Update #2. of day 6 in bootcamp: I am sooooo pleased with how things are going. Ziva shows willingness to please. In the crate the only fussing about is related to drinking...I think that the beacon is salty and makes her thirsty....On walks she likes the tug rope but not excessively, she rather just shake it around than pulling....there are some pulling but not much, she drops it quickly after being told “drop”...and reaches for it again....she jumps offering it me and ask me to go along in her excitement. Just to give you an idea, her front paws go on my shoulders and I am 5 foot 6 inches.

Even in the heat of playing I would stop, in the middle of the road, at an intersection anywhere...she would drop it on the ground and sit.....One reminder for sitting today in 50 min walk with many stops. Wow....We met a jogger that surprised us around a corner....I did not have time to have her sitting, she just looked with great interest but did not move....GREAT....we came across 2 motocross that did a turn in front of us as we were waiting to cross the road and she did not mind them but had to be reminded to sit as I had already stopped.

We also met a family with an adult black lab on a leash.....she pulled but in a joyful way....it was totally friendly After 2 “no” and one correction she came to a normal walking manner but turned her head to watch him go...On the other end, this man had the dog walking on his hind legs all the way through.....I was soooooo proud that I had to say, “she is only 6 months” lol. She was bigger then the lab too lol.

She waited to poop and wee in the area I suggested.....

I know, I know....It won’t be like that always We might have more downs than ups before she gets really good....but Hey....I am taking this well deserved reward to all the work we put in the training this past week. This is a block in the construction of a good foundation.

Volhard test to come in 4 hours. Got to get all the things ready.

Thanks to Willie who is totally talented, resourceful and has a big heart in helping me through this.

Excellent job!Now is the time to get that control.
I would not let the dog stand with it's feet on your shoulder. That can be interpreted by the dog as a dominant position. Possibly ask Willie on that.

I don't, is just that she got so excited and wanted to play that she got to put them there, just a second.....none the least, that is how tall she is lol She is not allowed to jump on people....but a dog that is well manered can walk up to your shoulders if you invite him to. I did that with my Dobs,,,,slowly walk up

I will post the Volhard test results later. Without a professional opinion I think she did beautifuly.

And Bob thanks for the encouraging words.

Day 7 in bootcamp. Walks and crate are the same as yesterday....no changes.

Yesterday we did the Volhard modified puppy test, a stranger came to the house to film it.....I was returning from a 30 min walk with Ziva, he was already home....usualy she heels well till the door....but she smelled him from the corner of the alleyway, ears traight forward, chest boosted and pulling.....then of course greeting him with unacceptable happy jumping. I put her in the crate as we discussed the test before to administer it and she was very calm...we talked and laughed and she did not made a sound.

The test was done with some mistakes from the handler lol....I will see what Willie says about it once she views the videos I sent them to her this morning.

From MY rating the test went as follow:

SOCIAL ATTRACTION: was done 3 times lol...so I don't know which attemps will count. the first one Ziva was digging to China and barely gave me a look lol, the second she brought me a rock in the process and the 3rd was the same reaction than the second video, without the rock but in difference is that I linked the exercise number 2 to it which is the Following. So she either rated 6 or 2 on the SOCIAL ATTRACTION element and got a 3 on the FOLLOWING element.

RESTRAINT; she got a 5....I know I am totally surprised there, I put her in the laydown position, rolled her over and scratched her belly as she had this awwwwwww look in her eyes and this thing going on with her tongue.

SOCIAL DOMINANCE; I rated her a 3 she nipped at my clothes wanting to play but then reached over and licked my face.....I got a big smile over this....as I have not been allowed to touch her the entire week being aloof so I welcomed the closeness. lol

ELEVATION DOMINANCE: She got a 4....I picked her up, all the way up and she was relaxed, looking at the camera guy then down....her body was not rigid what so ever.

RETRIEVE: I gave her a 3 but as she came running toward me she turned and took off a few feet away with the object in her mouth.

TOUCH SENSITIVITY: at first I had given her a 1 but as I looked at the video over again, she actually started to nipp at my hand that was pinching her between the toes at the 6th second so that would be more a 2

SOUND SENSITIVITY: she got a 3

SIGHT SENSITIVITY: She got a 2 or a 3 there not sure.

STABILITY: She got a 3

No need to say that I am very pleased with the results....I understand that these are only guide lines not a deffinit, in concrete diagnostic but hey.....It makes my glass that was half full a little fuller lol

Will keep up the update and surely Willie will explain her opinion on this thread.

Please feel free to write your comments....It is always with interest I read them.

bye for now.

I have review some of the results of the test, Waiting on the rest to come through.
I ended up not modifying it too much after talking with Solange about the pup...but I did go over the back up plan to be used based on how the pup was reacting.
I will post my interpretation of the results when I get all of the videos and can watch them.

