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Hi I've been there not long ago If I had to re do it, my first concern would be impulse control, as it's a matter of security - fluent response to his name - response to smacking sound and look at me - drop it - leave it - sit - stay - come when called This seems to be very basic, but what you have the impression that going well at home will find a deaf ear when outside, or playing, or following critters... The other thing would be "life training" - crate and pen if you have - car !! This one should not be underestimated - handling and manipulation : touching collar, paws, putting harness and leash Because you just don't want every day basic doing becoming a fight every time Life saving tips : - forcing naps is life saving and life changing, as a cranky, bitey, not wanted to do anything puppy is likely tired but don't want to miss out - do not be greedy and cheap on the chews : chews are mental stimulation, and also calming. The right chew at the right time on a devil possessed puppy may transform him into an angel it seems a lot for just a start, but hope it'll help please post in the picture post when you have him 😉

Hi Robert, Welcome to the forums! You have received excellent tips above. For ease of navigation, I will provide some of the links where you can find all the guides. The first days, it's mostly about getting the pup used to his new place and the crate and starting potty training. Puppy may whine at night so keeping him in the bedroom with the crate nearby can help him habituate and can help determine when and how often to be taken out (2-3 trips at night/early morning are not unusual initially.) Love the crate exercises: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/video-archive/love-the-crate/ Main article on potty training: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/7-secret-potty-training-strategies/ Advanced potty training program: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/advanced-potty-training/ Obedience guides are found in the link below. Since your dog is likely a young puppy you will need to factor in short attention spans, so make those training sessions brief and fun (you can start with just 2-3 minute sessions spread in 4-5 sessions throughout the day and see how it goes.) You want to end the sessions with your puppy still having fun so to inculcate eagerness to being trained. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/ Importance of socialization: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/socializing-your-puppy/ Smacking sound: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/the-airplane-game/the-smacking-sound/ Handling exercises: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/exercises-to-teach-puppies-to-tolerate-touch/ Bite inhibition and bite inhibition games: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/biting-mouthing-nipping/ https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/bite-inhibition-games/ https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/train-dog-take-treats-gently/ Prevention of resource guarding: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/the-importance-of-preventing-resource-guarding-in-puppies/ Brain games are great to keep your pup busy and mentally stimulated: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/ As your puppy develops, exercises to prevent separation anxiety: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/exercises-to-prevent-separation-anxiety-in-puppies/ With a large breed dog as a mastiff, tackling jumping early is important: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/behavior-training/jumping/ If you search the forums you will also find loads of extra tips for puppy nipping and lots of other puppy related info. Keep us posted when you get your pup! Happy training! Best, Adrienne

Amazon has some relatively economically priced beginner sets. Without knowing the age of your GSD, though, I'll throw this caution out there: until 18 months their growth plates aren't fully able to handle the load and if they land wrong the soft tissue can get damaged. For smaller dogs it might be more like 12 months, but our bigger dogs are late bloomers. 🙂 The tunnels and weaving poles are still a-okay to use, I'd just avoid any jumping exercises until mature. There was a gal at the dog park once who had two GSDs and she would put them in a sit stay while she walked off into the wooded section (this dog park was Awesome). She'd hide two balls, one for each dog. Then she'd walk back and release them to find. It was fun to watch them proudly bounding back to her with their prizes. Meanwhile, there was my dog, head under water, fishing out rocks . . . lol. When he was a puppy I had a plastic pool for him and I'd put sinkable toys in there for him to pull out. I never did find a good use for his skill (I didn't know Adrienne, yet!), but he sure enjoyed it. This is the course I bought: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017TBQ4Z2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Most of them are around $60 for the poles, ring, and tunnel. If you have anyone crafty you could get them to build a ramp (I don't know what type of space you have available). In fact . . . I think I need my husband to do that with our spare lumber - glad you asked this question! 😆

Dear members, We are pleased to announce our new potty training guide! Below is the link to enter Potty Training Supercharged https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/advanced-potty-training/

