Working with my 4 month old GSP, I was wondering what to expect from her. She understands “Come” but usually only obeys when she wants to. How do I make her progress a little faster and what should I expect from a dog her age?
Not that I know anything about dogs…but use the choker and a leash…then move up to a longer rope…until the pup comes on the first (gentally spoken)”come”…
But you should be working on the most important command first “get me a beer”. 
A long lead is a good thing to use, for both the come command, and the woe/mark command. Lots of time training is what you will need to do. Not that it all needs to be done in one sitting, break trining time into shot time frames, lets say 10-15 minutes a few time a day. The dog will get to know that it is “training time” and she will know that you mean business during these time, and she will perform. Make a distinct differance between play time and training time, the dog needs to have both to become a well rounded dog. Another thing that I did with both of my dogs was to use a shock collar to reinforce certin commands. As the dogs realized 2 things. A- it was trainging time and we were all about business- B-that when there were wearing the shock collars, I was in control and they always responded to the commands. The shock collar did not see much use, because the dogs both figured out fast that is was work time and not time to play. Being that you have a female GSP I don’t think that the shock collar would be needed, unless you own a bull-headed female. Remember that puppies need lots of praise and rewards for doing what they are told 
My experience is that each dog will progress on it’s own time. I would think though, that 4 months is plenty old to teach, and enforce all comands given.
If you have not read them, go get any of the books by Richard Woelters, Water Dog, Family dog, Field Dog. I think those are the right names. Great information if you have not trained a dog before
And for reference Brian, my dog does recognize the command, Rock, Fetch beer. I just can’t get him disciplined enough to shut the fridge door when he is done 
I cannot disagree with you more Bob. 
A shock collar is NOT a training item. In my mind it is only used when a dog has complete understanding of a command and is a reinforcement tool only. A dog cannot be punished for something that dogs do, they can only be reinforced to do it differently. My dog did not get on a shock collar until he was fully trained, and I was sure he knew every command I was giving him. the only reason to use it is if he decides to not do something because he is testing boundries, or my control.
Sorry if I misunderstood your post Bob.
Those books mentioned above are top notch
I believe that I said it was for reinforcement. He said that the dog understand the come command. I would not suggest that you use a collar until the dog understand 100% what you are telling her to do. Sorry if that was not clear!
Rereading your original post, I may have jumped the gun Sorry Bob.
But I do think it bears the clarification of punishing a dog for something it does not know is not right. Kinda like dogs that are 100 yards ahead and won’t come when called, then when they do come the owner kicks the tar out of them, all that was reinforced was when the dog comes, he get beat. Not exactly what most of us are trying to get across.
Good luck with the training. I have a blast doing it 
I agree with the others, long leads, short sesions, and lots of praise.
The one thing that I would like to add is try using a long hallway with all the doors shut. The puppy has NO other place to go. This works really good on teaching retreiving.
Ron
Thanks for info guys. I think she is getting it just fine. She is just a lot differnt from my previous short hair with her personality. It hard to decide when to push and when to move on.
Some good info here, easier said than done of course. Patience, repetition, repeat, repeat, repeat…then, when you think the pup has grasped the command, repeat, repeat, repeat. It takes time, and only being 4 months now, the next 2-3 months are the crucial months for training. Repetition, repeat…and cooler heads will prevail. If one is a hot head, hire a trainer, hot heads ruin dogs!
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A shock collar is NOT a training item. In my mind it is only used when a dog has complete understanding of a command and is a reinforcement tool only. A dog cannot be punished for something that dogs do, they can only be reinforced to do it differently. My dog did not get on a shock collar until he was fully trained, and I was sure he knew every command I was giving him. the only reason to use it is if he decides to not do something because he is testing boundries, or my control.
I will disagree. The E-collars made today are not the collars of yesterday when all you had was a choice of Nick and Constant with a crude dial. A few years back it was if my dog misbehaves it’s getting shocked…stupid! The collars today have some great options, Page(dogtra) and Beep(tritronics)are huge when it comes to training. That along with the infinite dials make it easy not to “over do it”. Of course you don’t fry a pup on constant and have to be careful when using a E-collar. When utilized CORRECTLY they make a tough job relatively “easy”. You say a dog can not be punished for something dogs do. This is where incorrectly utilized E-collars get the bad name. From being used incorrectly! E-collars should not be used to “punish”, but to reinforce. There was a great quote in a book I read recently. “Misinformed E-collar owners make misinformed dogs!” It’s 100% true.
So many owners are leary of the E-collar, “I don’t want my dog to get fried”. They are misinformed. When used CORRECTLY they are a invaluable training tool. After showing pup owners the proper way to use a E-collar it’s like watching a light bulb go off above their head. My dogs and the dogs that have come through my doors get excited when they see the E-collars come out, they can’t wait to get it on. These dogs were trained correctly with the E-collar.
Good luck BESOX,
If you need a heads up give me a hollar.
BIRDDOG
Great replies here. One thing that I noticed personally is that when my lab was about 4 months old we took her to a basic obedience class where I was involved 100% of the time. This class was more for me than is was for Bailey. It was the best class that I have ever taken. It taught me how to properly correct, teach, and showed me the power of committment and even better how dogs love repetition just like kids.
I am by no means a dog expert, just one who loves dogs dearly and really wanted to get away from the old school of throttling the dog if he/she mis behaved. I think this should be mandatory for all first time dog owners.
Steve, where do you look for the obedience classes? I just got a puppie she is 8 weeks old.
scotty theres a place in hastings don’t remember the name right off hand but it was the best thing for ME when my dog was a pup
as for training a dog (at least this worked for me) a rolled up news paper is what i used (only smacked the dog once on the butt in his life) but when he didn’t come I WENT TO HIM smacked him with the news paper and TOOK HIM BACK TO MY ORIGINAL POSITION it was all down hill from there.
i also mixed play time with work time (throw the ball or what ever and let him chase it and every 3rd or 4th time make him sit and hold his collar give fetch command and let him go) also the tone of your voice has a LOT to do with it (my wife can’t under stand why he listens to me so well) as for shock collars when i see a dog with a shock collar on i think “theres an un-trained dog” i don’t beleive in them
p.a. my grandfather raised and trained dog almost his entire life just a few tricks he tought me
also the most important thing is ALL DOGS ARE DIFFERANT
well good luck to all
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as for shock collars when i see a dog with a shock collar on i think “theres an un-trained dog”
BIRDDOG
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