Schutzhund Puppy Obedience

Brax von Starke Pfoten 16wks old starting obedience.

Here he is at 18months old.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EV4QuzpvQS8

His Mother Working:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWWfo4RIYv8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPce5qyuwLg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hH047UbiBU

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• Schutzhund
• Obedience
• Puppy
• German
• Shepherds

[rsoreo]

hey im getting a female gsd puppy next month..from what age can we train them? are you using the treat trick for obedience?

[starkepfoten]

I start at around 6 weeks old with the clicker and food as a reward. It's postive and motivational, with no corrections.

[ItsRUFF]

@rsoreo Its two years later... Is that dog titled yet..?

[starkepfoten]

@ItsRUFF Yes, he has his BH, and SchH1 title. He is currenlty also an active duty K9 in Spokane County, WA.

[climberted]

To the people who say that food reward is bad for pups. That's about the dumbest thing I've heard. My Mali didn't show tones of ball drive till he was WELL into his 7th month. At 6week to 8 ish months food drive is almost ALWAYS higher as they are growing. I feed a raw diet and used cooked chicken or steak as the treat. Further the amount given was removed from feeding plus training was down prior to meal time. Marker training with treat creates no conflict and the dog loves it. BTW, SchIII

[ItsRUFF]

@starkepfoten Thats awesome.. Congrats... Looking forward to seeing some bitework videos...

[ItsRUFF]

@Charlascott85 Treats are not a good way of training puppies intended for protection training. 1) You have to figure out how much of their regular food has to be removed so you are not over feeding.. and 2) they can just throw them a steak.. Winning control of the ball or jute is enough reward...

[wantan64]

My respect for your way to raise up a puppy for work !

I started with my Ridgeback in the age of 7 weeks.

He`s 11 month old now and I am proud !

Starting early makes it a lot easier for the dog to know the way they have to be...

[ReneeLGlenney]

super! nice focus for such a youngster! Kudos!

[MykelWaters]

Nice job

[Suzume18]

But training wt food rewards is bad. Reason 1 is because it's bad for a proper diet if not monitored closely. reason 2 is because in dog instinct and pack mentality an alpha male never gives up food to a subordinate and thus to establish yourself as the dog's leader it is counterproductive to use treat training.

It is in a shepherd's mentality to obey purely because it wants to please you, by nature this type of training is not necessary with these dogs. At least in my experience and studies.

[Charlascott85]

I was under the impression training a puppy for schutzhund wasn't suppose to be with treats. I see here the pup is working very well with the food and cliker and then transitions to the ball with out any issues. Is there a period to stop using treats as the reward and stictly the toy? My GSD pup will be born on the 30th so I am trying to gather as much information as possible. Thanks and great work.