Hi there, Welcome to the forums! I am not too much a fan of numbering sessions when it comes to length, frequency and number of reps because of so many factors (age, breed, history of training, health etc). When I worked for a big box store, we had modules that used a cookie-cutter approach to train dogs and the head trainer was very adamant in having the dogs do 10 sits in a row, 10 downs in a row etc. Were the dogs learning this way? Yes, their sits were getting quite mechanical as muscle memory sunk in. Did they look interested? Towards the end of the 10 reps I was seeing signs of tiring in some dogs. It didn't help that we had dogs of different ages and breeds all clumped together doing these exercises. So I would suggest putting more emphasis on whether the dog seems to be enjoying the interaction and not getting bored or frustrated. You can certainly try to do some reps as a trial and see how it goes. See what your dog thinks about it. Your dog may like to do some mix and matching of cues to stay interested and this can also help him/her discriminate between those cues. Always aim to end up the sessions on a positive note, before boredom or frustration sets in. Remember as well to add variety and distance, duration and distractions. All these cues once fluent at home, need to be taught as well in the yard, on walks, at the park and at pet stores. You can also integrate them into several impulse control exercises https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/10-impulse-control-games-for-dogs/ Happy training!

Try saving the article as a PDF. That seems to be working for me.

Thank you! I really thought she’d throw a fit without her usual walk but we did training games outside for about 20 minutes then took a 5-10 minute walk to get her to poop and omg maybe it’s a coincidence but she was able to see a big dog from our steps and not completely freak!! She didn’t even bark she just stopped and stared which is huge! She did small barks at some passerby where our “backyard” is (I live in an apartment it’s basically grass and a bench with a fence to the street) but that’s the least foot traffic of all the areas near me. Then we’re playing some indoor fetch and tug (shes not ready to play outside yet, just doesn’t want to) to get out any extra energy. We’re going to try this routine for a few days while we work on the behavior modification towards sounds. 🙂

I'm going to add, always praise him for coming. Even if it took 10 minutes, refrain from negativity. Say you're late to a friend's house and they greet you enthusiastically and was happy to see you vs arriving at a friend's house and they yell and gripe at you for being late. Which friend are you going to want to visit again? Cannot agree more on this one, even if it's difficult, and specially for us during the teenage phase : last experience : we were walking, and he was with a doggie friend, we let them loose to play fully in a field, which is next to the forest... the 2 rascals started to play next to us normally and at some point, they decided having an adventure in the forest was much more fun... they fled like bullets deep in the forest... and took almost half an hour to come back... Emotional roller coaster. Just pissed at first, then annoyed, then angry, then afraid something happened, then sad because we thought of the end... And then they came back to us, just happy... I would have killed him on the spot for the emotional ride, and the total absence of obedience... but we praised and rewarded the coming back, otherwise he would quickly think "when I come back I get grounded / scholded".... punishment was ending the walk on short leash while he's usually on long leash

I've been doing some desensitization with Esther and found a wide variety of barks on YouTube. If you have a Bluetooth or WiFi speaker, those are extremely helpful as they're louder / more realistic than a phone or tablet speaker and you can move them around to gain or close distance, experiment with behind doors, around corners, outside vs inside, etc . . .. If you can't get the sound through the speaker via its natural coding there is a program I use (I have a Sonos speaker which does not play YouTube, for example) here: http://www.streamwhatyouhear.com/ With that I can play YouTube through the Sonos speaker now. I mute my computer so there's no feedback or competing sound. Not sure if they have it for other devices - I use it on my Win 10 PC. Phones and tablets should be able to use Bluetooth with no issues, not sure about WiFi as we've only ever had the Sonos for a WiFi speaker. Bluetooth are so inexpensive you could pick one up for under $10 just for this purpose.

If I may barge in, just to say the steps are spot on, and provide a little self experience although all doggies are Actually the 1/ was one of the most powerful for us. So that he would go by himself to see if another one have spawned. One thing we did much also was complementing with capturing : if he would go in on his own and we see it, he would get an high value treat. Now, when I get near the crate, he would hop in, sit, and look at me like saying "you see how nice I am ? May I get my treat now ?" And also, you have to give time its due. Even with working daily, he would cry and whine a bit when crated, although less and less. And few months later, you call bedtime, he will go in, sleep without any whining

