imprinting - Page 1

what does imprinting mean, and can someone explain it please, also why it is done

Cindy

Cindy,

The use of the term as it relates to GSDs and Schutzhund, or any animal or even a person for that matter and any activity, is that at a very young age, when brains are not fully developed, something happens, purposefully or not, that will impress upon the brain a certain memory (such as who its mother is), or pattern (move here and do X brings this reward or correction), or an activity (I throw the ball, you get it and bring it back to me {even if I have to help bring you back to me} so I can throw it again quickly (so the animal learns, in this case, that it is fun to do this with a handler). For example, we can take newly hatched ducklings and expose them only to an object,  person or an animal other than their mother, and they will then always react to that object or person or animal as if it was there mother. This has been done with geese for instance.

As an example, I have a young Czech bloodline male. Since he was 10 weeks old and probably by his breeder even earlier, he has been already retrieving objects. Clearly, it is a genetic trait he possesses in that he wants to go get something.  Now, at almost 5 months old he has a fantastic drive for the dumbbell. It is all fun for now, with no pressure to sit in front of me, although he often does so on his own. He holds it calmly while I stroke him. He does this so well because 1) he has a strong genetic drive to retrieve, and 2) we have taken that drive and impressed into his memory an association that he will have all his life that doing this will bring him a reward and/or pleasure. He is also heeling, and sitting and downing, but again it is all positive and fun. He has also learned the word "such" means go find something, including the food I put down somewhere, or a toy or the tug.

So essentially, what imprinting is is any activity that one does, in this case, that will help it do what it will later be asked to do or which will deter it from a particular activity. In other words, imprinting fear of new situations or people or noises or a multitude of things would also fall into the same category.

Does this help?

A few practical methods is rubbing feet and teeth etc starting right after birth and placing items that make noise and flutter around and keep  changing as they age . I know alot of people do imprinting and I am a strong believer in it.

The opposite end is someone who never lets a dog out of the back yard

This website helped me out with this topic as well

http://www.breedingbetterdogs.com/achiever.html

This is also common with horses...

Thank you all

I have heard of it in horses as well as geese and ducks, A lot of puppy ads say  "imprinting begun" so I was wondering what it meant, thanks for the information, I am still searching for that special pup for me.......

Cindy

 Cindy,

Just to be clear, imprinting goes on in a pup or other young creature whether one intends it to happen or not. So I would not worry too much about what someone says in an ad or not. The bottom line is for you to know what it is you want in a dog, and know what to look for when you are searching. Then it is important to be sure to find an ethical breeder with real knowledge of what it is you want to do so they can help match you to the right pup. Be leary of the too many ads that say how all the pups are suitable for doing everything under the sun. It is very, very rare to find such a litter simply because in every litter all the pups will be different to some extent, more or less. Once you know what you want, and find it, then you can do the imprinting activites and, to some extent, such imprinting can be done for a long time if done correctly.

Good luck.

Hodie- that has to be your most stupid post you have ever posted and you don't have a clue.

I have raised pups both with imprinting(don't play with words to cover your ass) and not imprinting and it makes a good dog better, not a magic formula but it clearly help. Course your wussy dogs run for cover if they hear a fart!