Question--I have 2 german shepherds-1 is 3yrs with extensive obedience training and 1 is 5 mos.I'm currently training the pup however when the older one is around niether wants to listen or pay attention,ok sure I can separate them while I train,but I want to be able to control them both at the same time.Any suggestions?

You should keep the dogs seperated until the young dog is obedience trained, otherwise your pup will always look to the other dog. Check out this links: Ed's opinion on raising 2 dogs

Also, someone previously asked this question just a couple of days ago, use the board's search funtion, or skim the previous posts. This is an easy problem to solve.

-Jenn

You need to separate them when training until the 5 month old is alot older. I've always started my training with little or few distractions, and added distractions to proof AFTER the initial training is going well. But a 5 month old is REALLY just a 'baby' so to expect more than a minute or so of good attention period would be pushing it. Let alone with their best buddy RIGHT OVER THERE.

I've also always wanted my dogs MAIN focus/love/attention to be me. And the only way I get that is with the one on one training without the other dogs around. So I have the food, I have the toy, I am a blast, and me me me me me. Too easy when the other dogs around for the OTHER pack members to take priority or (at the least) cause a distraction to loose the focus and attention I want.

Additionally, I want my puppies to be puppies for awhile, they grow up fast enough as it is. So while concentrated training is fine for the older dog, I'd be working alot more on the bonding/trust/focus for the pup, rather than a 10 minute stay or the perfect heel (not that you are doing that, just as an example). Getting my young dogs 'in the game' and WANTING to learn from me, WANTING to 'work', WANTING to listen/stay/be with me rather than their mates is the bond I want them to have. Not because I am 'making' them, but because they have learned to love learning, love being with me, obedience is fun, and I have the treats/toys/tug games/bearer of all things wonderful when we are together. And setting them up to SUCCEED in their training by not rushing training and overwhelming them. Me getting angry and frustrated, them getting confused and not progressing, all show that I need to step back and re-assess my methods.

Have you read up on these sites?

http://www.workingdogs.com/doc0036.htm

http://www.doberman.org/articles/puppy.htm

http://www.uspcak9.com/training/timingiseverything.pdf

Thanks for the tip,I read the articles and I have to say I didn't like what I read. I hope I'm not in for a world of trouble.His best advice was to separate the dogs all the time ,but there has to be a better way I hope.Neither dog is overly aggressive yet and things seem pretty typical.I'm hoping some steady obedience training will suffice.
I'm new to this site and havn't had a chance to read through all the posts yet.

Though it would have probably worked better to wait until you got your puppy, you can still make this better BUT it's a huge time commitment. Because you still have tons of work to do with the older dog WHILE just starting out with the puppy. And you can't really work them together (as you have noticed).

While keeping both your dogs separate all the time may not be an option for you, realize that means that all the real training time you do put in, needs to be the one on one with YOU as the leader and main focus of all things. So the other dog has to be somewhere else. I know I go to group classes, which some people do not like on this site, but it works well for me. Just packing up one dog in the car, leaving the house for a few hours with the training in the middle, forces the one on one time I may be too lazy to do in the home.

Are you working with a good trainer? That's a huge help for me.

Well... that's the best advice you will probably get. I don't know what you are really expecting from your dogs though...are you planning on competing in sports or sch or even obedience competitions? If you just want a couple of well behaved pets who can sit and down, well you can adjust whatever to your lifestyle. But keep in mind you don't have to keep the dogs seperate ALL of the time, but just when you aren't there to supervise them. And, you at least have to give each one, especially the untrained puppy, alot of one-on-one time. If you allow the dogs to play together while you aren't there, you will run into two things most likely: you'll never have a strong enough bond with the young dog, she will be "doggie" and they will most likely get into fights later on. Read this article about setting the groundwork.
Here's some more info on raising two dogs.

You should also research the pack drive of animals, so you might understand WHY you should seperate the dogs.

Thanks to all for the advice,as far as my plans for the dogs:the older dog is basically a companion ,however I purchased the pup in the hopes of training him in search and rescue,which leads me to my next issue (where to train).Ive been in contact with Chicago Regional Search and Rescue and after the initial evaluation hopefully they will be able to point me in the right direction.