And then I just snapped, it was the "too much" moment. I grabbed him by the scruff, put him down on his back, and said in a firm voice, but without yelling "STOP ! NOW ! ITS OVER !". A few seconds, he didn't whine, my gf went back, I stepped up, Loki too, I went into the house back, and he followed me, and went to lie down after that. I was feeling so bad about myself, and was thinking "oh my... its over... i've killed our relationship..." Then I went to cook, he came to the kitchen, offered a sit, I gave him a little piece of cheese... I tried to pet him, he let me... I don't want to justify my action, I don't like it much because it was done out of loss of patience, but weirdly, it may have helped. He was calmer. I was afraid he would be now frightened by me, but not at all, I would still come near me, took treats, and let me pet him. It reminded me a bit of a toddler who pushes, pushes, pushes, got grounded, and settle back I don't want this kind of episode to happen again because I really felt not good about it (and still do today whereas everything's good) but that made me really think about something like "pushing the limits", and the teenage phase, when I saw the consequences and him being better after being grounded please don't be too harsch with me, I love him, I would never abuse him, I'm just human I am not here to judge or be harsh firstly because I know how well loved Loki is and secondly because I think as humans, we can have a breaking point, especially when a loved one or another dog we care for is at risk. The good news is that (in general) dogs are rather resilient and bounce back. That is, if it happens just once, they'll come to think we just had 'that one episode" an odd, exceptional behavior that was out of character for us. Sort of how we may surprise them when we accidently step on their tail or trip on them, and then they understand it's all good, no harm was meant. If we keep at it though, that's when we do the most damage. We come to prove to the dog over and over that we are unstable, untrustworthy and unpredictable when dogs need to feel deeply secure with us. Physical corrections, snatching things from their mouth and even yelling can have negative repercussions. As a result dogs may become suppressed, anxious and even defensive (fear/stress/uneasiness is the main cause of aggression). Signs of a dog acting suppressed/anxious/defensive include walking tentatively (like on eggshells) towards the owner (in what mood is my owner today? I better walk slow=appeasement signal), keeping the ears back, tail low (dog making himself as small as possible to appease), defensive behavior when in possession of something, hyperactive behaviors (the fool around response in stress, one of the 4F responses to fear), the cliché' of typical dog who appears well behaved when instead is in a state of suppression/ learned helplessness, lack of initiative (the dog is no longer an active learner as is afraid of trying new behaviors), displacement behaviors (yawning, scrolling of the fur) and several more. Our dogs can sense when we are calm, and our calmness reassures them. If we tend to be on the reactive, excitable or frustrated side, it's important for us to at least try our best to act calm in the presence of our dogs. Moving quickly, talking in frustrating tones, breathing fast, petting them quickly ruffling up the fur, fleeing from the scene, risks making them hyper, reactive or unsteady. Catching our dogs when calm indoors or outdoors and praising calm behaviors with a calm, soft tone of voice,(possibly dropping a non-too exiting treat at his feet) and preferably without making eye contact, can help capture the calm behaviors so that they repeat. Excited/hyper behaviors shouldn't get our attention-any form of that means none of the positive or negative type. Even in play with other dogs, our dogs benefit from taking breaks if their play gets too hyper. . Before we give any form of attention it's therefore important that we evaluate in what state of mind our dog is. It's amazing how many calm behaviors our dogs display during the day and they often go unnoticed, but as soon as the dog misbehaves, he gets all eyes on him. It's therefore not surprising why then we get a higher percentage of the latter. On top of capturing and rewarding calmness, controlling the circumstances (antecedent control, management) so that the dog wants to do what we want him to do is what ultimately sets them for success. In other words, we can pave the path to good behaviors by avoiding rehearsals and trying to preempt behaviors and giving something more acceptable to do praising and rewarding that so to compete with and supersede the innate reinforcement gained from acting out in ways we do not like. On top of this, getting to the root of the problem is paramount (not enough sleep, too many stress hormones, not enough outlets for instinctive behaviors, too much social pressure, etc). Therefore as difficult as it may be, it's important to take several deep breaths at critical times and become proactive rather than reactive and do some goal setting to prevent these situations from occurring in the first place and then implementing an intervention plan that is both easy for us and our dogs to adhere to (baby steps with possibly a way to track down whether the behavior is improving over the course of several days). Setbacks can always happen through the process, but these should gradually become more more far in between and and if occurring more than expected, a careful evaluation of what may trigger it and a little tweak back on the drawing board can help soon set things back on the right path. Finally, as tempting as it is to think that dogs misbehave just for the pleasure of upsetting us, it's important to remind ourselves that it's nothing to be taken personal and that they simply do so because they are in a phase of their lives and most likely it is fun, relieves pent up energy or stress, or simply grabs our attention.

