Quote: nick logan

About 15 minutes ago I heard a LOUD scream from him. I ran outside where my wife had him and she told me she said YUCK and then scruffed him when he didnt listen. She scruffed him for a helicopter.

He does even know yuck well enough. I scolded her pretty hard for it. I'm done scruffing I'm scared I'm going to ruin our dog or make him totally nuts!

Do you remember the thread when you described how you walked/"trained" your sister's dogs? When you said you and your wife were freaking out because you thought you were correcting them correctly??

You said almost the EXACT same thing in that post which you just said in this one in regard to never correcting like that again because you didn't want to mess up a dog. Plus, you are scolding your wife for the VERY thing you did earlier today "because it was the right thing to do".

Nick, I don't even know what to say. We are all trying to hang in here because we want to help your PUPPY, but you are making it very, very difficult to not scream at the two of you right now.

QUIT SMACKING the puppy for things he hasn't been trained to understand yet. IT IS CRUEL. How can we make that any more clear???

Feel free to take video. But these kinds of things you are talking about is what a high drive dog does. Every person here who has a high drive dog, knows exactly what you are talking about because they have been there Nick.

When you or Heather are in the yard, and the dog grabs something like a helicopter or a rock, you give yuck command and get the dog away from the object. Redirect if pup won't release object.
You can practice Yuck command at every chance he gets into this stuff in the yard.
Bring a ball with you everywhere you go, or a rag in your pocket.
Pull out ball or rag and redirect to that toy. Make the toy a thousand percent more interesting than that rock or helicopter.
Puppy attention span is short, and they will want to go do something more fun like bite that rag or play ball.

 Quote: Nick Logan

it's hard to redirect without food. he has HIGH food drive but no ball drive

that'll change as he gets older. my concern now is Mrs L, she might have to rebuild trust with the puppy, the thing is, hunting dogs, pointers, Labs, Beagles and even Pitties have a bite inhibition against people. Working line GSDs, Mals, Dutchies know that you are about as tough as a water balloon so establishing trust and a bond is essential

 Quote: Nick Logan

it's hard to redirect without food. he has HIGH food drive but no ball drive

I think this is because he is really hungry from being on the diarrhea protocol. But that said, still maintain that protocol for now. You just need to make him want to play with something that he loves. Maybe get a fuzzy sock with a ball inside or an old towel, that he loves to bite and chase.
Find out what makes him pay attention and want to play, then when you get that attention, have a party and praise, Yes, good boy Gambit!

 Quote:

Sorry I was told to scruff if he did something threatening to me or the family.

What in the world does a 13# puppy do that you find threatening? And who gave you that advice?

We've told you dozens of time now that Mal puppies bite and the way to deal with it is to redirect. We've also told you that that type of "correction" alpha stuff, whatever has no place in training your baby puppy.

You need to listen to us. You came and post about things, then you don't seem to take advice. Why ask the question then? We are trying to help you with your puppy. It's not going to work unless you start taking the advice seriously.

Pointers are VERY different from a mal/GSD.

Redirect.

There's nothing wrong with not wanting to get chewed on, but you have some really great dog owners with young kids who have told you how they have kept the kids and dogs safe and happy. I think everyone here is really worried about the future of this pup. Nobody is perfect, and we all make mistakes occasionally with our dogs. And the pup is young enough now that you (so far anyway) haven't done anything that you can't change. Start taking the advice.

Or send the pup to me and get a pointer.

My wife and I talked and we are taking more steps back. he's a puppy. I was treating him like one before the scruff and after. I don't think it's effected him as he IS a velcro dog.

 Quote: mara jessup

 Quote:

Sorry I was told to scruff if he did something threatening to me or the family.

What in the world does a 13# puppy do that you find threatening? And who gave you that advice?

We've told you dozens of time now that Mal puppies bite and the way to deal with it is to redirect. We've also told you that that type of "correction" alpha stuff, whatever has no place in training your baby puppy.

You need to listen to us. You came and post about things, then you don't seem to take advice. Why ask the question then? We are trying to help you with your puppy. It's not going to work unless you start taking the advice seriously.

You corrected a puppy for being a puppy in both of these instances. You and your wife ought to be ashamed of yourselves.

Here's a tip: IF YOU HAVE THE URGE TO PHYSICALLY CORRECT YOUR PUP, WALK AWAY. Quit hurting him! If you cannot figure out how to use a verbal correction ("No") and redirect, then you do not have a chance in hell of raising this pup correctly.

My pup, now almost a year, has done lots of "bad" things...grabbing sticks/plants in the yard and running off with them, chewing on my husband's feet/shoes, barking at us when we were eating, jumping on us, and much more.

Every time he learned one behavior was something he shouldn't do, he thought of some other way to get in trouble.

It has been a constant process of guiding and teaching him what is the right thing to do, not punishing him for doing the wrong thing! He is turning into a wonderful young dog...

And then I could tell you about the GSD who comes up the leash at it's owner in our basic obedience class when asked to down...violence is met with violence with dogs like these.

P.S. Trust me, scruffing him, will ruin your bond and his "velcro" nature...which is actually probably insecurity in his new surroundings.

nick...

please please please give this pup a chance to acclimate to his new surroundings and situation before giving ANY corrections!!

The first few weeks are BONDING time. Not correction time!!

You are doing way too much too fast with this puppy.

You really need to relax. If you don't you are going to do some mental damage with this pup.

And stop jumping at shadows.

don't re-act so quickly or intensely as you are.

doing things right with this pup don't include harsh corrections yet.
Doing things right with this pup involve letting him settle in and get himself sorted out.

Advice has been given to you numerous times in the numerous threads you have started. And generally when we give you advice we get a reply of "shoot, I already did it, now what"

Edit: if you are trying to redirect with a toy you HAVE to make sure the toy is more interesting than what the dog is doing.
don't just show the ball/toy to the dog, move it around or throw it, roll it something to get the dogs attention off the object you don't want them chewing and onto the correct object.
My favourtie redirect toy was a soccer ball. waaaaaaay too big for the pup to get his mouth around and perfect for kicking to get the puppy to chase it. It doesn't have to be far, just a light kick to get the ball moving and grab the pups attention.
And make sure to only use that toy for redirecting. If the pup has access to it all the time, he will lose interest in it.

Edited by Wendy Lefebvre (05/10/2011 09:39 AM)
Edit reason: redirecting advice

 Quote: Betty Waldron

Nick, stop everything.

Feed the pup, potty the pup, and walk the pup for exercise.

That's it.

Spend that time reading the site, watching the dvd's and asking questions that show you are trying to learn.

I feel like stuttering this morning.