YEAH, HOORAY, I start schutzhund training tomorrow(13 wk female) - Page 2

Tracking at 5 months????  Sorry, but 13 weeks is an ideal time to start tracking.

You are right  Schut junkie....the greatest of this going to the field is    you are going to be learning and watching.....and your pup must associaate with other pups and dogs , so she wont be dog aggressive....it is the age to make sure she doesnt have any fears about other dogs and people....the best place for that is on the field and in the schutzhund group   they have rules and they abide by them   Your pup will get the best of anywhere it could be...........and learn the right way.........it will be a slow process...you arent goint to work her...your going to imprint her....by those who have already done it    once or twice or 20 times before.....

Excuse the mispelled words   I get in a hurry and have to reread better....

ice cream time here..

lol mine are on the field at the very first opportunity after being picked up at the airport.

And just to reiterate on the other responses...

Puppies' little minds are like sponges, you can do tons of stuff in very tiny sessions.

Start tracking, do recalls, teach positions, all can be done with food in short stress-free spurts.

You can do little drive building exercises and all kinds of things and still let the puppy be a puppy.

Get out to the club for socializing, being in the atmosphere, getting used to the noises, the people, the dogs,

sounds of the whips cracking and the gun fire (at a safe distance of course), and most importantly I

like to see how they react to all those different things. No expert here but I've had enough pups to know

what I personally want to see and what I don't want to see in a pup of that age and getting out and about

is the best to way to do it.

Above all, have fun and have someone take pics  Pups of that age are sooo much fun!

Have a great time.  There's lots of stuff you can do now as you've already been told.  Happy training time, nothing serious yet though.   It won't be long till our next one is out there too.

after puppy has had the 3 initial vaccines of parvo/etc, it is perfectly fine to take them to schh training.  dog people are the best choice for socializing new pups anyway.  its also a wonderful opportunity for pups to see other dogs and grow up used to the idea that 2 or more dogs can be on the training field at once without aggression.  dog folks are usually very willing to help you work out issues  with pups, too.  i can't think of a better way to start off a young dog than to take them along each week.  i feel sorry for the folks that think 13 wks is too young; they obviously think training is only about correction and compulsion.  lots of positive things and imprinting goes on at training.

best of luck with your new puppy.  seems like they are always a big hit when they are little, and make lots of frinds.  :)

pjp