@ John-

Do you want to stop him from biting you and your stuff?

If so I would set boundaries while he's young, you are the pack leader you say whats ok to bite and when. Like Ed says your a Dictator but a fair Dictator, remember with dogs its black and white and in the moment.

I dont let my dogs bite my kids or wife those are high ranking human pack members and are off limits! I have a weakness for really young pups 7-12 weeks and let them play bite me a little but when it gets to rough I put a stop to it.

Young pups explore the world with thier mouths its your job to teach them whats appropiate and whats not!

I plan on doing Shutzhund with both dogs and I play tug with them everyday at least 4 times per day. My 14.5 week old female and I play a very intense and vigorous game of tug with the leather rag. But I set the boundaries from day one and she rarely bites anything but her toys . I find that exercising them both really helps them to control thier mouth.

I use the cheek- scruff- stare- down- lower- your- voice- 2 octaves technique (ED's advice) its very effective just be careful of your pups tempermant and dont over correct, but be sure to make a point or else they think its a fun game.

Biting is how pups establish rank so be careful letting him get away with it. Redirecting with toys doesnt work very often with my older pup she ignores this ploy now she wont even take a treat when griping the rag!

One thing I am learning is high prey drive working line dogs are a handful if you dont establish order. I like well mannered dogs, some owners dont seem to think biting is a major deal but I like to keep my dogs in line and aware that I am in charge.

I want them to be a part of my family and thus they have to follow rules. Just my opinion.

Well mannered dogs get more out of life, ill mannered dogs are pain in the ass! Like with all things its a matter of prefrence and trial and error. I am sure they "grow out of it" but I think it sets a bad example to let your subordiantes gnaw on you!

Having small children is obviously directing my choice pack corrections. If I was single I might let it slide.

Sorry for the tome!

Good luck with training, your dog is very handsome!

Thanks Jason! I'm really new to all of this: a high drive pup, dog traning, growing a pup and all. All the dogs I've acquired in the past are juvenile Molosser breeds with low drive and pretty much had little training. Big couch potatoes.

I've already bought Ed's Obedience, Puppy and Drive & Focus DVD's already and have started marker training yesterday with little success. My pup has low food drive and I wouldn't want to starve him just to train at his tender age when he needs all the nutrition he can get.

There are some days that I really get frustrated with my pup. There are days he really doesn't pay attention (he has low food drive, but high prey drive). So far, all he knows is "Sitz" with erratic consistency. I plan on isolating the other members of my home from playing with him. I reckon he's getting confused on who the pack leader is. Everybody wants to play with him.

I'm really trying hard to remind myself not to expect too much as he is still an 11 week old baby.

John, he's so adorable

A puppy that age without food drive? That's weird.

Have you tried something REALLY good to get his attention?

One thing that works extremely well is beef liver that you cook in a pan. Right before a training session, microwave the liver pieces so that they become warm and smelly.
No dog can resist that, even the pickest eaters...

Hehe. Sounds like you're on the right track. Good luck with the baby. Enjoy the puppy stage while it lasts - I can assure you that you'll miss it once he's all grown up and well behaved.

In any case I'm sure he'll be a lot more fun for you than your previous molosser dogs!

 Quote: John Laurel

I'm really trying hard to remind myself not to expect too much as he is still an 11 week old baby.

Yes, don't worry. Bond now...real training will come later and it will be better for the bond you build now.

There are days he really doesn't pay attention (he has low food drive, but high prey drive). So far, all he knows is "Sitz" with erratic consistency."
John_

Ive learned a lot from books, my shutzhund club and the web so Ill share what has worked for me and maybe it will help you. Im not an expert but Im a good student . And Ive had great sucess so far.

To take advantage of his prey drive...One thing I might try is first controling the toys he has access to, I only let my pups have those hard rubber indestructible chew toys. All the other toys are mine. This way I start the play sessions and use it for training.

