Got a hard lesson; need your thoughts on my Baron - Page 1

I love Cirberus and I have learned so much today.   Let us just say, my inexperience messed up Cirberus for IPO.   With a lot of hard work, I might or might not be able to correct it.  I do not want to go into too many details right now.

That said, I need to think long and hard what I want and what I can realistically handle.    Basically, I already have what many of you look for in a puppy you want for IPO.  Problem is that he is 5 years old and non of that drive has been developed or channeled.  He has basic obedience and understands I am alpha.   What are your thoughts to start working him towards IPO?

Fawndallas,

If he's got what it takes to do IPO, and you want to take him there, then there is absolutely no reason why a 5 year old
dog can't. Go for it!

Melissa

If you don't try it with him, you'll never know.  He's probably not going to take you to the World Championships, but so what?  If you both enjoy doing the work, there's nothing to be lost by training, even if he never gets a title.  Good training never does anybody, man or beast, any harm.

You can see how far you can go and learn with him while doing so. He might never finish an actual IPO title, but it is about the journey for you two. If you are ready to take on this challenge, you will be better in knowing what to look for in your next dog, how to train a new pup to a potential IPO titled dog, and how to avoid the same mistakes (you think you made).

Thanks everyone.  This gives me some more things to think about.  In the mean time,  I have a beautiful, well mannered 7 month old GSD and room to grow myself.

That is how old Qira is, and we've just started a couple weeks ago. It took her a little bit to figure out "oh, I'm supposed to bite that?", but once she did, you could see the light come on and she really got into it.  It is going to be hard to kind of re-train her and break some habits (that we both have), but I figured I could learn with her and then maybe my next dog I can get to a 3. I do not even expect to get a 1 on Qira... we are in this to have fun and learn, and the second she tells me it is too much for her, I will listen. Maybe you could still re-train Cirberus? I would think she would be young enough, still, but that is just me.

Sometimes I think retraining an older dog is easier than training
a 'teenage' one.  Not that I have trained for IPO/SchH,  but if the
same applies in other disciplines, Ob, Tracking ?
Puppies are one thing.
But the 'old' way used to be to do nothing more than basic manners
until they were 6 months old.  I always found that  - or  adopting
unschooled at eg 18 months, as I did with Taz, - hard work, 'cos if the
hormones are up & down it does not aid their concentration.
When Vida retired from the Showring at 3.5 yrs, and came to live
with me, I started Obedience training her, and found that, rather than
not being able to 'teach an old dog new tricks', she learned new things
well.  Just my 2 cents fwiw.

The dog needs the genetics, nature, nutrure and training to do IPO.  If the dog has none of those he /she will probably not be able to do it.   

I am confused. The title refers o Baron, but the first post only mentions Cirberus. Which one are you asking about?
Regarding the age- I had a male that never saw a sleeve until he was 7yrs old. Genetically, he always had it, so he was a natural with the great direction and help of an extremely talented helper. Regardless of what you achieve or don't achieve, I say go out there and work him. Dogs don't understand titles, they don't care about that, but they sure love every minute you spend with them and you will learn so much more actually working him then you could ever learn reading or watching videos. You will strengthen your relationship, and believe it or not, you will learn things about him you never even knew. Honestly, if I could just train and never "compete" I would be a happy happy person. I get so nervous, I get stage fright. For me it's all about the journey, not the destination.
Best of luck to you,
Theresa

Today you became acquainted with the world of the German Shepherd...
Sorry to tell you that I expected something like this.

Don´t feel too bad, train your dogs as far as possible, and have fun. You´ll learn a lot.
Everybody on here started at one point.
I achieved my very first BH as a teenager with a Dalmatian. With this dog I learned a lot about tracking, obedience, and bitework...
When I trained my first German Shepherd in the age of 16 I knew what do do ( and what NOT to do...)