When one my children is scared or worried i hold them and reassure them. I find i am doing the same with pup.

About 25 yrs ago my first GSD developed panic attacks, I used to reassure him.............then someone, who I totally respected, pointed out that I was using the same stroking actions and tone of voice as when he was receiving calm praise............consequence was he thought he was being praised for panicing
She suggested a far more 'matter of fact'  approach to these episodes with encouragement but nothing that could be misconstrued as praise.

As you say she likes play if you practise in the garden don't hold the lead and use a toy dropped just outside to get her out and playing while the lead just trails to begin with.

Yes. That makes sense. I know in myself that I'm not going to be doing her or us any favours by babying her.

Again, she is amazing. Its me that needs training!!

Don't worry about her being scared of going outside at the moment. She has had a series of big changes in her life just recently and it will take her time to adjust to living with you and your family and no longer having her siblings or mother. Even my confident dog was scared when she first started going out for walks and it took a lot of convincing before she was happy to run about in a big open field. Just keep encouraging her to follow you, perhaps there is a toy she likes, a ball or something squeaky? Make going out fun, but if she doesn't want to go then let her go back for now or carry her outside so that she can see everything from the safety of your arms.
Otherwise it sounds as if you are progressing well with her especially with the toilet training, you are doing the right things with regards to that. She sounds a lovely little pup.

I agree it's hard re attached parenting! Our Labrador used to just plonk her bottom down about 50 yards outside the front door and refuse to budge! We tried everything treats, toys etc. In the end we broke the habit by picking her up going in the car and then she happily jumped out! We then started to put her in car go for a walk but I'd get out with her 5 mins from home and walk her back. After 2 weeks we then tried again and she just trotted outside happy as can be! She was a very fickle character but lovely.
Keep trying the lead in house and up and down garden! With patience she will start to wall.  Maybe try the car and go somewhere local for a walk? A park or field?
I bet your having lots of fun with her thou

You sound like a lovely family and with an open attitude to learning, you are bringing your children up well so transfer that to the puppy and you can't go far wrong, I would be happy to let you have a puppy! Just bear in mind that just as with kids you will make "mistakes" and it's rare for anything to go badly amiss, the puppy won't hate you and she will learn to cope with all that life brings, I must say though that too much babying will not be good, after all if your girls don't want their hair washed you don't just say ok, they get it done. Firm but fair would be my watchword, good luck and above all relax and have fun with your puppy, I have had both pure and crosses from different breeds and they have all turned out to be great family dogs, good families make good dogs!!

After thought and reading your post my longing for second puppy has arisen. I'm on a list fourth I think for possible litter after mating in August. .. I'm a little hesitant as breeder prefers to choose puppy for each buyer.
After a search on the KC I've found two litters both on assured scheme and sound just what we are searching for.
Our breeder will try my boy's sister this year to mate with a new stud dog but I'm unsure of sibling relationship especially if I have a girl as my boy is entire.
So I'm torn between waiting and hoping I can choose puppy with breeder or go with my heart and seek now?.

Please, please enjoy your pup, I cannot stress this enough.
Rather like having your first child, you tend to panic and worry that you are not a good parent, you do things by the book and try and follow all the info given to you by other mums. I know that I enjoyed my second child much more because I was far more relaxed and followed my gut instinct and maternal instinct which made life so much easier and enjoyable. The same goes with a first puppy, you are so desperate to do things right that a lot of the enjoyment goes out the window.
You are a mum so rely on your maternal instinct with your puppy as she will become another child for you, relax, love pup and you can't go wrong - if you love and care for pup you will not be a bad owner.
Most people are not trained in child care, yet our kids survive, and the same goes for a pup so don't worry - just enjoy every minute.

> My only big concern is that she is still being carried when out and about. She has her booster today but she is timid. Im concerned about how to introduce walking on a lead and walking around town. <br />

I would teach her about the lead at home, put it on and let her go where she wants with no pressure on it from you, then en courage her toward where you want to go so again no tension on the lead.

I'd continue to carry her out in the street until you get somewhere like bench away from the rod and sit with her, then pop her down in a quiet side street/lane to walk a few yards then carry again.

As I have other dogs I always took pup on our walks with me only allowing pup to walk the 156 minutes that a pup of that age should have, picking the quietest spots, and carrying the rest of the time in a holdall.  After pup is fairly confident then she can go on short walks and I'd bring her back home and continue with the others.

