# Milestones for GS puppies.



## elisabeth_00117 (May 17, 2009)

This thread is not meant to be a "standard" in which every dog is judged but a guideline for puppy owners who are unsure of what to expect from their puppies.

What are some of the things that a owner should expect (or have trained) their puppy to do by 3 months old?

Ex.
Stark can:
- sitz
- platz
- heya (come)
- shake paw (new this week!)
- drop it
- leave it
- walk on a leash, not next to me on the side I want yet, but we are working on it.
- housebroken
- knows what "gentle" means (when playing with the cats or me - razor teeth he has.. lol)
- sitz when I stop walking (again, new this week)
- knows what "enough" means when playing too rough with Senna, his live-in-dog-cousin.
- friendly and happy to meet other people and dogs (known by this point obviously)
- excited to try new things (Stark is TOO excited to try new things.. Haha)

These are just some things I would expect a 3 months old puppy to know by now. Obviously this depends greatly on the owners.

Just curious as to everyone's opinions.


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## Catu (Sep 6, 2007)

To me, almost none of the above. 

Many of what you consider command is responding at your tone, not exactly at the words (like "gentle", or "enough") so a pup will respond or not depending in the person giving the command, not the command itself. Also it depends on drives, at that age, with so little self control I have no problem if a pup can't resist to chase something. The pup with less drive may obey at the first "No", while the drivey pup just can't at 3 m/o.

The obedience tricks are just that, you can or can not teach them. I like to because it is so fun to teach these little sponges, but many people involved in competition want nothing to do with obedience until after a year old.

At three months old I still expect accidents on the carpet once in a while. I expect not fighting the leash, but not heeling and would not correct a pup excited to meet new things for pulling.



> Originally Posted By: elisabeth_00117
> - friendly and happy to meet other people and dogs (known by this point obviously)
> - excited to try new things (Stark is TOO excited to try new things.. Haha)


This two I agree, they do show me a loved healthy pup in body and mind.

ETA: I don't expect a reliable recall either. I encourage the "come" to be as positive as possible, but I never give full freedom to the pup to the point he can chose or not to come when called.


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## mjbgsd (Jun 29, 2004)

> Quote:but many people involved in competition want nothing to do with obedience until after a year old.


I start as soon as 8 weeks. Not complicated stuff but I do teach them obedience as young as possible. The sooner the better.


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## elisabeth_00117 (May 17, 2009)

I'm definitely not saying that they do these things ALL the time or even really should understand them at this age, but using the commands (or tones) for each command should be starting to get recognized at this age (what I mean is that the owner should be practicing them).

Stark does not do these things 100% of the time and although we haven't had a potty accident in the house for a few weeks, I don't think punishing (never punish, always teach) a puppy this young is going to help him learn what to do.

What I meant by this post was what are some milestones that each puppy by 3 months old has accomplished on a regular basis (not every time but pretty close).

It's a way to see where us puppy owners can improve or should not worry so much about.

I guess that's what I meant, guess I wasn't too clear.. Sorry.


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## Stephanie17s (Jun 16, 2009)

> Originally Posted By: elisabeth_00117
> 
> What are some of the things that a owner should expect (or have trained) their puppy to do by 3 months old?
> 
> ...


I think I'm behind in the game









Lex (10 weeks) is still having accidents, though much fewer and not everyday. Mouthing is still a big issue, getting better, but if I said "enough", she would probably laugh in my face lol. She knows "sit" (well as much as a puppy can know, but she will listen even without a treat, in a room full of people, so I was kinda proud about that







) and we are currently working on "lie down". 

I think you're very lucky so far, keep up the good work!


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## elisabeth_00117 (May 17, 2009)

Stark is really "mouthy" as well.. I think it has to do alot with having another dog (puppy - 11 months old) in the house. That is how they play.

When I say "enough" he doesn't always listen.. and does look at me like, "you want me to what?"

I don't really have any big expectations as he is only 12 weeks old, but I just thought it would be nice to see where everyone is, kinda like a "growth chart" so to say.

Your not behind in the least bit, every dog is different and has their own "issues" and milestones, so no worries.

Stark won't even give me eye contact if Senna (the other dog in the house) is anywhere near him. He LOVES her and is FULLY focused on her and only her when she is near.


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## Tbarrios333 (May 31, 2009)

Oops, I missed this post. I really like the idea of it so i'll post even if it's a little old!







She is 3.75 months old or 15 weeks.

Denali can:
Sit
Stay (for like 5 seconds)
Down
Leave it (We messed this one up, technically she knows Drop It lol. Will have to think of a different command for Leave it.)
Left paw
Right paw
Rollover
Bang (Play dead)
Watch me (5 seconds at most)
Potty trained- I expect accidents but she whines to go outside.
Loose leash walking... most of the time.
Sit when I stop//Look at my face to move forward
Off- she understands Off for furniture, but not people yet.
Knows to eat her raw near her bowl, and that she doesn't have to run off with it.
Inside/Outside

Work in progress:
Come
Bring it
Take it
Touch
Crate time
Heeling kinda... I don't expect anything as far as heeling goes. Maybe when she's older.