Congrats on your upcoming bundle of barks, er, joy! 😆 Dachshunds are pretty smart pups so I don't think you'd have an issue when he gets older. There's a section in the training for putting "potty" on command that would be useful for this. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/advanced-potty-training/potty-on-command/ That comes in useful if there's a designated area for him if you ever travel with him. When nature calls and he's in that field, it will happen even if potty isn't on command, lol. Having it on command makes it easier so they know it's what they're supposed to do in that area. I'm not sure if it's the breed or my husband's "training" but his Dachshunds were little devils about going inside so I highly recommend the command route and routine. Routine is one of the most powerful tools we have with helping dogs live in our world of rules. :)

I wouldn't be able to advise on the subject as our boy is alone, but just wanted to say the picture is precious ! They're lovely !

Hi No question here 🙂 just a little sharing : we try to implement the carpet game but with a towel as I have no carpet 🙂 I like the Come+stay+go which starting to be real good at home 🙂 https://youtu.be/l2LWN2c0r3w

Célébration day today people !!! Day of joy !! Mister Loki finally accepted to go through the dreaded feared road. I must confess I didn't train it specifically lately but several things may have helped : - we sometimes walk by until he was not ok with going further, then just stayed around enjoying there while being sure he was under threshold and not in a fearful mood - sometimes we met dogs and people around he could greet and train impulse control with - he even met his best doggy friend and could even fully play with him unleashed one or two times - he was walked there with my parents in Law, who didn't know about this fear. But being with them overdid the fear and he walked with them with no issue (I was a bit bothered as with me he wouldn't... But with them it was ok 😭😂) sometimes it doesn't have to be complicated, but what is sure is what you said : "slow and steady win the race"

Thank you FrederykbBlot and Adrienne for the information! Adrienne, the first and third link will not open for me. Both say I do not have access. All the others are fine. Is there something I can do to access these? We brought our girl home today. She is such a cuddly one. Now to implement some of the trainings into our routine.

As today is celebration day, some more updates on the progress that are causes for joy - his wait is getting better and better, in duration, distance, and environment (we're outside where things are going + muffin game is likely his favorite...) - recalls, and specially recalls when free... that gives us even more trust to let him loose to enjoy I swear it's not bragging, but just a sharing of joy :D :D

Thank you and yes he once did bite over a wrapper with food. After that dilemma I hand fed him for 2 months whilst also training him. I now can get him off street objects and food by a simple leave it or tossing treats away from him. I will try the above mentioned, I didn't even think of steak being higher value than a bone, so thanks for the info. I will let you know how I go. Here's a pic of my cheeky boy.

I feel you. Internet and media are great for information and skill learning but I found the hard way that : - you can read so many things, all claiming this is good, and this is bad, and discerning the reality in all of that can be difficult and can create much self questioning - what is shown is usually the best, in the best of world : everyone is happy, puppies are lovely, they all seems to have a perfect solution to a specific problem.. even with difficult dogs, it's always shown as they can "correct" them quick, while in reality, there are always some struggles... but struggles isn't something anyone want to share on Facebook or Instagram, or YouTube Once you get to the point that you accept that you just doing the best you can, with the skills you acquire and the love you have, while accepting making errors, it all become more bearable

This is my little big girl, Fraser. She is obsessed with puppies that live in mirrors and window reflections (herself). (Not sure why the image is showing rotated 🤔). She is a real sweetheart. Photos show her age 5-7.5 months (she’s 8 months now)

Stella loving her first spring! Also peep her after spay surgery gown it was so adorable!! If she didn’t hate wearing clothes i’d still use it to be honest and yes she did chew through her leash 😂 IMG_5285.MOV

Aww beautiful, Gizmo has a black eye patch also

Gizmo... gorgeous after a play in the secure field

You are very welcome! Just as an FYI, I think in most places vets are open for business with the lock down, they are just taking extra precautions (you have to wear a face mask, keep distance as the vet examines the dog and some vets may do visits in outdoor areas). Just pointing this out as it seems like many dog owners are delaying their vet appointments for some even rather urgent cases (not your case of course) not knowing that they are open. I hope your pup turns out fine! Best wishes Adrienne

According to the DNA test, Katie, the doggie on the left, is 64% Chihuahua, 20-something% Mini-Schnauzer, and the rest terrier mix. Doesn't give me much trust in DNA tests! But she's a love and we rescued her last June. Duffy is a Bernese Mountain Dog. He's the bestest boy in the world and is 4 years old. They've become great buddies and playmates.

