the point were I have guests over and we train inside with duration and no issues. We have second that really entices her to play and that hasn't broken her focus. We have tried a different bedroom from where her crate is with no distractions and no issues there.
The reason why I'm really confused about the situation is due to the facy she was doing it perfect outside with duration but no distractions. Do you think I should keep training without duration until she is totally bullet proof under any situation?

Christina: I agree with Connie. Every time my BIndi has not done as she usually does, I have found it to be my problem or lack of awareness of how she is feeling at the time. Sometimes dogs do not do what is asked of them when they are afraid, stressed out, or just tired.
I was wondering how the other trainers feel about the fact that you have been doing obedience with her since she was 8 weeks old. In my humble opinion, and I am not a dog trainer, I would not put that much pressure on a puppy. Could it be that your dog is just feeling the pressure of having to perform? She is still just a baby, her attention span is very short. can I ask you how long are your training sessions? Do you use corrections in the first stages of your training?
Maybe she just needs some time to play and be a little dog for awhile.
I may be all washed up, and not knowing what I am talking about, but maybe others could comment on her age and training obedience beginning at 8 weeks.
Love her, play with her, bond with her, enjoy her. Train in very, very short sessions and make it all a game.
Hope this helps.
Sharon and her pups Bindi, Cody, Terra

 Quote: Christian Cruz

It is solid inside, we have gotten to the point were I have guests over and we train inside with duration and no issues. We have second that really entices her to play and that hasn't broken her focus. We have tried a different bedroom from where her crate is with no distractions and no issues there.
The reason why I'm really confused about the situation is due to the facy she was doing it perfect outside with duration but no distractions. Do you think I should keep training without duration until she is totally bullet proof under any situation?

Bulletproof at four months?!


I don't completely follow this: "she was doing it perfect outside with duration but no distractions. "

What happened? A distraction? If so, then it was probably too much too fast.

That is, when you run into a problem, back up to where it was solid, and add distractions much more slowly/gradually.

But seriously .... this is a four-month-old? Bulletproof isn't going to happen, IMO. And duration should be minimal.


JMO!

"I was wondering how the other trainers feel about the fact that you have been doing obedience with her since she was 8 weeks old. In my humble opinion, and I am not a dog trainer, I would not put that much pressure on a puppy. Could it be that your dog is just feeling the pressure of having to perform? She is still just a baby, her attention span is very short. can I ask you how long are your training sessions? "


Good questions.

Are they short sessions? All upbeat? Very little duration for positions?

engagement before obedience . . .

duration for a 4 month old puppy is like 3 seconds . you should only be concerned that she knows what the position is and how to get into the position , not how long she can hold it .

reward her for getting the position right , and then move on .

motion , activity , things that make her want to do things with you .

you are dealing with the equivalent of a 1 , 2 year old child . gauge your expectations accordingly . let her enjoy her puppyhood ,and you will wind up with a happier adult who will be pleased to do the things you ask because the background has been fun . use your imagination to come up with things that are more fun than holding a downstay .

Ditto with Connie!
Dogs can be very situational with their performance. That's the reason behind training on different fields, clubs, etc. The cavet is that with each new place, ESPECIALLY" with a young or less confident dog you will need to go almost back to the beginning with each behavior.
I also start my pups very young but it's ALL motivational marker training. No way should a pup of 8-12 weeks old be pput under any sort of stress when "YOU MUST DO WHAT I SAY".
Not that your doing this but, IMHO, it's critical with a new pup to make it a game.
When I went to my first OB class in the early/mid 60s a dog wasn't allowed to even start a class until it was a yr old. Markers and different training methods have changed that considerably for the better.

What I meant by bullet proof was keeping her in the location while I add and build distractions until she gets it vs switching locations and overall keeping the level of distractions the same at each location.
I make it a point to keep my sessions to 5 minutes or less.
During sessions, she is engaged in the session, she is attentive and alert. A part that I forgot to mention and again this only happens outside is that she whines when I do give the platz command. This doesn't happen any other time during the session. As far a duration for the platz I keep it to 10 seconds but I will cut back after reading the comments.
Can I get some examples on how to add motion and activity to my sessions. I do move around the room after she completes each command but I don't know how upbeat I should be and how much I am supposed to be moving around.

"Can I get some examples on how to add motion and activity to my sessions. I do move around the room after she completes each command but I don't know how upbeat I should be and how much I am supposed to be moving around. "

Very upbeat!


Play!


FUN should be 90% of the session for this pup, IMHO. Even for me, with an adult dog who is new to me, play and fun make up huge chunks of our time, and the ob work is 100% upbeat.

Also, I would still do the extremely gradual segue from indoors to outdoors. Here is what I found with one of my dogs when he first came. He was anxious and stressed in a down position outdoors. (I figure it's vulnerable, and he really hardly knew me.) I set it aside for a while and we did that command in the front hall with the door open (gate closed, of course), gradually moving to the porch, and so on as described. By the time we were outdoors, he knew me, he engaged with me, he felt safe, and he was able to ignore the extreme distraction of being outside. (Don't underestimate the level of distraction of outside compared to inside!)

You have her whole life. No hurry at all.

JMO!