GSP TRAINING (STARTING ADVICE)

[gspkimber]

I have a 9 week old GSP. I have began introducing her to "here" and "no (fu-eee)" and "kennel". Is this the right track. From different people I have spoken too, I have been told to give the GSP a lot of love, attention, and just introduce it to as much as possible to different things. Among "here" and "fu-eee" and "kennel", are there any other commands I should introduce her too?

Can anyone give me advice to train her on a leash?

Lastly, Is it okay to teach her the sit command?

Thanks a lot!

[sjkennels]

you really don't want to teach a pointing breed to sit because when the get confused on some thing they will sit when they don't know what to do dogs will usually revert to the last thing you teach them when there not sure what you are telling them what to do and on the leash i have always just put the leash on them at first at let them run around with it then when they get comfortable with it and then start working on them walking with you on it and it sounds like you are in the right direction just introduce her to as many things and people as you can and at that age i would just work with her on those commands and just let her be a pup one other thing you can do is before you feed her make her stand still and so she will get use to standing still it will make it a lot easier to whoa train her down the road and what i do with helping them to learn to be quiet in the kennel is when you go to the store or something take them and put them in the kennel and after a while start stretching out the time in the kennel not saying keep them in there the whole day or anything like that but when you go places and they will learn that they cant get out and all the whining is not going to get them out and they will learn to sleep instead of whine and with that being said don't let them out when they are whining or it will defeat the whole purpose and there some things you can do like if you take her out and let her run always be facing her and if she changes directions you fallow her this will help with hunting to the front after a while she will get the idea of she is suppose to be in front of you and not be behind you but you will get some very good advice on this forum all you gotta do is ask everyone is willing to help you out but every thing i have said is what i do with my dogs and it hasn't failed me yet i hope this helps you out a little and good luck with your new pup

[Casper]

wow that was a mouthful. All that in one sentence, good job

[MikeB]

One very useful command is to teach your pup to potty on command. While your teaching this pup to be housebroken, it is simple to put the action of going pee and poop to a simple commnad. Same words for both actions of course.
I have always taught mine the command "Go Potty". A local guide dog school teaches all their puppy raisers to use "Get Busy". An old neighbor taught me this trick 25 plus years ago. She used "GO PEE". She even used it when the vet needed a urine sample to test one of her dogs for UTI. Took the dog out to the parking lot with a stainless steel pan and said to Sadie "GO PEE" and Sadie squated and she slipped the pan underneath her and got the sample. The vet was blown away, never seen that done in all is 30 years of business. A real useful tool I think.

You can make up any shot cue words you want. When traveling it's wonderful to stop anywhere and take the dog out on a lead the get it to relieve it's self on command.

As the pup is sniffing around first think in the morning just out of the crate use the cue words a few times and praise the pup after he is finished. Same thing for pooping. it won't be to long before he knows what your saying and will get it done much quicker.

[kumate]

You could start him on down pretyy easily, also you could start him on go outs by starting dixie cup drills and targeting , all with positive reinforcement stuff

Good luck

Jerry

[gspkimber]

Thank you all for the advice. Is it nice to have all of this knowledge!

[Sprig]

i agree with the no sitting advice. every year i get a couple of clients dogs that were taught to sit before I could work with them and "whoa" train them and it is frustrating to work on whoa when every time you stop the dog it sits. if you want to teach sit, wait until after it has been whoa trained. come (here) is one of the most important things you can teach any pointing dog as when they discover they are bird dogs, they seem to develop a mind of their own. if the dog has any desire to retrieve, this is also a good time to work on a fetching command if you are going to work towards steady to wing and shot. some people use the dogs name, some just use fetch, but either way keep using the command every time you throw something to fetch.

[Sharon]

Because my dogs have always lived in the house, I teach sit. It's needed in the house. Has never interfered with their training but apparently it does happen to some.
Mike's post is absolutely necessary. I say " Hurry up!" because that's usually what I am thinking.

Get pup out 3 times a day for a short brisk walk. Let him get use to street noise etc. Increase exercise as the months go by. ( Walking in the backyard is not exercise.)
I always take mine to a busy store entrance too. Everyone greets them and they get to meet children , folks of many nationalities etc.
Introduce pup to your friends' dogs and cats. No dog parks!

Good advice above on leash training. Change directions often as this will cause pup to keep an eye on you.
You don't want to overwhelm pup but I teach "wait, leave it, off".

Enjoy!

http://hubpages.com/hub/Puppy-Life-Stag ... -Adulthood