Bob: You are right about the jumping with the paws on the shoulders. This is a dominant position and should not be encouraged at this time at all.. I write that for other people reading this. It's not a trick that you want to teach a dog that has any sort of dominant tendencies.
That said.....having seen videos of this pup in action I have a feeling what happened is she lept up and put her paws on Solange's shoulders and was off before she could correct her. lol
For now I have Solange ignoring any behavior that is not a dominance or pack structure misbehavior. She handles the misbehavior through exercise, managing the situation and distraction.
Picking her battles so to speak. We also have to remember that this is a 5 month old puppy that I have in an adult style boot camp. If we correct her for biting in PREY at Solange and for not walking perfectly are not listening perfectly or jumping about wildly at times...It will not be good for her mental health.
With most working dogs that have high prey if you correct them for having and expressing prey drive they do not handle the correction well. It causes other issues to develop. LSGD have a inflated sense of justice...if they feel as if they are being treated unfairly they take it badly and rebel. Actively fight you and get passive aggressive leading to outright aggressive.
Puppy boot camp is different than what we are doing with her.
I chose to handle her this way because of the presenting issues Solange came here with, and the fact that she is in the south of France......as much as I would LOVE to hop a plane and go visit...it's not an option at the moment. Better safe than sorry!!
I know that Bob Scott knows all this...he has probably forgotten more about dogs and training than all of my knowledge put together. I am writing for those reading and "lurking".
Well I have to go to Physical Therapy. I will check back in in a while. I am going to open a new thread for the Volhard testing and how I personally flex it for the type of dog and owner I am working with.

Uggg just read my post..I am sorry it is so badly written but I am late for PT....sry!!!!

Edited by Willie Tilton (05/20/2013 09:39 AM)
Edit reason: awful writing style..lol

Hey Solange, something to think about as far as a puppy test, you've had her long enough and she's well beyond 49 days old that I think you're way removed from nature and completely into nurture. Everything you're looking at now could fall completely into training and whats been taught. I think the biggest benefit will be Willie seeing she's really not challenging you so much as just not being clear on what you want.

My only thoughts, for what its worth, would be don't crossover into being an overbearing nag. Its easy to do, I can do it with my Shepherd. Remember, its what they think is overbearing, not us. A little bit goes a long way. Obedience should be fun, not heavy handed. She'll learn to work for rewards, later on with you. Have fun with her Solange, enjoy her.

" I am going to open a new thread for the Volhard testing and how I personally flex it for the type of dog and owner I am working with."

And for this age ... ?

As Steve mentioned, 49 days is the recommended age for the test. I know very little about it, but I have read about its relevance declining every week (even every day) after 49 days old.

As I said, I'm not knowledgeable about puppy testing anyway, so I'm looking forward to it.



ETA
I think you're right to make it a new thread.

Edited by Connie Sutherland (05/20/2013 11:05 AM)
Edit reason: eta

Day 7, The walking was not great....she would back track trying to pick up whatever...anything....I ware the leash across my chest on one shoulder....well thank goodness for that cause I got cought off gard a few times (what should I do when she stops and brases herself not wanting to move nose down....should I pull like a dunkey or stands there till she moves on her own? The reason I ask is that I should only correct pack misbehavior not training per say. Anyway today I pulled while calling her....in a joyful voice not in an authoritive voice, so I just draged her till she came along....however the sitting on stops she did well. The tug rope she enjoyed more today than the previous days....the potty business were not done where I had hoped lol...Never leave home without a plastic bag lol....and today she barked while in the crate when she would hear the dog next door barking.....things she did not do neither the previous day.....

Usualy she would come out of the crate and sit to have the martingale collar put on....today she jumped and did not collaborate like the past few days either....

Willie what are your thoughts on that?

Our day is almost over ....will update tomorrow.

have a nice evening everybody

Thank you Steve...Hope all will fall into place and having fun is totaly the goal, for her and for me....why want a dog if fun is not what one looks for and expect. Willie knows that I am not to clear in marking and timing in correction....that will be part in one of our meetings soon.

Thanks again....

I'm reviewing the videos today.
Steve is totally totally right about the test.
I am at this point and in most cases that I use this test interested in the nurture information.
The nature info is important and i believe that an experienced person can read what is there under the nurture.....BUT what is important right now is the nurture and where that leaves this dog as an individual.
Where is she now, and is that individual something that Solange can work with.
Thanks Steve for piping up...I am sooo swamped I can use all the help I can get with getting information written down into this thread!!!
That is part of the "modified" part of the test...its how I interpret the results as well.
I haven't been able to find a test to use on older dogs that I like as much as this one....I use it as a base.
If anyone knows of a scored one for older dogs please let me know BTW....I have to get that other thread started soon...lol