Tomorrow the A Litter (Ypsilon x Maika) will be 8 months old.
We took pictures today at training and some in the back yard when we got home.
It was very windy and cold but Aiden seems to be understanding tracking and stayed on course
On to the obedience phase
and now Aiden’s favorite phase….
Heading home!
Playtime in the back yard. Where’s Garbo when you need her help with sticks?
VP Alta-Tollhaus Aiden CGC
Happy 8 month birthday to the “A” Team!!
He is so handsome. I hope my puppy is that obedient at 8 months, and has her CGC.
Wow, he is looking like a big dog in the stacked photo. Do you use a prong to encourage the correct heel position for the OB, or just the lure? We can finally do Ziva’s CGC starting in January. The last class offered locally was in June so it has been a long wait.
Lisa,
We use food and the ball to shape the heel behavior we want at this age and stage of training. We also use a clicker to mark the correct behavior.
I have just started using a prong collar at times on Aiden as he is a strong, adolescent boy and I prefer the prong over a regular choke chain.
FABULOUS!
Lynda, fabulous job with Aiden, Xavi certainly resembles his handsome littermate. We are also working on the CGC and we’ll test as soon as Xavi decides that he will hold his sit for more than 10 seconds… If I may ask for stats as a way of assessing where our beloved Xavi is at: How much does Aiden weight right now, how tall is he? Also, what do you feed him? We are looking for some fresh ideas since his raw chicken-based diet (supplemented with salmon oil, vitamins and the occasional green tripe, organs, turkey and meat) is not defeating what seems to be allergies.
I am feeding Ava approx 1 – 2 cups Honest Kitchen with coconut oil, vitamins, and canned tripe. I then mix kibble into this. Right now I am feeding Royal Canin German Shepherd formula – not a perfect kibble as you will see if you search the blog – but I like how they look on it. I alternate the kibble with raw food.
I much prefer the coconut oil to Salmon oil and they definitely like the taste of it better. The coconut oil is solid at room temperature so it works well to add it to the hot water when making the Honest Kitchen.
Hi Rod,
Sorry to hear you are having allergy problems with Xavi. They can be so frustrating to figure out.
Aiden was extremely itchy not too long ago and got some round spots on his belly. They looked like ringworm to us so we rushed him to the vet. The spots were a yeast infection from him biting and scratching himself. They quickly cleared up with medication. We found ONE flea on him. It seems he might be a little allergic to fleas. We have treated all the animals in the household and vacuumed everywhere like crazy! (We mainly have wood floors but do have area rugs).
Our dogs are house pets and do get a little itchy and dry when we have the heat on in the winter even though we do not keep it up very high. We give them fish oil to help with that.
We feed Taste of the Wild (grain free) dry dog food soaked with warm water and a little good quality, grain free, limited ingredient canned meat. Ivan and Dylan were both on TOTW and had fantastic coats and were in good health. There was a TOTW recall just before we got Aiden. We kept Aiden on the Acana food that he was used to and decided to switch Dylan onto that also. Aiden’s coat was okay but not great and Dylan’s turned brown. About a month ago we put both dogs on TOTW and have seen a big difference in their coats and they are not scratching nearly as much.
Aiden weighs 65 lbs. I don’t know how tall he is. I’ll measure him soon and get back to you on that.
Please post a picture of Xavi when you can. We would love to see him.
Aiden is so handsome. He has such gentle eyes, I just want to wrap my arms around him. Looks like he is doing fabulous in his training.
Lynda,
What a hunk Aiden is… and looks as though his training is moving along so wonderfully.
Aiden’s favorite phase is also U-Rock’s favorite. It’s so wonderful to see them having so much fun doing the protection phase.
Ava is also a fan of the protection phase and is just a crazy monster.
Want to share how you taught the stay with Aiden? What you used might work for Ava? What we are spending the most time with Ava is teaching her to come when called. I never had a GSD that I had to “teach” a recall to. I probably teach it without thinking about it and just incorporate into regular puppy rearing which I didn’t do since someone else raised her for the first few months.
Aiden is far from perfect!
He can be quite stubborn when he wants to be. He will do a recall during training without hesitation and with GREATenthusiasm. However, try just calling him to come outside of training, and if he does not want to, he will give you the middle paw and go the other way. This is something we are working on constantly to try to develop a totally reliable recall which he does not have yet. We are still quite paranoid about allowing Aiden to be off leash. He is only allowed off leash in our fenced in back yard, the beach and one particular State Park that is far from any roads.
As far as the stay goes, we started with the sit as soon as we got Aiden with very short sessions. Once he figured that out (he’s a smart little “divil”!) we added “stay” for a very short time with a treat. We built up the length of time he had to sit and stay for the treat. Now sit implies stay.
Have you tried the “Run away recalls”. Call her and run in the opposite direction and have her chase. When she runs past you (which takes about a nanosecond) I do the crazy lady dance and feed, feed, feed. That really made Ziva hot for the recall. Your dogs are way too clever for the long line recall. They are perfect w/the line, but once it was gone they had other things to do :). Staying put is hard for ZIva also. She is just now getting so she can control herself somewhat.
He looks perfect in every phase for his age!!
Aiden is such a handsome boy — and he looks so sweet in the last photo! It doesn’t seem possible that the boy in the last photo could also be the one in the protection shots.
Oh my gosh, I love these pictures of baby Aiden!! Steve and I just got invited to a club in a couple weeks. It’s a 6hr drive, but I think it will be worth it. I am very excited 🙂 He’s two now, but we’ll be starting like he’s a baby. You guys have done such an awesome job with Aiden!!