Positive Reinforcement

When I spoke to Tim, the behavior modification specialist, the first thing he did was ask me what I did when Prince bit me.  I told him that I immediately corrected him by saying "No" in a very loud, firm voice.

"What does he do then?" he asked.

"He usually just bites me again, until he gets tired of it," I admitted.

"I'd like for you to try something new," he said.  "Positive reinforcement.  Every time you walk Prince, and you've covered so much distance, and he hasn't bitten you, I want you to give him a treat and tell him good dog.  Then I want you to call me back and let me know how it worked."

I said I would, and the following day, I got a bag of chopped meat ready, put it into the breast pocket of my coat, and set out with Prince.  After we  had walked past the entrance of the park and stopped approximately a quarter of a mile past it, I took out the bag of treats, said "Good dog" and gave him one.

Prince stared at me in astonishment before he snapped the treat up.

This might work, I thought, and continued on the walk, figuring I would give him another treat after approximately another quarter of a mile.  I was actually feeling pretty good about it, thinking it might work...until Prince hurled himself onto me.

Stunned, I tried to ward him off, but he persisted at nipping at me, and my coat, until he had snatched the packet of treats from my pocket, torn it open and consumed the entire bag of treats in a single gulp.  Then he jumped on me again and gave me several more nips for good measure, as if punishing me for having treats that he hadn't know about.

The following day, I called Tim and told him about the unfortunate consequences of the experiment.  He next suggested that each time Prince jumped on me and nipped me, I should fold my arms and turn my back on him.

With some trepidation, I followed his advice the following day, only to have Prince leap up on my back and rake the back of my head with his teeth.  At this point, near tears, I returned home and informed him of this new development.

He suggested I consider early neutering.

Puppy Aggression

For puppy aggression problems, my vet recommended I review a pamphlet the office circulated especially for such issues.  There were two important points the owner of an aggressive puppy was supposed to keep in mind at all times:  1) Assert dominance over your puppy by making him obey commands before he gets a snack or a meal, and 2) Exercise your puppy.  Having already started my puppy on the commands before treats program (sit, stay, lie down, come), I came to the happy conclusion that exercise would probably be the magic bullet that would solve my puppy's aggression issues.  Therefore, I purchased a leash and collar, and prepared to begin walking my puppy a mile every day, through the park located by my home.

Unfortunately, Prince's reaction to our new program was the last one I would have expected.  He immediately came to the realization that while I was walking him, I was as much a captive of his as he was of mine, thereby affording him the opportunity to nip me with impunity...and without pause.  He joyfully attacked my ankles each time we reached the border of the park, and continued to do so sporadically throughout our walk.  By the end of the week, every pair of pants I owned had holes in them.

Frustrated (and bruised), I decided to consult my local humane society's dog advice column next.  This informed me that puppies all bite, and all puppies need to be taught not to bite...by doing the exact things I had been doing.  They had no further advice as to what to do in the event these options failed.  So I decided to consult my puppy's breeder, thinking it was perhaps an ingrained response of a herding breed.

"Every time I walk him, he nips my ankles," I told her.

She told me that it sounded as if he were trying to get away from me (!) and the only thing she could recommend was walking him on a shorter leash.  I therefore wrapped the leash more tightly around my hand the next time I walked him, so that he couldn't reach my ankles.

In response, he went after my legs, instead.

Our walks began to take twice as long as they should, primarily because we spent at least half the time involved in altercations in which he would repeatedly nip me and I would shout, "Prince, No! Prince, No!" to no avail.  I therefore decided to consult a dog behavioral professional at a different veterinary office, whom the receptionist assured me would be able to assist me in eliminating my puppy's aggressive tendencies.

The following day, at a scheduled appointment time, I called Tim, the training specialist.

When I brought Prince home, a few days after Thanksgiving 2008, I had never trained a German Shepherd before.  Due to my father having trained so many of them (and my having so little to do with any of it), I was under the somewhat erroneous impression that a German Shepherd was a very easy dog to train.  A smart dog should pick up things quickly...or at least, that was what I thought.  And, at first, it seemed that I was correct.

