Hans is 1 1/2 and when I adopted him 3 weeks ago, I took him straight from the previous owner's house to obedience training. I took a class with him and then left him there for 5 days. Whenever I went to pick him up we did a class together and a couple more after that. He has made remarkable progress from a totally unmannered, out of control dog to one who will sit/stay, down/stay, heel, come, knows what "no" means, find it and bring it. Oh, and "find your potty spot", lol. He has been trained with a prong collar and tons of praise. The trainers I took him to do not use treats as rewards, so he is not treat motivated.
There are a couple of things I am having trouble with and would appreciate all opinions and help. After a couple of minutes of being told sit/stay he has just started lying down. Not certain of best way to correct that. Also, at the vet this week, I told him to sit/stay and he did, but proceeded to bark until the vet and I could barely have a conversation. Telling him "no" didn't do a thing and I don't think snapping his prong collar would have accomplished anything other than causing him to break "sit". When I originally took him for training and complained that he was mouthing my hand like a little puppy would and sometimes it would get rougher, the trainer said to take my open hand smack him pretty hard under the jaw and tell him "no". Is that appropriate for the barking problem?
He also said to smack him under the jaw when he chews on the leash because the leash is an extension of my arm and I wouldn't let him chew on that! I always try "no" first but he absolutely ignores that when barking, chewing and biting. I am going to take him back to the trainers so we can work on some issues sometime next week, but in the meantime am interested in some other opinions/fresh ideas from those much more experienced than I. Hans is my first GSD.
Angela
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