# Collar Freeze



## Homesoil (Jan 23, 2017)

I have a very lively 10 week old male GS puppy who has reduced me to tears on a couple of occasions in the two weeks I have had him. I am working hard on getting him to accept me as the pack leader before I give up completely. I have had a trainer come to my house (worthless), i've been glued to the internet for two weeks and I have bought Tim's book and subscribed to Dan's video channel. I realise now that I was not adequately prepared to be a GSD owner and I have made some mistakes in those first two weeks. I am going to give it my best shot to turn things around. We have got the food thing pretty much taken care of which has never been an issue from the start. I am working on the ignoring (which makes him "attack" me even more vigorously), the collar Freeze and the isolation. I have done the isolation a couple of times and the collar freeze but I have no idea if I am doing it right? I dont speak, look or touch him and try and appear calm and look at the floor but he goes ape!! Twisting and turning and jumping and choking himself. I am hanging on for dear life trying to move so hes not choking then he may calm down to a whimper. He hates it!!! What am I doing wrong? Is there a video of the collar freeze?
Thanks in advance

Lorna


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## Castlemaid (Jun 29, 2006)

Hey there! I'm not familiar with the video trainers you mention nor the Collar Freeze - never heard of this before. 

In all your readings, have you read anything about re-directing the 'attacks' to a toy? Always have a tuggy toy on you, have a bazillion around the house handy. When puppy goes into landshark mode, you stuff a toy in his mouth and PLAY!!! Landshark crazy mode will last until he is done teething, about six months, so be patient. 

You can't control a 10 week old puppy. You manage them. You think ahead, and have a plan on what you will do to get the pup to do what you want, without them knowing that it was all your devious idea, and not theirs. If you are this frustrated, I get the feeling you have unrealistic expectations. 

Most puppies this age hate being under leash and collar control. Just spend a few minutes walking on leash per day. Quit before pup implodes. Set it up so that it is a positive experience for your baby. If it means taking three steps in the driveway nicely while being lured with a treat - so be it. Celebrate the success, make it into a fun puppy party, and quit for the day. Aim for four step the next day. 

If you got the food thing down, I assume you are talking about luring and rewarding. At this age, everything is luring and rewarding, and make sure the rewards come fast and furious, or else you will reduce your puppy to tears by confusing it by what you want. 

Also, schedule regular naps for you pup, in his crate, every day. A lot of the crazy-bitey behaviour is from being overly tired and throwing a tantrum the same as 2-year-old human toddlers will have major melt-down tantrums when tired. 

When puppy gets out-of control, pick him up, put him in his crate, walk away. Save your sanity, give puppy some nap time - works great!


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## Kungfupanda (Mar 24, 2016)

Castlemaid said:


> Hey there! I'm not familiar with the video trainers you mention nor the Collar Freeze - never heard of this before.
> 
> In all your readings, have you read anything about re-directing the 'attacks' to a toy? Always have a tuggy toy on you, have a bazillion around the house handy. When puppy goes into landshark mode, you stuff a toy in his mouth and PLAY!!! Landshark crazy mode will last until he is done teething, about six months, so be patient.
> 
> ...


It's nice to hear this lasts on going and the nap allowances... my pup is about to turn 7 months. Glad to know I shouldn't feel guilty allowing him rest times on going for the next few months! He does really settle the eff down and enjoys and wiggles his limbs around on his back with his toys in his mouth when he's in there! Wise words!


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## Homesoil (Jan 23, 2017)

Castlemaid said:


> Hey there! I'm not familiar with the video trainers you mention nor the Collar Freeze - never heard of this before.
> 
> In all your readings, have you read anything about re-directing the 'attacks' to a toy? Always have a tuggy toy on you, have a bazillion around the house handy. When puppy goes into landshark mode, you stuff a toy in his mouth and PLAY!!! Landshark crazy mode will last until he is done teething, about six months, so be patient.
> 
> ...



Hi Thanks for your reply.
Ah sorry. I have got mixed up with two different websites.
As I said I did have unrealistic expectations because I was ill prepared but I have learned this.
I have plenty of toys for him and do offer those instead. 
It was pretty obvious to me that he was controlling everything and the techniques I mentioned was part of addressing that, 
"the food Thing" related to me eating first from his bowl and not giving his food until he is calm. Fortunately I did that from day one and it is calm stress free experience.


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## Castlemaid (Jun 29, 2006)

Do you use treats for training then? I'm super confused on how you are training, how you deal with the sharking. 

I get that you are trying to use dominance theory to 'train' (yes, in quotation marks - dominance theory is debunked, and not of any use for a puppy). 

I think you have been watching all the wrong videos . . .


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## Deb (Nov 20, 2010)

Is this where you got the collar freeze thing from?


https://mygermanshepherd.org/periodical/gsd-puppy-leash-training/


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## Dotbat215 (Aug 19, 2015)

Your puppy isnt trying to dominate you. It's got a lot of energy, curiosity, and doesn't have the maturity to follow all the rules to T. Not so different from having young kids.

The first thing to remember is to set the dog up for success. Don't give it the chance to practice a bad behavior. If he's a chewer, don't leave your shoes out, for example. 

Many people fall into the trap of inadvertently teaching unwanted behavior and then blaming the dog.

It goes back to what Castlemaid said... Think ahead of the pup, act instead of reacting.


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## Kyrielle (Jun 28, 2016)

Homesoil said:


> It was pretty obvious to me that he was controlling everything and the techniques I mentioned was part of addressing that,
> "the food Thing" related to me eating first from his bowl and not giving his food until he is calm. Fortunately I did that from day one and it is calm stress free experience.


Eating from the bowl first doesn't mean a thing to a puppy. Just teach the puppy to sit, then put the food down. Really easy way to teach sit, and an easy way to set the puppy up with good bowl manners (meaning he doesn't learn to slap at the bowl or start gulping away before the bowl's even on the floor).


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## LuvShepherds (May 27, 2012)

At 10 weeks it may not be too late to start this. Watch Stonnie's videos. He is much better than most,






https://m.youtube.com/channel/UC6vdCX3-G6oDGajvQFreLLA


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## MyHans-someBoy (Feb 23, 2013)

Stonnie Dennis has some great puppy training videos on you tube. He makes it fun for both puppy and handler with a light hearted approach that doesn't tend to stress young puppies out.


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