Ziggy at 10 months.

We have had our little Lupo for just over 2 weeks now - actually he is not so little - it seems he has about doubled in size since we picked him up. All in all he is just a fantastic dog - better than I could have ever hoped for. We live in a rural area and my wife raises chickens. It probably took more time for the chickens to adjust to Lupo that it took for him to adjust to the chickens. Lupo stays outside all day - we bring him in the house at night (after everything is locked down outside) where he sleeps in a "crate". Other than the occasional wimper this has worked out very well. He does not have the run of the house - but sometimes before crate time we will let him in where he will curl up on the rug at the front door. He will rarely try to leave that spot but a simple pointing of the finger and he is right back curled up on the rug. Every morning just after dawn, Lupo and I go "on patrol" where we walk the property to try to establish his boundaries. He is really good about not trying to wander beyond where he is allowed to go. I do the same in the evenings. While he loves to tug at my pantlegs on these walks, I usually have a stick with me that I can use to redirect him and that seems to work well. Sometimes he will just carry the stick for the rest of the walk as if that is his job. Other times, I will start off letting him drag his leash and by the end of the walk he will carry that - just another "job". He constantly throws glances my way to be sure he has me in sight. We never walk him down the driveway as we do not want him to think its ok to do that himself. If I want to take him to visit a neighbor or the neighbor's dogs I always put him in the truck and park down the road. He is anxious about going for a ride and needs to be next to me - but I think he will get used to it with time. I find Lupo is not food motivated at all! And this has been a bit of a challenge - at least for me. "Sit" is no problem. "Down" is ok. "Come" on the other hand is a bit of an issue. He clearly understands the command, but sometimes refuses to execute. Sometimes I feel like he wants me to get far enough away so that he can really run to me and other times I feel like he is thinking "I don't want to come". Any pointers here would be most helpful. If we go to an unfamiliar area he is really good about staying with me - either on or off the leash. At home it seems he is more comfortable doing what he wants to do and pulling against the leash as a form of play. Like I said the experience has so far been fantastic, but I feel like I am in some sort of honeymoon phase and the in a couple of months time he will go from adorable Lupo to Kujo. My last dog was just over 15 years old when he passed so it has been a while for me working with a puppy. I want to be sure we are all off to a good start and no unknowingly reinforce any bad behaviors. Is he really going to start testing me as he gets older? Thanks!

Update...I've been able to curtail the attacks by watching the Aussie after meals, games and treats and recognizing the "look" as she approaches the BH, and also the BH's posture and demeanor (i.e., he can tell what's coming). As she approaches him I tell her "Be nice!" which distracts her; and I tell her again, and again if necessary until she's relaxed and whatever demonic urge she might have has passed. Hopefully by breaking the habit she'll eventually forget that she ever did this. In the meantime though the poor little guy scarfs down his food and then runs and hides, even if it means leaving food in his dish if she finishes before he does. Otherwise they play and roughhouse a good part of the day, with the BH giving as good as he gets - which is part of what makes the attacks so odd. I don't know how they can run around, wrestle and play tug-of-war all day and then assume attacker-victim roles only at specific times. Talk about a toxic relationship...We're still hoping to either locate his people or place him soon, so maybe he won't be scarred for life.

Superb response. Your advice has been invaluable Adrienne and we will definitely come back. You seem to really understand dogs and have a terrific insight into their needs. We intend to fix Finn if at all possible and with your help he’s already making good progress. Here he is training with me on the beach. FullSizeRender.MOV

And if I may : never underestimate treat value The more difficult is the behavior change, the more value the treat should have For example, to brush Loki, we had trouble to make him stay in place, while using normal treats, because some places were unpleasant to him as he has knots When we switch to cooked hot dogs, no problem anymore, he would stay, and I could even pull on the hairs quite strong without him bulging

