Hi,
I just brought home a 7 week old GSD female. She is from working lines and seemed to be in the middle of the pack in her litter.
My question is this: What should I expect from her as far as levels of activity, drive and focus?
She seems to no be all that interested in her toys. Sometimes she will get pretty interested but only for a few minutes (5 or 10 max). She will focus on some basic obediance with food rewards for about the same amount of time. She dosn't get too excited about the treats though. It seems like she sleeps about 90% of her day.
I just odered the Frinks video. So have to admit that I don't know much about building drive.
thanks,
Bruce

nothing sounds out of the ordinary.Pups sleep alot.As far as her interest being for only 5 or 10 minutes sounds normal too.You always want to stop playing with them before the pup gets bored with them though. Remember the toys belong to you and thats what make them so great so the only time she gets to play with them is in the interaction with you.As far as treats go , I like having treats on me all the time with a young puppy every time it comes to me it gets one Ill even say the pups name before I give it one. The whole reasonng behind this is Im trying to establish a relationship with the pup.With toys and treats Im establishing myself as the greatest thing in the pups world and life just isnt complete unless Im involved.You have the power to do this because the pup knows nothing else.It is also important to expose the pup to as many things as possible at a young age like this. Places, people, sounds, stairs,different surfaces, anything you can think of.A pup's mind is a clean slate and you can mold its attitudes the way you want or the way you dont want so think about what you are doing with it.A new pup is a great thing.I wish I had one!

Hey Bruce-
I say 5 to 10 minute prey play or obedience (motivational of course) is way too long. Try 1 to 2 minutes max then right after away to the crate without distractions for a least an hour. You'll be suprised how fast they absorb this stuff. You can do this a couple times a day. As the dog gets older you can gradually increase but you still never go too long even as an adult.
With the prey building make very short too and put the pup away when it is high and wants more.
If you don't have Ed's 8 weeks to 8 months tape I suggest getting it. It explains the young pup imprinting using hot dogs. Along with other stuff.....VERY USEFULL. Flinks tape is very good as well.
Good luck.

5- 10 minute attention span too long? It would kick my ass, too! The deal with puppies to remember is this; nothing too rough, nothing too long and certainly nothing that can't be UNdone. Social and hang out with some VERY minot rag work. Good luck with the new friend.

I am having a hard time finding a toy that she will go nuts for. She will tug with a rolled up hand towel or a sock for a few minutes. I can get her to sit and look at the prey for about 5 seconds before I drop it for her.
She will actually play tug a lot longer than she will chase the prey around. She gets really bored with that flip the prey around game pretty fast.
I try to keep the sessions short. Sometimes she just gets distracted by something and quits.
Bruce

If she likes possessing the toy/tugging more than chasing, then reward chasing with plenty of tugging. In other words, build the association that chasing/capturing the toy will result in what she likes best - tugging. Is it possible that you are making the prey object uncatchable, moving it so quickly or so far out of her reach that she feels like there is no chance? Are you expecting her to chase it too long before allowing her to catch it? Make sure that sometimes she only has to chase it a little before being successful cuz if you always try to get a minute or more of chasing out of her before allowing her to catch it, it can be defeating to the pup. Sometimes they need quick success to keep them trying.

What do you do if your pup continues to mouth the object continuously. My pup will go after the object, (her's is a stuffed small lion), and when she gets it she holds it down like someone will take it from her if she lets go. She puts her whole mouth around the neck or ears and puts her feet around it like she wants to "kill" it. This kinda worries me. Is this normal???? Is it that her prey drive is so great or is she nuts!!!!

I forgot to add her age is 12 wks, but she has done this since she was 8 wks old.

if you don't want her to do this, run with her. have you watched the Drive, Focus, and Grip video?