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Mod deleted hijack post; moved to

http://leerburg.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=202834&page=0#Post202834

I resized those pictures to 500 X something pixels, guess they were still too big. I'll just post links next time.

Anyway, thank you all for your replies! I've been teaching her that toys are good things but she doesn't seem extremely interested yet. She'll boot a ball around a tiny bit if I play with it but not much. I bought a small chew toy with squeaky soft rubber ends just to try and entice her to playing more as a pup ( I'll remove it when she gets old enough to possibly chew it up and I don't leave this in the crate ). When she finally bit it and it made sounds she growled an growled alot. It was so funny to hear her. It's amusing already seeing her developing.

She's suddenly taken alot of interest in sticks and stuff she can pick up and she always carries it way clear of me! Lol. If I move closer she'll get up and move away to lay somewhere further away.

Is there any signs I need to watch for in regards to future bad or dominate behavior at a pup so young? I'm still worried she never learned bite inhibition or submission or whatnot. She can already bite down painfully on arms and especially feet with socks but doesn't seem interested enough in toys to redirect.

I know people that intentionally get their working dogs at 6 or 7 weeks old. While 5 weeks isn't right on the breeders part, it's not the end of the world either if you handle the pup correctly.

The breeder looks like they are breeding what I consider to be a Mutt GSD. All lines rolled into one.I looked at one of the peds on their site and I see a working kennel in there (Stoffelblick), a German Showline kennel (Arlett) and a bunch of American line dogs in there. I would never have gone with this breeder in the first place, but you have what you have. Some people might be inclined to return the dog, others will work with the dog, especially if the dog is to be a pet. But as someone else said earlier in the thread, the quality of the dogs is at question, and I have no respect for breeders that are breeding all over the place like that.

I wouldn't worry about dominance or anything like that at this age. Puppies bite, just redirect them. Don't worry too much about puppy stuff. I've known idiots that would alpha roll their puppies "to prevent future dominance problems" and all sorts of retarded things like that. Just let him (her?) grow up and be the best dog he (she?) can be. My prediction is that he will be a moderately soft dog with low to medium drive, not likely to be dominant if handled competently (you've already read much of what this site has to offer on training info), and would benefit from not being excessively controlled as a pup, let him grow up to be a confident happy dog that's not always getting his personality squashed by being told no all day long or given commands every 5 minutes.

Genetics are a fun thing, you never know what they are going to throw even when you are breeding on proven lines. Throw them all together and who knows what consistency there will be and what traits they will inherit. I could be totally wrong, but breeders like that don't usually breed for tough dominant aggressive dogs. Usually they breed soft, sensitive dogs that lack confidence and drive, that are then given to people who squash any drive the dog has by expecting too much from a young puppy qua obedience.

So be patient and read everything you can on here Enjoy the puppyhood, it'll be over quicker than you can blink!

 Quote: Mike J Schoonbrood

So be patient and read everything you can on here Enjoy the puppyhood, it'll be over quicker than you can blink!

Gosh isnt that the truth Mike!
We got Kai at 7 1/2 weeks, I carried him with one arm, noone could see him under my blonde har, and hard to believe he is now
28 pounds and halfway to grown size.
Both of my Goldens are actually BLONDE. Really cool looking.

Heather, let us know how you are doing with the pup.
Is the pup home, or is your father picking the pup up today?

 Quote: Heather Perring

I I'm still worried she never learned bite inhibition or submission or whatnot. She can already bite down painfully on arms and especially feet with socks but doesn't seem interested enough in toys to redirect.

Bite inhibition is something you are going to
have to teach her. My 4 1/2 month old pup is
still in the learning phase of this.
When he bites too hard, I squeal like a pup would do, then I put him in his crate and playtime is over.
He is learning - testing the waters!
My friend has a GSD pup - he is 8 months and they are still going thru this. I believe its pretty normal.

 Quote:

I squeal like a pup would do

I really wish people would stop doing this. It doesn't communicate anything to the dog other than perhaps encouraging it. I don't believe in bite inhibition. If dogs were inhibited from biting by 8 weeks old then there'd be no police dogs out there.

If you watch a litter of puppies, a lot more than "squeeling" goes on here. It is not the squeeling that sorts these things out, its the domineering posture and backlash that occurs when a tougher pup doesn't like what's being done with him. The pups that squeel and turn upside down are submitting to the littermate.

Trying to keep a young pup from being mouthy, is trying to keep a young pup from interacting with it's world.

That's how pups explore- they sniff and try everything in their mouths. Spend too much time trying to stop that, and you'll crush the dog's drive and personality.

Trying to keep a young pup from being mouth is like trying to make salmon swim down stream