Greetings!
I have a beautiful new German Shepherd puppy.
She is nine weeks old yesterday (Today is Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2002), and her name is Jaetta.
I have had her two weeks tonight.
I am 28 years old, and just got my first house in July--so I could finally get a pup.
I have had dogs before, and have always had very good success with training them, at least to a come/sit/down/stay level, and I have been reading lots and lots, so I thought I was prepared for getting my puppy.
But it has been very very frustrating--much more than I counted upon.
Jaetta is beautiful, and comes from very good lines (Champion and Shutzhund titles all through her pedigree).
She is sometimes very attentive--her eyes will follow me around, and will be very interested in being with me.
Other times it is as if I am not there--except that I'm holding her back with the leash when she'd rather be wandering.
As I said in the topic subject, she really really hates her crate.
I tried introducing it to her slowly, like all the books say--letting her investigate it and not just shoving her in and slamming the door.
But she simply will not have anything to do with it.
Everytime I put her in the crate, she struggles to get out, and I have to do the "push and close" bit.
I know that this isn't helping, but she won't be tricked into following toys in anymore--she just looks at me and then tries to walk off.
I want to iterate that I love this puppy very much, and am very concerned about the relationship we'll have (I even took a 5-day weekend so that I could spend the first several days with her).
I have no kids, and this dog is to be the focus of my life away from church and work.
But I am getting super frustrated.
As I alluded to earlier, she simply ignores me sometimes.
When I take her out to potty, she'll pee right away usually, and then either chew on mulch or rocks or weeds or cigarette butts (not mine) or whatever else she can, or try with all her might to get away.
I work in a small ad agency, and am lucky enough to be able to bring her to work with me--she stays in her crate, but I let her out on a very regular schedule for eating/pooping/playing and so forth (She's almost potty trained, I think--at least, she has almost never gone inside, really--but I get the feeling it's only because I'm so diligent about her schedule and cause she comes to work with me. I think that if I were to ever leave her outside of her crate by herself she'd go inside without even thinking about it)
I take her for a very long walk *almost* daily (I admit I have missed a couple), and for a hard/long run 2 times a week (3 so far).
I'm feeding her Eukanuba, just like the breeder said to.
So she *should* be really happy, right?
But instead, she fights me over the crate, spends most of her time outside on potty breaks trying to dig up the grass or eat mulch and rocks, and simply will not come when I call her unless it suits her.
She also is starting to nip quite a bit.
And then other times she's as sweet as can be, like I said: very attentive and playful.
I am just going nuts here.
I know it is such a cliche for a new puppy owner to freak out and think his dog is somehow "messed up," and I feel really stupid for even asking, but it sure *feels* like I'm doing everything right.
And she's still the single most strong-willed dog I have ever come across.
I am not yet confortable with how to correct her.
I like the approach offered by the Monks of New Skeete (http://www.dogsbestfriend.com/). It's very "non-violent." It is based a whole lot on wolf-pack behaviour.
So mostly I try "corrective pops" with her leash, or sitting her and cuffing her under her chin briskly with the flat backside of four extended fingers (for intentional nipping/biting only), and have even tried rolling her onto her back and holding her there while I stare into her eyes for several seconds (she does not like this one bit).
But only that last technique seems to even phase her.
She seems not to even hear me if I say "No!"
I have tried all sorts of voice tones, but she just doesn't ever respond to a voice correction--I am constantly going to get her (well, she's usually on leash, so it's not a long trip) and having to physically stop her from doing whatever it is she's doing.
She *never* stops when I say.
Because of her "rock and mulch" eating fetish, I am frequently having to pull things out of her mouth.
This never goes well--she is quite possessive.
I have yet to get her to volunteer anything that she "has"--I always have to kneel behind her on the floor/ground, work her into position between my legs and pry her jaws open.
I'm sure that when she's 75 pounds (like her mom) this will not be possible, so I'd like to get this possesiveness corrected quickly.
Anyone who read through this novel and has any advice, it'd be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
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