Eric my new GSD pup (9 wks) is healthy, happy and seems quite bright - though I detect stubborn in spades. :)

I've only had him since Tuesday so am not expecting miracles - more some helpful input before it develops into a problem.  And I'm currently looking for local training classes (The local GSD club not meeting currently due to leaking hut).

It's 2 1/2 weeks before we can go out walking, so we've been to look at trams, people, cars, and other such interesting stuff.  He's fascinated by seagulls  :)

My first three dogs (GSD/Heinz 57 cross and 2x BMD) responded nicely to 'ouch' at various volumes and the odd shake of the scruff when chewing hands, wrists, sleeves, fingers etc, reducing pressure to mouthing and then stopping.  But would still have safe mouthing play games when asked.  Eric?  Well thus far he just chews a different bit of me, or leaps for the incoming hand to his scruff.  He just thinks it's great!   Distraction to a bone/chew works - but of course isn't solving anything.

Problem is he chews quite hard, and I am becoming perforated. 

Should I be coming down even harder, or am I missing a point somewhere, or is this just going to take much longer than with my previous dogs.  If I shake his scruff and he squeaks, he does back off, and I get a lick, but I don't want him squeaking every time I correct him on this, surely?  I don't want to be too hard on him, but I want to see a little progress - just a teeny bit so I know it is getting through.

On other areas, house training is coming along superbly - after four days - marvelous - he squeaks a little when he needs to go already.  Course once outside he forgets why we're there so I get to stand outside freezing til he remembers!  And he often stops at the back door, lets daddy go out first and looks at daddy standing out in the cold, but he does come after a short pause for his entertainment.  But house is surviving well thus far!!

He's pretty much crate trained - asks to come out, doesn't whimper, goes in to sleep - I only intended to borrow it for the journey home from collecting him, but he went back in first night here to sleep (with door open).  So I thought I would use it when I popped out.  Close him in and you only get a token whimper at most, otherwise he just settles and sleeps.

Recall is coming along nicely in the house, total deafness in the garden, even when carrying best bacon scraps so far.  In the garden he'll just sit under a bush and look at me, or come when he's ready.  But this is progressing too, so recalls will come I'm sure.  Biggest problem with recall is he seems to want to come back to chew me.  So I don't tell him off for arriving at 90mph so I praise him, and he eats me.  Sometimes he just comes straight for a hand, nose or wrist.

This could get challenging.  Help and hints please!!!!

thanks,

Matt

Hi Matt

Your little lad sounds a lovely character and is clearly a smart fellow in that he's picking up on the basics of housetraining and adapting well to his crate in such a short space of time :)

Re the mouthing - I wouldn't scruff a puppy for this (or anything).  Reasons  - as you've tried it and seen (and felt) first hand, he will either turn it into a wrestling game or he'll be hurt/frightened by it and you don;t want him to associate hands - any hands with a negative experience.

If "ouch" isn't having the desired result try saying "Ah, ah" in your firmest tone possible and immediately removing yourself from him having contact with you.  The important element is to ensure that he learns inappropriate behaviour has a negative effect because any game, contact, interaction, company etc is stopped in an instant ;)   If you do the reverse and pick him up to put in his cage or for time-out in another room etc you will have given him a response whereas what you need to concentrate on is not responding to him - ergo why you leave and have time out for 30 seconds up to say a couple of minutes maximum.  

Have you read the link posted previously on the forum re teaching bite inhibition?  http://www.jersey.net/~mountaindog/berner1/bitestop.htm It's very effective.

HTH, regards Teri :)

Yes, he's training me well  :)

I'm astonished he's taken to the crate so quickly, frankly.  I'm now intending to buy one before I return this one for when I go out shopping/working (I work from home and am rarely out for much over an hour).  He sees it as quite cosy, and somewhere safe, I think.  He either naps in there or at my feet.

Am reading that Bern biting inhibition link right now - will print it off, and follow it.  Noticed that immediately after posting my question - didn't see it in an hour of looking through these forums last night.  Oh well.

