I've already done some light clicker training with him and he's responded well to it. He's highly food motivated and now if you get out a treat bag or he knows you have something tasty, he'll readily offer sits and downs hoping to get something. I know the local club prefers words as markers over clickers, but I'm thinking it shouldn't be too hard to replace the clicker with a "good" or "yes."

I am looking for information to see if the way we are teaching bite inhibition will cause issues later on. I make a puppy "yipe" if he nips anywhere but his toys and give him time-outs. So, nipping hands or arms or legs = fun stops. I also continuously redirect him to a bully stick or tug toy if he's trying to nip. We play lots of tug and give him ice cubes and other things to chew for his sore, teething gums and we're hoping patience will pay off and our "shark week" experiences will gradually decrease.

Karen;

To prevent the bite inhibition training from carrying over to bitework, never cringe or "yipe" when you are playing a biting game (such as tug) and the puppy accidentally bites you or gets you on a miss. Condition yourself to ignore the honest mistakes, or the dog will lose intensity when he is playing with you.

You can still fuss him for unnecessary nipping. He will learn when he is not allowed to use his mouth.

You can switch from the clicker to a word no problem. I have the opposite situation. I started using "yes" but our trainer prefers the clicker. My dog now understands either one with no problems. And you can do some obedience now if its motivational. The idea of no obedience for a working dog unti after a year old is old school thinking. A lot of schutzhund people still do it that way but many are changing that way of thinking.

I'm very new to the sport too. Just started last fall. And I have a rottie which are few and far between in the sport. We still have a lot of hurdles to jump but So far he's working out very well. Don't count your dog out until you try. Mine is not even from working lines. Sometimes it works out. Sometimes well bred dogs don't work out. You never know until you try. If you have good trainers they'll be able to evaluate the dog and let you know if there's something to work with. I was convinced my dog wouldn't work in protection because many of the gsd's just picked up the protection work so much younger than my dog. They kept telling me to be patient because rotties mature later than gsd's. Sure enough, one day the switch started to flip and it has just continued to improve almost every session since. Give it a shot. Its very fun and rewarding.

ABSOLUTELY use markers with the obedience. The Schutzhund club I was with didn't allow ANY physical corrections even for bite work. Done correctly and with a good dog it's fantastic.

We are kind of isolated up here, so it can take a while for new things to filter there way up here.

I'm excited about puppy class. The trainer is a bit of a hippy, but the class will be all positive reinforcement and should be great for our pup, particularly the socialization part. We've also been trying to take him all over the place, having people give him treats and getting him used to new people and situations.

Our backyard is quickly becoming a tug toy graveyard, so I was considering buying a few Schutzhund tugs since they seem to be a bit tougher. I worked with him last night, tugging, letting him win, and throwing in a random "sit" or "down" for a treat. He already readily offers behaviors, so I think he's going to be fun to train.

I'd like to train him for a BH at the least and then see where he can go from there.

The tug can also be a reward. I've always preferred it because it's a behavior you BOTH share in. If the dog gets a ball or treat then it has it's reward and your no longer a part of the picture. With a game of tug your sharing the reward. bonding! Of course if treats are a stronger motivator then use them.
"Tug toy graveyard". Does that mean they are lying all over the place? That takes away their value because the dogs don't have to earn the right to play with them. No different then a kid that has all day, every day access to the cookie jar. They loose that delight over "COOKIE TIME".
Toys, tugs, balls, etc belong to YOU. The dog has to earn the right to play with them.

Lol...nope...there are no functional tug toys laying around back there...just the remains of toys that did not survive, mostly the tiny tufts of fluff that didn't all get picked up, or a bit of fake fur or cloth here and there, eerily blowing in the breeze as a warning to the toys that will come. (Tougher tugs are on order!).

Puppy class was good, but I'm just going to need to watch how they teach bite inhibition. Their main way is by encouraging the dog to lick hands and then treating them for that with the cue "kisses." They also strongly discourage tug. Other than that, everything else seemed good and there was some great opportunities to socialize him with a wide variety of breeds of puppies.

strongly discourage tug ? . . . hmmmm . . . . gotta hear the thinking behind that .

it must be a pet class. I have been to one (beginner ob) with Dex and I left. But their idea was to prevent rough play, biting and aggression.
Yet the agility club associated to that place do encourage tugging.

What ever, even Dexter do enjoy a good tug and he is as far as a dog can be from a sport dog.

Yep...it is a pet class. The older dogs they used as "models" were morbidly obese labs that slept through quite a bit of the class and about half the class are toy breed pups.

I'm taking what I find useful from it and ignoring the rest. It is proving great for socializing my pup to a wide variety of puppies and working in a loud, distracting environment.