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Puppy Help - 3 month old

820 views 2 replies 2 participants last post by  JonnyMac 
#1 ·
Hey there guys, first post on this site and first time GSD owner. First, this site is great. It has so much information and has helped me a lot with my girl. Seems to be my goto place when she's made me frustrated and never fails to calm me.

Anyway, I have a 3 month old GSD. I got her when she was 7 weeks. Her name is Baylee. She is a DDR/Czech line - from what I've read that's a good working line, also known as Akbar? I believe.
She has typical puppy behavior: land shark stage, doesn't really listen, always on the go, clumsy, the whole works. I'm working at getting us into puppy classes as soon as I can get on the list.

She is my dog, but also is around my family and their dogs (two Yorkies). I have trained her the basic commands sit, stay, lay down, shake, sit pretty, stand, and speak and she does them extremely well. When she wants to listen, she will - however when the other dogs are in the mix she's just focused on playing with them. 1) Which is no big deal, but how I can get her to focus on me while she's playing and I call her?

Secondly, we take two walks a day, one in the morning and one at night. None of the areas have an abundance of other dogs and my vet said that's okay to do. She does okay, when the other dogs are present. If it's just me and her, she constantly tries to jump into my arms. I've read this is pretty common, so I try to increase the distance slowly and praise her and give treats. 2) am I on the right track with this method in order to get her to walk? She does fine when we're out and about in public, just not in the neighborhood.

Thirdly, it seems sometimes as if she doesn't like me as many of other family members. She sleeps with me in my room, she is crate trained, right next to my bed. I always play with her, always rub her and pet her, and praise and give bunch of treats. I try to make myself the most enjoyable thing in the world but whenever I get home from work it's like 10 seconds of wagging her tail and then she's off. But yet, my mom and dad and brother get way more wiggles of the butt and kisses. I know I sound jealous lol. 3) does she not like me? How can I get her to be happy with me?

She likes to back talk when she gets in trouble. So I firmly tell her NO and she'll try and bite my finger. I have tried holding her tongue down gently, holding her upper lips, or suspension. While she is too heavy for suspension now, I try cradling her with my hand under jaw but she never ever becomes submissive. I try to refrain from the old school methods, as that is all my parents have grew up on, so positive training is what I try to do. 4) what are somethings I can do to get her to stop biting and be submissive when she needs to calm down?

Thank you for your help. It is much appreciated!
 
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#2 ·
While i am no GSD puppy expert, I had similar experiences with my now 5 month Black/Red pup

1) work on recall A LOT with all different types of distractions. I made it a habit to carry training treats w me everywhere I went inside or outside. I even stashed some in our common hang out places (ie living room, etc). Work on her recall throughout the day, especially when she's with other family members, wandering into other rooms, playing with toys, playing with other dogs, sniffing around.. You get the idea. Just be sure to praise her everytime!

2) at 3 months my husband thought it was sooo cute when she would asked to be picked up on walks, just ignore the behavior or correct with a quick no, but stay focused on the walk itself.
It will pass..

3) at the beginning I noticed her wanting to be with my husband when we were both home because she rarely saw him with his work hours. My recall training helped with this. When she was playing with my husband, I would often call her and praise. Eventually she thought found it typical hang out with me and listen to my commands. She may find your family as fun friends, meanwhile you're the boss. Maybe she just doesn't wanna act out too much when greeting you ?

4) "biting the hand that feeds you" dejavu. Oh boy she started to get quite bratty starting at that age. She ALWAYS tried to bite my index finger when correcting her. Sometimes she would snap the air knowing it was coming. For example she could already anticipate that I would ask ask to, "get off the bed." I feel as though this got worse actually getting better. I think she was testing my limits for sure. She doesn't try to bite my fingers anymore, but she does have the nerve to occasionally bark instead!... Just stand your ground. It's a constant work in progress

I hope my advice helped and while someone may say or think that not all of my advice is "perfect"... I am trying my best and it seems you are too! Hang in there!
 
#3 ·
Thank you for your reply. Any help is much appreciated! I am a first time GSD owner. So I am constantly learning as we go.

I have started clicker training with her, and she loves it. She's really focused and engaged when we do it. And it's working with commands when I call her and she's busy doing stuff. Puppy classes should be coming soon too so I'm hoping that will help.

Walking is still an issue. She likes to bite at my jeans or cringe for dear life onto my pant leg with her legs. Short distances is all we can do. Hoping this passes soon.

I am working on socializing her more as well. She isn't necessarily fearful, because when the neighbors come over or something she is gets excited but she doesn't quite let them pet her right away. It's almost like she is kind of iffy about it. But, she has been coming with me on trips and seeing and hearing bunches of things. So it's a work in progress.

One thing she is still bad at is focusing on me when we are out. If there is other dogs around she'll focus on them. If there is something interesting she'll focus on that. She refuses to look at me, and when she does I praise praise praise and click with treat. But she never eats the treat. She hears the click, but won't engage in me. Any tips for getting her to focus with me? Without distractions she does pretty good. It's when things get in the mix she loses it.
 
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