I will try the suggestions at the next opportunity.  Thanks!

Eric has just proudly come in with yet another crackly carrier bag from the kitchen - there shouldn't be any left at his level!

It actually sounds like the technique my Bern breeder recommended - 'cept she recommended a gentle scruffing them when no response to an ouch.  The way I was told was a gentle shake, with a firm 'no'.  As you say he's starting to see this as part of the game (It's kinda silly as he goes from wrist to wrist, and I'm trying to shake him off, or reach his scruff - it's clearly not working - hence the post).  The only time he squeaked it wasn't intentional - I don't want to bully him.  He's only a baby, and I know he's only playing.

I'd like to see some quick progress on this, though, as he bites currently a damn sight harder than I ever remember my previous three doing - even a "YEAOOOOWWW!!!!" only got me a look, and I still had to remove the 16 hypodermics from my wrist manually, rather than him letting go.

It's rather putting me off socialising him with children or oustide the local school yet, as his first greeting is often a sniff, quickly followed by a gentle nibble then a good chew of his new bone/friend.  :)  I don't remember the others being quite so focussed.  It's quite hard to just stroke him or praise him sometimes.

My 5yo daughter doesn't like it - and I don't want her to start being wary of the pup - but likewise he can't be nibbling her anything like as hard as I can take.

It's been a while since I've had a pup, so my memory may have faded.  Certainly I'd forgotten just how much had to be out the way (I take the approach if it's on the floor, it's the dogs, if it's on the sofa or side, it's ours.)

Have already retrieved my slippers from his crate, several towels he helpfully got out of the washing machine for us, car keys from the garden etc.

Considering the amount of time spent so far, he;s going to be a star if I can train him well enough.

Matt

Hi Matt ;)

Shepherds are very good at training their humans aren't they and if the tables were turned, they would have the best trained humans in every class category :D

Just to add to Teri's excellent advice, the bite inhibition link that you are printing off, make sure that all of the family follow it. There's nothing worse than you teaching one thing and then having all the hard work undone when another family member does the complete opposite - believe me, I know :rolleyes:

Consistency, time and patience will always pay off. Even if you feel like you're banging your head against a brick wall for many months. You'll get there in the end. ;)

Distraction at every opportunity is also a good one. When he goes to nibble at you, throw a toy, whatever pleases him and presses his buttons.

Have you got plenty of things that he can chew. Like filled Kongs, recreational bones from the butcher, etc.

Up until April last year I had my last Shepherd and she was a delight to own, if not slightly stubborn, bossy and downright cantankerous at times and she was only 7 when she passed. She could outwit me and the others without any effort at all :D But she did teach my current breed a thing or two about manners and doggy etiquette, for that I will always be grateful.

He sounds absolutely wonderful with plenty of spirit and confidence, now all you have to do is hone those qualities and you'll have yourself a superb dog :)

I agree with the above advice, and want to wish you well with your pup :)

At certain stages, you may find he gets a little worse before he gets better, it can take a few months for them to stop it altogether.

Enjoy him!

Lindsay
x

Buy a e-collar they always do the trick it will soon learn not to do it.

"It"?

Such advice shows complete ignorance.

Yes he's well on the way to having me at his beck and call  :)

Our teenager will be the challenge - he was/is incapable of leaving dogs alone - he's been nipped by a Jack Russell pup so far, entirely his fault, and he was warned it was coming if he didn't leave her.  I'd have bitten him a lot sooner.  He got surprisingly little sympathy from anyone.  He doesn't believe it was a warning shot across his bows - he thinks he was savaged.  :rolleyes:  So Eric will get little private time with him.

He's got plenty of toys - no kongs or similar as yet - on the list however.  Went to two of the local butchers for bones - seems demand is exceeding supply at the minute(!!), but the local butcher has been asked to have some for next week.  It never occured to me to pre-order bones!

