# Starting Training 8 weeks-6months?



## ikeenzo07 (Oct 24, 2010)

Hello, 

 I was hoping I could get some good advice on starting our 8 week old puppy in protection? Should we do OB first? Some say yes, others no. The pups sire and dam have good drives and the father is two years old and is starting protection. We just wanted to start this pup out right. I bought a ball on string and a puppy rag. Any more techniques we should be using for puppy protection, or any certain method? We are going to be using a local trainer also, but I just thought I'd get advice here as well. Thank you.


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## DFrost (Oct 29, 2006)

A very little, stress free ob. Otherwise, let the puppy be a puppy. Let him/her encounter things that are part of life. Socialize, socialize and then do some socialization. Socialization includes environmental encounters, vehicle, stairs, different floor surfaces etc etc, as well as meeting people.

DFrost


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## Elaine (Sep 10, 2006)

You are missing out on the best time to train your puppy if you wait. I start everything at 8 weeks and keep it fun, fun, and more fun.


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## ikeenzo07 (Oct 24, 2010)

Thank you for the advice. A lot of people have said not to do hard corrections if you are going to do OB first so I think we will go with mild Ob, then do more serious OB later on. We will socialize him very well. We live on a very dog friendly island, so socializing will be easy. Thanks for the advice.


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## Castlemaid (Jun 29, 2006)

ikeenzo07 said:


> Thank you for the advice. A lot of people have said not to do hard corrections


No hard corrections? For a puppy 8 weeks to six months, really NO corrections is best, other than an occasional "no" and/or hand clap to distract and re-direct. 

Set up your pup for success - manage his environment so he does not get into trouble, let him think he is the best dog ever that can do no wrong!


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## Deuce (Oct 14, 2010)

Does your puppy already know basic commands?


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## ikeenzo07 (Oct 24, 2010)

He knows "Sits", and "Platz" (down).


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## CaseysGSD (Oct 15, 2010)

We are starting some more formal training around 5 months, from 2 months until right now (19 weeks) at home we have been working on basic stuff and lots of socialization. no corrections, German Shepherds are really smart and WANT to learn as you will soon see.


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

why do you want a PPD? how do you know you'll
need hard corrections?



ikeenzo07 said:


> Thank you for the advice. A lot of people have said not to do hard corrections if you are going to do OB first so I think we will go with mild Ob, then do more serious OB later on. We will socialize him very well. We live on a very dog friendly island, so socializing will be easy. Thanks for the advice.


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## Deuce (Oct 14, 2010)

I think maybe you should take her through a 6 week basic commands class before you move into anything more personally. Especially at her age


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## ikeenzo07 (Oct 24, 2010)

I agree. I was not saying I needed to do hard corrections, I was just wondering about the OB. I have always started them young. But recently a lot of people I talked to said to wait.. But I'm going with every ones advice. Thank you.


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## ikeenzo07 (Oct 24, 2010)

I agree. Thank you.


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## JKlatsky (Apr 21, 2007)

Deuce said:


> I think maybe you should take her through a 6 week basic commands class before you move into anything more personally. Especially at her age


I actually would not do this. Most basic courses are focused on pet obedience and taking drive and enthusiasm out of the puppy so it can stop chewing up the house and settle and be a good pet. The focus of most of these classes is to make the puppy controllable in public because the majority of puppy class participants will not go on to any further training. You will. Games like "Pass the Puppy" and recall exercises with strangers are not really what you want. 

You will need your puppy to be confident, eager, and a little pushy if you are planning on doing protection work. Your puppy needs to be super confident and not necessarily listening to everyone else. 

I would go with DFrost's suggestion. Socialize that puppy. Get him used to different surfaces and environments and really I wouldn't expect much in the way of manners or "OB training". Jumping, mouthing, etc are all normal puppy behaviors that I will not try to "fix". In other words I might teach them to do a better behavior to get me to play, but I will not tell them to not jump or mouth. Those are things they need to do protection work and they cannot have bad associations. My puppies learn basic commands but always with rewards, always fun, no corrections, except maybe verbal to give them feedback, and at most 10 minutes a day. With puppies I do a lot of luring and clicker training. 

Who is doing your protection training? Get with them. They will know what they need for you to be doing. Additionally, don't mess with the rag. Let your trainer take care of all of that. No bite work is better than bad bite work.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

As this thread is in the K9-police section. I would only follow the advice of K9 trainers and not the pet/obedience trainers. Agree w/ JKlatsky...on all points.


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## Elaine (Sep 10, 2006)

There should be no corrections at this age other than maybe not giving a reward. By starting early, you set in good behavior patterns and you don't need to do a lot of corrections later.


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## ikeenzo07 (Oct 24, 2010)

Yes, we have found a trainer, I will get with him and see what he thinks. Tahnk you.


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## ikeenzo07 (Oct 24, 2010)

Thanks to JKlatsky, the things you suggested in this post are helpful and make sense. Thanks so much. I spoke with the trainer today and he explained everything to me. Thank you.


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