My most recent uber confident now almost 10 month pup at her age was still ducking down trying to hide her head in the bag, so gently does it.

The good bite inhibition is actually probably down to the fact she has learnt her manners from her parents/littermates well, but I'd expect you will still get some.

Thank you all so much. Its so heartening to have support.

Pup has been out a few times today. To the vets and school and around town a little. She has only just had her 2nd vac so shes still not safe to be on the ground around town so ive been carrying her everywhere. She is very peaceful but i can tell shes nervous especially when ppl suddenly reach out to pet her. One woman really leant in and pup started shaking. Why dont ppl ask first?! Annoying...

I'm just going to carry on as we are for now. And try not to worry too much.

The children have been fantastic with her. Very respectful and gentle. She seems totally unfazed by them.

Oh and shes learnt fetch and to give her paw. Shes really clever!

Thanks again for the kind words. Im chuffed i found this place!

One woman really leant in and pup started shaking

Dont EVER let strangers or even partialy known people 'lean over' your pup/any pup.

dont ppl ask first?!

STOP THEM! & forget manners & all that!
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A lot of dogs don't like being stroked/patted on the head which is what most people do annoyingly, I'm forever having to explain that. Also humans tend to stare into the eyes of dogs especially puppies, to get their attention which dogs find intimidating, as staring in the dog world is not a friendly thing to do.
Try saying to people to let her come to them rather then them reaching out to stroke her. I find the best way with shy dogs is to offer fingers to sniff if they want to and look away from the pup just watching from the corner of your eye to see if the pup is having a sniff of the fingers. Then it's a tickle under the chin if the pup will allow it.

Ok. Duly noted. I did back up a bit and turn her away slightly but next time i'll be more blunt

Also humans tend to stare into the eyes of dogs especially puppies, to get their attention which dogs find intimidating,

Yes your right i agree & glad you pointed that one out........
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Be assertive, be rude if necessary - she's your puppy, if they want to smoosh a puppy so badly they can get their own!

As for my list of places I have socialised/habituated my puppy, thats a big list of examples - I have a train station, supermarkets, retail park, bus station etc nearby, so I make use of them. If I didn't I would use somewhere else.

The point is that you do enough htat the puppy can then generalise 'all these experiences are fine' rather than you actually take them to every possible location on the planet!

Don't worry about the picking her up - better to avoid her being scared and feeling trapped on the lead - it IS like attachment parenting, you give them the confidence which builds the foundations for them being able to be independent. It is only 'babying' them when you are stopping them from developing further, by stopping them doing things they want to do.

Thats great to hear re the attachment parenting as its the only way i know how to do this.

She still hasnt barked. But she is getting more playful and is very excited to see the children in the morning.

Today we're taking her to town and to my sisters. Fingers crossed it all goes well.

Again i want to say a huge thank you for the help and advice. It is really appreciated. Pup is grateful too. She just doesn't realise it!

My dog didn't bark hardly at all as a puppy, took along time before she actually had her first bark, so don't worry about that. She's not much of a barker now, thankfully, only letting us know if she spots someone she doesn't know or when very excited like when she spots squirrels in the garden

Have got to say.....you could have one of my puppies anytime. Just wish more people would do the research you do. In answer to Hethspaw re KC reg dog, as a reputable breeder, I do ALL the health tests required as all reputable breeders do.

I do ALL the health tests required as all reputable breeders do.

You probably misunderstand what I am saying, its this. The mandatory health tests in europe with working breeds are not simply based on whether 1 dog has this or that or not, they are based on keeping the entire breed in the relevant country at a minimum standard considered necessary to keep >the breed< in that country free from this and that.
You can test for heriditary disorders in your own dog but if only a few of any given breed are doing it then the healthy gene pool just gets smaller. Dobes are classed as a large dog, no Dobe in eurpean countries whose breed registration club takes part in the tests (not all do, KC for instance) is allowed to breed and register the litter unless the parents are HD free, there are very few large breeds which can claim that.
Some breeds are overpopulated to the degree there is a shortage of breed wardens for the litters catchment area & things can go wrong (i am told).
In fairness to other breeds there, Dobes are not a popular breed, Germany, the mother country, breeds more than any other country with the testing programm and they only breed appx 1000pa, compared to over 40,000pa gsd's (or it was that). So, there is not much difficulty in having a Dobe breed warden with the relevant level of knowledge anywhere in Germany, GSD's do have probs.
And it's ALL the fragments throughout the breed what I have referred to in the past.
Once i mention those things then it is up to those here interested (if any) to their research with whichever national breed registration club for which ever breed they are interested in.
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Morning everyone

Sorry I'm slow in replying. The past week has been a bit busy to say the least!

