Hi, it's me again. We are still having problems with our pup, now 11 months. We slacked off formal training due to family schedules. He improved, especially when given more morning playtime and more outside time. Now I've gone back to formal training and he has turned submissive again; he cowers when offered a milkbone by my husband (who has been somewhat harder with him than I). What should we do at that instance? Also his manners are actually pretty good, so should we slack off the training or continue with it? He doesn't pay good attention in class, but is obedient most of the time at home. Has he lost focus briefly? He is still hesitant with strangers and has some leash aggression. Thanks!!

when you say "he" is "11 mo" of age, that speaks volumes to me. this is a really difficult time for your young dog. hormones are just starting to kick in, he feels awkward, clumsy, insecure, has trouble focusing, all the same things that a human child goes thru at about 11-12 yrs of age. just cut the dog a lot of slack during this transitional period and see what you can accomplish with treats, praise, tug games or whatever he enjoys as a form of positive reinforcement. take it easy on the corrections, he's obviously not up to it right now. work on building confidence and having a good time. you really can't expect mature dog behvior before age 2 and in some cases it is closer to 3.

Excellent post, Patricia - I agree with every word. So many people would "wash out" an adolescent male pup at this age, because they are going through so many changes - physically, mentally, etc - when they very often turn out just fine, if you just take a step back in training, re-do a few things, and give him time to grow up, be patient instead of frustrated and in a hurry.

molly

i agree with the previous two posters.

plus, it does sound like your husband's style is a poor fit for this particular dog. ask your husband to recognize that and to tone it down and be more gentle. some dogs are so soft all you need to do to correct them is raise an eyebrow. scale back on the severity of the corrections and see if there is an improvement.

Patricia, Molly and Alice, slacking off was my gut reaction/solution!! Our trainer said Mack was totally ignoring me and that I needed to tighten up and even get a pinch collar. I am so glad I checked with this board. I will "keep after" him but as gently as possible; I figure I can always "kick it up a knotch" later on down the road. Thanks for your help!!

Another two months have passed so I thought I'd update. We rescued a 1.5 yr female Akita in June as a playmate for Mack, who is now 13 months old. He improved a lot. Apprehensively, I scheduled an out of town 4 day trip; Jeff said things were fine - and they were. Curiously, he was almost a different dog when I came home. I was SO pleased. Then, a gradual slide within the last 10 days since I came home. Now, it can't be ME, can it? When I am home, I am the "nervous Nelly" always doing housekeeping and jumping to attend to things. My husband is more laid back and if I didn't know better I'd wonder if he even took care of them. Can Mack be picking up on my nerves? Should I chill out (if I can) and make Jeff do the feeding, etc.? What should my role be? Do I have to leave town again? I was blaming my husband for being too firm and he was blaming me for not being firm enough. Evidently, things are fine when I'm not there; that cannot be denied any longer. I take an active role with the dogs, but something is wrong. Does anyone have any more questions that I can ask myself? I have to get to the bottom of this. Thank you all.

sounds to me like if you would be more relaxed about things, so would your dogs. dogs look their owners to see how they should react. if you are a nervous nellie, as you say, your dogs will take that as their cue for how they should be. take a chill pill and see if things get better. <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Are the yearling GSD & Akita your husband's choice of dogs? -- I ask this because both these breeds, especially a pushy Akita spay even more than a soft Shepherd, need strong "alpha" leadership (I have a 1.5 year old female Akita, so I know!) which is a difficult persona for Nervous Nellie people to present...

Also, if your GSD is very submissive, your Akita might dominate him into the ground -- Guess I'm just talking off the top of my head here, but if you find it challenging to manage a soft Shepherd, the LAST thing I would have done is add a hard AKITA to your list of responsibilities...

Anyway, if your husband's as great as he thinks he is at training those dogs (???) then I'd give him that job 24/7, until you get up to speed on your handling prowess <:-)

Candi, the Akita is not hard. She is a very sweet 1.5 year old; she and the GSD take turns pestering each other and it seems quite balanced. They are good buddies and he has improved a lot, I think because of her. We have found these two breeds to be a good combination, at least for us: the obedient and sensitive GSD and the independent Akita. GSD would prefer to play with her than anything else except food. As for myself, I am trying to "let things go" a bit and not be into fixing every little thing. I think it will help. Thanks for your post.

Well that's great & sounds like they're a much better match than I would have imagined -- Guess it's all good now <:-)