Quote: Jeremy Moore

im hoping that my household can handle another dog...thats my BIGGEST fear out of it all.....1 year old son. 2 year old GSD, 2 year old shitzu......should be interesting

Jeremy, please don't take this wrong, but I sure hope you can figure this out before getting the new pup down the line. Sometimes, in spite of how deeply our hearts may desire something, the timing just isn't right for any number of reasons.

I also confess to a bit of concern over that 50 day turnaround thing. If that happens with any regularity (more than once a year?), then your wife is going to be responsible for this pup during those times. With a toddler and two other dogs, that may not be a great arrangement. (And, don't fool yourself, a GSD doesn't reach full maturity, emotionally and mentally, until 3-4 years old.)

JMO

leih

Leih I totally agree. I'm still trying to make my wife and her parents understand the German shepherd breed. And that my current female isn't a toy. They are really having a hard time with this. I'm putting in tons of time with Meeka and when her parents show up they act like she is a toy and I can tell on my training sessions. I've hit a little bump with meeka. Her drive is average. Crazy with the ball. Actually really good besides certain things. I've been working on the heel. But I can't get her to watch me for anything . Ball, food, anything. The sit, and stay, long stay, down on motion, sit on motion, recall I have her full attention, and with distractions. The heel is eating my lunch! I've read the book Schutzhund: theory and training techniques by Susan barwig. Has helped me a lot besides the heel. I still need to work on the recall some. There is still some issues there. I really think the wife and in laws are causing some major conflicts. Meeka knows when I'm home she can't get away with the same things with my wife. And she minds me 1000 times better then my wife. My wife doesn't understand it's her own fault for meeka not listening to her. Let's her do what she wants and therefore meeka doesn't respect her. I'm still trying to make them understand all this. Stormy weather has kept her in the house
the past two days and I can't get that same kind of drive and attention in the house. So we just do the basic, sit, down, come, and stay in the house. There is prob lots of spelling and grammar issues with this post. I'm using my iPhone at work. The turnaround thing isn't a normal thing. Or atleast this long. We might have a couple a year but most are only a week or 2 long. Once a month I get 7 straight days off. Only work 14 days a month. So I will have the time. I just have to get everyone on the same page and I know it will def be a challenge bringing a new dog into the house! I still have 2 buy 2 more crates and lots of videos from Ed! I want to have everything prepared before the big day. Plus I still have to work with Meeka. How do I bring my wife into the mix , having meeka respect her and listen to her. Should we both be even when training or I thought I should be the primary trainer. This part is confusing for me. Sorry for the book I just posted. I just have lots of questions. Thanks for all the feedback and I'm not going to rush myself in getting a pup.

Edited by Jeremy Moore (07/16/2010 10:06 AM)
Edit reason: Iphone

Marker. Only on the heel I'm having this problem. Sorry for the long post

Have her sit in heel position with no distractions, looking at you. Don't try to move her yet. Just mark and reward for looking. Release her, and then bring her back into heel position, and the do the same thing. You need to train the look first, before you add movement.

No don't be sorry...it's all good info.

It's been a little while for me, so I'll try to remember the advise I was given....others may have better input re eye contact with the heel(foos). The leash was shortened to about 3 ft and we walked in a 6 ft circle and started off by giving the command, heel-foos. Start walking say the dog's name, she looks, mark, word, treat and this was done very quickly and over and over but for only few minutes per session. All awhile awaiting her to get it on her own (without having to say dog's name) but not allowing enough time (secs) to go by that allowed her eyes to meander or nose to drop to sniff. When they offered eye contact without having to say the dog's name, mark, word, treat. As this improved, the walk pattern changed and with improvement, the leash length grew. Then the word - treat dropped in frequency. It is so much easier to show then to try to write it out in steps, sorry....

For me the point was to initially not allow the dog to make a mistake (breaking eye contact), make it FUN and positive and teach what you want without having to do a correction. Once that is understood, then add in distractions (one by one) to expand the practice of maitaining eye contact. They learn heel means I walk at the side and watch.


(sorry.I just saw Steve's post. I misread Jeremy's response as she already knew and did eye contact without movement/distraction .. I'm too far ahead of the game then.....)

 Quote:

Leih I totally agree. I'm still trying to make my wife and her parents understand the German shepherd breed. And that my current female isn't a toy. They are really having a hard time with this. I'm putting in tons of time with Meeka and when her parents show up they act like she is a toy and I can tell on my training sessions. I've hit a little bump with meeka. Her drive is average.

Hey Jeremy, this is probably the real root of any roadblocks your having. She's probably trainable, and a nice dog, but that flashy ob your looking for is going to be tough.

She has great focus on all the obedience. I've been working the heel the past 2 days without any success . I can't keep her attention with the heel. I try to get her motivated but It's not working. . I'm doing something wrong . I know my dog lacks drive compared to some of your guys dogs. Anything I do
With the ball I get 100% from her. Besides on the recall. She takes her time coming back.

What are you doing with the ball when your working on heeling?

Are these problems I can expect if I don't get a dog with enough drive? My female has been simple. Not stubborn at all really. Like I said , great dog but I don't think she has what it takes. I can handle a little more dog next time. Now tracking.. She loves using her nose. Maybe I will just stick with that and continue with obedience. I don't know if she would do bite work. Prob a 50/50 on that.. I can't even get her to bark.. So bark training is tough for me. Only person she barks at is my neighbor or if people are around my property !