Give your dog a Job!

[Amaruq]

This is something that needs to be learned in stages.

How old is your dog?

[PipiK]

Of my two GSDs who have crossed the bridge, the first one, Samantha, decided that her job would be to guard her family from the Evil UPS man, the Naughty Propane man, Sneaky mail lady, and just about every service person who drove into the yard in a truck. She and her Black Lab "sister", Amy, also protected us from the local wildlife...chipmunks, frogs, opossums, etc. She also warned us, with a particular bark and raising of her hackles, of black bears roaming around in the woods. She kept her Daddy busy playing living room tennis ball, and she kept us out of trouble by making us hide the tennis ball in different rooms so she could find it. One particularly funny "job" she had was to jump up on the couch whenever I got up, waiting until I got back so I could pretend to be shocked. Then she would smile (and laugh, if dogs can laugh) and immediately jump back down again. This was such a fun thing for her that if I failed to pretend I was shocked at finding her in my seat, she would pout.

As for Sarge...she came here when she was nearly 5 years old. It took her a while to find a job to do, but when she did, she was very good at it. She decided that her job was to keep an eye on Amy the Lab. Poor Amy was so mellow she hardly ever got into mischief, but Sarge kept a close watch on her just to make sure. If Sarge was in another room not paying attention to Amy, all we had to do was say, "Where's Amy?" and she would immediately perk up her ears, go over to wherever Amy was, and lie down near her to "babysit". Sarge also tried to protect us from chipmunks and delivery trucks.

Our two new girls have found themselves jobs already too. They also guard us from whatever critters might be making noises too soft for us to hear...chipmunks, mice, poltergeists, etc. Nikki brings rocks in from the yard in what I can only imagine is a valiant attempt to beautify the area. Both of them protect Mommy from the nasty Bubble Monsters that sometimes appear in the back yard (or in the living room)...hee hee. They're also catching on to the game of "fetch"...something that keeps Daddy physically fit and generally out of mischief.

[CayDawg44]

she is just about six months

[dannygirl8]

Ok, I am new to German Shepherds. I have a 5 1/2 mos. old GSmix. She learns real quick and is just starting obedience school (but they will only be teaching sit, stay, come, heel, basic stuff) How do you teach them to pick up toys or socks or pick things up and put them where you want? I try teaching her to get her ball or a stick and bring it back. Most of the time she runs and gets the ball and comes almost all the way back and lays down and chews on the ball. Sometimes she will drop in front of me. Do I use word commands or signals? Sorry to sound dumb about this. I've never trained a dog much before this (just the basic sit,heel stuff), so I'm learning. I want to do it right with her and training. My 13 yr old son wants to work with her, so before he goes back to school, he can try training her too.

[doggiedad]

Originally Posted By: Amaruq "how much physical and MENTAL exercise does your dog receive? Daily, weekly, monthly, or when I-get-around-to-it?"

i think that question says so much. with my dog between walks around the neighborhood, walks in the woods, dog park and play group he gets plenty of exercise.

when we're walking in the neighborhood my dog has to stay on the
pavement and not walk anyones grass. i guess that's mental exercise in him knowing not to walk on the grass. when we get to the corner he waits for a release before crossing the street. when we're walking i'll ask him to sit, down and stay.

i play "find it' with my dog. i'll hide something and have him go and find it. we play this outside or indoors. my dog will take the mail from the mail person and bring it to us. i can ask my dog to get his leash and go jump in the car.

when you work with your dog everyday that's mental exercise. my dog doesn't have a set job to perform everyday. through exercise
and giving my dog commands i guess i'm covering it.

[London's Mom]

Great post-GSDs are suh intellegent creatures that they crave tasks, simply for some mental stimulation. I trained my male GSD to take my female GSDs leash and walk her while we all three went for a stroll through the neighborhood. While walking past cafes, Starbucks, etc. people would gaze in amazement at my dogs intelligence.

[anetaze]

This is a great post, I just stumbled on to it.

Generally speaking when do you start training your dogs to perform tasks such as bringing in the mail, carrying laundry, and many other jobs described here.

I am not sure at which age the pup can focus more, and is capable of learning these various jobs.

Is there a book or a video that I can pick up that details how to best train a dog to these jobs?

Thank you everyone!

Aneta

[Lauri & The Gang]

You can start training them at 8 weeks of age! Just don't expect perfection until they are much older.

[doggiedad]

i think training and exercise are what every dog needs whether it's
a mix breed or pure bred. i think with training, socializing and spending time with your dog gets rid of a lot of those behavior
problems. training, socializing, exercise and spending time with your dog is going to make a good dog.

my dog doesn't have a certain job assigned to him
but there's things he does that could be considered a job.
my dog will take the mail from the mail person and bring it to us.
when we come home from shopping our dog is always willing to carry something from the car to the house. when i ask my dog to get his leash before we leave the house is that a job? when we play find it is that a job?

i think it's a fine line between a job and following commands (being
trained to do certain things). we make sure we do something
with our dog everyday. i'll get up an hour early in the morning so
i'll have time to run my dog through his paces. before my GF goes to work she does something with our dog.
a lot of times when we're home in the evening we'll
take the dog to this field for some playtime and reinforcement training.

i sort of look at my dogs job as doing what's asked of him. doing
the things he's trained to do is his job. my dog receives mental
and physical exercise everyday sometimes several times a day.

[Panda]

I'm so amazed by all these jobs your dogs do! With things like bringing the newspaper in or carrying things for you, picking up a dropped sock etc how do you train them to do these things?