New family pet/protector

[BigMike]

Hello All!

Got a new puppy(2.5 months old) , german shepard mix yesterday. In addition to having the dog become a new family member, she will help to protect the family when the time may arise. My wife really wanted a dog for the family, and also to help her feel more safe at home when I am not there.

AND...

My wife agreed to begin a process of picking out a handgun and participating in training to elevate her confidence in protecting the family, to compliment the new arrival of our new fearless defender. This is an amazing turnaround for my wife and I want all to know that she was always tolerant of my guns, but never really comfortable around them. I would have never guessed her to agree to purchase a handgun!! Whoa!! Never say never.

We have plans to get the puppy trained, fixed and shots. She is a cutie and the kids really adore her.

How many members have/have had similar situations? Anything special I should know or do other than puppy class/obedience classes?

Thanks, Mike

 

[OF]

The best dog-raising advice I can give is that:

The dog wants to please you, you just have to communicate what you want in a way the dog can understand. Once the dog knows what you want and that it makes you happy that he did it correctly, he'll do it every time.

Don't plead with him. Tell him to come. If he doesn't come on the first call, go get him. If he does, make sure he knows in no uncertain terms that he did good.

Ain't nothin' to it but love and understanding.

- Gabe

 

[Mike Irwin]

Just as someone can't sight in a rifle for you, some one else can't train your dog for you.

You and your wife must take the dog to the training classes, and must work with him/her between classes, as well.

Having a well trained, obedient dog takes a lot of work. But it's well worth the effort.

 

[OF]

Another couple things I can offer, but I'm no pro, so this is all worth what you paid for it :

I see lots of dog owners frustrated with trying to get their dogs to do what they want. Watch them and you'll see that the owner is about ready to kill the dog, and the dog thinks it's a game. "What we have here is a failure to communicate" Don't let the dog misunderstand you. When you say 'stay', it's not a game and the dog has to know that when you give the command, she must obey instantly. There will be no second chance.

I can tell my lab, who is admittedly pretty intelligent for a dog, 'No' while she is at a full gallop and she'll literally skid to a stop and look at me to see what the big deal is.

One last thing: The important thing about commands and communication, IMO, is the difference in tone and level between normal conversational commands everyday and the 'serious command voice'. If you are normally soft-spoken, you will not have to raise your voice or change your tone dramatically to get the dog to understand when it's being bad. If you yell alot, you'll find it hard to yell loud enough to stop a dog bent on misbehaving. So save your nasty voice for only the most dire circumstances and it will carry far more weight than if you yell for every command.

My dog is so much a part of my family, it freaks some people out.

- Gabe

PS: German shepards are great. And a mix-shepard is less likely to have hip problems later on than a pure-bred. I'd have her x-ray'd real soon anyway, though.

 

[blades67]

...some one else can't train your dog for you.

That's not true, I have made large sums of money doing that very thing. After I've trained the dog I do a few follow-ups to train the family. You must have meant that "some one else can't train your dog for you (for free)."

- Gabe

PS: German shepards are great. And a mix-shepard is less likely to have hip problems later on than a pure-bred. I'd have her x-ray'd real soon anyway, though.

Your statements should be qualified. "German shepards are great." (For some people.) "And a mix-shepard is less likely to have hip problems later on than a pure-bred." (If you buy a pure-bred from a poor, or dishonest, breeder.) "I'd have her x-ray'd real soon anyway, though." (After she turns two years old because OFA won't certify under two years, and the X-rays can be very expensive.)

If you hire a professional trainer, check references; ask for customer referals; check them out with your local BBB; don't sign a contract until you have read it and understand it; ask many questions, but don't expect training advice for free, that's how a professional trainer feeds their family.

 

[Mike Irwin]

Sorry, Blades, I meant what I said.

I don't believe that someone can truly effectively train someone else's dog for them.

Part of the training regime is the bonding that occurs between pet and owner, the learning of each other's personalities.

The training process is a learning process for both the owner and the pet, and there's really no way to replace that.

I'm glad you've been able to earn money at it, but training a dog isn't the same as programming a computer.

 

[coonan357]

so whats the pups name ?? remington??, winchester ?? springfield?? actually I was in the same boat quite a few back with my Ex , only problem was she was afraid of guns , so I got 2 rotts , a Male and female, they where both spayed , they were half brother-sister , I trained both of them for security work ( lived by the infamous stateville prision at the time ) I have to say it was hard work training for 3 months of weekends , but it made ma feel better knowing they were capable of doing if called on . the wole time I was married the dogs never had to do there part , then I lost the female to cancer ( like loosing a kid she was only 4 ) but the male" V.Baron " one day did what he was taught to do , her boyfriend was overly abusive to her and one day the boyfriend tried to rough her up , problem was the dog was in the house , after it was done and over it took 36 stiches to close the wounds and a cast on the other arm from getting it broke , since the dog was clean ( shots ) they just observed him , he tried to sue me , couldn't and the neighbors saw and heard the commotion , so the dog was off free , he did what he was trained to do ,protect momma , my ex wife was gratefull that I gave her the dog s in the divorce after that , if it wasn't for him ( baron ) she could have been another statistic. just take your time and train it right ,be patient , that furball might save your life someday , BTW , all charges were dropped due to the fact the dog was defending its master ..

 

[BigMike]

Thanks for the replies.

First and foremost, my children got to pick the name for her. First it started as Tink, then Tinker, then Stinker, then Popcorn. I said, "Hmm, that's good, keep trying." Then they came up with "Honey." The puppy is mostly black with some light brown socks on the paws, with white tips on the front paws. When the name Honey came up, it just stuck. This puppy is sweet as honey!

I work with several people who own and breed dogs, Boxers particularly. I have been around their boxers several times and they were immaculately trained, from what I saw. The guy I work with also set up other co-workers to be trained by a professional dog training couple, and everone I have talked with seems pretty satisfied with what they have taught them. So yes, we do plan on having her trained in obedience class, and I have already started with some small things now, as we are "crate training" her. My loose understanding of dog training as it is now, is training owners to learn/work with/ and train their dogs. I don't expect anyone else but me and my family to do the hardest work.

The bigger picture is not only are we adding a pet to the family fold, but an incredibly useful tool for protection for my family. One of the stipulations I had to get a dog was that my wife seriously look at learning to shoot one of my weapons, learn self-defense, choose a handgun for herself and take lessons from a professional trainer in how to use it and when. I just didn't want her to totally rely on a dog for protection, least it create a sense of false security, like somehow just getting a dog would create fort knox around her. To my great surprise, she agreed. I think she really wanted a dog!

I know of crime stats that show, that people with dogs are less likely to be victims of violent crime, have reduced risk of burglary to their home, trespassing, and all sorts of things. Having a trained person legally armed in their home, with the added security of a dog that has been trained (German Shepard mix too!), we are bolstering the odds of successfully surving any mayhem that may come our way.

We have looked at many breeds, and having owned retrievers myself when I was a younger lad, I know of the hip dysplasia that they, and german shepards, and other working breed dogs are prone to. Maybe with the mix, we will prolong the onset???

Blades, I may wanna pick your brain from time to time, you can bill me and I'll just send the ammo!

Thanks again for all your responses.

Mike

 

[ATeaM]

Schutzhund.

 

[Mal H]

Sorry BigMike, we're gonna have to close this one down. Even though a handgun was at least mentioned, this is clearly a doggy thread. Any further discussion can, of course, be done via email.