# Training a Dog with No drive



## ditchdoc1017 (Apr 6, 2016)

We got a 18 month male the other nite, it is the most laid back dog I have ever seen. It has 0 drive no toy drive at all. It will not play or run any. We took it to the vet for a check up its healthy but it lays around and does nothing. It doesnt have food drive either it will sit and down for treats but not motivation doing it. The only thing it throws its ears up and pulls towards is our 7 year Yorkie it looks like it wants to play with her but not 100% sure. We don't let him off lease around her yet. Any ideas what to do ?


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## cloudpump (Oct 20, 2015)

Search two week shutdown. Give it time to get to know this dog and time for the dog to get to know you.


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## MineAreWorkingline (May 2, 2015)

Maybe the dog is waiting for its former owners to come and get him and is not interested in interacting with strangers. The dog does not know it has been rehomed. Give him time to get to know you and bond a bit. After all, it is a German Shepherd, an exceptionally loyal breed that does not easily lend itself to outsiders.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

Where did you get the dog from?


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## ditchdoc1017 (Apr 6, 2016)

There was a guy who got him from the people who raised him. He has him one month but decided he had enough dogs. 
Maybe he will come around. I didn't think about his trauma. We are 3 owner in 2 months he might just be sad.


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## MayzieGSD (Aug 28, 2006)

Give it time. He is in observation mode until he realizes this is his new home and he is here to stay. When we got Bruno at 3 yrs old from the rescue we thought he was calm and laid back. Ahahahahahahahahahahahaha.


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## Baillif (Jun 26, 2013)

Whenever I get a dog like this I generally go one of two ways about it. I cut the dogs food back to see if hunger will help motivate that food drive to come up a bit, but if that is a no go and usually while I'm waiting for that to take effect I just end up teaching everything with tactful pressure and praise. Negative reinforcement with prong and ecollar and when they know it well I start punishment for noncompliance.

Generally what I see happen is the dog starts to gain confidence once it learns it can control pressure and turn it off through its own actions and when you start offering food reward as a bonus the dog will generally start to take it. Tact is key though.

Most dogs generally start to become rewarded by the social aspect of the praise and see value in it when the process is done right even if normally they couldn't give a crap about your good boy before. It might be rewarded by something silly too. I've had dogs where celebrating with them and just being excited is enough to get them going even if they won't chase a ball or tug.


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## kaslkaos (Jan 15, 2003)

Hi there, yes, will second looking up `two week shut-down`.
You just got your dog, he may be laying low, scoping out his new world. He doesn`t know you, your place or your dog, he doesn`t know if he`s safe, so he may be just being super `careful` and just not feeling comfortable enough to have an appetite or want to play . Two week shut-down is just about keeping new dogs away (as much as you can) from anything that would get him in trouble.
As for negative reinforcement and corrections, I would wait (unless you really can`t). All dogs are different. My previous girl was a gsd (possibly working line) with attitude (wonderful!), corrections (when we used them) where no big deal to her. My previous new guy (different dog, breed, and past history) will fold if you are too demanding about feeding him hot dogs. He also arrived like yours, spending his first few days on the couch (asking permission for that) and being the perfect good dog (like a statue), but only because he didn`t want to `rock the boat`. 3 months in, and he`s still settling in, but much better.
Dogs need time to settle in, two weeks, two months, or more. Let him get to know you and you him.


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