[jimbo1249]

Good morning...my name is Jim and I come from Tampa, FL. I had a GSD for 14 years and lost her in Oct 2014. My wife and I were devastated. We waited 5 years and just got another from a couple in Orlando. She is 1 year old and a beautiful dog, however unknown to us she never had any training at all. She is house trained though. I think we may have bit off more than we can chew.. This dog is a pup, I understand that, but I cannot make her listen to anything I say. My wife an I are both 70 yrs old and she's wearing me out. Short of getting rid of her...any suggestions?

 

[sitstay]

Welcome! My best advice is to treat her like she is an 8 week old puppy who knows nothing and train her. Find a good, experienced trainer who knows the breed and start to show your new girl how to behave in a manner you want. Training her to know what is right is a lot easier than constantly correcting her for the wrong thing.


How much exercise is she getting and how is she getting it? What behaviors are driving you crazy?

Sheilah

 

[Sunflowers]

You have Ivan Balabanov in your area. I would give him a call. If he can’t help you, I’m sure he can recommend someone who will.

Ivan Balabanov

 

[CeraDean]

I think if you just adopted her, your priority should be gaining her trust and love through work. A trainer is probably a good idea, as mentioned by others.

There is also a lot you can do in your house to wear her out and make her use that energy rather than making you use your energy to wear her out. She'll probably win that energy fight every time.

Just to give you some ideas, I have a 3 month old puppy and we do a lot of stuff in the house to wear out his mind.

- He has some puzzle toys that he eats from several times a day. One is a Kong Wobbler and the other a ball that tightly holds his treats. The Kong is easy to get the food out but the ball is tricky. He goes to the ball periodically through the day and rolls it around to get the kibble and then I know he's growing bored and I need to engage soon.

- I also wear a treat pouch with his kibble so I can easily redirect or gain control if he gets goofy. He pretty much lives a 'nothing is free life' which really helps teach him how to live in my house. Most of his food comes directly from me rather than a bowl or puzzle.

- We do four to five short obedience sessions a day, including him having to be patient and wait or give me eye contact to get his reward. Most of that work isn't energy intensive for me but it is for him.

- We do hide and seek, with humans and plastic bottles with smelly stuff inside.

- We play two ball which really helps with his energy. The two ball toys (squeaky Chuckits) are only brought out when engaging with me.

- He has a place where he is supposed to go if the family is doing certain activities, like cooking or watching TV. He goes to his place automatically now and it gives me a break to focus on what I'm doing. I think this place thing also makes him think throughout the day which aids in wearing him out but also teaching him how to behave. So rather than destroying while I'm distracted, my boy says, "Mom's washing dishes, what am I supposed to do? Oh yeah, my place. Yay, I got a reward!"

I hope this gives you some ideas. I do agree with the others and I think a trainer can help you a lot.