Hello everyone I am a new member but have been reading Leerburg articles and watched some of the videos. I find this to be a very informative and pleasant site and finally decided to join. I have a question regarding a puppy that I'm raising especially for those of you that may have experience with breeding working dogs.I have a 12 week old pup that I imprinted and have been working with since he was just a few weeks old. He does great on a tug and with gunfire and always carries his tail high no matter where I take him. Is very social and does not exhibit any shyness with people . The only two things he is afraid of is bicycles and lawnmovers. He doesn't like to be near them and will run from them. If I turn off the lawnmower and call him he will come but if I start it up he doesn't want anything to do with it. The weird thing is that the rattlestick and jugs with coins and rocks don't scare him at all and his bite is very nice. The whip doesn't bother him either. What do you guys think ? Is it weak nerve or not? Am I expecting too much from a twelve week old puppy? I look forward to your responce. Thank you Alex

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I have a 12 week old pup that I imprinted and have been working with since he was just a few weeks old. He does great on a tug and with gunfire and always carries his tail high no matter where I take him. Is very social and does not exhibit any shyness with people . The only two things he is afraid of is bicycles and lawnmovers. He doesn't like to be near them and will run from them. If I turn off the lawnmower and call him he will come but if I start it up he doesn't want anything to do with it. The weird thing is that the rattlestick and jugs with coins and rocks don't scare him at all and his bite is very nice. The whip doesn't bother him either. What do you guys think ? Is it weak nerve or not? Am I expecting too much from a twelve week old puppy? I look forward to your responce. Thank you Alex

I am by no means a pro, and there are tons of other great dog trainers on this board. But, wipes, cans with coins, working a bite tug, gun shoots and lawnmovers my be a little much for a 12 week old puppy. Hey, I could be wrong though. You say you have seen some of Ed's videos, I think you sould buy the video "8 weeks to 8 months".

David.

You mean that pup isn't on a hard sleeve yet? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Alex, it sounds like the pup is doing pretty good right now. Work on the bike and lawn mower slowly, and from a distance that is comfortable with the dog. At 12 wks, my pup had been in boats, small planes, helicopters, guns, firetrucks, etc. Each and everthing I exposed him to, I started out at a distance. A close eye on his comfort level determined how much to expose him to. Some pups take some time to adjust to new things. Just learn to read how much is to much for your pup. ANY sign of stress and back up to a comfortable level for a while.

What are your goals with this dog? Like Scott said, reading the dog is very important, being able to read the dog properly is even more important. At 12 weeks my dogs are introduced to all the things I think of as normall, car rides, kids, stores, parks EXT.EXT. I dont do any bite work with them really at that age, they know what tugs are, but not really what to do with them, most of my time goes into things like, come, sit, down and most of that is trained though food drives. Getting used to a leash is very important to me also. But most of all I really try to build a trusting bond with the puppy, one I know will last a life time. I think a lot of people are in such a hurry for results that they push the dog to hard and way to fast. One of the best things you can do is let your puppy be a puppy, it has its hole life to be a dog.

What is your EXP in dog training? I was jusy wondering. I see you have things like cladder sticks, whips, tugs and are putting your dog around things like gunfire. I was just wondering if you were properly trained in how you use these tools for dog training, that is very important, "you cant use a hammer to paint a wall" you know what I mean. A whip is pointless if you use it wrong.

These are just some of my opinions, I may be wrong. Tryn to offer my help to help you.

David.

I know what you mean...he should already be doing muzzle work..lol...

Thank you very much for your responces guys and let me clarify my experience and goals with the pup. I have done some scutzhund but most of my experience is in personal protection and PSA. I don't have years and years of experience but have been fortunate to have been around some awesome experienced trainers and did a good amount of decoying. I have a good friend that I train with and he has way more experience than me and I always follow his advice. As far as reading a dog I am pretty good. My goal is for a dual dog PSA or American Street Ring and personal protection. That is the reason I am imprinting the pup on so many different things. I also might I add that I produced the puppy and own both parents so another goal is to have a genetically sound male that is an overall improvement to the breed. So I guess I really am trying to identify signs of a strong dog with great nerve early on so I don't waste my time with the pupppy. I know that dogs can be desensitized and built up, I giess I am real hardcore in a sense that I want as much natural talent in a dog as possible before I keep him in my program. I figured that with all the experience on this board we could compare notes on puppy development. I guess the bottom line is that I have been thru a good number of dogs that did not work out and my wife is starting to get upset with the revolving doors. It doesn't help that the breed I am working with is not the most suitable for the work (American Bulldog) but I am determined...lol

