[mckinleysparents]

My husband and I have a 15 month-old German Shepherd female puppy named Mckinley. In short, she bonded with Mark and not me, although she loves us both. She will listen to us both when we give her commands but she drives me nuts when she won't continue listening to the command. If we tell her to stay, she'll listen for about 0.2 secs., especially if my husband leaves the room; she's always up his you know what. He is now even getting annoyed that she constantly does so; we both thought that the dependency stage of puppyhood where they follow you everywhere would've been long gone by now. She won't ever chill out and lie down either; we realize that she needs exercise, which isn't a problem, but when she's worn out or just chilling at home, she won't ever just sit or lie down, she always has to be walking around, pacing. I think that maybe she has OCD, because when she paces, she makes the same paths and sniffs the same things about 90% of the time.

I'm trying to get her to stop begging too; I consider a dog begging when they get close to you and your food and drool or they keep staring at you, watching you eat, and drooling. That is one of my ABSOLUTE pet peeves with any dog, and she does it constantly. If I tell her to go lay down, then she'll lay under mine or my husband's feet and still watch us eat. He and I are usually consistent, but not always so. If I discipline her, he'll coddle her or he won't do anything about it unless it's severe like if she were to tear something up. Training requires absolute consistency and discipline even for small things that you don't desire she do (begging, playing with certain things, etc.).

My questions are:
1. How can we get her to mind and stay without whining, barking, etc. when I leave or especially if my husband leaves?
2. How can we get her to calm down and stop pacing so much, instead of ALWAYS having to be moving?
3. How can we get her to stop watching us eat? I would love to deter her somehow from watching us.

Our puppy has so much potential and is so bright, but she's driving us, especially me out of my wits with these issues (instantaneous stress factor). It's like no matter how dominant or Alpha we are and consistent, she chooses to ignore us on those issues. Please help!

P.S. We are first-time puppy owners; I didn't think at first that I could handle a dominant dog, but I've come to realize now that I have no problem being a consistent disciplinarian. I love my dog, but dear God, enough is enough.

 

[MaggieRoseLee]

You have a normal bored puppy who is TRYING to tell you in the only way she knows that she need a job! A clear, fun, active and engaging 'job'.

Miles more exercise each week.

Off leash activities and socialization. You and she met hundreds of new people yet?

Any type of dog class will show you how actually brilliant she is once you learn to work with her.

I don't think she's dominant at all. Just full of energy and bored out of her gourd. When we get a breed that makes the best police/herding/bomb/drug/agility/tracking/seach and rescue/seeing eye/obedience/flyball.................dog. And then do nothing with all those brains and energy then it's now our JOB to focus it all to do good.

Not just expect them to lay quietly in the corner most of the time like a cat.

DOG CLASSES would be a great start! Marking day trips on the calendar 2 to 3 times a week to go visit friends/neighbors/new people/hiking/canoeing/walking down Main Street. Playing Chuckit.

You get to look at this yet ---> http://www.germanshepherds.com/foru...-time-owner/165774-gsd-puppy-primer-tips.html

And be glad your pup isn't probably as crazy as the one in the video

 

[mckinleysparents]

When she gets older, I was wanting to do agility training with her; I figured that would be fun, but her attention span isn't all there yet. My husband usually takes her on walks and plays fetch with her while I'm in classes or whenever I have to work, and vise-versa. She loves, loves, loves hiking and water-fetch. If you throw a stick or ball into the water, man is she set- for hours.

How do we get her to focus on us trying to train/teach her is the question. We know that she can learn anything we teach her, but whether or not she chooses to listen and for how long is a different story. Will she listen better if we designate a job, like agility or something, if we give her one?

 

[MaggieRoseLee]

You don't wait and go to dog classes when you dog is old and trained....

You go to dog classes when you pup is young and nuts! That way you AND your pup both learn together.

Look at how old my pup is in these agility classes!

Around 6 months is the perfect age to start up any type of class. Many people start with obedience and you can't do 'real' agility until your dog is over a year old. But if there are experienced agility instructors available they will have age appropriate puppy agility with ONLY puppies allowed in class.

Here Glory is at 5 months old..

 

[Sunflowers]

Th dog is 15 months old.

You don't wait and go to dog classes when you dog is old and trained....


Around 6 months is the perfect age to start up any type of class. Many people start with obedience and you can't do 'real' agility until your dog is over a year old.

 

[Sunflowers]

My questions are:
1. How can we get her to mind and stay without whining, barking, etc. when I leave or especially if my husband leaves?
2. How can we get her to calm down and stop pacing so much, instead of ALWAYS having to be moving?
3. How can we get her to stop watching us eat? I would love to deter her somehow from watching us.

First of all, forget the dominant alpha stuff. Be a fair, fun and and consistent leader, not a disciplinarian.

What do you do when you leave? Do you pay attention to the whining? Leaving matter-of-factly and ignore her. Also, do you make a big deal of coming back? If so, ignore her when you return, then calmly say hello when she is calm.
If you do not have a crate and expen, I would strongly suggest you get one or both.
Give the dog a place of her own, where she can relax and doesn't need to be guarding, watching or pacing.
Remove her when you are eating. Put her in another room, preferably crated, and your problem is solved.

Also, it is not "dependency" that makes your GSD follow your husband. It is the nature of the German Shepherd. They are velcro dogs, and will follow their person everywhere.

 

[MaggieRoseLee]

Th dog is 15 months old.

I realize that, just seemed like they were feeling they should wait to train their 15 month old and I wanted to make it clear they were getting on a year later in training than most of us

Never too late and always fun! Just could have avoided alot of the frustration for the poor dog who is, in my opinion, still a puppy.

:wub: