What Training should my Dogs have?

[RottieMom51503]

As most of you know I have two Rottweiler Pups. Daphne is 10 1/2 months and she is a female. She's very hyper and stubborn. She has a few problems but all in all she is a great well rounded dog. She was well socialized with people and animals (she loves the ducks at the park). She isn't dominate at all if another dog growls or barks at her she flops down on the ground and rolls over on her back. She loves car rides and attention.

Bear is 3 months old and he is a diffrent ballpark. He is scared to ride in the car. If he is outside and realizes we are getting in the car he turns around and finds somewhere to hide. I have been taking him on short car rides and places that are fun (advised by the Doctor) but that isn't really helping him. He is however leash trained and is doing excellent with potty training. He doesn't seem to have much tolarance for Daphne though.

Anyhow I had them ready to go to school this month but didn't research the school enough. This place doesn't require vet records. I told my Vet because she wanted to now where they would be schooled at and she told me not to take them their or any place that doesn't require that. So I got ahold of a personal trainer in Lima and they will start around April 19th with him. He wants me to give him an outline as to what training I will be doing with the dogs. I know I want both to have basic and advanced obedience, CGC and TT (He said he could train for AKC titles). I also want both to have specialized training but haven't decided what I want. I'm sure it will be hard to tell at this point what would fit their personalities for me as I am a novice to training. I am interested in agility, schultzhund, protection, tracking or search and rescue. Can a dog be a protection dog and still have CGC and TT titles? I would like Bear to go through Protection Training to learn the diffrence between a threat and a non-threat because of his attitude with other dogs. I would like Daphne to go through Search and Rescue. Is tracking taught with search and rescue or is that a sperate training? Also what will Bear act like if he does go through protection training? will be be safe around kids later on when I have kids? will he be safe around visitors, other dogs, and alright in a kennel if I should have to leave him their for some reason? Any advice would be helpful. What specialized training would you do. Also please check out dopedog.com (This is the trainer I will be working with) and let me know what you think.

By the way this trainer is going to train them with my supervison. I will take the dogs to him and watch what he does with them. Thanks in advance.

[Judi W]

The first thing is to start your training. As you go along you will learn more and more about your dogs. The CGC is the very basic of pet training and not advanced in any way. The TT is a temperment test and although an educated dog will fare better on the TT than one with limited experience it is not a trained thing, but designed to expose the inate character and temperment of the individual dog.

You have two puppies at a time when you have not finished raising the first one so you have your work cut out for you. The frightened puppy will need a great deal of attention and knowlegable raising or you are sure to have serious future problems. It is unlikely that he is going to suddenly change his attitude towards the world, but will need to learn to live in it. If he is frightened now when the world should be a great adventure for him, he is also not a likely candidate to pass a TT and especially not a candidate for ScH. Those are activities for the most confident of dogs.

First step is to train for a CGC and then a CD. Class training is your best bet as the dogs are not going to learn to handle the public and other dogs if their training is done in isolation. Most training clubs require rabies for those dogs old enough. You should go an observe the classes before discarding them out-of-hand simply because your vet does not like them. You might be surprised.

In other words, do not attempt to set your goals as a PHD when you haven't finished grade school. One step at a time.

[poohbearsmom]

WOW. You have your hands full with 2 pups in the house!! :) You are far braver than I.

When you think about the work you want your dogs to do, you need to take into account their temperament. Sounds like you have 2 very different dogs in your care.

Since they are both very young, if these were my pups, I would concentrate on confidence building, teaching obedience in a positive manner, and generally make everything as fun for them as possible.

Various dog sports require different qualities in a dog. Schutzhund requires a very confident dog with at least a semblence of prey drive.
Agility is a sport that can raise confidence levels, as the dog conquers each obstacle.
Obedience can also be a great confidence builder.
There are also carting, herding, and fun stuff like Flyball, to consider.

Perhaps this trainer could evaluate your pups for you, and help steer you in the right direction.

Out of curiousity... where did you get your pups? (breeder, rescue, etc...)... at what ages, and did you do the picking, or did someone match the pups to you?

Good luck!

[RottieMom51503]

Thank you for the replies ;) My oldest was picked for me by a friend that bred the Parents. I was able to pick Bear out. I told him I didn't want a dominate dog and he told me that Bear always seemed to stay away from littermates and was kind of a loner. I know that was a bad pick on my part but when I picked him up and he licked my Face I was gone. I've had both since they were pups. Daphne is well socialized and is still being socialized. Bear hasn't had as much because for a while I had another pup that was his same age and cleaning up after the three kept me busy. I think Bear is shy because he is picked on by my older puppy. He quickly loses his cool with her. However when I sperate them he looks for her and acts as though he is lost without her. He isn't shy with anything other than the car. He loves people and I said he wasn't good with other dogs because he seems dominate over them including my mothers dogs. My Trainer was asking for an outline as too what I was wanting with the dogs. Other than obedience training and the titles i mentioned I am unsure. I want an activity to do with both but since these are my first dogs I am doing training with I don't know what I should put down for the specialized training on them? Also Bear is in a play group however like I said he starts out playing fine but when a another pup play bites him he loses his cool. However if he is playing chase or tug o war with a puppy he acts as though he is having the time of his life.

[poohbearsmom]

Originally Posted by RottieMom51503

Thank you for the replies ;) My oldest was picked for me by a friend that bred the Parents. I was able to pick Bear out. I told him I didn't want a dominate dog and he told me that Bear always seemed to stay away from littermates and was kind of a loner. I know that was a bad pick on my part but when I picked him up and he licked my Face I was gone. I've had both since they were pups. Daphne is well socialized and is still being socialized. Bear hasn't had as much because for a while I had another pup that was his same age and cleaning up after the three kept me busy. I think Bear is shy because he is picked on by my older puppy. He quickly loses his cool with her. However when I sperate them he looks for her and acts as though he is lost without her. He isn't shy with anything other than the car. He loves people and I said he wasn't good with other dogs because he seems dominate over them including my mothers dogs. My Trainer was asking for an outline as too what I was wanting with the dogs. Other than obedience training and the titles i mentioned I am unsure. I want an activity to do with both but since these are my first dogs I am doing training with I don't know what I should put down for the specialized training on them? Also Bear is in a play group however like I said he starts out playing fine but when a another pup play bites him he loses his cool. However if he is playing chase or tug o war with a puppy he acts as though he is having the time of his life.

Unfortunately, I don't believe Bear's problems stem from a lack of socialization, or your older pup playing with him.... Innate temperament (hard wiring, nerve, all those neat traits a puppy is born with) is apparent in a pup long before it leaves the whelping box (hopefully a breeder understands what the behaviors really mean when they are observing the litter in action). A pup that stays away from the rest of the litter is prone to have issues - they may seem like small issues when the pup is 3mos old, but in a 100lb package, they are not so miniscule.

This is why it's SOOOO important to think with your head, and not your heart, when gazing into those cute little puppy eyes. A pup that is a loner at 3 weeks, will not suddenly become the life of the party when he reaches 2 years of age. You have your work cut out for you.

Activities can range from structured, sanctioned sports, to just spending good quality time in the great outdoors with your dogs. I'd likely spend the next year concentrating on basic OB, manners, socialization, confidence building, and really understanding WHO is laying at your feet right now. ;)

[RottieMom51503]

Thank you for the Reply PoohBear :) I figured I was in for it. I think I will leave that part blank about specialized training and decide when that time comes. I think Daphne would be great at whatever I wanted her to do but I'm not sure about Bear. I have read about several activities and I'm under the impression that a dog has to behave a certain way for each and I don't know anything about matching a dogs personality with specialized activites.

[Skip]

Originally Posted by RottieMom51503

....
By the way this trainer is going to train them with my supervison. I will take the dogs to him and watch what he does with them. Thanks in advance.

I would make sure that your trainer trains YOU on how to train the dog. It's ok for the trainer to actually demonstrate to you what you need to do with your dog, but most of the time YOU should have the dog's leash and be the one doing the training (while the head trainer supervises YOU and gives you advice).

[LynnS]

You have gotten some excellent advice already but I will chime in. As Skip said, it is very important that you are the person training your dogs and not a trainer (trainer should be teaching you ). I would also suggest training these 2 separately (including practice sessions) so that each has one on one time with you.

You will find that you have your hands quite full just learning and teaching the basics.

There is another forum member who has rasied 2 puppies at the same time and I am sure she can add useful advice to this thread as well..