Well, now that I have my puppy, finally, after months of waiting, I am all excited to train her. But she is only about ten weeks old now so training will have to be limited. She will 'sit' and 'come' and I am trying 'down' but that is not going too well. I am almost positive that she knows what I mean when I say down but since I am holding a treat waiting for her to do it she is just too excited and can't seem to bring herself to lay down. She is so smart, though. She will simply sit and then she knows that I will move her front legs (then she is 'down') and then she will get the treat. But I think it might have been a mistake to start putting her physically in the 'down' because all that has happened so far is that she has learned that I will physically put her in the 'down' and she will get a treat. So...? I have ordered a training tape from Leerburg (do you think I can remember what it is called?) I think it was Building Drive and Focus... something like that. I ordered it because I was worried about her not having prey drive because she won't chase a ball, or fetch a bone... So I ordered the tape for that. I am a little disappointed, not with Zorra, but with myself. I read as much as I could and talked to as many people as I could before I got the puppy and now I feel like I ought to know a thing or two but I am feeling pretty stupid. And it is not her, she really wants to please. She caught on to the sit thing right away and loves doing that (probably because it involves a treat) so if she knew what I wanted, chances are she would do it willingly and cheerfully. She loves when we do the training, though I have come to sort of a dead end until I get my video... So I am just wondering what commands / training I should be able to do at such an early age (10 weeks) Wanted to get her to the Schutzhund club right away on Saturday to get a little help but they were all gone to a trial that week so I am waiting for this Saturday. Anybody who can help me muddle my way through...

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Originally posted by Jennie Waschenbecker:
She will simply sit and then she knows that I will move her front legs (then she is 'down') and then she will get the treat.

If you are going to teach the down command by luring her with treats, I wouldn't do it from the sitting position, it will make training a fast down very difficult later on. I find it much easier when the dog drops it's front end down first. Close your hand around the treat, let her sniff it, and drop your hand to the ground and say "down" once. Open your hand the second she hits the ground. If she's following the treat, this should happen fairly quickly.

The dog is 10 weeks old - it's a puppy and is around the equivalent of a two to three year old human.
Let it grow up some before you start training it.

What age do you start training? (asking Will) I probably am trying to go too fast for her so I have really sort of been slacking off now but I just have this feeling that I am going to miss some peak time for some type of training and then it's going to be gone and it will be too late. Like in the Leerburg catalog in the description for the video Bite Training Puppies it says that "there is a window of opportunitythat takes place between 8 weeks and 14 or 15 months. If the prey drive is not worked properly during this period, most dogs never develop to their full potential." That is a video I don't have yet but I should probably get it soon or my window with Zorra might be gone and I wouldn't even know it. But I am still waiting for the first video. (Building Drive, Focus, and Grip) but maybe I should have started with this Bite Training one because at least in the first part of the video (the only part I have seen so far) all of the dogs were way older than Zorra so maybe that isn't really intended for her age. Anyway, what do you do with a ten week puppy? At what age will a dog have the ability to focus long enough (or be taught to focus) to train more? I just don't want to miss anything... This is my first attempt at training and I don't want to screw it up by waiting too long (or starting too early??). Jennie

Get the bite training puppies video first. I made the same mistake and had to go back and start again with my pup. Expecting a 2year old to focus is just unrealistic and thats about what your dealing with. The bite traing pups video establishes the foundations for the flinks video. So don't work on it yet..