Is it to late to start fresh?

[x2jesse1x]

My GSD is almost 2 years old. I have had the liberty of owning him since he was literally a puppy. I started off strong. Took him to obedience classes every week. I realize that I have neglected him for awhile now by not properly training him. He listens to me however thats pretty much where it ends. He is a very sweet dog and I'll love him no matter what I just need to know if it's not to late to get back on track and actually make him a well mannered/obedient dog.

And what are your suggestions. He runs wild when let out of the house. I have to constant worry about if he is going over the neighbors house. He does 1000 spins when he is about to go out side knocking into everything. Jumps on everyone else. Bites at your hand when you attempt to pet him. I'm sure there is more but I'm over welmed.

I feel like a failure but ill do whatever is necessary to correct this.

Thanks

[PaddyD]

Not too old. Get him back into training. The discipline begins with a disciplined owner. If you are erratic then he will be too. You have to be consistent in order for him to trust and respect you.

[MaggieRoseLee]

Not to late at all!

I'd take a bit of break from 'obedience' and instead work on :

Click this ---> Engagement - Key to Training

And EXERCISE! So fun games/hikes/socialization experience that are with you and that will wear him out!

[Cassidy's Mom]

It's never too late! In addition to working on engagement (making you lots more FUN!) as MRL suggests, I would institute some management strategies, such as taking him outside on a long line so he can't "run wild" and go over to the neighbor's house, and don't ever leave him out there unattended.

I'd also make everything just STOP until he calms down. If he gets all excited and goes nuts, you do the exact opposite - go quiet and still, and WAIT. The second he stops jumping up and down, or shrieking, or spinning in circles, or whatever it is that he does, mark it ("yes!") and give him a treat, or give him access to whatever he got excited about in the first place - going outside? putting the leash on for a walk? eating a meal? Reinforcing calm behavior over time, and making wild out of control behavior no longer work to get him what he wants will go a long way, but it may take him a little while to figure it out.

Even your attention is reinforcing, no looking at him, pushing him off you, telling him "no, no, bad dog" is reinforcing the behavior, so reward him for the kind of behavior you want, by engaging him in play. NILIF is excellent: Nothing in Life is Free

[catz]

At 2 years old your dog has a longer attention span and a bit of maturity and sense on his side so its a perfect time to get back into training. My girl will be 2 in a few months and she gets tricks and commands 10 times quicker then when she was a wild puppy.
I bet your dog will be delighted that you're spending more time focusing on him.. go for it and have fun

[Draugr]

Never too late to start fresh!

And right now like catz said I'd say your dog has all the advantages. More focus and maturity than he had as a puppy.

So now is a great time to start fresh with him.

~

I also echo what Cassidy's Mom said. Even a negative reinforcer (verbal/physical aversive for instance) can encourage a behavior to continue. For excitement the best thing to do is ignore him until he calms down. We are working on this for my dog but it is hard to get the family on board with the program. He is making steady progress, though.

[LDB158]

It's not too late at all. I have a story similar to yours but it looks like you got common sense before I did. I got one of my german shepherds when he was two years old. I was 18 years old, and had other things on my mind than spending time with him. When I first got him, he was my best friend and I spend all my time with him. But then, I left him in the backyard because my parents didn't want him to be inside at all and would feed him/water him everyday and play fetch with him every now and then. I just got busy with school, friends, and work, and felt like I was too busy to walk him and spend alot of time with him. I didn't actually start trying to be a good pack leader until about 2.5 years ago and after I bought my first house; he was 5 years old then. I feel awful because it's like the first 3 years that I had him, I didn't spend the amount of time with him that I should have. He became an inside dog when I moved to a new house and I began spending most of my time with him and my other dogs when I wasn't working. Back then, if I had the choice, I would always go out with friends instead of spending time with him. Now it is the opposite; when people invite me out to do something, I would rather spend time with my dogs. He is an extremely awesome dog and I love him to death. One of his favorite games is hide and seek. I will have a handful of treats and I make my dogs stay in the kitchen. I will go and hide and when I say "Find me," the game begins. My three dogs will run all over the house trying to find me. They find me within seconds because they can smell the food. Once they find me they run back to the kitchen and sit again getting ready for another round. We do this for about half a hour, because I don't want them to get too bored with the game.

I hope my story gives you some sort of encouragment in knowing that it's not too late. Have a great time with him!