While Esther doesn't snarl, she was (and still can be) Horrible with following where I wanted her to go. Three things have helped immensely in the last 3 weeks. 1. The leash pressure Adrienne mentioned. I'm practicing this in the yard, but I really like the couch suggestion for getting started. Far less distractions! I do a smacking sound or say, "here" and when she's at my desired future heel position she gets a treat. 1b. Every single potty trip is a training session for us 2. Emergency U-turns - they're not just for emergencies. I attribute this to most of our success and her decreased pulling. You'll need to find your own personal touch on it. For instance, Esther responds best if I hold and lift the leash about 18" from her and pivot around that and her. Gertie needs me to use the leash pressure on a more parallel angle. There's an inner and an outer u-turn. Inner you pivot around your dog, outer your dog pivots around you. I attribute the u-turns to the occasional attention heeling I get from her and it's a thing of beauty! I feel highly accomplished teaching her how to walk, lol. 3. Walk in a big circle going in whichever direction you want her to heel on. I have a right-handed heel because our parks require us to "curb" our dogs, which means they have to walk on our right-hand side. So when Esther starts pulling ahead of me I'll start veering into her and use my legs (gently!) to move her in the direction I'm going. I use this method on the u-turn as well, but she's usually much closer to me when I do those. For all three I use the treat as a lure. For leash pressure it's Really tough to do, but I was taught to keep my hand stationary rather than using it to pull the dog. Instead, the treat is what's going to encourage her to come to my hand and put slack in that leash. The first few days were awful and aggravating. By the 5th day she was beginning to respond marvelously to the U-turn so I make sure to do Lots of those in the yard every potty break. It might take us 10 turns to get to the back end of the yard, for example. I do it whether there's something I want her to turn away from or not and I keep the treat at my thigh which makes her have to come to that position for the reward on the inner turn. For the outer turn I'm still working on my own coordination - for some reason this one is more difficult for me. She swings a bit wide, but it's the same as the inner turn - keep that treat next to the thigh so she has to stick to you like glue. A useful tool I have (because I'm arthritic and am sometimes super stiff and not quite able to maintain a firm grip) is a leash that I can hook around my waist. It gives me a little extra leverage. My in-person trainer forgot hers here and I've fallen in love with it. She said use it until she gets back and use it I have! It's paracord braided with a clip on each end (no handle). Every 18" or so there is a closed ring the clips can be attached to that allows for so so many configurations. I can clip it around my waist and put a traffic handle closer to the dog's collar. I can shorten it by clipping some of the length around to the section around my waist. Here's a video of the leash I "borrowed." I have her bringing 2 to me on her next visit. I love that I can use up to 6' and can shorten it to my liking. I also discovered that if I hook the handle end onto 3 rings and slide it under the pantry threshold, then close the door, Esther is effectively tethered and I can move about the kitchen freely (she's incontinent and I like to limit her to one area for me to clean rather than me Easter egg hunting for puddles). https://www.leashesbyliz.com/multipurpose-leash-video

Quick question from someone who has an incontinent puppy. Has she been to the vet to rule out a UTI? The trickle and constant peeing makes me think UTI. She may be apt to have accidents inside if it is and it would be stinky, but I wanted to throw that possibility out there. UTI, while not desirable, would be an easy fix and make your life simpler! Or kidney or bladder stones. We went through the gamut of tests before the final diagnosis of "pelvic bladder," so I take a keen interest in urinary issues. Bowing out now. :)

My sweet Maisy Jane (GSD 4 mon) ❤️ and my Joy giving her the stank face...

Thanks for all the replies, it's super helpful! I will definitely try to teach him to go on command. We'll also ask the breeder for advice, I think she's already started potty training on some old newspapers. We're looking into the real grass option and will ley you know how it's working!

Hello, lovely buddy ! If I may, here are some little personal tips, while everything Adrienne and JMFS said are all really insightful To me, it's really looks like reactions issued with crate training, some equivalent of basic crate training may be helpful : playing IN and OUT game, WAIT IN and close the door, go away few seconds and treat when back, and increasing the time... But something that worked well with Loki for crate training and pen training was actually things while he was not contained : You left the contained area open, and you put very high value in there when he does not see you, and let him go in by himself He will start to think "oh my ! this area is soooo cooool !! It spawns high value treats ! being in there is not that bad after all" And also doing normal stuff in there, to show it's not just an area of exclusion : If you want to play some tug, or some chase, just go in with him, close the door behind you both, and play while in there Same for mental games : Loki looooovveeesss the muffin game. Many times we played it inside his pen. We couldn't obviously make the STAY with distance, but we could train the STAY with time while in the pen I'm not sure he can put away all the barking and whining, specially if the dog is clingy, and can have FOMO, but it will reduce much Hope that can help

This is Maisie!

