I'll preface my post by saying it's been 5 years since my last dog, so maybe I'm just paranoid.

My puppy is an 11 week old German Shepherd (Leerburg pup) that I got last weekend.

I'm used to (or my recollection is that) all the pups that I've got being absolutely CRAZY...and this one doesn't seem that way. There are a couple of things that I'm wondering about...

1) Maybe I'm just showing some anxiousness as to my dog's development (crazy drive), and I need to chill out since he was just uprooted and flown half-way across the country.

2) He seems to be more interested in my girlfriend (and her high pitched voice) than playing with a tug...she loads a ton of praise on him that I can't seem to compete against!Should I tell her to cool it? (That will be a fun conversation I'm sure!)

3) I've been socializing him all I can, and he seems to be doing very well with it. Maybe too much?

I'm not trying to play tug too much, just a few moments and then I'm trying to leave him hanging. I'm just not used to a Leerburg pup napping this much <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Any feedback that anyone has would be greatly appreciated (even if it's just to tell me to be more patient...please don't tell me to break-up with my girlfriend and her high pitched voice though!) I'm interested in getting his drive so high that I need all new pants!

Thanks,
Ryan

Well, don't I just feel totally embarassed? Got home today to a crazy dog that I'm fairly certain is going to devour my feet unless I wear shoes around the house. I guess patience is the remedy for my troubles.

Hey man, my pup (czech male) is 5 months old, so I was just recently in your spot. And all I gotta say is don't worry. Like you said, be patient. You're right, his whole life has just been flipped upside down and he just needs to get used to things including you.

I will never forget the time about 2 days after I got my pup that I went out and bought 5 or 6 toys (all that leerburg recommend), brought them home, and he didn't even sniff em. Now...oh my god, watch out. He goes crazy for all of them. So give it time. Don't worry.

And I'm by no means an expert, but from my experiance and research, I would say, if you're training this dog to work for you, then you should at least be finding things to praise him for as much as your gf. Start bonding with him. I did a lot of the calling him to me while jogging backwards and that has paid off big time. He rarely leaves my area and sprints back to me even off leash already. Do some drive building with the toys, get him into them. Just remember to keep sessions real short and always end on a positive note. Look into the videos Leerburg sells, they are worth the money. Good luck.

Now I remember why this is tough! My feet have to remain covered at all times....OUCH!!!

The most important thing with a new puppy is that he/she bond with you. You need to be the alpha male, the pack leader, basically God to your dog. I wouldn't allow the girlfriend to give praise to your dog for no reason and make sure the puppy earns his/her praise. Remember we're trying to create as close to a pack environment as possible and all actions should be dictated by what the Aplha Male of the pack would do.