Does my German shepherd puppy need training?
Of course. Regardless of whether you want to get involved in competition. But not your puppy – YOU. My e-group’s Queen has several times represented the USofA in international SchutzHund competitions, and trains GSDs & BSDs for security firms and the police. But before an important competition she gets one of the trainers she respects to watch her in action and polish her technique for that dog. My point is that we cannot see our own little errors, nor the fine detail of how our pooch is reacting to us & our timing. But I hope you aren’t putting too much pressure on your pup? One chap in my class back in the late 60s was too competitive. He put LOTS of pressure on his Rough Collie pup so that she had won her way out of Special Beginners before she was 6 months old. To progress, she next had to Retrieve – but he had totally ignored fun things such as ball-chase and fetching, and so his Collie wasn’t interested. The guy proved himself a total idiot by TAPING the dumbbell into her mouth!
