puppy training - Page 1

 have a 11 week old puppy that i want to train in protection work when he is older...he will bite ya on the leg when you walk by him (playing of course) ..should he be corrected for that or will that diminish his drive at this young age..any tips greatly appreciated 

So,
you found a puppy.

Do you know anything about raising a puppy?

I know you want protection but what else?

This dog will be your family guardian so it must become part of your family first.
There must be rules and obedience above all else now.   

Later you can train to bite, right now get control.

Offer the pup something else to chew on besides you and your family, teach it to bite the tug but not the kids.
Let it be a puppy, learn proper corrections for different situations.

Read some books, talk to lots of people, ask specific questions, know what you really want to do with this pup.
In time find someone to help you train.

For now try a strong NO!   and offer something else.

Moons.

Follow Moons advice, not nothing to add except that you should have read up a bit about the breed before you first bought a Pup
 Training starts Now, Good Luck with him
Steve1

I have my own methods for raising a puppy.  I raise my dogs to do SchH.  I never tell my young pups "NO".  I don't think you need a lot of control and obedience on a puppy.  Too much control and bite inhibition will definitely affect the pups later training in bite work.  Being a decoy for many years I've seen many young dogs come to the club that had control, obedience and "no" or "no bite" taught to them from a young age.  I have also seen litter mates owned by other people that were raised differently.  The pups raised with the bite inhibition and control are much harder to train in protection and some never get it.  While their litter mates do great.  

I let my puppies be puppies and only do positive imprinting.  I have a plan for my dogs and the training begins at a young age but it is designed to instill drive and a happy work attitude.  Since I plan on doing SchH with my dogs I never tell them no for biting, I don't even stop them from jumping on me.  If my puppy starts teething on my arm or leg, I simply replace my arm or leg with a toy or rag.  I don't get angry or upset even when it hurts.  I redirect the dogs attention onto something positive and praise when it is doing what I want.  In the beginning I look past small mistakes and focus on what the puppy is doing correctly.  My young puppies are always supervised in the house to keep them from getting into trouble.  There is plenty of time as the dog grows to add in serious obedience and control work and I do that when the dog is old enough.  

I don't need a lot of control or obedience on a puppy or young dog.  If I were only raising a pet then I may do things differently and add some obedience in earlier.  But, too much control and strict obedience when raising a dog to do protection work can be counter productive with a puppy, IMO.   When a puppy becomes ingrained with the "No Bite" from family members it is very difficult to begin protection training, these dogs seem hesitant to bite anything. 

IMO, lots of control and bite inhibition at a young age will definitely affect drive and performance later on especially in bite work.  I would start some tug or rag work now with an experienced decoy, being careful with the pups teeth.     

JMO FWIW,

Jim

I'm with you, Jim. Let a puppy be a puppy. 

thanks....

and i have read books about the breed, also have about every training video that leerburg offers ....I was just looking for opinions on what has worked for other people...         and yes I have raised puppies before probably more than most people on this site..but they werent gsd...thats why I was looking for advise            Thanks

Like I said,
figure out what you really want to do with this puppy.

You mentioned (train in protection work), make sure you know what your getting into before you start.

I agree with Jim on one thing, if you want a dog to bite someone it never needs to hear the word NO, but it will need an out command.

I think you have more to learn before you decide.

Moons.

Jim, excellent.  The substitution method works great.  :)  Not my arm but the tug.  Not my ankle but the ball.  At times I was the squeaky toy.  Never correcting just replacing an acceptable item with what I did not want chewed up, meaning ME!