Training expectations for puppy - Page 2

Your new pup has better fight drive than your female.  One thing that you might want to work on is carrying the toy/tug.  You will need to put him on leash.  tease him and build the drive.  when he finally gets the toy and you are done playing tug, run him in a circle before he has a chance to drop the reward.  Encourage him to carry. 

What does he do when you throw something?  Does he chase it and pick it up?  Does he chase it and leave it?  Will he retrieve? 

These are all things that should and could be worked on before formal obedience.  A good foundation makes for good obedience.  A bad foundation makes for bad obedience. 

He is an odd one.
MOST of the time(60%) he will eagerly chase it, grab it, and bring it in the direction I am in (he will not bring it to me, but he will bring it within my radius) 
Approx, 30% of the time he will run to it with gusto, but will not pick it up....when he does this he usually runs back to me and sits in front of me.

10% of the time he will, "half" run to it then get distracted and start doing something else.


This sort of worries me as my female (when she was his age) would ALWAYS run to the prey item as fast and intense as she could, pick it up "kill it" (shake it) and eventually bring it to me so it could be thrown again.


Don, how do I get him to do a circle after he has the tug.....what do I use to motivate him, food?
Also, as far as tying him up and enticing him....where do you suggest I attach the leash? I have to work him indoors seeing as how it is frigidly cold outside!!

I would really like to post a video of his bitework.......I made a few videos the other day but I underestimated the uselessness(is that a word? lol) of dialup......it would take me 4 days to upload it to photobucket and another 2 days to upload it to this website!!   I will see if I can use a friends computer tomorrow.


How important is prey drive in a working pup if everything else is there and "strong"?

First, don't tie him up to anything.  Put him on a leash and play with him.  Do the drive building. Make him miss, play tug, and calm him with strokes on the side while praising him for holding the toy.  With it in his mouth, you encourage him to "come on"  while you run him in a circle about 15 to 20 wide.  You are promoting the dog to carry and hold the toy without getting hectic and chewy.  After a few revolutions, you call the dog back into you and do the routine over.  Do the drive building, play tug, and calm the dog with slow strokes to the side with praise.  Go back into the circles and back into you.  I like to work an out into this and immediately after he releases, I give him a command to re-bite. 

Go buy the Flinks video.  I believe it is on the Ed Frawley website. 

As to your first few questions, You need to motivate the dog and teach him what you want.  You got lucky with your first dog.  Sorry, but this one will take more of an effort.  Motivate and show him what is right and wrong.  Dog see in black and white(no that is not literal).  What I mean, is they see in good and bad, right or wrong.  They don't have a gray area.    You need to get excited about that dog picking up the toy and returning to you.  One thing that may help, is when he grabs the toy and is returning, as you are excitedly calling him and patting your leg, you move backwards and further away as you face the dog. 

I know you said youhave to train indoors, but do you atleast have a garage or basement?   Where do you live?  North pole?  You are not Mrs. Claus, are you?  I live in a cold area.  I train outside.  It is a pain to bundle up and sweat in cold weather, but yoy gotta do, what ya gotta do.  Our club trains in a nice indoor arena, but not everyday.  Are you in an area with a lot of clubs?

First, don't tie him up to anything.

Thanks for clearing that up!  Im glad I didnt jump the gun and do it

As far as the Flinks video, I will definitely buy that. I also would like to go to one of his clinics I think his website said he was coming to a club about 4 hours away from me(southern SK?)......I would LOVE to go but I have no clue how to register.

I do have a garage I could utilize......though I will have to sort and clean it .

As far as bundling up goes? I wrap myself from head to toe and throw a ball......constantly......everyday for at least 20 minutes (I try to go as long as I can but it is FREEZING up here....maybe I am just a pansy, lol)

Unfortinately I am not near many clubs.

I am buying a house in the spring/early summer in Southern SK(within the next 4 months for sure)  but for now I am in Central AB, and it is COLD.

 

Here is the link to getting the BUILDING DRIVE AND FOCUS DVD

http://www.leerburg.com/101e.htm

Why don't you try throwing the rag which he loves so much and then he should get it and run back to you to have a good fight.                 That way he will learn to bring stuff that you throw back to you.

In my opinion continue how you are going with a little more emphasis on building drive and a little less on obedience.

Having said that, well done for teaching him so well. My 4 month old gir only knows sit and down and come and I don't plan to teach anything else until she is about 6 months old. I just play with the tug and encorporate training into that and she loves it. I tried stay a few times but couldn't get her past ten seconds.

Good luck!

You have received a lot of really good advise here.  I would back off the obedience and concentrate on having fun, let him grow up,  drive building is good too.  Also you can really start tracking now, which is a lot of fun with puppies.  Here is a link to Prestons' site about Schutzhund Tracking.  It's really excellent and easy to follow.  Most important thing at this stage is to have fun & bond.

http://www.schutzhundtracking.com/