Kleinen Wiese German Shepherds

Posted By Sandy Wilson on May 7, 2010

Delta von der Kleinen Wiese (Arla von der Kleinen Wiese X Hawk v. Eichenluft, SchHIII)

Delta is really growing up and proving to be a really nice puppy – I can see so many good qualities that she has from her mother and father!  I definitely see she is one smart cookie!  She learns so quickly and is so willing to do anything I ask of her.  She is a very “up” dog and always a happy puppy.  She loves clicker training and offers me so many behaviors trying to figure out what I want.  I really enjoy training her.

Delta always seems to have a ball in her mouth – she just loves to play!

Today I was trying to teach her to put her front feet on a book to begin to teach her to pivot (see K 9 Solution Training Inc. for little video) by just moving her back legs and keeping her front stationary.  I love this method as it is all positive and no compulsion is used whatsoever.  There is no guiding with a leash either.  I love to train particular moves and positions all off leash with my dogs from when they are very young and to guide them into a behavior first before demanding perfection at a young age.  I think clicker training is just the best thing for this and if you have a smart dog, boy do they learn quickly with this method.

Just yesterday we worked on this and Delta was offering me a down on the book, a sit and so I had to tell her to “Steh” once on the book so she wouldn’t sit or try any other behavior.  When these dogs get used to the clicker, they just want to hear the clicker and get their treat, so they are just thinking, “Hey, what can I do for you!”    So since she was just so happy to do anything while on the book, I thought I better make sure I just work on her standing on it first and she got it in no time.  She just enjoyed it so much.  Everything she leans she does with great enthusiasm and of course she gets lots of treats which is great for treat motivated dogs.  Actually Delta is very “Ball” motivated, but sometimes I find I get too much hectic behavior, as she is so excited about the ball and so I find the treats work better.  Getting to know what works for your dog best is something you have to experiment with, but when shaping a behavior, using food and the clicker are just the perfect combination!

Today we did it again and she knew exactly what to do, so we did a little bit of pivoting and I just helped her a bit by guiding her rear around with my leg and boy did she pick up on it quick.  We moved around at little increments at a time and she caught on quickly.  I can see her really using her back legs now – we did this for a little while and then lots of praise and out to play some fetching.  She gets so excited just when she sees the clicker and she just wants to do something – anything!   I really get a kick out of her as she is just so much fun to train and watch learn.  It’s like seeing the little light bulb in her head go off – bing, bing, bing!

Tomorrow we’ll do more of this and then we’ll move in reverse direction so she doesn’t get used to going just one way.  I am actually really having fun using the clicker and seeing how quickly she picks up what I want her to do.

Category: Uncategorized
Tags: D-Litter, Delta, German Shepherd