[arupenth]

Maddie is a 6.5 mo old pure German Shepherd. My boyfriend and i are a military family and had to leave town for two weeks so we thought why not get her trained while we are gone. We found a trainer that we loved and she stayed with him for 4 weeks working on basic obedience. We had already taught her sit and down and come and was at the point where we could leave her out at night without incidence.

We visited twice and saw great improvement and were very excited to pick her up. When the day came for us to pick her up and the trainer work with us for a few hours she acted crazy ! She refused to do anything the trainer asked of her and even snapped at him a few times when she didn't want to do a command. The trainer said she hadn't acted like this at all and that maybe she felt abandoned a bit we took her home and she peed 4 times in the house, has had some discharge and we had to retrain her on the house rules ( no jumping on the couch, go to door for potty, etc)

We've been working everyday on the commands and its like she has selective hearing and doesn't want to listen at all!

Did we waste our money or is this just "teenage rebellion" or could it be a medical issue? We tested her for a UTI and it was negative. She is getting spayed may 31 and is not in heat yet.

Our trainer is still going to work with us but What are your thoughts!? We don't know why she is acting so different !

 

[KZoppa]

She's 6.5 months old. She's being a puppy. If the urine sample came up negative, have her checked again just in case. Sometimes a sample will show negative when a UTI is just starting.

As for the training, her people ditched her for two weeks with a stranger and when they came back, she was suddenly expected to behave herself in the complete excitement. It's kinda like dumping the kids off at the grandparents house for spring break. FIELD DAY!!!! Only you came back and her puppy brain got scrambled by the excitement. I don't think her snapping at the trainer is welcome or to be tolerated for sure. Give her time, practice NILIF with her and do what you can to enforce the rules and desired behaviors. The first year with a GSD pup can be very trying. Patience, persistence, and more patience. She'll get there. She's still very young and a lot happened in a short amount of time. Get back into a routine with her. That should help with reinforcing desired behaviors. good luck and have fun!

 

[doggiedad]

i don't have much faith in the "stages". i would question
the trainer and his methods.