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Training for seven month old pup in SW Ohio

1K views 7 replies 6 participants last post by  Squidwardp 
#1 ·
We have a high drive puppy, very, very mouthy lately. She is 7 months old today, a black Czech line dog, about 56 ## of solid muscle. All teeth are nicely in place, and lately, are getting used constantly on our shoes, and especially, our pant legs. Re-directing helps, but there are times when she is just constantly biting legs and clothing. It is not a vicious bite, more of an "I want your undivided attention for some rough play." Several pants legs look like Snoopy's doghouse after the Red Baron shot it up.

At times, she has an impressive off switch. My wife and I recently travelled over 1000 miles due to a family member's sudden collapse, hospitalization, death and funeral. Due to uncertainty of how long we'd be gone, we took her with us, and drove, rather than flying. She rode in a vehicle, out of a crate, for two days of driving, and had no accidents. She chilled in the seat, with her head in the lap of whoever wasn't driving. She also managed to stay in my Mom's house, full of china knick knacks and about nine million things for a puppy to get its teeth into, without any real disasters. She stayed in hotels twice with no damage, no accidents, out of her crate while we slept. We did NOT leave her out of her crate unsupervised either place. And no, she's not perfect, so she did chew up some paper goods here and there, once got after my Mom's cat good and proper (barking, not trying to kill it), and occasionally had to be crated just for being unruly and needing a timeout. My Mom also has a West Highland White terrier, who never warmed up to the puppy, being intimidated by her size and exuberance. On the good side, my Mom has a 1.4 acre lot, with some nice places to throw balls and frisbees, where she could make long retrieves. She would retrieve until your arm needed icing down. She likes taking walks, but they don't make for a tired puppy.
All this by way of saying, she has shown some pretty amazing restraint at times, she has also had some upheaval and unusual stimulation, and now that we are back to our home routine, she is showing more mouthiness. Literally, from moment we get up, through all of the day's interactions, she is more or less constantly after our pant leg if she is not actively fetching, going after a rag, or some other play/work. I know they are "land sharks," but this is getting to be a bit much.

Not our first GSD, but the first true puppy we've had in quite a while. I would bet my previous GSD was a similar handful, but we got her at about 18 months old. She became a fantastic dog, though she probably would not have been the dog for a little old couple who liked to knit and binge watch TV. T

She will chill with beef esophagus or trachea, which were suggested n the forum during teething. But now, approaching juvenile dog size, she works through those pretty fast.

So my questions are:
(1) Training tactics to get a very, very persistent puppy to re-direct, short of simply crating them when they become incorrigible with the biting;
(2) Any good GSD trainers or Schutzhund clubs within a close drive of Cincinnati?

Before we had to leave for two weeks as described, we had started some training at Pet Smart. Not necessarily my first choice, but we wanted to do something, and the trainer did not seem intent on turning a GSD into a Beagle or Lab.
But before the second session, we had to leave for the trip I described. We did not start formal training until she was done teething, b/c well, seemed like a bad idea, and many on the forum seem to advise against it.
 
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#3 ·
Get a hold of Tom Huelsman at the Cincinnati Schtzhund Club


I don't know him personally, but he was recommended by a police handler in the area.

Your dog is bored. The reason he was calm is because he was on an adventure and his mind was occupied. Now, he's back to the same thing everyday. He needs to be mentally challenged.

The club can certainly help you with this. I'd recommend sport or protection training, tracking or Nosework, and learning some truck training techniques.

I have a board and train at the house now that is similar and I just keep him learning new stuff all the time. He's bringing me his food bowl consistently now, so tomorrow I'm going to try and get him to put it in the dishwasher. He's started Nosework. He's picking up house manners and OB well. We were working on picking up socks when they fell out of the hamper when I was emptying the dryer.

Check out the trick trainers on YouTube, grab a clicker and his favorite treat or toy and start capturing behaviors.

Get a long line and harness and let him roam on walks. Plodding along next to dad is boring. Head to the park or some woods and let him be a dog and explore. Go someplace different. Look at it from his perspective!