A.Bulldog. Huum, you have sparked some more intrest in me. Although not my first breed of choice, I have been around them now for about 4 or 5 years. I have family that owns them. What lines are these dogs out of? What kennels are the parnts out of? What were they breed for? What type A.Bulldogs are they.(hybred, johnson, ext. ext.) Have there parents or other gen been hip-tested, or temperment tested? Do they come out of a tittled line, or are there other dogs in the line tittled in what you want to do?

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It doesn't help that the breed I am working with is not the most suitable for the work (American Bulldog) but I am determined...lol

I have to disagree. A Good bred A.Bulldog out of good working line or more then suitable for, PP, or ASR.

Not to start a flame war or any type fighting on this board, but now that I know the dog is a "bully" breed, I feel you are pushing the dog(s) way to fast. You are expecting to much to soon. Your Bulldog at 12 week old is not ready to defend him self and has not built any confadance, there learning curv is very differnt from alot of breed of dog. I think handler issues my be the problem with the revolving door thing you have going on.

Will, can you help me out on this one please, Im I all wrong here? I know you have trained a SchIII A.bulldog and have alot of hands on with "Bully" breeds. What is your take on this?

David.

Nope, I've never gotten a SchH III, period - several SchH II's though. Every time I came close to titling a good dog, Uncle Sam would deploy me to a third world crap-hole. Fortunately....those days are over.
< Will does the retirement dance <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> >

He could do a lot worse than an AB for competing in PSA or ASR - they don't end up the highest scoring dogs, but they can do the work ok.
And as a ppd, they are more of the deterrent type dogs as their appearance *is* intimidating to the general public.
While I think most Mal's are a better choice for a hardcore ppd, you end up hearing comments from the bad guys like " I don't know....that dude's got a rabid coyote in his yard or something..."

Now I'm in full agreement that a 12 week old puppy is a baby, and his need for gunfire exposure is pretty low at his age - let'em grow up a bit, ok? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />
And the advice that Bob Scott gave there was spot on - expose him to scary stuff like the lawnmower from a loooong distance away so he can learn that it's no big thing. Heck, feed him while your friend mows the lawn, that will decrease his negative association with it.

If you're looking for really super nerves with an AB, you'll have a long wait, and your puppy sounds pretty solid so far. Give him a chance to grow up and see how it pans out.

Very interesting...what lines is your puppy from?

I have trained 4 Screaming Eagle Bulldogs here in El Salvador. The initial breeding pair were imported from Alaska. All the ones I trained were hyper, driven, and TOUGH AS NAILS, but I picked the ones I would take. Many were good home dogs, good at alerting, easy to be with. I saw 10 litters, the last one is on the ground now and being placed in apropriate homes this week. Some grow up quickly, demonstrate boldness from the start, but you can see what you'll have with most from this line at about 18 months. Even then they'll continue to mature well into their second year.

Ah...when I say tough, I really mean it...as in all surfaces, all distractions, to include much two way gunfire of the live variety, and a bunch of hurt on the dogs.

A very good friend of mine imported the initial pair...the male, Gaston's Pointblank, was 105 lbs of determination. I'll post a link to a pic later. Kind of a shallow biter, not keen on barking, but very, very serious. He hurt many people.

My personal opinion, with the only line I know...Screaming Eagle...is that you'll know which one you'll want to keep by 12 weeks. If yours is a bold dog, the only thing I would check is how he responds to uncertainty at night...shadows, noises, silouettes, from say more than 30 ft. If he's going to be real good...he'll react with serious growls and very alert and forward behavior...at that young an age.

Re lawn mowers...don't sweat it if the rest is good. Desensitize him. A good dog shouldn't be stupid...and just not care about his surroundings. A certain degree of caution is quite important...at a young age, what will later be caution, may express as flight.