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## Rei (Oct 10, 2008)

Trent is around 19 weeks old and we are working on
Heel (and sitting when stopping)
Quiet! (right now it only works 50% of the time)
Stay (he CANNOT do this. The record is 3 seconds)
Give Paw
Working with distractions. He just simply MUST greet every dog and person he sees.

But by 16 weeks, he could
- Sit
- Down
- Come (good recall for his age)
- Off (of furniture)
- Leave it
- Drop it
- Speak
- Crate
- Watch me (for a few seconds)
- Take treats very gently
- Go into a sit/stay or down/stay while food is being prepared
- Go into a sit/stay or down/stay while the family eats
- He was potty trained by 10 weeks old
- Walk nicely on the leash with minimal pulling
- Alert us when someone comes to the door
- Drops the tug on command when we play tug-o-war


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## Tbarrios333 (May 31, 2009)

Your pup can speak! I'm so jealous!
I've been trying to get her to do it, but my dogs are always mutes for some reason LOL.


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## elisabeth_00117 (May 17, 2009)

> Originally Posted By: DenaliFofaliYour pup can speak! I'm so jealous!
> I've been trying to get her to do it, but my dogs are always mutes for some reason LOL.


My older girl's speak command is "who's that?" spoken really quietly.

She goes nuts when anyone whispers that.. Haha.


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## Tbarrios333 (May 31, 2009)

She's a terrible alert dog LOL. I wonder if they start to bark when someone is at the door when they're older.
Yesterday some random guy came over and she jumped at the window and wagged her tail... she wanted to play with him







Where's my aloof GSD? lol!


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## elisabeth_00117 (May 17, 2009)

No worries, Stark does the same thing.

Anyone and eveyone who comes near us is a new play buddy to him apparently...


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## Debbieg (Jun 7, 2009)

This is an interesting post. All puppies like children go at their own pace. We just have to find the pace and encourage them.

Benny will be 13 weeks tomorrow,
He knows
sit
down
shake
stay 
Kisses ( say this when he is mouthy and if not too amped up he will start smothering with kisses.
Going up and down stairs.
Going down the slide and the park and running back up.,
fetch ( but does not always bring it back like he did a few weeks ago)
walks well on leash but does not know heel. knows to sit when I stop walking
house trained
willingly shared his food with the cat.
He is very social with dogs and people
He knows leave it and drop it but fights me on it!









He does not do all these things consistently or perfectly but is getting better

ankle biting and pants grabbing is still an issue but a definite improvement over the last few days
I need to work with him on being more gentle it the cat too


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## mandelyn (Mar 23, 2007)

Logan is 16 weeks, but we're missing a week and a half from when he was sick. 

Heel, left side, minimal pulling, stops and sits when I stop walking quite readily. When he started he was the trail behind sort instead of the pull ahead. Now he's starting to pull ahead, and he seems to have realized he supposed to be next to me, not behind, not ahead.

He came sitting... he just sits when I'm looking at him, when he wants something, when he's thinking. Sit was really easy because he does it on his own. I just had to connect a word to it to get him to do it when I asked him to.

Stay - A hard one! If Ricca wasn't here, I don't think he'd last more than 5 seconds. But she's awesome at it, so he sits right next to her. I've had him last the whole time it took to change laundry and fold towels, when I opened the laundry room door, they were both in the same spot. Talk about praise! But he's coming along nicely alone too.

Come - Not too bad, high pitch squeeky fun voice from me and he's barreling in my direction full speed ahead regardless of what he was trying to go check out. "Logan Come" gets a head turned towards me, then I go to fun voice and he starts running. 

Down... haven't started on that. When there's nothing going on he lays down. He knows when there's a game to be had, and if there isn't, he lays down and naps. So I say "good down" and praise him when he's being sane, but I haven't pushed it as a command.

"Drop it" and "bring it", so far, so good. He'll steal a sock, bring it to me, drop it, and get a toy instead. I think I've taught him to bring me stuff he shouldn't have indirectly. Right now there's 3 socks and a halter top at my feet, he must have been shopping in the bathroom and wanting me to trade with him for toys. 

I get rocks in the yard, but he keeps the sticks unless I ask for them. But I think he's actively searching for rocks to bring me since I have always made him bring me what he found and drop it. 

He not mouthy, just nippy on walks. There's a learning curve there since it seems to be coming from a strong herding instinct.

He'll pick his toys up and put them all in his crate... herding instinct made it easy to connect a word to it. I saw him do it, praised, and practiced.

No novelty tricks yet. House training is perfect but I'm anal about it and take him out A LOT. I look at him so often I can tell when it's time. I don't expect him to _know_ anything about it, but I know when he needs to go. He doesn't know he's supposed to wait till 3pm, but I know if he needs to go at 2:30, thus preventing a 2:58 accident.


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## Rei (Oct 10, 2008)

> Quote:Your pup can speak! I'm so jealous!
> I've been trying to get her to do it, but my dogs are always mutes for some reason LOL.


Oh don't be. He will "speak" when the someone visits the neighbor across the street, and when someone even walks past our house, and even when we are sleeping in the bedroom and someone walks in. Which is why we're definitely working on that "quiet". Enjoy the silence while it lasts, Trent wouldn't give more than a whimper during his first few weeks. Now he barks big, loud, and proud


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