How much is too much?

[Skribbles]

I've got a 14 week (approx.) Shepherd rescue (Chloe!). We've had her since Dec 1 and she's been a great dog so far and a fantastic learner. I'm curious on how much obedience I should expect out of her at this age and in the near future.

We've learned a lot of tricks from watching Tab289 and a couple other videos on youtube: sit, down, roll, dead, cover eyes, shake and high five are all mastered with hand signals and/or verbal cues. Potty training took about 2 days after we taught her to ring a bell hanging from the door (although there have been a couple accidents when she gets too excited while playing). I can't say enough how helpful those videos are.

We still have plenty of trouble with other commands. She'll come every time in our training sessions, but never when I try to get her back into the house.

Walking her is a nightmare. Constant pulling on the leash, stopping to sniff everything, wanting to play with every person that she sees, etc. I try to walk her twice a day (weather permitting since it is winter) but it is unbelievably frustrating. We start an obedience class next week which will hopefully correct some of this.

Am I expecting too much? Teaching too much too quick? We usually have a session when I get home for lunch, another right after work and then another later at night if we don't go for a long walk.

Also, is there an approximate size for this age? She is about 20lbs right now.

Thanks

Love the forums.

[MaggieRoseLee]

German Shepherd Weight Chart and Height has a good height/weight chart, remember it's just a guide though, our pups can grow at different rates.

Good for you for using Tab289, he's got great info for young dogs and sounds like you are doing well.

I ended up using a no-pull type harness while waiting for my pup to grow up for the prong collar and classes. There is also a head halter that is supposed to work well.



Easy Walk Harness Product Description - Premier Pet

[Angelina03]

Hi,
I'm new here too. My Rocco is 14 wks in two days and I'm having the same issues with him. He's very smart and learns fast but doesn't always listen, walks are all about pulling and sniffing (and eating rocks! lol), and the biting is relentless. We already started training classes with him but the progress is so slow. I'm learning to be very patient. Sometimes I wonder if I should be doing more (or less). I hope you get some answers here so that I can read them too!

"I ended up using a no-pull type harness while waiting for my pup to grow up for the prong collar and classes."
I tried one of these but he just kept falling over. He couldn't walk right with it.

[Skribbles]

Originally Posted by Angelina03

Hi,
I'm new here too. My Rocco is 14 wks in two days and I'm having the same issues with him. He's very smart and learns fast but doesn't always listen, walks are all about pulling and sniffing (and eating rocks! lol), and the biting is relentless. We already started training classes with him but the progress is so slow. I'm learning to be very patient. Sometimes I wonder if I should be doing more (or less). I hope you get some answers here so that I can read them too!

"I ended up using a no-pull type harness while waiting for my pup to grow up for the prong collar and classes."
I tried one of these but he just kept falling over. He couldn't walk right with it.

Sounds identical. The biting has slowed the last few days thankfully although I think it was her choice because we haven't done much different other than starting to play tug-of-war with her.

[Gracie's My Girl]

I think that paying attention to you and listening is something that is built over time. At 14 weeks, everything is a new experience and life is fun. At that age, I worked on building focus...but also had to remember that my puppy was going to be far from perfect.

Harnesses are a huge help when walking dogs. However, the best way I learned to burn energy was taking the dog out and letting her run around. I combined training with fetch...and was able to accomplish twice as much energy burn in the same amount of time it would have taken me to walk her.