Found a GSP......... a little help dog trainers

[gatorgrizz27]

Just keep working with him, he will get there. I don't buy the "can't teach an old dog new tricks" bit. Any dog that is intelligent (never met a GSP that wasn't sharp as a tack) and not skittish (again most GSP's tend towards the opposite of this and are quite hard headed), can be well trained. I picked up my GSP as a rescue that came in as a stray and have turned him into the best dog I've ever had.

Being consistent is a huge key. The dog can't be expected to listen some times and allowed to get away with it at others. If I call my dog twice and he doesn't come, I go and get him for a "come to Jesus meeting". If he is choosing to ignore you it is a respect issue, if he takes off after a squirrel and is hard to call back for a minute that is instincts taking over.

Teaching mine to heel was by far the most difficult lesson, it took several weeks. He was an absolute monster and would just drag you wherever he wanted to go. I used a prong collar with the leash behind my back and would walk him right next to me while repeating "heel". If he pulled on the leash, he got a tug and I stopped and made him sit and wait. Now he will heel right next to me without a leash, even on crowded places.

Keep it up, he will be worth it!

[Deer Tracks]

This is a new dog and you need to work on engagement with him. Don't use an e collar (corrections) for this. You can use corrections later when the dog knows what is expected and is choosing not to comply.

You need to change his state of state of mind so that he wants to be with you and wants what you have. A dog that's engaged is totally 100% focused on his handler and when you get a dog engaged, training is easy. When your dog isn't paying attention to you, doing anything with him is really frustrating.

So with any dog, I figure out what it is that he really LOVES or wants, whether it's food or a toy and when we're just hanging out in the living room or in the yard...some place that isn't overly distracting...I'll say his name or something like "hey, pup pup!" or "look here" and every time he looks at me, I praise and give him his reward.

You know that behavior when your dog is in another room and you're opening a bag of potato chips and suddenly your dog is right there at your feet, staring at you? We want that level of attention but we want to put it on cue.

The more motivated your dog is for the reward, the more of his attention he's going to focus on you. Be patient. It can take months to engage (what some people might call "establishing a bond" with a dog.)

Once I'm at a point where the dog is easy to engage in non distracting environments, I start paying attention to the level of distraction that the dog can handle. When he's past that limit and he's too distracted to engage, then I back off and do our training / engagement in a place where the dog can focus.

[DirtyDave]

Good job on giving him a home. ANY dog can be an well trained dog. Doesnt mean he will be the greatest hunter, but he should try like heck to please you.
It all comes down to TRAINING. A dog is only as good as its trainer. If you train him half-arsed, then you will have a half-arsed dog. If you give it your ALL with training, the dog will give it his ALL.
YOU need to decide how far you will take it and the discipline of the trainer (yourself) is the most important thing