My new dog is on his way from Germany!

[msvette2u]

To the OP - if you chance back this way please read and follow ---


This is the actual write up I give people who adopt dogs from us. (a paw up rescue)


"I introduced her to 15 people" " he was a bit leery but seems to like my other 3 dogs"
"she went everywhere with me "
All in the first few days of the new home..... (!!!)

Two weeks later we read
“I think we will have to rehome the new dog" "the new dog barked and nipped at my kid"
"we had a dog fight"

Ok, folks, here it comes; some feel this is extreme, why? I really do not know.
But when bringing in a new dog, post finding, adoption, buying, etc, Give it time to adjust to you
your family and the dogs in the new environment.

TWO WEEKS - "shut down"
For the first two weeks, (sometimes even longer) a dog takes in the new environment, who is the top
persons, dogs, who ARE these people! By pushing a dog too fast and throwing too much at the dog we look like we are not the leaders and the dog can feel it MUST defend itself, as the leader is surely
no one he has met so far!
We coo, coddle, drag the dog to home to home to person to person, and the dog has NO idea who
we are.
As member Maryellen here said, "This is the dating period NOT the honeymoon"
When you first met your "mate”, you were on your best behavior, you were not relaxed enough to be
all of yourself, were you? Just think of the things you do physically once you get to KNOW a person,
you wouldn’t run up to a stranger and hug them and squeeze them!
Imagine, if on the first date, this new person, was all over you touching you and having their friends hug you
and pat you on the head, and jostle your shoulders, then he whisked you off to another stranger’s home and
they did the same thing. Would you think this person normal and SAFE? Wouldn’t you feel invaded and
begin to get a bit snarky yourself? Wouldn’t you think to push these people away for obviously your date
is out of their mind and they aren’t going to save you from these weirdos!!
Yet we do this to our dogs, and then get upset or worried that they aren’t relaxed and accepting of EVERYTHING
instantly!

By shutting down the dog, it gives the dog TIME to see you, meet YOU, hear and take in the new sounds
and smells of your home.
I crate the dog in a room by itself if possible.(Believe me, dogs are sensory animals, they know more than you think without seeing it).
I take it out on a leash (so I don’t have to correct it ..I don’t have that right yet!), I give it exercise time in the yard,
I do no training at all, just fun exercise and maybe throw some toys for fun, leash the dog if you don’t have a fence outside. But I DO NOT leave my yard, AT ALL.
No car rides, no other dogs, (unless crated beside them), no pet stores, no WALKS even, nothing but me, my home, my yard. (Unless of course the dog needs to go to the veterinarian)
Believe me dogs can live two weeks without walks. Walks are stressful for there is so much coming at you! And the new person you have no clue who they are yet. The dog may react to something and we start correcting it with the leash and we just installed a VERY STRESSFUL moment to the dog!
TEACH the dog by doing the shut down, that YOU are the one to look to, that you are now here for the dog! He can
trust in you and look to you as its new leader!!
In the house I have the dog out only for about 20 minutes post exercise/yard times.
And, ALWAYS on a leash.
Then PUT THE DOG AWAY. Let it absorb and think.
I do not introduce the dogs for these two weeks, they can be side by side in the crates, (not nose to nose for they can feel defensive) . Some dogs will bond instantly with the other dogs if we don’t bond FIRST with the dog, and this can lead to some other issues, as the dog will look to the other dog(s) for guidance and not YOU!

Literally in two weeks you will see a change in the dog and begin to see its honest and true personality.
Just like a house guest...they are well behaved and literally shut down themselves these first few weeks, then
post this time, they relax and the true personality begins to shine thru!


So, please, if nothing else for your new dog, give it the time to LEARN YOU as you are learning who they are!
This method works on shy dogs, confident dogs, abuse cases, chained dogs that come in, rowdy dogs, all temperaments!

(From PBF’s “luvnfstuff”, revised for spelling errors)

[vom Eisenherz]

Originally Posted by Freestep

Sooooo true! I have a friend who started her dog in bitework... and then went across the country for some graduate program, leaving the dog in the care of her not-dog-savvy husband. The dog bit a kid in the face, would attempt to kill every animal it saw (including horses, deer, other dogs, etc) ...

What does SchH training have to do with any of that behavior? Do you really think a dog needs to be taught to bite? And what part of sport training uses small children or other animals as decoys?

[San]

Originally Posted by Kyleigh

It's too bad he's left ... San ... thanks for the clarification ... that was exactly what I meant ... I guess I should have put more information in my post.

You are welcome I think some of the terms we use in dog world can be confusing to people who are not familiar with them, I didn't want the OP to leave because of a simple misunderstanding.

