Well I am new to the board.Just wanted to formerly introduce myself and my GS puppy Kiki.I've had her for a week as of yesterday.She seems very intelligent.She's never made a mess in her crate,its like shes a natural.And so far she seems to understand the sit and down commands pretty good.So everyone better understands my situation,I'm an aspiring dog trainer and that was my main reason for purchasing Kiki not mention protection for my wife and children when I'm away from the house.Currently the weather hasn't been coorperating,so we do most of our training inside and for short periods of time.I have two things to ask advise on,#1 would be when I give her a lil freedom in the house,she seems to always want to bite at our feets,either that or grab some clothes, mainly the babies,from the washer area,I dont have a utulity room,so the washer and dryer are in the kitchen.How do I get her to stop grabbing dirty clothes.When I do catch her,I immediatley grab the article of clothing and tell her no but she hasn't stopped as of yet.#2 How do you train a puppy of her age,12 weeks,to heel.I know Michael is fixen to release a video soon on heeling but I would like to hear some opinions from the Board as I see you all sound pretty intelligent to me.Thanks for your opinions,oh and how do I post a picture of Kiki on my profile.

 Quote: joseph garcia

I would like to hear some opinions from the Board as I see you all sound pretty intelligent to me.

Rut roh... I hope I don't pop that bubble too soon! Welcome to the forum Joseph!

Twelve week old puppies bite, nip, chase ankles, etc... It is what they do best. Put the clothes up on top of the washer if possible or get a hamper which she can't get into. Think of it as "baby proofing" the house except you are making accomodations for the puppy instead of the baby. If you take the temptation away, you also remove the need of corrections at this young age. Also, keep in mind you have only had this pup one week and it might be a bit early to expect her to learn to do or not do anything.

When / if she grabs something she shouldn't have, give her something she can have. I kept some old dish towels and always had one in my pocket and when Falcon nipped or grabbed by pants I very happily offered him the right toy.

In my opinion, at twelve weeks it is pretty young to be trying to teach healing. This is a great age / time to simply play with your pup, bond with her, and keep her safe. There really will be plenty of time for teaching healing as she gets a bit older.

Have you had a chance to read any of the free ebooks or articles on raising puppies and marker training? You also mentioned hoping this dog can be used for protection - are you planning on doing any Schutzhund training with her? Do you know if she is a working line GSD or a show line?

Again, welcome to the forum!

Thanks Barbara for the good advise.Kiki has both working and show lines in her pedigree.And I do want to get involved with shutzhund training because she is showing a strong drive,however theres not any shutzhund clubs near me.I believe the one closest to me is like an hour and a half.But most importantly getting invoved with shutzhund training would broaden my training ability's.As of now I am doing alot of reading on Ed's e-books.As soon as I can I will purchase the training videos I need to get started.Before I go in your opinion what is the best age to start OB training Kiki?

Keep reading on the marker training. You can start that at anytime, it is easy to learn and does not require any corrections on the pup. Start there. Once she catches on to marker training, you can use that to train what ever it is you want her to learn.