Dutch Shepherd Forum

Hi everyone,
I am new to this forum and new DS and have been totally converted. I have a 7 month old DS pup who is a potential police dog and wanted get some advice on a behaviour I am having trouble with. My pup and I do obedience sessions daily and he is sharp as a razon knows his commands and extremely willing to please..........However, the situation I am having trouble with is as follows. When I let him out of his run to do his business in the yard often times he'll find a stick, or piece of paper, or something doesn't matter what but definitely something he shouldn't have. He'll take the item and run to the furthest corner from me and lay down to chew (a forbidden behaviour) if I make any move to him he'll run from me and ignore all commands (he knows leave it) whether talking, yelling, cheery, or offering treats or toys. This has sometimes resulted in me having to corner him so he doesn't eat the item which could potentially mean a trip to the vet. When I try to take the item or even touch him he snarls and has given me the what for. I've had no choice but to either pin him down or use his collar/scruff to prevent further damage to myself. This seems to snap him out of it after a few minutes but it still seems to be a problem. My thinking is that from now on all times outside his run he'll have to be on long lead until he figures out I control his movement. Any training tricks or tips would be appreciated or anyone else who has had this problem. The reason this is baffling to me is that in virtually any other situation, park, gym, building, anything offline his retrieval, leave it, recall and obedience are phenomenal.

I am a beginner to DS myself, so take it my advice for what it is worth...

In the beginning with my DS, (she is 6 months old now) when she had something that she had found, she was very defensive when I tried to see it. I was afraid she would swallow it rather than let me have it. So I started the trade-up program. If I had to take something from her, I would give her something better in return. A piece of stick is NOTHING compared to a piece of chicken. (Let him SMELL it before you make a demand in the beginning.) Very quickly she learned that "let me see it" either meant that she got to keep it or that it was traded for something better. Now when she gets to "keep it" it is almost a let down. But she always gladly lets me see if I want to "trade"

At 7 months he is still probably chewing a lot because even if his adult teeth are in, they have to settle for a while and heck it relieves stress!

Yes I realize that this behaviour is 100% my fault having allowed him too much freedom in the beginning and of course if he has a stick he can immediately sense that dads gonna try to get me or this stick and it's show time. There are also certain rules i have to follow in regards to his training and him not letting go of something like a tug at this stage is actually a very good behaviour. I'm no dog expert but I am learning and I figure I'll control his environments a little more and all play time will be dictated by me not him. Like I said I don't think it's a disrespect thing I think that he just knows haha game times on and then of course it ends poorly for me and him. I guess unless someone thinks my idea is a terrible idea that's what I'll be going with i was just wondering if anyone else had experienced this before. The little bugger is also very very line smart. Even if I don't touch the line and he's just dragging it on his collar you'd think I had him on reel when I called him no matter what he's doing. My DS is much smarter than me

I would definitely work on the leave it command so it will apply to him in every situation. If it is solid, he will leave it.

Keep trying!

hmm. First thing I learned with my first dog was "never use a command if you cannot control it being followed out".
So you KNOW your dog will get something and run from you, you start chasing him...that's a no-no. NEVER go after your dog, you are doing what HE wants.
I would consider challenging him, but on-leash. This way you can work on trading it for something better like described above, but you will always be in control. Get a long leash or rope, just let him walk, make sure you have dropped some interesting items there a hour earlier. As soon as he picks it up give him the "bring -it" command and if needed use leash corrections, when you have hauled him in show the chicken/ball/whatever and reward. Practise this untill he brings everything.
Or, if you'd rather have him ignore objects, drop lots of them and correct right before he wants to pick them up, rewarding him each time with treat/ball.
Only when this is solid enough, let go of the leash, so he drags it. This way you have more controll if things do go wrong again.

Marjolein wrote:hmm. First thing I learned with my first dog was "never use a command if you cannot control it being followed out".
So you KNOW your dog will get something and run from you, you start chasing him...that's a no-no. NEVER go after your dog, you are doing what HE wants.
I would consider challenging him, but on-leash. This way you can work on trading it for something better like described above, but you will always be in control. Get a long leash or rope, just let him walk, make sure you have dropped some interesting items there a hour earlier. As soon as he picks it up give him the "bring -it" command and if needed use leash corrections, when you have hauled him in show the chicken/ball/whatever and reward. Practise this untill he brings everything.
Or, if you'd rather have him ignore objects, drop lots of them and correct right before he wants to pick them up, rewarding him each time with treat/ball.
Only when this is solid enough, let go of the leash, so he drags it. This way you have more controll if things do go wrong again.

Ditto. He has learned quickly that when you approach, bad things happen. He looses what he is rewarding himself with, you are angry and he gets physically corrected by you. I'm just glad he has been strong enough to not shut down from it. No more off leash time ever. He can play, run, train and pee on a 30 foot long line. Its the only way you can make sure he is successful.

Christie M wrote:No more off leash time ever. He can play, run, train and pee on a 30 foot long line. Its the only way you can make sure he is successful.

DITTO!

No my pup has definitely not shut down in the least. I'm more than aware not to chase him. The only times I've had to is when something blows into my yard I wasn't aware of and had to get it from him for his own health. My corrections with him are always swift and followed up with praise when the correct action is performed.