Puppy Changes

[Firefighter200]

Our friend who breeds German Shepherds asked us if we would want one of their puppies from their last litter. We currently have two Lab/Shepherd mixes that will be turning 9 years old and figured why not. We got our Schatzi when she was just 8 weeks old and this now makes 3 female dogs in the same house.

From our first week with our new puppy, we started to work with her on the simple commands like sit, stay and give me paw. She got the sit and give me paw command really fast but the stay command just did not seem to be working well. Working with the stay and come command has been challenging. It is like working with a person with ADHD. She would break concentration at the littlest of noises. ( This still has not changed. )

She is now 4 months old and just started to bark at passing dogs ( which she never did before ) and stopped giving paw and sitting even for a treat. I am at a loss for words or training ideas. My wife and I are volunteer firefighters and just now wrapping up our EMT certifications. We planned on getting her trained to do search and rescue in the beginning part of the new year but I do not know if we should right now due to her changing attitude. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Kejasa]

My pup started barking at other dogs at a fairly young age. She is 4 1/2 months now. I put her in doggie daycare three times a week. It worked wonders on her. She now looks forward to meeting other dogs and views them as playmates.

[1sttimeforgsd]

Can you work with her by redirecting her and giving her a treat when she complies? They do go through stages where they seem to forget everything that they have learned but I cannot remember the ages that they do this. Good luck with your girl, don't give up, just keep working with her and reward when she does good.