Pup is settling into a good routine. Shes incredibly well behaved for her age. And smart. She has figured out!

Housetraining is very hit and miss. She doesnt signal very much and she obviously prefers not to be watched so she will suddenly disappear under a table or behind a chair. Not helped by the fact that her appetite is low. It can take her an hour to eat a meal. She picks a bit, will run off to play and then come back to it.

I know alot of people don't allow this but at the same time it must be better for her to be able to eat in her own way. Everyone has differing rhythms with food. So it's inconvenient from a housetraining perspective but  we've accepted that.

We're potentially doing it all the hard way (no crate, no seperate bed, although she has her own play space/den, no restricted food) but I'm hoping this will make her feel very secure with us. She's a timid dog.

This is definitely harder work than it seems. But I have a feeling the pay off will be huge. I can see how people get hooked on this. Its really rewarding. Even at this stage.

It can take her an hour to eat a meal.

I feed the 'one meal per day' in 'portions' of around 6-8 portions throughout the day at that age, their day consists of eating, a very short active/play time & sleeping & growing.
If you run short video clips a few times per day you will find that after around 7 days shes grown considerably.......added, you can join them all together into one vid per vid and upload to youtube whats best described as a weekly video diary.
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Ah. Ok. I'm maybe expecting too much with the eating. At the moment she is having her food spread over 4 'meal times. But I will try less food more often.

she should still be on 4 meals per day roughly a handful I'd say per meal (that's what my medium size pups would be getting).

Put it down for no more than 15 minutes and remove not offering anything else until next meal time.

She will soon be eating it at one sitting after missing a meal or two.

I another week or two she may well drop to three meals, a bit more in each obviously, so the amount of food per day is about the same.

My dogs are dobermann, they are classed as large dogs.

Put it down for no more than 15 minutes and remove not offering anything else until next meal time.

Yes, i do that, I never leave it around for much more than 15-25 mins.
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It can take her an hour to eat a meal. She picks a bit, will run off to play and then come back to it.

I would assume your 3 children are not allowed to do this, Same applies with a pup...........
also NEVER go down the route of 'not eating this, well we will try that'  as with children - take it or leave it, if you are hungry you will eat it

What are you feeding?

This is an excellent website to check the quality of the food and also to see what you can get for your budget - http://www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk/the-dog-food-directory

Ok. Will re-think the food issue. She is currently having a grand time running between her food bowl and her toys. But fair point about the children. They have to sit for the duration of meal times. I guess I'm compensating for her being new to us. But I'll stick to a tighter schedule from now on.

At the moment shes still on the food she was on in her first home. Iams proactive health pup food. Along with various treats (duck bites proving incredibly popular).

After a few more days I was going to switch her to one of the better nutritional foods.

Switching to a food when YOU choose to is fine....as long as you do a gradual change over. I was thinking more of the scenario that a number of new to dog owners can land in when they end up with a very picky dog due to constant chopping and changing food because the dog ate less for a couple of meals/missed meals and they 'taught' the dog that 'if you don't eat that you may get something different/better'

Iams proactive health pup food.

My dog has been on iams for life, as was my last male, I see no reason why you should change unless you want to.

Iams is good food, the dog at the link below is mine, she was appx 1 week short of 13 when that was shot which is 3 years past whats supposed to the the breed average, food over the long term, is one of the main factors in a dogs health and fitness, in this short clip she catches a healthy rabbit on the run, which is a reflection of her food, amongst some other variables.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZqt6E--DUI
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Get those ground rules in now otherwise she will be running rings around you.
4 meals a day and if it's not eaten within about 10-15mins it gets picked up and nothing until the next meal time. Make sure when giving treats you take it put of her meal allowance, is ut possible you're filling her up on training treats?

Don't let her dictate when she will be doing something, you need to be putting in what you want her to do and when. It will make life much much easier through adolescence and into adulthood if you get it right now and be consistent between what you do and also everyone else in the household.

