I'm hoping for some advice with my 5-month-old GSD. I got him when he was 10 weeks old and I wanted to start training him right away. After having him for about a week, I think I made a big mistake: I called him and he would not come to me so I chased him in the yard to make him come. After that he seemed to be afraid to come to me outside (he also seemed to enjoy running away from me).

Inside the house he would always come to me, however outside he would never come. I started using treats to motivate him and eventually he did start coming to me when I called him outside.

Now, if he thinks I don't have a treat for him, he just sits there and looks at me when I call him (only outside though). He has become very good at figuring out whether I have a food treat or not (probably my fault). I usually make him drag a line outside now and he will come to me when he is dragging. However, whenever the line is off he goes right back to just looking at me when I call him (I think he's trying to figure out if I have a food treat or not).

I would like to train this dog to be a PPD. He has plenty of prey and food drive.
My question is what am I doing wrong and how can I train him to come to me consistently? Perhaps I am expecting too much from a 5 month old puppy?

The key to training is consistency.
From here on out, *everytime* that the dog goes out, without fail, he should have a long line on. You can continue to reward him with treats and make coming to you a pleasant experience, but you need to have the ability to ensure that he comes when called ( which the long line ensures ).
Don't give a dog a command that you can't enforce. If you do so, you'll ultimately train the dog that he doesn't have to obey.

The dog's young and you have time to correct your past mistakes, but it'll take a bit of work on your part.
Get training!

Thanks Will, that's good advice. I guess I haven't been totally consistent with making him wear the long line. I'll be more consistent with him and see how things go.

Oh and Will, don't forget to "Shop smart - S-Mart" (Army of Darkness) <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />