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Hey guys and gals ,
Last week we acquired a rehomed 5 month old female German Shepherd ( working lines )
and I'm having a heck of a time with recalling her. She's on a 15' check cord but literally ignores me.
The dog oozes confidence in every new situation we've exposed her to thus far . We've trained pointers , labs , Cane Corso, and a Boxer over the last 20 plus years but this one has me puzzled .
Any ideas ?
collar condition the dog
Sorry .... but if she's on a check cord how can she ignore? If the check cord is not long enough either buy a longer check cord or start to collar condition to HERE.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rustic
With a rehomed 5-month-old dog you've had for a week, you might start with reward-based recall instead of immediately moving to the e-collar.
Not to hammer on the obvious (and of course I haven't seen the dog) but a refusal to recall from 15 feet suggests there just isn't a good base of recall to work with yet.
This ^^^.Quote:
Originally Posted by welsh
Find out what reward (food or toy) your dog absolutely LOVES and use it ONLY for training. If it is a food reward don't feed the dog the night before or the morning of training, don't worry about calories you can always load up a bit of food in subsequent meals. I have found that not feeding the dog before training makes a big difference and can pull you out of a problem. Some dogs will range further than others, so some of this my be just part of the dogs personality.
When I trained my Lab our obedience instructor told us that you have to convince the dog that coming to you when the "here" command is given is the best thing in the world to the dog. Lot's of praise when they come to you & repetition. Never scold the dog after they come to you no matter what they just did. I have stuck to this & my BLF is not perfect but very reliable on the "here" command. She literally runs back to me & almost knock's me over because in her head I am the best thing that ever happened to her and nothing else matters... :)
As Welsh said.
You've just got the dog and she's rehomed , so the dog hasn't bonded to you yet. More time and patience needed. Food reward for coming in the house and in the yard for now.
What welsh said. Build a relationship with her and allow her to good use to everyone in the family pack.
Totally understand the "building a relationship" and positive treat training but when the OP says the dog is ignoring them while on a check cord, why would you not suggest positively "reeling" the dog in on the cord and treating when she arrives?? Thereby making the arrival a positive experience?
You're right to recommend reeling the dog in . In the house , don't call the dog at all unless you are going to enforce the command.
In the house you can try luring the dog. Put the treat on the dogs nose and back up and hopefully the dog will follow the treat. After you have gone a few yards give the treat.
deb
While all these other suggestions might help and be useful, why not just Find a "Dog Obedience Training Club "in your area and sign up for classes.
At 5 months old your dog is still a puppy , and has a lot to learn, all Obedience Clubs offer puppy obedience training sessions, in which both your puppy and you will learn a lot, you will find out many tricks of the trade that trainers use in dog training .
All great ideas ,
Going to go with food as the positive reinforcement , also think it may be a bonding /building trust between us issue .
She's already coming around a bit .
Thanks
R
One note about food/treat training.
The obedience trainer I went to used no food related training & was actually against it. His reasoning for this is if you are in a emergency situation with your dog & you need it to come back to you & you don't have a treat handy you are basically screwed. Positive reinforcement is all that is needed with most dogs & it worked with mine.
Enroll in basic obedience with a qualified trainer & BTW not the pet-smart puppy classes... :)
Good plan and join an obedience class as well. Have fun !Quote:
Originally Posted by Rustic
Great advice ,
seems it's just the recall, got her walking correctly on a leash, sitting, down , and we're working on the stay as the goes hand in hand with the recall.
Kinda funny , able to fully train to hunting dogs tht hunt 2-3 times a week yet this one has me scratching my head .
These shepherds are smart lol
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rustic
You should try training a Siberian Husky .lol
My first dog was a Siberian husky. Beyond stubborn & he didn't like to be confined in any way shape or form. He was an escape artist. Not loyal to anyone either.lol My lab female is the complete opposite.. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by yellow dog
They(Siberians) understand only one word GO ! lol They require a very patient approach and you need to be a few steps ahead of them.Siberians will always be my favorite breed regardless of the time and effort it took to train some of them. Not all were difficult to train and I have some really good stories on how a few of my lead dogs over the years saved my butt on more than one occasion.They are a very intelligent breed and are master escape artist's My labs were a breeze to train compared to my Siberian's because of there willingness to please.Quote:
Originally Posted by bellerivercrossbowhunter
Great idea, once you learn how she ticks and how she learns you will be off to the races! I have 2 GSPs (2yrs old and 9 months old), recall was 'fun' lol, we started with a 6 foot check, 12 foot and 50 foot. I always set them up for success when working on recall and I collar conditioned at 14 months old - I use the collar for recall and distance sit-stay. It is my insurance policy, I know that if we are ever in a dangerous situation I can make her either come to my side no question or stay put and wait for me to come to her.
You can also use a toy as a reward :)
How's she doing with the recall now? What approach did you end up using? How did it work? Was that the first approach you tried or did you have to switch to find one that work?
Would love to see an update
best advice yet. A package of cheap hotdog weiners might be your solution. I find working with 2 people works best. One to restrain the dog and another calling with the reward. This is how I whistle trained my dog in one session only. Worked like charm.Quote:
Originally Posted by welsh
When i train my my sib/malimute mix on "sit" or "down" . the stay is kind of built in, as in the dog doesn't move until i break command. If the dog breaks command i simply say no and put him back in to what ever the command was.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rustic
I wish I could say what flipped the switch but I have no idea. We pretty much used every technique mentioned .
The Long check cord really helped , but at the end of the day I think it was just a trust issue. Came very close to giving up.
Of all the dogs I've ever owned , both hunting and family companion , she is by far the smartest .
Outside on the property she's glued to the kids which is perfect for a 6yr old and 3 year old .
Basic commands were easily learned with the reward of cheese or hotdogs and a ton of praise , including "come "
Was a good opportunity to brush up my labs manners also.
There will be hiccups as she's less then a year but she's worth it .
Shes fine with gun shots so you may even see a grouse report featuring a German Shepherd LOL.
Thanks for the tips guys , a fine resource we have here.
R
It amazes me sometimes the bones people will pick to gnaw on.
BUt you guys are right, and the statistics are clearly wrong, just pure junk. forgive me, I'll take your say so with no supporting anything....... Statistics which by the way, have PBs leaps and bounds ahead of every other single dog breed for attacking people and fatilities.
Nah its not their disposition which is a result of the breeding. Just like other dogs with high prey drives, thats all training. Clearly its their owner and that explains why they are something like 8-10 times more likely than any other single breed. Bad owners dont get any other breed, they only get PBs and that explains why no other breed even comes close to PBs, those other breeds say like Sheppards are all owned by good owners.....and no good oners get PBs either.
Too funny.
And Gilroy, I thought I had said in black and white at the end.
Don't read too much into it, and don't get carried away. Did you not see that?
But yes given you are strongly in favor of GC (which we do have here unlike the US and no we dont have their problems nor anywhere near the same number of mass shootings) and were a huge propenent of the registry. Find it somewhat telling that your dead set against some controls for PBs...Only a few possible explanations, most of which would in the end be about emotional attachment. And further everyone does know or should know who are the most common victims of dog attacks and why. So you wouldnt risk letting a child near a loaded gun and I assume strongly support storage laws, but yep willing to risk a child with a different type of loaded gun........because they are what cute cudly and lick your face where gun dont? The Stats are clear and if you look at it rationally, dettached ( without emotion)...........