charli73

We chose a female for our first puppy as they are smaller than the males (GSD) and we had been told that they were easier to train, less dominant although Im not sure if that would be correct, If your not fussed one way or the other let the pup pick you, whether it a boy or a girl! Good luck!

I cant speak for Erny but I can guess it would be something along the lines of this: Any Idiot who uses the prong collar to give a correction so hard that it would pull the dog off its feet IMO should NOT have the prong collar in the first place. If you are trained correctly and using it correctly you would never need to give a correction that hard, that is one of the great benefits of this training tool. But if you did? It would prob give a damn hard pinch. But you just would'nt do it. And its because of idiots who used them incorrectly that they got banned from use in Vic in the first place. Sorry just wanted to throw my two bobs in.

We have our GSD pup with ADT enrolled in platinum. We are very happy with them as they have many classes at different centres and you can go once, twice week, its up to you. Mainly in melb eastern suburbs and we get different things from each centre/trainer, some conflicting though you have your fav instructors.. they suit us and our pup... have info night and see how you like them.. now off to do a search and see what others have said.. If you have any other questions pm me.

My girl Zoe will be 1 on June 1st... where did that fluffy little puppy with floppy ears go?

Bella, So sorry for your loss Asher was a beautiful boy... My thoughts are with you.

Rainy, Just make sure you cordon off an area or mark one out, just one corner of the grassy area may be a bit hard to train pup to understand the boundary if its a large space, like a garden bed or side of he house... We dont have much grass these days and OH says he is close to throwing up with the smell of poop. (such a bad excuse) but not game to leave one behind...

I have been looking for a bell for this also, although Im sure it would be chewed on if we put a bell up.. Zoe loves bells. Currently she just stands at the door and gives me a look and she can hold on overnight... sure beats cleaning up those huge wees...

Hi, You certainly can.. Our girl is 11 months and poops down the utility side of the house on the gravel as there was no way I was going to be searching for poop in the grass.. What we did when she was a pup we would figure out when she needed to go (after meals etc) as she did the sniffing around thing then we lead her down where we wanted her to go and as she was going we repeated 'toilet' command.. or a word similar. Once she went we praised her like she just laid gold!! Now she will wee on command to 'toilet' also.. Usefuls for before she gets in the car. It took lots of catching her in the act and saying 'ahhh ahh' then leading her as she was pooping to her destination but you have to be consistent. You wont catch every one but its worth it! Once I caught her sniffing the grass once then i tapped the window, she saw me looking so she trotted off down the side of the house.. quite amusing.. just pick a spot in your yard and lead pup to go there and give heaps of praise , even a treat when pup goes....

Hi Shedog, Same problem with our GSD 11 months old, trying EVERYTHING to dominate me, not hubby, just me.. Were using the NILIF (nothing in life is free) methods and its working a treat but you can certainly tell when you slacken off and start to play/pat too much without them working for it as she will start to push the boundaries again.. When Zoe bites us or growls then we hold her muzzle and growl back then release when shes quiet and ignore for 5 mins and she has learnt not to bite. Simple mouthing we just hold her tongue down with our thumb and she learnt pretty quick not to mouth us.. Each dog is different, good luck!

Our pup used to eat her own poo also, the pineapple thing worked for a while but if I picked her poo up too quickly she would make it a race to get to it. I had to distract her once she went then she forgot about it and Id pick it up later... she eventually grew out of it...

Vegetarian for 19 years and counting, would NEVER deny my cat or German Shepherd meat, raw or cooked and will happily handle it for the sake of my animals (husband is another story Your friend is being neglectful and needs to consider the animals needs not his own..

We feed our GSD on it after w swapped from eukanuba.. she loved it and dont have any problems with it...

All a bit scary when you havent been through it like us, I remember calling my sister a vet nurse about 3 times a day!!! Remembered also to keep our girl quiet we took this time to teach her food refusal/commands... worked a treat! and she didnt need to move much but it tired her mind out.

hi, Just try to keep her quiet, maybe inside with lots of toys to chew.. our GSD pup was done 2 months ago and within 1 day she was active and going for the stitches, wound weeped then dripped bloody fluid for days which vet said was normal.. In the end we had to sedate her which I HATED doing.. If you feel she is too active consult your vet, as a last resort depending on how the wound heals. I think the big plastic collar drove us more crazy than her.. We also rolled the ball along the floor for her and taught her tricks that she didnt need to move much for, ie- focus and shake. Good luck and hope she heals up well!

