My GSD is 7 months old, and he lives in the house, i have trained him to sit and lay down, down, and that i get to the door first but then i came across problems, i tried to teach him no but every thing i have done isn’t working. Also he is quite mouthy, he will just lay with my hand in his mouth and tries to play with me like this all the time, he never bites down and hasn’t hurt me ever but how do i stop this, i want to be seen as his master to him and not his play toy.

he has a habit of chewing every thing, is there any thing i can do to break this habit?

Thanks
Priestly

I’m adopting a 2 and a half year old female GSD. She is very very sweet, and timid. I understand she might go through some seperation anxeity.

I’ve read that giving dogs a kenel in their own room gives them a space to relax and calm down over teh transition period. I will also be keep her on a leash while we are out, and during all of our time inside together for the first month or so…

What else can you suggest to help with this beautiful girl, Maggie, who i’m worried will miss her previous owners.

You can begin simple commands at 7 weeks. The sit command is a great one to start with! And YOU need to do the training, so I quite don’t understand what you mean by, “how long does he need to stay with untill i can train him?”.

Start your training today

“Hi Martin
I cant answer your questions on the site for some reason so.. I have done training obedience, agility, helped behavior issues such as aggression, and dealt with problem dogs in rescue kennels. Dogs like Rottweilers, Neapolitan Mastiffs and GSD’s. Not once did I need a prong collar. The dogs were bright enough to realize what they were being taught and they were much happier getting a reward such as a toy or a food treat.

Regarding a dog fighting another dog. The cause is vital to the cure. A dog may have a health problem and hence be in pain. This transfers to aggression. The dog maybe on an inappropriate diet. Two vital factors before one slaps a prong collar around it’s soft neck. And I’ve no idea how a dog is supposed to see a human being as a ‘litter mate’! To think that is insulting to dogs. They really aren’t stupid.

I’m afraid I do disagree with Ed Frawley. I found the article interesting until it got into Pack Behavior. For example.. This is what he perceives as pack behavior. “1 – When a dog jumps up and/or humps your leg, that’s a pack behavior. 2 – When a dog charges past you to get out the door, that’s a pack behavior. Pack leader go through doors and gates first. 3 – When a dog barks like crazy at another dog that’s a pack behavior. 4 – When a dog drags his owner down the street on a walk – that’s pack behavior. Pack leaders always go first. ”

Simple answers are… 1 A dog humps a leg as it’s over-exited (not necessarily sexually). May also hump cushions! Is it dominating the cushion? 2 A dog wants to get outside for the new stimuli such as exiting smells. It’s rewarding for the dog to get outside. Same for me! lol 3 When a dog barks at another dog it is communicating. 4 When a dog pulls on a walk, it is exited, possibly rushing to the park. Again it is rewarding for the dog.

These things need to be addressed but have nothing to do with the distant cousin called the Wolf or with any notion that it wants to dominate it’s handler. There is a whole list of them in that article and all can be easily answered. Im not a pushover with dogs, you still need to be firm and confident but stuff like growling at puppies is ridiculous imo.

Ed Frawley’s article is something which I would expect fifteen years ago, but I repeat, things have moved on. New and thorough evidence has become widely available. I can present you an article by a eight stone woman who deals with all sizes of dogs (some aggressive) who never uses harsh corrective methods. Just simple counter conditioning. It works.

Fascinating debate though and I thank you for discussing it in a responsible manor. Tony”

There has been a surge of the “Purely Positive” training method in recent years, and I do NOT disagree with that theory. Positive motivation works great – but training needs to be “proofed” for constancy. And just for the record, with “Little Timmy’s beagle” or “Auntie Mona’s Chihuahua” – I wouldn’t recommend a prong.

“Try it around your neck…it hurts” – ANY training tool can be misused. A pull on a flat collar can “hurt” a “soft dog”. A correction on my large Shepherd, while on the Schutzhund training field, to keep focus on me (Positive motivation can work here, dog dependant…) while the training helper is doing agitation work on him – that is a great use for a prong. And of course, I do understand that a “pop of the prong” can direct your dog into different “drives” – ie: from “prey drive” to “fight drive”.

Do you admit the existence of these different “drives”? Do you see that in your training? Of course in standard Obedience or Agility training, you would NOT see anything but prey drive. Different drives can be seen (I’ve seen this, but more importantly, my Schutzhund trainers – my mentors – have time and time again dealt with these drives in their PPT and other protection sport training such as Schutzhund, Mondio Ring, American Street Ring, Dutch KNPV, etc…) much easier in these “sport dogs” as they are first tested to see if they have the drives necessary. My point in this is simple: Dogs – all breeds – have drives in common. Some dogs (not only for size of the dog) have these drives more prominent, dependant on the breed – such as the Belgium Malinois and German Shepherd/DDR dogs.

Again, my point about drives is this…they are inherent in our dogs, and that is the same with their need to be a leader or a follower – that is also inherent!!! My male could easily be the “leader” when I’m not home. My family knows this. I know this. My male German knows this. So we all live with the “pack mentality” in regards to our dogs. AND IT WORKS, AND IT’S REAL IMHO – YMMV…

And Eugene’s dog…you see, some dogs I know – and my own large male Shepherd – are NOT aggressive, but do act “aggressively” towards other dogs. And that action can/does translate to a dog fight. I recommended socialisation, which will help dramatically, but also the prong as a corrective tool.

“What makes the dog act that way?” Great question!!!! Let’s find out the root cause!!!! But in the meantime, let’s have Eugene become his dogs “Leader”, and not just his “littermate”. LOL

I know very well about the thee camps of training: #1: Purely Positive (no physical corrections, ignore the disobedience in training, and reward only when dog performs correctly ), #2: Forced Training (hard physical corrections to get desired result), and #3: Positive Rewards/Corrections to proof (reward your dog immensely for obedience, physical (or verbal, depending on your dog being “soft” or medium/hard) corrections for disobedience in “proofing your training”).

Lastly, here’s a great article be Ed Frawley:
Theory of Corrections.
And if you disagree with Ed Frawley, then you and I will NOT see this topic eye to eye, as I totally am sold out on his training theories on corrections, protection training, and obedience training. BUT WITH THAT SAID…

BUT WITH THAT SAID…I totally respect your opinion on dog training. All theories have their wholes!!!

Also using a ‘prong collar’ is a bad idea imo. I cant believe you are recommending that! Try it around your neck…it hurts. Eugene’s dog need to be diagnosed as to WHY it’s fighting. And then Counter Conditioned using positive rewards! Corrections like prog collars make the situation worse. You are making an aggressive dog bottle up his aggression by bullying it. What happens when the prong collar isnt on?!

Please read one of those books?