I would correct him for biting my stuff. The crazy stage is just beginning and I would be consistent in rewarding good behavior and correcting bad. This would depend a lot on the temperament of the dog. The appropriate correction could vary wildly, so I will refrain on giving any specific advice here. A local trainer would be your best source of information on specific techniques.

Good luck and have fun!
 
#4 ·
I have found mental challenges to be just as important as physical exercise for my energy pup. Exercise just builds his stamina :)

We visit new places and learn new things. A first, training was pretty frustrating trying to keep his attention on the task at hand. Sit, down, stay are boring for both the trainer and the pup. It is the fun stuff like the tricks that David was suggesting that make thing interesting

Now, after a 20-minute training session, pup will sleep a couple of hours, chew a bone for a while, and then start offering behaviors he has learned recently. This evening, while I was making dinner, he went over to his step stool, sat in front of it, stepped up with his front paws on it, and sat down in front of it. He kept looking at me wondering when we were going to start. Luckily, he got to go to class tonight so he is zonked out again.

Even better, 90% of the scratches on my hands and arms have healed.
 
#5 ·
Thanks for the responses; I was away from my laptop for a couple days. She has a harness and I am starting to work with a longer lead. In the backyard she usually has a "kite tail" rope attached to the harness to make her a little easier to catch. Funny, now that she knows she is easier to catch, she is less inclined to make a game of it.
I will look into the Schutzhund club. Happy to see there is one in the Cincinnati area.
 
#7 ·
So my questions are:
(1) Training tactics to get a very, very persistent puppy to re-direct, short of simply crating them when they become incorrigible with the biting;
A couple things to think about while you're locating a good trainer.

Redirecting is for little puppies while they're teething. Teething is over at 6 months. But for the most part the puppy should have learned much younger than that to "knock it off".

Extinguishing bad behavior is achieved by making the dog uncomfortable when doing it, and praising her when she stops. It doesn't need to be harsh, just uncomfortable, so start softly and increase incrementally as needed. My puppy learned that at about 3 1/2 months, so it is doable pretty young.

In the backyard she usually has a "kite tail" rope attached to the harness to make her a little easier to catch. Funny, now that she knows she is easier to catch, she is less inclined to make a game of it.
This having to chase your puppy to get her in from the backyard would be hard for me to imagine had it not been for our neighbors who recently got a cute little Chihuahua puppy. They have been chasing that puppy on a daily basis since they got it.

They either bring it out front with them (without a leash) ,or it finds a way out of their fenced backyard. Of course it wanders off exploring. Then the chase game happens, everytime!

And of course when it runs they lose their temper and yell at it and chase it all over the neighborhood. When they finally catch it, the lady usually gives it a good spanking. After witnessing that a few times I HAD to speak up.

The puppy learned EXACTLY what they had taught her. Come here = the chase game. All puppies love a good chase game!

To change that, (a) don't call the puppy if/when you can't enforce it, just calmly walk over and get her. (b) don't ever punish the puppy for coming to you. You want her to "know" that her compliance will ALWAYS lead to good things! And finally, (c) don't ever chase your dog...unless you ARE playing, and it's in no way connected to a recall.

Good luck with your puppy!
 
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#8 ·
Thanks; she has gotten much, much better on mouthiness over the last week, and we are taking a firm "NO" policy on that. Part of the issue was when we returned from two weeks out of town, it rained literally all day for two days straight. I will go out and play in snow or sub-freezing weather. I draw the line at pouring rain. When she gets out for some decent exercise, she is far less prone to go at our shoes or pant legs.

As far as chasing her, I learned pretty quickly that was a losing battle. The rope or kite tail suggestion came from this forum, a 2008 thread. Now when I play fetch with her in the back yard, the thin rope doesn't interfere with that, and she gravitates to my side because we've been playing. When it's time to come in, I just non-chalantly grab the rope. I have also been working on reinforcing the come command with a long line. That is a work in progress. She doesn't go off leash outside an enclosed yard.
 
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