Hi Kamuzz, Is that going to put extra pressure on her hips and other joints or is that only a concern if you have a puppy (like our 10mnth GSD)? Ive never heard of these before...

Hi Adele, We had the same problem with out large gsd.. when your pup gets distracted by other dogs and pulls you need to turn & go the other direction. a gentle pop on the lead and change in direction will and make puppy realise you're in control. Getting pup to sit and focus at 16wks will be pretty hard so just continue to change direction until pup is walking on a loose lead and show him/her who is in charge. Its like a reward to let you're pup sniff another dog, and if our pup is good she gets the reward.. if still pulling take pup away and try again another time.. eventually she will learn lead manners but it takes practice. Goodluck!

Have eamiled it to you, did it Friday night but think I forgot to click on 'SEND'. Doh!

Hi Paul, I had to laugh when I saw this post as our 9.5 month old German Shepherd does the exact same thing, and also gets a giggle from the other dogs owners. My thought with our pup is that its a ploy to get the other dogs to feel like its ok to approach and when they get close enough she will spring up and say HI and then it gets a bit outta control.. It Bugged us too so now were (with the help of some private home lessons) turning when we see another dog. She is a habitual lead puller also and were trying to train these traits out of her. So IMO its not a kelpie thing... good luck with it all

You betcha it would. I will email you something over the weekend....

Hi Judi, I will happily sign this petition for you after all the help we have been given with our shepherd girl and the difference it has made on training and walking her... good luck with it all and i look forward to hearing of the outcome.. Would a submission be helpful?

Thanks for your ideas and suggestions, I think some one on one lessons may be the go, although I am worried she may be hormonal coming into her first season.. Does that mean she will stay like this if we get her fixed shorly????? Will get onto Erny.... Hubby and I are on leave next week and were taking her to the beach for few days, I think it will do us all the world of good!

MsJ Were at Scoresby Sundays and Doncaster Thu... get different things out of each but usuually have large classes of 10-15... Private lessons may be the go..

Hi RB, her recalls in the park with food on leed were great intil a while ago, she even sits in front, but at training she runs circles around us, fly bys etc.. I will never let hre off lead until shes perfect with recalls and we have along lead also.. I think some private lessons may be the go...

We go to 2 centres and they have said to bring the correction chain up higher around her neck to under her ears, and to just swap direction or go back home when we she pulls. This doesnt really help when were at training around other dogs though... The weeing thing I havent asked about. Most of the time they suggest the usual things none of which are working.... Weve had one behaviouralist out but that was when she was 5 months and displaying semi separation anxiety behaviour, we were told were being too soft and she gave us heaps of good advice... it helps when were at home where she is generally great (apart from rug incident this morning) but again when shes surrounded by masses of dogs at training she just refuses to settle down... We walk her before training too ( but then if too tired out just constantly drops and wont get up) and dont feed her before training.. pulling my hair out.

Hi I need help! My 8.5 month old GSD puppy is being a shit. She is terrible at Training (ADT twice weekly) and pulls the whole time towards other dogs and we cant get her attention at all. This is the main problem but this morning she did something unusual. She is very well toilet trained, and has never had any accidents even pooping where we trained her to and but this morning she peed on the rug inside while she was looking at me, to which I growled, said 'NO' and led her outside and left her for 20 mins where she remained very quiet (normally cries when outside while we're inside)... Im sure shes just doing this as a test being at 'that' age but my husband and I are now suffering bruised wrists/fingers from corrections which seem to go un-noticed when others dogs are around.. Im worried we will never be able to have her off lead and actually come back to us when we call if she wont do it now, Is this the case? Maybe were just not that exciting, we have tried using food as a reward but shes so smart that if she does a recall and doesnt smell food shes off again... I should add we have tried a halti but she drops and wont walk with it on, she gets walked twice daily and fed twice daily... Weve tried the TOT but it wasnt working so now one of us gives her commands before feeding her while the other jumps around with a squeeky toy... is this sending mixed messages? Please help! Oh and we have her booked in to get fixed in 2 weeks time, hoping she wont have a season before then but the breeder says 10-12months....