I'm pretty new around here and have been reading a lot of the articles, e books etc on the site. Wow talk about information overload. I have a book, Schutzhund Obedience Training in Drive ordered and am planning on ordering some of the dvd's from Leerburg also. My puppy is a 5 1/2 month old German Shepherd. I am planning on showing her in AKC obedience and don't know what else. I want her to be all she has the potential to be and using her natural drives seems to be the way to get the best out of her. Not sure if I am identifying things correctly or not. She will play ball with you until you can't stand the sight of the ball anymore. Likes to play tug fairly well but not as much as ball. Also likes to "kill" her toys or chews. So I'm thinking she is showing decent prey drive. What has me a little confused tho is at first she was afraid of cars traveling down our road and would run back to the house if one passed while she was out. I acted like it was no big deal and ignored her and the car when she did this. That doesn't scare her much anymore unless it's a very loud vehicle. She now also runs up to the fence when a stray goes down the road or yesterday she ran to the fence when the man across from us was out on his tractor. When she does this she is barking a deep bark, hair on her back is up and her tail is up. What does this mean for her age? Good, bad, not a whole lot? What drive would it be considered? I have no idea of her bloodlines she was given to me by a client from work, but I'm sure it's just pet breeding. She's very smart tho and picks up on things fast. Like I said at the beginning of all this rambling I just want her to be the best she can be. Thanks

Lisa

I'll bump this a little for you and will say that walking, literally, right through her fears will work wonders, especially if you say she is 5.5 months old.

If she is showing fear around strangers, go ahead and have strangers (who are willing) give her an open handed treat, then just walk away saying thanks to the stranger. Your pup will soon realize strangers are no big deal.

I taught my pup "leave it" early on, and "come" and so far, if he barks at the fence, and I don't want him to continue, those commands are working well.