Would you go with a 15', 20', 30', or longer lead? Looking on Chewy now and trying to decide between a tie out where I can have my hands free, or a lead where we can move around the yard. When she's finally ready for the dog park perimeter I'll use her regular 6' bungee leash that I can buckle around my waist and the martingale collar. The side of the park we'll have to work on is near a busy street and I don't want to risk her slipping out or yanking the leash out of my hand. The other side would put us at risk of running into other dogs as they enter the park. Can you tell I've put some thought into this? I would start with 6' leash for better control to start with. Then, as she gets better with her impulse control, you can work with gradual longer leashes.

Thank you both for the sharing (made me smile / laugh) and for the advice It will come around (I'm in a positive mood today, we had great victories I will share on the dedicated threads)

Hi Adrienne! I am so grateful for your time and interest, I will definitely apply myself as you recommend and will read suggested articles, It does make sense... I want to do the right thing, i just needed to know what it was, THANK YOU! Will inform about the progress, And than you also JMFS!! for the encouragement and suggestions, you are very kind! Best regards, Malú

Hi This message is me don't want to be this guy that only post when he has a need, a problem or a question 😂😂 Put this here as it was just about training My girlfriend sewed a snuffle mat for Loki using an old couch protector It's a bit messy, but he seems to enjoy the sniff He can't always get all of them but still have most https://youtu.be/ROS-292imZk

Thanks for that, I'll had it on the list ! We'll have to start at the preliminary, but at least this one seems easy enough :) In his case, I think it's more the envy to go outside and play with people and other dogs rather than the answer to a threat or discomfort, as he's very social and nice to others Usually I would let him bark outside and just ignore the behavior, but when that happens during the morning session, which is between 5am and 8am depending of his wake time, I can't let him bark outside or the neighborhood will hate us So I put him back in if it's too early. But I don't want to scold for barking, as it's a natural behavior and I don't really label it as "bad" so I play the "ignore behavior" card But in a living room with some space, that echoes a bit, at 6am it's hard I'm sure we'll benefit from this. Thanks

And some photos...

You don't have to ask me twice to share this beauty. 💕

Glad to hear! Thanks for the update! Feel free to post here if you have any other questions. Best, Adrienne

Hi there! Welcome to the forums! Here's a big fact: From the day you bring your puppy home, your puppy will be constantly learning, and that includes both good behaviors and bad. If you keep your mind focused on this very important fact, you will be more likely to provide guidance so that your puppy will often make good choices. Puppies are learning with every interaction so they are perpetually in "training." Play is training. Resting is training. Walking is training and even learning to be away from you is training. Embracing all these life events as training opportunities is incredibly beneficial in helping a puppy develop into the dog of your dreams. Because let's face it: by encouraging good behaviors from the get-go, we can avoid the hassle of fixing bad habits that straighten over time and become more and more challenging to overcome. So how long should a puppy be trained? There are no general rules set in stone on how long and how often a puppy should be trained. It tends to vary on an individual basis. Just like us (think students who can sit in class concentrating on lessons while others are glancing out of the window daydreaming), some dogs can tolerate more training than others. For instance, how is the pup's attention span? Is she easily bored? You can generally train your pup as many times as you like as long as you pup is enjoying it and isn't getting bored. Nothing is worse for a puppy than a tedious training session that is boring or too difficult! In general, with a pup of 8 months, you can do about 10-15 minutes of training every day in brief sessions spread throughout the day. This would be a good place to start, making sure you end the session on a positive note and always when the pup is still interested. This builds a strong desire to learn. Your pup is now in the full adolescent stage so she'll benefit from training and some impulse control. You can read about the dog adolescent stage here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/survive-dogs-adolescent-stage/ Making the sessions fun will make them less likely to feel "intense" for both owner and puppy. As the puppy matures and the attention span sharpens, it is possible to do longer sessions, but never to the point of boredom. So I would say start with brief sessions and watch how your puppy does. Now, dog owners may wonder whether it's best to focus on one behavior and teach it up to the level of mastery or whether it is best to teach a variety of behaviors at the same time. While there is really not right or wrong way to train behaviors (the important factor is that the puppy keeps learning and is eager to do so), with young pups it would be optimal to mix up several different behaviors. Puppies can get bored easily so mixing up different behaviors can help them stay focused. Puppy owners can also take advantage of their pup's energy levels and plan what to train accordingly. For instance, most puppies wake up with lots of energy or they may get the "zoomies" after finishing a meal. These are good times to take advantage of this energy bursts and train some recalls. Then, as the puppy gets a bit tired, why not focus more on some stationary exercises such as sit, down and stay? Once they are relaxed more, then you can resume with some more kinetic energy exercises such as polite leash walking. These exercises feature shifts in energy that are more in tune with the pups' activity levels and therefore can help maintain interest. On top of training different behaviors, it's important to also train them with different people and locations. All family members should be involved and take turns asking for behaviors. While training should start in a quite room, it should progress to involve various rooms of the house and the yard and then outside the home. I hope this answers your question, Happy Training! Adrienne .