Find what toy is favorite and get his attention as animated as is nessecary. Hold the toy where he can see it and give the sitz command, if he sits reward him promptly by giving him the toy and playing with him.

If he doesent sit, dont keep repeating the command (nagging) say eh..eh or pssssst. or the like until he sitz if that doesnt work turn your back and then start over until he sits if he has high prey drive he will come around.

When ever he performs the given command always use a secondary enforcer like sitz (and when he sits) "good sitz" so he knows he did it right trust me its important especially when training the long sit.

When you give him the toy pet him and say take a break..good boy and then use a decoy or another method to get the toy back..I use food. dont take it from him though, you want him to trust you.

If he continues to ignore put him in his crate, eventually he will want to please you. Just be sure to make it positive I always feed my small pup in his crate so he associates it with good things, I say " crate" and when hes in "good crate".

My older female 15 weeks goes in to her crate on command. Just be sure to praise him and make a big deal when he does anything right.

I always train before meal times, food is a great motivator. You can rate the treats in order of his tastes like for me salmon treats are a level 1(low) and hot dogs are a level 5(highest) expieriment to find his fave.

I use high level snacks when we are doing a new command. Make the basic command sessions focused (1 command) and short 5 min. tops.

Even at 10 weeks its important to lay a solid foundaton and to demmand perfection in a positive way of course.

My pups love to train because to them its not work its fun! and stimulating German Shepards who are bred for intelligence is important because they appreciate mental games.

The important thing is have clear goals in mind and to make each session focused but fun. Learn to read your dog and respond accordingly and things will start to flow.

These dogs are bred for work so work them and they will be happy!




I hope this helps, it helps me to write it.

---

"Don't take the fence down, until you know why it was put up."- Robert Frost

??? Maybe ???

Yesterday, our pup was like the DEMON PUP FROM H#LL. Actually the last two weeks. Today he has been the PERFECT CHILD. My son noticed the difference, too.

Then my son pointed out to me that He has been teething and bleeding a lot and perhaps today was a teething-free day. I was like that's right. I even put him to "bed" (crate) last night with a dish of ice cubes.

Good Luck!

I gave some RAW LIVER to the pup today. I had to cook it in order for him to eat it. WTF? Is that normal? LOL

My very food driven gsd didn't care for liver too much either. I rinsed it off to get most of the blood off it but she still likes hearts and gizzards better. She typically would pull the liver out of her bowl and leave it in the middle of the kitchen instead of eating it. Once she was done I had to tell her to go back and eat her piece of liver. I guess some dogs just don't care for it and this is coming from a dog that will gladly eat cat poo : )

Kimberly

I use boiled pork liver. Not that he's not driven by it but he's not all too crazy as in Ed's Morgie in the Obedience DVD. He usually does give me eye contact during marker training but he does look bored at times and does so in a "down" position.

Funny thing happened last night though. He sleeps inside the house at night with the helpers and at about 2am they were awaken by the sound of rattling tupperwares. Lo and behold, for some astounding reason, my pup was able to open the freezer door(upright type)! Not only that, he was able to open the tupperware containers containing fish at the bottom rack! In short, he had 3 fish for a midnight snack!

I've always been told that GSD's were intelligent. I never knew they were this smart hahaha.

John, how delightful!!

Maybe you should use the fish as training treats, hehehe.

While my older female shepherd loves raw liver (but refuses all vegetables and fruits), my young male shepherd refuses raw liver (while he's happy to eat fruits and veggies).
He'll pick up the liver piece and drag it around a little bit (leaving a trail of blood and goo behind) but then loses interest in it, no matter how hungry he is.

Same for raw kidney - neither of my dogs will touch raw kidney. My male won't even drag raw kidney around!! You'd think it was poison

I either have to cook it for him, or blenderize the liver and mix it in with ground beef for him to eat it.

Weird dogs (they eat fresh tripe though, WTH?!!??!?)