# New GSD owner, dog might be smarter than me...



## Smithmountainman (Jan 20, 2016)

Hi! I'm a long-time dog owner, first-time GSD owner. I've 'trained' some smart breeds before, but this time is different, probably because I moved off the family farm and have an office job instead of a school/college schedule. Tad long-ish post, but I bet you can spot my solutions and give me pointers from your experience in just a few seconds. 

Elle is a GSD from police lines, and is about 7 months old. She apparently had some leash training before I got her, as she was well behaved on leash. She was almost clingy, but appears to be settling into the routine fairly well (had her almost a month). I have taught her to kennel/crate, and keep her kenneled while I am asleep, but during the day I have her outside in a petsafe fence. My wife has Franklin (vet guesses pitbull/chihuahua mix; about 17#), who is also about 7 months. I walk them both almost every day, typically about 1/2 to a mile. No problems between them except possibly occasional rough play and the initial food territorial (from Franklin). I've never had two dogs at once, so I'm a little over my head, but there are good reasons.

I have a series of issues that I am not sure how to address:
1. Any recommendations for good trainers in the Auburn/Montgomery/Sylacauga, Alabama area?
2. Elle starts the walks off pulling - not all the time, but it seems to be an increasing problem. However, she tends to assume and stay at a close heel if we encounter another dog or person.
3. While I appreciate not having all the neighborhood dogs pee on my tires, she is very vocal when a dog approaches the fence boundary (most dogs in my town are quasi or full free range), and will run to the boundary if the neighbors walk by, though I suspect this may be because she thinks they are there to play like the neighbor's boys.
4. Elle and Franklin have apparently decided to do the 100 dalmatians thing, as when the neighborhood dogs bark, Elle will echo and continue the barking.

I can't stand an untrained or misbehaving dog, so I have to do something before her habits get out of hand. I hope to eventually get her into some more advanced training areas like tracking and maybe protection... jury is still hearing the case for protection though. However, they seem to be racing to a low median of their combined 'skills' and I am not sure how this is happening or how to correct it. I realize both dogs need training, but I think I need to focus on Elle, as Franklin is not as smart, in order to get a handle on this early. As I am in a rural town, there are exactly zero training opportunities/classes locally, so thus far I'm left trying to figure out what to do. Due to my wife's schedule and commute, I'm basically the dog master. 

Look forward to hearing your suggestions and especially your trainer recommendations. If you have questions or need more info, I'll be glad to provide it.


----------



## Smithmountainman (Jan 20, 2016)

I should have mentioned that I have been looking through the forums since finding it during the holidays, and have not answered the questions above, though I have answered several others. IOW, I'm not the despised disappearing troll

I should also note that we like to go hiking, and would eventually like to have enough control that we can comfortably have Elle off-lead when at the farm or while hiking.


----------



## car2ner (Apr 9, 2014)

I don't have any genius advice except that training becomes a bit easier as your pup will become more mature. They are fully adults closer to two years old. That being said, there is no good reason to put off any kind of basic training. 

For pulling we had to use a prong collar. My boy is the first dog I've ever had to use one on and it makes a big difference. That and I try to keep a mundane walk interesting with a few sudden surprise turns and some obedience drills sprinkled in. Otherwise he gets it into his head to ignore me and wants to rush upto the next smell just a few yards ahead. 

For off leash walking do lots of recall drills, over and over and over and over, starting with a long line so you never have to chase your gal down. And it has been recommended that the further your dog has to run to come back to you, the greater the reward. Mind you that chasing a deer will be way more fun than any treat you have in your hand, including a double decker cheese burger. That is why you have to do it over and over and over again, with the idea that Elle will become conditioned to return to your call.
Have we achieved that at our house yet? Nope. 

As far as the barking goes< Elle is doing her job protecting your property. Mine like to bark toward the fence at night and also indulge in the twilight bark. I don't correct mine for barking unless it becomes excessive, like 15 minutes worth (check your state and county laws. Some only allow for 10 minutes of barking). But honestly, if they are barking that loud and long, I should go check on what is going on. 

I'm sure some other folks will post with even better ideas. Just getting the ball rolling here.


----------



## LuckyMe2G (Nov 19, 2015)

For pulling we are doing the 180 turn thing - when she starts to pull I start going in the other direction. Roxy is much smaller than your Elle though so I'm not sure if that would work for you. Might be an alternative to a prong collar to try.


----------



## 9mmmac (Dec 28, 2015)

I'm not sure how to reply; this is a sticky point for me as well.

If I walk at speed 1, Grendel will walk at speed 1.1. He won't pull, just gradually drift ahead, and range out a bit. I haven't taught him a specific "heel" command, as I expect him to be at my 9 and in close when he's on a leash- no other action will be permitted. Ideally I'd like his nose to be even with my knee, but will tolerate up to his shoulder.

Getting a prong collar has helped curb 90% of it, but he's 6? 7? months old now, and can be walked on just a handle type leash, but I don't care for them. I've also done some snap left turns and run him over a few times- that taught him pretty quick why it's important to be a bit behind me, as have some "no notice" stops. 

The strange thing is that when I give him some leash slack, he'll move out to his comfort zone, and he'll check up on his station keeping every couple of steps. I can see him looking at me and making adjustments, so I know he's trying to keep in formation- he just can't do it very well. So I give him the benefit of the doubt, until he gets way off course, then he gets checked back to his proper place.

I also walk very fast, and I've found that slowing my walk down helps him stay closer to me, but he also looses his position faster if he gets distracted. Are you in the classic "heel" position with dog on left and holding the leash the proper way?


----------



## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

To find a good trainer for GSDs, I'd reach out to the Helping Shepherds of Every Color Rescue in Montgomery. They're lovely, helpful people.
Helping Shepherds of Every Color Rescue

Even though you didn't adopt from them, I'm sure they'd be glad to share the name of their favorite trainer. Every good rescue loves sharing the names of the people who have done so much to help their dogs. Most of us field questions like this from the community very regularly. (If you need a good vet for this breed, I'd also ask them about that too. Not all vets are good with this breed, but they'll almost certainly know who the best one in town is.)


----------



## Vega-gurl (Sep 1, 2014)

You mentioned that you have a lack of training options, but have you tried out books? You could order somethings from amazon, and go from there. I LOVE the "tracking dog" book, its a classic, and extremely well written. I can't remember the author at the moment though. I also got "dog training for dummies" a "shuthzhund training in drive" book, (I'm sure I spelled that wrong ) and things like "The other end of the leash" for a wide cross section of training, so I could find what works best for me and my dog. All of these books were great tools, and offer really good insight on how to work with a dog. If there is something you really want to work on, ie, basic OB, I would start with one of these and go from there! 
Good luck!


----------



## Smithmountainman (Jan 20, 2016)

I will definitely reach out to them and see what they think. For some strange reason I hadn't thought to look at books, but I will switch over to amazon and take a look. 

I do walk with her on my left, but I haven't been strict on her position as franklin can be a terror to train... until his short legs tire out a little. I've started walking them separately to work on that and it's helping .


----------

