Heidi loves to walk, however, also loves to forge ahead on a taught leash and occasionally chase cars. I want her to love walking. If I try to shorten her leash to walk next to me- she goes into a feeding frenzy on my hand, arm or legs.

I would never alow this....attempting to chase a car would result in a very hard correction from me (this might save your pups life one day)

Perhaps if you havent already invest in a flexi lead, I have a 26' flexi for fun walks and a 6' leather for proper walks.

The flexi allows you to teach your pup commands such as hurry up or go on and far enough without as much pulling on the leash. I guess 26' is far enough for most pups to want to get ahead. Flexi is also great for teaching come as you can call pup and reel him in if he doesnt obey.

I would reccomend ed's video Basic Dog Obedience and just take what you need from it.

once again good luck and enjoy your pup soon she will be all grown up

Airowens:

Their are many different paths that lead to the same road. Many trainers with much more experience than me correct a pup for mouthyness with no effect on their bite work. I try to avoid corrections as much as possible. That is just my style. I have had battles when my older dogs get aggressive towards me to the "I told you so" of other club members. But I have my share of "I told you so" when there dogs are flat from over correcting.

Nochim1,

Taking into account your goals with Heidi, it does not sound to me that you are worried about harnessing every last drop of drive in your dog. It also sounds like Heidi's got plenty to spare. I think now sounds like a good time to introduce THIS DOG to corrections. Haydens video advice can teach you how to do this properly. In my opinion, corrections and praise work hand in hand, and like night and day, ones not much good without the other. She may loose a little drive along the way, but your dog will mind you. I think that makes it more than worthwhile in the long run. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

It's an amazing thing-well, not really considering this small town I live in, but I met one of Heidi's litter mates today while out on our walk.....with our new flexi-lead! That was alot more fun me and for her I think. Anyway- her litter mate, in my opinion was extremely well behaved, however, seemed very subdued. This puppy, Baron, sat and recalled immediately off leash with Heidi going bezerk on lead trying to get at him to play. She said she trained Baron to walk on an 18" lead. Of course, I could not believe this. And of course, I felt like a terrible mother with an unruly child. Baron's owner told me she purchased him for protection and said "it looks like Heidi likes to have fun". But after Heidi and I continued on our walk, thought about it and saw how much fun she seemed to be having on this new flexi-lead, I thought better of myself and Heidi. Honestly, Baron did not strike me as a fun puppy. Maybe well trained pups look like that...I wouldn't know at this point!

I don't plan on harnessing every bit of drive Heidi has, though I don't want her to lose it. I would like to channel it so we can continue to have fun and really, I do have fun with it. Any ideas other than Schutzhund?

I do own Ed's tape Dog Training for basic obdience. But honestly, I stopped watching when he said he recommened no corrections for pups under 5-6 mos of age. Thus, my original post for "reasonable expectations" of a 17 week old pup. I didn't want to break her spirit by introducing corrections too soon and pushing obedience on her.

I think I'm going with Beth's adivse to continue with the food until I know for absolute sure she knows what I'm saying - though I need some extra tips on the weaning part. I must not be doing it correctly, because I am losing her attention.

I'm also going with Beth's advise to not allow the biting on me to continue. If re-direction doesn't work, time outs usually do. Though I'm not sure how to handle this when we're out for a walk......

Hayden, the flexi-lead worked great today! Much less frustration with me. I locked her in close to me for passing cars and crossing the street and she didn't go into a frenzy as much on me. So, maybe I should wait for the prong collar for "power steering" as Beth suggested she sometimes does?

As far as kids, Beth mentioned letting the kids approach her in a non-threatening way. Specifically, how is this to Heidi? And how/where should they touch her when she's ready?

Last thing and I promise I will leave you all alone for awhile! What about agility training? Do you think this would be something Heidi and I could do in this small foresaken town?? Or something better suited for what little you all know about her?

Sounds like the Flexi saves the day <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
I think you are well on the right track for what YOU want with your pup.

I dont want to start a huge debate on different training techniques but if you decide at some point you need a prong collar perhaps look in your phone book for a professional handler/trainer that can atleast show you how to put it on correctly and how to administer an approriate correction.

In my earlier post I mentioned a very hard correction well my corrections as Ed whould say are probably "half assed" Just use your commensense and remember praise hell out of your pup when she acts how you want her to act.

This is my first GSD and I've found from time to time my pup does require a fairly strong hand but dont forget to love him/her up also.

I havent used a prong collar because I havent needed to but I guess the good thing about them is the dog/pup usually corrects itself to a degree, and there is some stuff out there on the web that seems to suggest the prong collar is alot more friendly on the dogs neck and windpipe than the standard choke collar.

Glad you and your pup had a fun walk <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
Once you get a few commands through her thick puppy head go back to the short lead and I am sure you will have a different pup.

So:- Flexi equals Fun
Leather equals Work
she will learn the difference after all they are rated number 3 on the intellegence list......lol

here is the link.......
http://petrix.com/dogint/intelligence.html

To answer your original post about what to expect from a 17 wk old pup. The answer is with a handful of hotdogs and the patience of a saint the skies the limit. Sitting, downing, front sits, retrieves, manners, barking or any other non precision (healing) or long attention (long down) exercise you choose. And if done correctly you can increase his drive for this work while you play. Because you are playing to your pup. Later when you introduce corrections with precision you are then working. The key is that every waking moment with your pup you have a source of food with you hidden. This can be tricky at first but you get used to it after awhile. The puppy never knows when he is going to be rewarded which increases his attention. I will not go into every situation in your post but I will pick crossing the street. What is needed from our pup when we cross the street is to be close to us for safety reasons. The problem is that what is on the other side of the street is more fun than staying close to you. The solution is to feed the pup every time you cross the street. Soon you wont be able to get your pup to leave your side every time you cross the street. Real simple when you think about it. But so is most training when you stop and think.

With bite work out of the picture, your ways to work witrh her open up quite a bit. As I do not advocated mistreatment, there is also a time for stern discipline. Discipline / obedience saved my dogs live one day. I would not tolerate the biting as I am not one for being percieved as a chew toy. "Stern" for a 17 week old puppy is surley not the equivilant of "stern" for a 17 month old dog. Careful balance between too much and too little = enough. Excitable if fun, unruly .......well you get the picture. What ever it is or however it is you decide to manage Hiedi, make sure it is fun for both of you. There is a lot of sound advice in these posts, you would do well by any of it, so long as you are consistent.

I have only a few words of advice after owning a similar pup once. First, get a small prong collar for the walks. If the pup lunges ahead or towards a car, he will correct himself. When he looks or runs to you for reassurance, praise him lavishly for being near you. He will soon learn that this lunging frantic behavior is not as comfortable or fun as a nice walk near his master. With the biting, since your not going to protection train him in any way, go ahead and nip this in the bud. Holding his mouth shut with a firm "no", or the isolation in the crate is what worked for me.