Yeah. I think I do need a stricter routine. The housetraining is not progressing at all. In fact the opposite. She is beginning to hold it when she's outside and waiting until she's back inside to go. Both wee and poo. And she can hold it for a long time! We go outside first thing and at all the regular intervals but she sits and cries and paws at the door to get back indoors. Occasionally she will go outside but this is the exception. Reward and praise doesn't seem to motivate her when it comes to this. I'm not sure how to get things back on track. I think she can sense my tension about it. I watch her like a hawk in the house, she looks at me nervously. When she starts sniffing and circling I go to pick her up to take her out and she tries to run. I think I'm making things worse. I'm not sure what to do.

Other than this she is absolutely perfect. So well behaved and gentle. I don't want to ruin her good nature!

Do you stay outside with her? How long are you outside for? I would be with there with her it could be for anything up to 20mins. I don't play and I make sure its boring and as they are doing it I say a queue word and then praise verbally. I've been doing this with clients dogs and I stand there and ignore any attention jumping and turn my back to them.when they do that, they soon go.
Are you using pee pads indoors at all? What's her set up at night? Crate training really helps, my pup goes in hers at night still, no accidents but she's a thief lol

I do stay out with her. I dont play with her. I just stand and look around. But we can be out there for anything up to an hour!! She sniffs about, jumps about, tries to play or if its raining she just cries.

She has certain places in the house she likes to go, namely the kitchen floor and sitting room carpet. Sigh. Which I just ignore. No reprimands. No eye contact.

At night she is totally clean. Sleeps on our bed. No crying , no eliminating. She doesnt wake up. Night times are fantastic. Just day time that is an issue. I haven't tried training pads. I thought it just delayed them learning to go outside? Maybe I'll re-think them. If we can crack this we will have the mythical perfect dog! She's a fast learner eith everything else. She has learnt 3 cues in a week. But she doesn't seem to get my cues for this. I'm doing something wrong. I'm just not sure what.

No you're right don't use training pads. I don't like them and it teaches the pup tp toilet in the home. It os keep going on at it. Not easy but I would reward ger with what works be it voice, treats, toy etc once she's been, ie she's done the business and literally give her something. Try a word as she goes so she associates it. Might make her go quicker. I use 'be quick' but it can be anything from coffee to rock lol choose a word and stick with it

Or when she goes out put her on a lead and just keep walking round and round, it will be boring for her and you but eventually she must relieve herself.

Reward and praise doesn't seem to motivate her when it comes to this.

Thats flawed thinking based on what >you< see should be rewarding. Only the subject animal can be the arbiter of what behaviour has a reinforcing (rewarding) consequence or not and what specifically is reinforcing (rewarding) or not.

EG
Positive reinforcer.
When Dr Harold Shipman saw a patient (stimulus) coming through his surgery door the patient was a positive reinforcing stimulus to shipman.
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Ok. Fair cop regarding the praise and reward.

Well I think I may have worked out the issue. I was putting her on a gravelled area just outside our patio doors to toilet. No luck. But when later playing in a different part of the garden she ran off into what we call our 'wildlife area' (because its a mass of leaves, twigs and mulch). She started to wee there. But when I started to praise her she almost stopped and looked nervous. But when I reassured her she finished. I then made a huge fuss of her.

I think at some point she has been spooked about going in front of me. My fault obviously. I think I need to stop watching her so intently. I think I may be giving her a complex about toileting in my presence. So thats today's project!! Stop freaking out my puppy! Phew. All a big learning curve for me.

A crate is a godsend when housetraining as you can predict when they need to go. Will also be useful to give puppy sleep periods and a haven away from the rest of the family. You can use it when they're teething and my pup would go in one when I'm out, to keep him/her out of mischief. My car and van are also caged up so they travel safely and they love it.

I'm almost in your boat.  In our case we have done a similar level of prep and are on a waiting list, but no pups have been born yet!

I've been reading with interest.

I was going to say, about the toileting, she is a fairly timid-sounding dog.  It could literally be that ONE TIME someone (it might have been the breeder/family) has scolded her or been exasperated by her going in the wrong place.  Where some pups will learn something about WHERE to go that way, most just learn not to go in front of a person.  And also some pups are really resilient and can be told off loads but remain blatant, whereas others will actively hide to go to to the loo after one telling off.  It sounds like you're on the way to resolving it anyway.