Slow Maturing GSD - Page 2

For this particular dog, it is possible that it may benefit from stopping all protection training for a few months. People have a tendency to over do what is not already working. not saying this fits your situation but it may. Even once a week may be overdoing it at this point.

BTW some of the slower maturing ones come out to be the best in the work. From what I have seen slow maturing dogs are predictably slow, meaning because of knowledge of bloodline/close relatives.

With every dog you begin where they show you they have interest...With this dog I'd continue with the Prey Drive work and begin to get closer and closer and putting a bit more pressure on him until he's very comfortable with this with you...Then have someone else do the same until he's comfortable...Then continue to apply more pressure...then you can go back to doing a bit of Defense work...Go at his rate not what you think he should be doing...If you see you go a bit too far too fast then take a step back...
Since you're talking about Defense...ALL dogs certainly don't mature at this until they're ready...
I don't think you need to totally stop the work just do it a bit different...

~Bob~

P.S. If the dog alerts to strangers going by...You can incorporate this into your training...

Got any video of the work?

If the dog is biting the end of the sleeve is he doing this out of avoidance or lack of targeting or another reason?

troublelinx I plan on stopping all training with the exception of bonding exercises with him until the fall. I think I'm going to take him to training but just allow him to watch. Appreciate everyone's help.

I wouldn't quit and I wouldn't count on others to fix this situation. It is a very simple problem to rectify if the dog will bite and fight for a tug. If the dog won't bite and fight for a tug or pillow then that is where you need to start. People using balls as rewards too much often create too much ball obsession and the dog needs to learn to bite and fight for possession of a tug in order to get to sleeve work.

Step 1 .. get the dog to bite and pull on a tug and teach the out command .. after out the game starts again

Step 2 .. using bigger and harder tugs get the dog to target and bite and then fight for the tug until out .. after out start the game again

step 3 .. teach the dog to bite a pillow instead of a tug .. out off the pillow and then start the game again

step 4 .. use a large and hard pillow with hand protection and ramp up the intensity and fighting .. always out and start the game again.

step 5 .. use a sleeve or part of a sleeve as a bite pillow or bar play the same games as with the bite pillow. I have an old sleeve that I have cut the elbow off of so that it is just the barrel and handle .. use it like a bite pillow but now your arm is inside. Some puppies and young dogs get weird when they feel the arm flopping around inside the sleeve .. this gets the dog used to that idea. You can also take a full sleeve and use it like a pillow with the dog tied out. put one arm partly in the elbow end or just hold it there and use a short rope tied to the finger end of the sleeve to use it like a big pillow.

Step 6 .. step up to a full sleeve but it does not have to be an oak hard one.

Tie the dog off so that you can build frustration and only let the dog bite when and where you are teaching him to bite. Teach him that biting anywhere but the middle of the barrel of the sleeve gets him nothing. That will stop him from going for the end of the sleeve. I have not seen a dog that won't do what you ask if you explain and teach the dog what it is that's expected. A Yorkie will bite a sleeve if you teach him to.


 

appreciate it bubba, let you know how it goes in a few weeks

Ive seen dogs make advancements due to being given a break from being either overworked (for them which may not equate to over worked for another dog) or having a bad training experience. On the flip sometimes a bad experience requires imediate training to fix the situation. If you are using the same technique to get a different response from the dog, defence in this case. You have to evaluate tohe dog and the training. But do not keep doing the same traing over and over. This will ruin the dog that may other wise be great.

 

Koots say it well find a good experience helper who can work with different kind
of dogs some dogs work better in serious  defense than in  easy prey the stimulation is different.

To find good helpers who can very very well  in defense is rare  this days

Inc myself have seen dog working better with an other much more experience helper
who have better knowledge and can read the dog better .

I don,t know your dog personal....so I can not make any opinion at all

Slow mature is not bad at all some very slow mature dogs can be the best
@ later age very true.

Don,t focus too much on bitework for a copple weeks, do some tracking or obdience and wait  don.t get be frustrating be patient.

 

drlocklear .. Don't be confused by all of the drive BS .. this is the idiocracy of the club level trainers and helpers. A dog has 20 or more different drives and many have both play, offense, defensive, sexual, and social hierarchy components. Drives are infinitely variable and instantaneously switchable in a good dog depending on circumstances. Dogs with only one or two primary drives that they can access in sport or life are weak whether those drives or defensive or offensive. Dogs that won't out are weak dogs because they can not control their emotions under stress. In the case of your dog having trouble feeling confident with a sleeve it is not drives that are the problem. The dog needs to be taught mechanics of the bite on a sleeve and get confident and good at it. There is nothing wrong with the dog. The best MLB hitter started off in T ball and some of the good hitters still can't hit a curve ball. Teach the dog to bite a sleeve and don't worry about drives. When a good hitter in MLB steps up to the plate he is not thinking about swing mechanics because if you have to think about it you have no chance ( the mind can't process the thoughts into action before a fastball passes the plate ). The dog needs to practice until he targets and bites the sleeve in the right place and in the right way instinctively. Sure there are some dogs that are initially better at this instinctive reaction than others but that has no bearing on where they end up and how good they are. When a good batter steps up to the plate he is not even thinking about if he can hit the baseball .. he is thinking about which pitch to be looking for, where the ball will be delivered, and where he will hit the ball. The mechanics of the swing are burned into the brain of the hitter and then the situation may alter the outcome. If the mechanics are not taught to perfection and the hitter is not confident in his ability then the battle can never be won. Drives for dogs are emotions and emotions always come into play but they are layered on top of ability learned or natural. There are virtually no people who can hit a 100 mph fastball without extensive training, many who can't hit a 100 mph fastball even with extensive training, and a few who can hit one with training and the right drives and emotional stability.