Hi there, Welcome to the forums. Sibling rivalry (also known as littermate syndrome) is a real thing and the main reason why many breeders and shelters have started no longer sending two puppies together in new homes. The puppies tend to bond a lot together and they may get into frequent squabbles as they mature and separating them may become problematic once they are deeply bonded. It seems like several dog owners encounter more problems when the puppies are of the same sex versus having one female and one male. However, it is also true that there are many sibling pups of the same sex living together happily, therefore there may be too many variables to make blank statements. I have personally raised two littermates (my Rottweilers) one female and one male and can say that it takes a lot of work because you'll need to separate them e.g. separate sleeping (initially starting with separate crates kept side-by-side, then gradually increasing distance), separate training, separate socializing, separate walking, so to help develop their individual personalities and prevent raising two "half-dogs' who depend too much on each other and risk failing to bloom and who may also learn to not pay attention to us. It is therefore best to start this early as it may become more difficult later on. These separation periods do not need to be an all-day ordeal for days or weeks. What counts is that the pups are separated for periods of time during the day, including nap times (one owner spends time with one puppy, while the other spends time with the other, and then possibly swapping) with the purpose of building a strong bond with each pup independently. While you are initially training them individually a lot, once they have a solid response to sit, down, come, etc, it is possible to work with them together every now and then to your advantage. For example, I like to have sibling pups sit before they are fed their meals or sit before I open a door to let them out to potty. I also like to dorecalls with them together when needed. This type of training teaches the pups to pay attention to us despite the distraction of being together and in my opinion is very valuable.

Hi there, Welcome to the forums. To better assist you, I would need some more information. How old is this new puppy? What was the puppy doing exactly when the bite accidents have occurred? What was your German shepherd doing? Can you please describe more in detail both bite incidents? Did the first bite break the skin? If there was an injury can you describe it? Bleeding, needing stitches, What breed/age was the dog that passed 6 weeks ago? So sorry for your loss! Thanks! Adrienne

Hi there, Welcome to the forums! The good news if you are concerned about using treats is that you can put your dog's daily ration of kibble to good use, rather than letting it go wasted in a bowl and being wolfed down all at once within seconds. Kibble works best for indoor training, while treats can be reserved for when you are outdoors and there are more distractions. Nowadays, there are also many low-calorie treats on the market. If you have a pet store nearby, you'll find many options and store clerks are always happy to provide suggestions. When using soft treats, you can give very small portions. I like to split the average treat is several small pieces. People are often surprised how many pieces I can get from just one treat. About how many treats to give daily, this varies. Most treats have labels that should inform you how many to feed max a day based on your dog's size/weight. You can read more about using treats for training here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/use-treats-training-dog/

I just signed up yesterday and cannot access anything but text. Sent message about problem as instructed but no response. Anyone else having this problem?

Once they know target you can teach them all sorts of things, from practical to frivolous. I taught Gertrude how to open the baby gate for me when my hands are full, she also knows the difference between her bone, carrot, and duck toys. It's how I taught Momo to jump up. The idea there was to eventually get him to balance on his hind legs, but his arthritis settled in before we completed that training. Some people have taught their dogs to clean up their toys. Gertie rings a bell when she needs to go potty. Momo will give me a "kiss" (he punches me with his nose, lol). I Almost trained Mo to bring his bowl to me, but mostly he flips it up in the air or scoots it with his nose. They can be taught to push the handicap button if a door is equipped with one. It's largely up to the imagination because these guys can do so many things. Border Collie / Jack Russell?! How on earth did That happen?! :D I'd love to see a picture of those two breeds mixed.