Choosing a pup

WorkingGSD said:
If I can choose a pup who’s half as good as his dad I’ll be happy 😊

I do remember the photos and choosing out the same pup as you. Do you have any recent photos? I’d love to see him now.
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WorkingGSD said:
If I can choose a pup who’s half as good as his dad I’ll be happy 😊

I do remember the photos and choosing out the same pup as you. Do you have any recent photos? I’d love to see him now.
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not the best pic but this is my first attempt at pics on here.
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paddy555 said:
not the best pic but this is my first attempt at pics on here.
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Gorgeous coat! He does have a rather “bugger off mother” expression though 😂. Hopefully your bond will continue to strengthen and you’ll eventually (but hopefully not too far down the line) have a dog who adores you as much as you adore him. He sounds lovely in other ways (no separation anxiety issues or over bonding, no reactivity to other dogs (which seems to be a big issue in the breed). A friend of mine has had much the same uphill struggle with her male shepherd of a similar age. Probably made worse by the fact her older GSD bitch has been an absolute dream and they’ve competed in high level obedience and working trials together and have a really strong bond. She’s struggled to motivate her pup to play and work with her despite him being from solid working lines and, like you, felt he only wanted to please himself and didn’t even really like her. She is complimented on how calm and well mannered he is, so is a lovely pet dog in many ways but it’s put her off having another male shepherd as she’s never had an issue bonding with female sheps in the past.
 
WorkingGSD said:
Gorgeous coat! He does have a rather “bugger off mother” expression though 😂. Hopefully your bond will continue to strengthen and you’ll eventually (but hopefully not too far down the line) have a dog who adores you as much as you adore him. He sounds lovely in other ways (no separation anxiety issues or over bonding, no reactivity to other dogs (which seems to be a big issue in the breed). A friend of mine has had much the same uphill struggle with her male shepherd of a similar age. Probably made worse by the fact her older GSD bitch has been an absolute dream and they’ve competed in high level obedience and working trials together and have a really strong bond. She’s struggled to motivate her pup to play and work with her despite him being from solid working lines and, like you, felt he only wanted to please himself and didn’t even really like her. She is complimented on how calm and well mannered he is, so is a lovely pet dog in many ways but it’s put her off having another male shepherd as she’s never had an issue bonding with female sheps in the past.
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yeah the coat is gorgeous and so are the teeth. Vet thinks the teeth are amazing and is VERY impressed with raw feeding. Never heard "bugger off mother" before but you are soooo accurate! The earlier comments on this thread of "self pleaser" and "resistant to restraint" also describe him perfectly. Your friend sounds so like me.
 
With dogs like that you just have to find out what the big motivators are and when you find out, make sure those things only come from you.

Like I say, mine turned out well, I'll never have a dog this good again, it's been hard work but he's a lot of fun and I wouldn't change him, just the way I trained him.
 
CorvusCorax said:
With dogs like that you just have to find out what the big motivators are and when you find out, make sure those things only come from you.

Like I say, mine turned out well, I'll never have a dog this good again, it's been hard work but he's a lot of fun and I wouldn't change him, just the way I trained him.
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I am grateful for any ideas. Till now I have only trained dogs, GSDs and BCs conventionally and it has worked. training him conventionally doesn't work, he can do it, can do everything if he chooses. He just doesn't happen to choose to! I am trying to work out different ways of training to suit him better. Food doesn't motivate him. A ball does to a far greater extent. It seemed logical if I took his ball in my pocket for training sessions and when he had worked well gave it him as a reward (or played with it) it would work better. In reality what happens is that he sees I am taking the ball and just goes crazy on his lead, then I can't even get him to walk to heel/ sit or anything he is just so focussed on the ball. (or tug toy or whatever) What am I doing wrong? He is very possession focussed on the ball. Will sit with it but won't give it up. (he will play with 2 balls and leave one on command but is still totally possession focussed on the ball he holds) The activity he really enjoys is going out led off the bike but he is only 10 months and our rides are a lot shorter and slower than he would like.

GSD, sorry if I am nicking your thread, some of the comments have been very helpful.
 
Yup raw fed dogs are a bit of a pain to train with food.

Lots of people would kill for ball drive like that, it's just a matter of capping it/controlling it. It's hard to advise without seeing how you are handling it.
Michael Ellis has some good videos you could look up.
 
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