His fave toy is me and a well worn rope tug (not impressed much with the new one), so is fairly easy to disctract him with this - I keep it handy  :)

Sorry to hear about your Shepherd - 7 is very young.  :(

One thing I could do with currently is a friend with a decent adult dog - Most of my friends either have cats or a couple with barely adult dogs, neither of which is really ideal etiquette teaching material yet, and an old girl who is at an age where she really just wants to be left alone.  I need a nice level headed adult to put him in his place from time to time.

With hindsight I should have got a pup before my Max had to be pts at 14, he'd have sorted him well.

Walking out in a huff seems to actually register with him - there's even the merest glimmer of uncertainty when you yell ouch a little later.  Course he soon forgets.  First attempt didn't quite work - for I only pulled the door to, rather than shut it properly - so there am I stood in the hall, scratch, scratch, whimper, and he's there tugging my trouser bottoms.  ho hum.

I'd forgotten how great they are at this age with all the hiccoughs, falling over, getting stuck etc.  :D

Sounds just exactly the same in all areas (breed apart) to our Jack.
Great with crate, though haven't shut door on him as when he is left he is only in kitchen and no further house access. His main problem for us is the biting/mouthing/chewing which is a pain especially with children. We have peppered the shoes and slippers of daughter and it has been fairly effective. Its hard as we dont want either afraid of the other! Our boy is also 9 weeks.

Quite - i'd hate for our littlest to end up afraid of him, as she's actually the most mature with animals, but she's also the least likely to be wearing her slippers - this will change soon enough!  :D

Lots of careful management and lateral thinking - the dog is proving easier than the kids!  The more we think about it the happier we are about the crate - he has somewhere safe to skulk off to when he wants the kids to leave him alone.

Good game innit?  - best of luck with Jack!!!

There's a good little book out called something like "Dog training for children" or similar, by Sarah Whitehead, it's got lots of photos in and shows how quite young children can take part in training the family dog. I don't know if it's any interest, the emphasis is on fun for both parties :)

Lindsay
x

Really?  What an excellent idea!

(pops over to amazon)  Puppy Training for Kids and it's only just over £7.

I was wondering if and how to involve the kids a little more safely.  Our youngest would love it.  I suspect the oldest would too - but he's far to cool to admit that.  :)

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Hi matt.....I have a 9wk old border collie pup called Abby.  At the moment she is curled up having an late afternoon nap before some more play time.  You are very lucky that Eric enjoys his crate, Abby is not so keen, she is okay at night but when I am having a shower and put her in it - she howls until she is taken back out.  I also have an indoor run but she does not like this either.  I have read the link on biting and it gives good advice.....Have fun with Eric and good luck

He howls quietly for a minute or two if he's wide awake, wanting to play and he's in there after a few mins he just hmppphs and has another nap, but I let him out at this point to carry on with mad puppy mode.

He was howling 20 mins ago - came down, waited for him to shut up - hopefully I'm waiting long enough to not reinforce the howling.  Let him out, and down the garden - after a bit of a play he's back asleep and back in the crate with the door open snoring his little head off!

Have you tried covering the crate? - ours is under the table so well out the way and fairly dark - in the day his other fave spot to sleep is the dark corner behind a chair (well when he's not trying to sleep on my feet that is)

Hi Matt, i am sooooooooooooo jealous, my shepherd is now coming on for 18 months but i can still remember that lovely black fluffy fur like it was yesterday, although he is still quite puppyish he now weighs in at a whopping 52kgs!

Anyway, after that initial trip down memory lane the reason for my post is that i too have young children and purchased that and other books and also as soon as our pup was old enough to start classes i took the kids along too and the lady who ran the class was more than happy to show the kids a few basics as well, i have always encouraged them to take part in all that we do with our dogs and they have a great bond with them now although i must admit that the nipping stage did last til he was about 5 months and the only thing that worked was time out but perserverance certainly paid off and he is an excllent big soppy baby now.

Good luck with your gorgeous pup