Hi to all,

I am trying to train my 1y/o female WL GSD for the BH.

She is not a super high drive dog, but is generally very food motivated.

However, the only times I can get some good energy from her is early morning and evening.

Today, I withheld food in the AM and did a short session at noon. Still the same low energy work.

Suggestions???

Work her before feeding her & use that time productively. But remember a 1 yr old is still very much puppy like in their head with a limited attention span. Make training fun & upbeat not boring to hold her interest. Mix some play inbetween the OB work. Break up the parts of the routine. Most folks only put the whole routine together a couple of times together just before the trial.

A BH Routine requires a good length time of focus for a high drive dog. Be realistic in your expectations for your dog & take her as far as she is able to go. There is no age limit on trailing for the BH. So keep working toward it. But the bottoming that is shove FUN for both you & your dog. Good luck to both of you.

Thanks Anne. It's just that the club seems to train during her sleepy time so I thought I would get her more used to it.

I always train before eating when she is most hungry. Which for her is almost always...LOL!

Hi Carol, I think Anne is right in everything she wrote. But as you already have your training routine before feeding and you are fixed what concerns the time for your course, it is actually not very easy to resolve.
My dogs react more or less like yours. They are in great mood for training in the early morning and I can go on with it for quite a long time. During the day they may be sometimes willing for a very short lesson, but other times they have an expression on the face as if they wanted to say: "Let me in peace!" Then I break the session immediately up.
In the evening the spirits revive. In my case it is clear why. They don't like the heat, which can be awfully unpleasant in the region where I live.

In your case, I cannot know the reason. But I think, we have absolutely to respect the animals rythm, need, mood, aversion etc. It is certainly better to break a lesson timely up or leave it completely out, than to loose the dogs motivation. We want him to look forward to the next session and not go into it without drive.

I too wish you and your dogs good luck and a whole lot of fun!

Right I do realize it's the heat. I live in a hot climate too. But the others in my club are so high drive, they work regardless.

Plus, there is a good chance any trials we had will be during that time.

Yes I know, it's also a question of the individual. I've got four, they all are lazy when we've got a lot of heat (me too). Only one of them is almost always ready to "work", but even she is then not as active. It is without doubt better to avoid this time, unless a dog gives out of his own drive signs, that he'd like to do some fun work more.

Are you going on the training field expecting the dog to loose interest during this time of day?

Ditto with Anne about keeping it fun.

I'll add keep it short.

......and quit comparing your dog with the other dogs at the club!

They are crazy about training, but not in the heat. Then they are somehow floppy. You can not have forced fun. In this situation they are simply not at all in the mood.

Are you doing any drive building before training? I would concentrate on drive and not start the OB training until she is in the proper state of drive. This will also help keep the session fun.

Hey Duane,

That is the entire problem. I am having a hard time even getting her to play energetically at that time. She just finds it too hot!