[Olivers mama]

Originally Posted by San

I think some of the terms we use in dog world can be confusing to people who are not familiar with them, I didn't want the OP to leave because of a simple misunderstanding.

The OP isn't leaving because of terminology. Or a simple misunderstanding. There are 14 pages here & most of it is negative. The OP is not a novice to GSDs or dog ownership in general, but was treated without a fair amount of respect, IMO.

There are ways of training dogs now vs in the past. Even some of the past-used methods are not harmful or "bad". They just don't set well with many people here. The 2-week shutdown & crate-and-rotate are relatively new. I would've hoped the OP would read the posts that were helpful & ignore the posts that were mean. At least, that's what I suggested to her.

I read & follow threads. Investigate others. Comment on some. I'd love to ask a few pointed questions, but 2 years worth of reading how the forum responds to some newbies, I've decided I'm not ready to be smacked. Fighting cancer is hard enough. I have neither the inclination nor the energy to read nasty comments made on my computer screen.

I wish some of you would take the time to re-read your comments before you post. Ever wonder how many people never come back?

[SofaBear]

Congratulations on your new doggie. And your little boy is just precious.

[x11]

eh, some people are over-sensitive when they don't get told what they want to hear. my first forum i was green as a ...really green thing? when the old vultures figured that rather quickly they had a field day - no learning occurred at my end just met, judgemental and condescending with stupid.

never let that get in the way of my growth tho, used it as fuel, as i found out most of the most vocal and judgemental have never trained anything more than a house pet.

evolve or die - the timid chaterrers are nothing but speed bumps, use them but don't use yr energy getting angry at them they are just sheep.

[wolfy dog]

I think that the members of the forum are nothing but helpful. Sometimes you get advice that is not what you wanted or expected to hear. We all respond from our own experiences. Written help often doesn't come across as you mean it.
Part of my concern was my own experience with a GSD in the past, way before I knew what I know now and the reason for going into dog training as a trainer. t may very well be the reason it came across too strong to the OP. So here it goes:
He was a beautiful sweet GSD who had let in a burglar while we were gone. We found him loose on the property. He was about 2 years old. The policeman who investigated told me to have the dog protection trained since he was too sweet. So we did on his recommendation. Long story short: after the month long out of home traininghe started to bite randomly and when he injured a neighbor child on the head we were forced to put him to sleep after consulting several trainers, hence the comment of "the loaded gun". This experience happened more than 20 years ago, also when we had small children. It has haunted me to this day. This was a good dog who we all loved very much but he was ruined by this training and we were not counseled by the trainer. Sure we were naive and stupid by letting him alone with kids because we didn't have a clue. Now I know better and that's why I took the leap of adopting WD. Never will WD be exposed to any of this training (personal preference, no need to take it as an offense). I just hope with all my heart this doesn't happen to the OP.

[Freestep]

Originally Posted by vom Eisenherz

What does SchH training have to do with any of that behavior? Do you really think a dog needs to be taught to bite? And what part of sport training uses small children or other animals as decoys?

I didn't say it was SchH training. I said it was bitework. She wasn't interested in doing SchH, she wanted a PP dog. She didn't do much obedience with him, certainly no formal obedience.

Basically, the dog was a spoiled brat who learned that it was fun and rewarding to bite, and he learned that he could solve his problems with aggression. His owner encouraged it.

I never said or implied that SchH training causes dogs to bite children or attack other animals. I'm saying that if you put a bite trained dog without any obedience or control into a pet home, you have a potentially dangerous situation.

[onyx'girl]

Originally Posted by x11

eh, some people are over-sensitive when they don't get told what they want to hear. my first forum i was green as a ...really green thing? when the old vultures figured that rather quickly they had a field day - no learning occurred at my end just met, judgemental and condescending with stupid.

never let that get in the way of my growth tho, used it as fuel, as i found out most of the most vocal and judgemental have never trained anything more than a house pet.

evolve or die - the timid chaterrers are nothing but speed bumps, use them but don't use yr energy getting angry at them they are just sheep.

If you had used the word magic anywhere here, I'd think you were Fast!

[robk]

I do agree that the board was overwhelmingly condescending to the OP. Which is too bad. I also want to say that I do NOT believe a bite trained dog is a bigger liability than a non bite trained dog. Matter a fact, having recently been bitten by a friends random pet I believe that a well bred well trained schutzhund dog is actually safer to be around than most poorly trained nerve bags that most people have as pets. At least the schutzhund dog has a clear understanding of when it is ok to bite and not bite. I am not saying that the OPs dog was very well trained but by the videos I watched, he did seem to have good nerves which is more than I can say about many of the other dogs I see with the average pet owner. I hope the OP decides to come back but if they don't they are among many others who have left for similar reasons.