Puppy that does not care about corrections. HELP!!! - Page 1

 If she does something wrong i try to use my voice and it just doesnt bother her. Then i have tried putting a leash on her with a flat to  give her a small pop with the loud NO and it still doesnt bother her. This is really frustrating especially when i take her out and she wants to drink any liquid on the floor. She already saw the vet for this and she is fine. She is lack a damn FISH. Im out of ideas with this one. I even tried food to redirect her and she is just determined to do what she wants to do!!

this is her pedigree  www.pedigreedatabase.com/gsd/pedigree/578357.html

Any ideas? 

You seem to have a puppy with a high tolerance to correction. I suggest to try a choke collar or even a pinch collar if she does not mine with the choke collar. Do corrections graduly to get idea of treshold to correction. Do not over correct! Good luck.

When you got this puppy  what were you looking for and what are your aims and goals for her? How much research did you do before you bought her? Have you owned AND trained a GSD before? If so for what?

At a minimum I would say that based soley on pedigree - this is not a pedigree for the faint of heart and you probably need to find an experience trainer (one with lots of tricks in their bag NOT just my way or the highway) in your area to help you get on the right path.

How familiar are you with clicker training? Have you used any of the behavioral modification techniques with this pup? Have you taught her focus, sit, down etc? What does she know at this point? How much of her day does she get to spend with you? Who else is in the household and is she more bonded to one of them(human or animal)?

Did you take her to a good ( not Petsmart) puppy kindegarten training class?

Are you close to her breeder? Can she/he offer any help and/or tips and/or training?

How old is that puppy. I don't think a pinch or a prong is the answer, it might do more damage than good, especially in puppies. Pedigree or no pedigree... we have to look at behavior first. Can you tell a little more about this puppy? the daily schedule what you do with it, do you go to OB training, what have you tried befoe other than corrections?

Do you have any good trainer around that are experienced with this breed and positive training methods? Why do you focus so much on corrections? how about redirecting and making you more interesting? I am a little worried that you use leash pops on a puppy....

does the dog know what "No" means, did you do the appropriate training, and rewarded the good behavior? No can be easily tought with treats. And withoput damage to the developing pup.

She's a puppy, let her be a puppy.  She doesn't need any real corrections at this stage, especially if you want to do schH with her.  It's a pain in the ass, but keep an eye on her and just re direct her attention to something positive like a toy when she gets into trouble.  You don't put brakes on a skateboard, when she gets some horsepower add the brakes.  Till then I would do everything motivationally and focus on her good behavior.  Guess what, you wanted a working dog...you got a working dog.  Be careful what you wish for. 

I never tell my puppies "no."  I never tell them "no bite."  If she doesn't respond to your verbal corrections try changing your tone of voice.  If she's not responding to food get her crazy for a toy.  Keep trying different things till you find out what works for her.  I get my dogs crazy for a ball or kong at 7 -8 weeks.  Then I work on focus, sits, down etc. with food and the toy.  Keep her tired a good puppy is a tired puppy.  Plenty of exercise and very short little training sessions, 2  mins for a young puppy.  Now is when you start the imprinting phase.  Everything you do now will last a lifetime both good and bad. 

Good luck with her,

Jim

maybe you need to make 'you' more important in her mind. hard to say for sure what's going on but one possible solution is for you to increase your value from her perspective.  from what you describe it seems like her thoughts are far more interesting to her <g> than you are.

 i'm not sure getting more aggressive with her at this early of a stage - she's 4 1/2 mo's right? - is necessarily the best thing. restricting her freedom might be effective. perhaps you could try the technique of tying her to you as much as possible to limit her freedom and at the same time get her to focus on you instead of her own thoughts.  also when she's not tied to you crate her so she gets a bit lonely and bored - not too lonely but just a bit to motive not punish - too much separation could cause problems.   she's very cute

she has a lot of titled dogs in her ped.  if i were you i would start by talking to the breeder and then maybe check out some training dvds maybe some one like ivan balabanov would be helpful. ivan has 3 dvds - clear communication. the game & the retrieve - and his book advanced schuthund has been recommended on other threads. you can find them lots of places including here: http://www.caninetrainingsystems.com/

here's the link to their video samples  http://www.caninetrainingsystems.com/samples.php

This is a huge subject and not one that can be completely covered in one post.... I don't distinguish greatly in the beginning from sport pups or pet pups becase all pups benefit from being raised in a very rewarding environment..

Your puppy shouldn't need a correction because she doesn't know anything until she is taught.. and at 4 1/2 months she doesn't know a whole lot!

We use a clicker (another whole subject but you can find tons of info on it.. clicker training) and shape behaviors.. we control the pups environment so mistakes are pretty hard to make..you can shape a lot of behaviors and then as the pup matures, understands the behaviors you have taught because there have been thousands of repetitions (because that is what it takes).. then the time comes for a correction for not responding....  

Puppies are learning every moment theor eyes are opne so if you are teaching that your voice means nothing, then that's what you'll get.. if you rethink this however and make your pup think you are the be-all and end-all and the great dispenser of treats, then you have a good start.

Dogs are opportunistic self satisfying creatures and we need to be theor fair benevolent dictator leaders....

Food is it, if your dog realizes that its very existence depends upon you.. there are anumber of really good books.... Ruff love by Susan Garrett.. pups can go for about 5 minutes some less, so think about how she sets up her day .. Building Blocks for Performance by Bobbie Anderson

WE teach play and play becomes work and there is no difference to the dog..it is all fun and creates super attitide..youcan withhold a reward  for a booboo and then give it when the dog corrects itself....

You have a long way to go before your dog is ready for the details but you can teach a lot of foundational baby stuff now and be in a great position becaue your dog looks at you like the best thing on earth and you have a relationship ..... make it happy and fun..

Puppies are only puppies for so long, enjoy this age

You may want to try and get to some seminars given by the really good obedience people.. where are you located?

What motivates your dog? Food, play drive, petting......

Once you find the motivator, use it to redirect your dog.........always have a motivator in your pocket and if the dog is doing something "wrong" refocus it's attention with the motivator.

example

Hero barks at cat.......
Hero likes balls, I take a ball out of my pocket,
Walk to Hero, gain his attention just long enough to show and throw the ball just in front of him, 
Hero chases the ball,
I tell praize Hero,
Catzilla runs and hides,
Hero and I play with the ball for a minute or two.
Hero eventually is more interested in the ball and ignores the cat....

This type of training takes total commitment, and its worth it.

An ineffective correction is an inappropriately applied correction. Period. Take your puppy to training. It's never enough to reprimand a dog for bad behavior without giving them something positive to do instead.

Try this. Puppy is trying to lick said substance off the ground. Go behind her, give gentle tugs on the lead, NO raising your voice, calling her to you.  Don't get harder, especially if she is under 4-5 months. Just nag at her until she turns around and looks at you like, "OMG what, I'm sniffing here!" at which point you give her ecstatic praise, which should bring her bounding over to you, because you are now more interesting that that puddle. Now you better have a reward on hand, a goodie, a toy, or a good cuddle.  You can accentuate the positive and not tolerate the negative at the same time.