Every other puppy I've raised(four total now) has been an absolute pain in my arse, not that I don't love them! But you know the trials and tribulations of raising a dog, lol.
For whatever reason and maybe it's just because I'm used to puppy antics now but Ollie has been nothing but a joy to me. He house broke from day one and he has never been landsharky, he tried it a few times, I made a very loud AH noise and he's never tried it again and he is such a lover. I think I have definitely been hit with the GSD magic!
The only issue I've been having with him(besides teaching him cats are friends, not food) is that he has a fierce independent streak... I would get dismayed when I'd see people talking about their GSD's being shadows and Ollie only follows me around because I keep him tethered all the time. I did not keep him tethered one week because I got frustrated with it and he did not seem to care where I was. Of course I realized what a huge mistake this was, not because of getting into things(I could always see where he was, our house is pretty small with an open floor plan) but because he was learning, "hey, if I don't want to go with her or come to her when she calls I don't have to!" So another good reason to keep puppies on a leash no matter how annoying it is... I was being an idiot, I know this!
Since late last week I have been working hard on recall training, it was what he was worst at and probably the single most important thing to train a dog. It's going really well so far and he's starting to become more and more of a shadow. I've done some recall training at busy places with dogs and people running around and each time I'd call him he'd come bounding back to me with that puppy exuberance making my heart feel like it was going to burst! His recall is not perfect but I think for four months old he is doing awesome. :wild:
Lastly I LOVE playing fetch(throwing the ball not catching it lol) and I've been working hard trying to teach Ollie how to play.... Today was our first real game of fetch! Watching him have so much fun chasing the stick and then running back to me is just amazing.... I know, silly right? It makes me so happy though... At one point I threw the stick really far and it landed behind a tree stump, I thought for sure he wasn't going to find it but he sniffed all around for it, found it and was so proud of himself! I swear he had a puffed out chest LOL.
Anyways this pup is amazing and it's so fun to watch them learn and grow. :wub::wub:
For whatever reason and maybe it's just because I'm used to puppy antics now but Ollie has been nothing but a joy to me. He house broke from day one and he has never been landsharky, he tried it a few times, I made a very loud AH noise and he's never tried it again and he is such a lover. I think I have definitely been hit with the GSD magic!
The only issue I've been having with him(besides teaching him cats are friends, not food) is that he has a fierce independent streak... I would get dismayed when I'd see people talking about their GSD's being shadows and Ollie only follows me around because I keep him tethered all the time. I did not keep him tethered one week because I got frustrated with it and he did not seem to care where I was. Of course I realized what a huge mistake this was, not because of getting into things(I could always see where he was, our house is pretty small with an open floor plan) but because he was learning, "hey, if I don't want to go with her or come to her when she calls I don't have to!" So another good reason to keep puppies on a leash no matter how annoying it is... I was being an idiot, I know this!
Since late last week I have been working hard on recall training, it was what he was worst at and probably the single most important thing to train a dog. It's going really well so far and he's starting to become more and more of a shadow. I've done some recall training at busy places with dogs and people running around and each time I'd call him he'd come bounding back to me with that puppy exuberance making my heart feel like it was going to burst! His recall is not perfect but I think for four months old he is doing awesome. :wild:
Lastly I LOVE playing fetch(throwing the ball not catching it lol) and I've been working hard trying to teach Ollie how to play.... Today was our first real game of fetch! Watching him have so much fun chasing the stick and then running back to me is just amazing.... I know, silly right? It makes me so happy though... At one point I threw the stick really far and it landed behind a tree stump, I thought for sure he wasn't going to find it but he sniffed all around for it, found it and was so proud of himself! I swear he had a puffed out chest LOL.
Anyways this pup is amazing and it's so fun to watch them learn and grow. :wub::wub: