Grim's new collar and leash came today!

[Sunflowers]

Originally Posted by msvette2u

Collar Mania Custom Dog Collars - Home Her collars are sturdy and have a little metal loop to hang the tags on

Oh, great. Now I am going to have to buy another collar...

[onyx'girl]

I bring along a quick release nylon collar that has Karlo's tags on it(but seldom put it on him). I've had it since he was 5 mos old and it has never been attached to a leash, just his 'off property tags collar'.
Same with Kacie and Onyx, I use fursavers, martingales or prongs for the line, and the clip ons for tags.
My dogs are naked unless we are off property.

[PatchonGSD]

I'm gonna need pictures of Grim with his new clothes on.

[Jag]

Originally Posted by Mary Beth

If I understand this right - Grim is only 4 1/2 months old and now he has a martingale collar (of course it is too heavy for a pup) and that will be used to help him focus. Whatever happened to puppyhood? Isn't this supposed to be the fun time - let the puppy explore. Why not consider putting off the martingale collar until he is older and the weight won't bother him, and instead use a martingale harness (nylon and lightweight) that will help with the pulling issue and should work nicely with his new leash.

This is very hard to describe accurately. One- because I've never had a shepherd with this mindset and Two- when I try to explain things it somehow gets muddled and what I intend to say never seems to come out correctly.

I've had shepherds who were a little on the pushy side, but I've never in my life had one who seemed to have the teen 'butthead' phase coming out of the box. When on walks, this guy is at the end of the leash, head down the entire way sniffing. He's not on a walk, he's on a mission. The mission is to walk as fast as possible, all the while nearly choking himself on the lead. I don't want him to do damage to himself. What I'm left with is two choices. Either get it through his thick skull that he has GOT to listen to me (even though the way he wants things isn't the way I want things), or I stop walking him. I have at least 4 unsecured disks in my back. The entire lower part of my back is screws and rods. That part is OK, except for the muscles. I now feel like I have a turtle shell back after this last walk. I've never had a pup that NEVER put its ears back or looked like "Uh oh, I did something wrong". He is so full of himself that trying to bring him back to reality seems nearly impossible.

Now his breeder told me before I got him that he was 'stubborn' 'wanted things his own way' and that he was 'full of himself'. However, I thought surely a PUPPY couldn't be that bad, right? All of those really hard headed behaviors don't come up until they're older, right? WRONG. Now I can just not walk him until we get to the trainer's. Or, I can try to get through to this boy. I've had shepherds for over 20 years. I've never met one like him, though. I'm not new to them, I'm not new to the variations in temperaments. However, I can't for the life of me figure him out. If he WANTS to do something, he can be very biddable. If he doesn't feel that what I want him to do is worth more than what HE wants to do, though... you can forget it. I've seen and had confident pups. However, I've never had one before that thought he ruled the world. He will no doubt be an EXCELLENT working dog. However, the methods that will have to be implemented to get him there may rub some the wrong way. That's OK. No one else has to work with him, live with him, or get him there except me. I will be very interested to see what the trainer thinks of him. He's changing very quickly away from the 'puppy' he came to me as and into the 'adult mindset' that I thought I wouldn't see for at least another year.

[Mary Beth]

Originally Posted by Jag

I did order that tag holder. Well... it's not a prong, LOL! Grim acted the same as he does on a flat. I swear, NOTHING gets through his head that he can't do things his way! He honestly doesn't care what kind of correction he gets. The few times he slowed down and gave me some slack on the lead I praised him like crazy. Then he'd forge on ahead! My back is killing me. I hope that this trainer can help me figure out how to get through to him. I've never had a shepherd like this. Especially a pup that blows me off as much as he does. You'd think with all the praise, treats, etc. that he gets when he does the right thing that he'd make the right choice. Breeder was right... he's absolutely stubborn and wants things his way. Period.

Oh dear - how miserable for you. Since corrections aren't working, Grim needs to be outsmarted. He does seem to be the perfect candidate for the Walk in Sync method. This is the one with the harness and you would need to put both hands on the leash. It can be used with puppies, and there are videos on the website that show how to do it. Also have you tried turning him when he forges ahead each and every time? Turn in a circle then when he forges again, turn again - so he gets the idea that pulling won't get him anywhere.

[onyx'girl]

Are you tracking yet with Grim? I would think tracking would be a great outlet for him....he isn't too young for imprinting.

[Jag]

Please send any further questions or comments or requests for updates to me as a PM. Thank you!