Prince was housebroken in 2 days.  He had exactly 2 accidents in the house...at 8 weeks of age.  All I had to do was take him outside, wait for him to relieve himself, and give him a snack.  The next time I took him out, he immediately went, I repeated the process, and that was it.  I have housebroken poodles, Shih-Tzus, chihuahuas, Miniature Schnauzers and many mixed breed dogs, and while some of them were pretty were quick to catch on, none were quite that quick.  Prince was the smartest dog I had ever housebroken.

Pleased with my almost effortless success, I went on to the basic commands of obedience that I had learned years ago were essential for all dogs to know.  I taught Prince to come as easily as I had taught him to go potty outside.  All I had to do was call him, wait for him to come to me and give him a snack, and he caught on.  I taught him to sit by giving him a snack as soon as he sat down while I held a snack, and to lie down and stay in the same manner.  Each time, he would look at me in an almost condescending manner, as if he somehow expected more of me.  Inordinately pleased with myself, I even wrote a letter to the lady who had bred him, extolling his rapid learning ability.

Ironically enough, it was only a few days afterwards that the chewing problem began.

Prince didn't chew up toys, like my small dogs had.  He didn't chew on furniture, or flooring, or books, or even bedding.  None of those things were worthy of his chewing efforts.

Prince chewed on people.

At first, I tried saying NO in a loud, firm voice, and yanking away whatever part of me he had decided to sink his teeth into.  This only made it more exciting for him.  He would simply lunge at me and try to chew on another available part.  Shouting NO had exactly the same effect (i.e, none).  Clapping my hands, stomping my feet and making loud noises were similarly useless.  On his first visit to the vet for shots, I explained the situation to her and asked for her advice.

"You can't let him get away with that," she said (as I had seriously considered doing so)."You have to correct him immediately."

"How?"  I asked.

Whereupon she provided me with a pamphlet titled "How to curb your puppy's aggressive tendencies."

Relieved, I took it home, read it, and prepared to tackle my German Shepherd puppy's chewing propensity.

Training a German Shepherd

My father was convinced that no dog in the world was a match for the German Shepherd in terms of intelligence.  He actually trained them in the military as a young man...and had the scars on his forearms to prove it.  My mother is a devoted fan of the German Shepherd, as well...primarily because when my father was serving in Korea, and she was living alone in Indiana with two small daughters, she purchased a German Shepherd for protection.  This dog...Brutus...not only accomplished this exceedingly well, he also helped me learn how to walk when I was a baby by letting me pull myself up on his body and walk with my hand on him.  I called him Brutee.

When I was 5 years old, we got another German Shepherd...Prince I...who was also the model of patience with my parents' young family.  My father took dozens of pictures of me as a child with my arms wrapped around his neck, hugging him as if I were trying to choke him.  The only person Prince I didn't care for was the garbage man, because he would try to sneak up and take the trash away.

We had other German Shepherds when I was older...Prince II and Count..both of whom were extraordinarily protective and extraordinarily patient.  The only fault Count had was that he liked to steal our dolls, and run away with them with his ears folded down!  

I grew up with the impression that German Shepherds were the smartest dog in the world, too...but what I never realized was that their very intelligence might make them a little bit more difficult than the average dog to train.  I discovered this the hard way...when I purchased my first purebred German Shepherd, Prince Blackstar (or Prince III) from a breeder in Columbus, Nebraska.  

Prince's parents were German imports, so Prince is bigger than the average German Shepherd in America...he is over 100 pounds.  I suspect Prince's ancestors were also possibly used for police work, due to various ingrained habits he arrived with, as well as herding, for the same reason.  This made Prince's puppyhood an especially challenging time.  Yet I actually learned more from training Prince than I have from training any other dog I have owned, and in this blog, I would like to share some of that for anyone who is trying to train a German Shepherd and may be encountering situations similar to those which I did, or for anyone who needs a good laugh.  

I'm pretty sure Prince approves.