Pick your brains... 6 month old won't go after "dead" prey - Page 4

I had a Czech female 8 months old given to me because she was low prey drive. I could throw a ball by her and she would not even flinch or look at it .. the ball did not exist. She would work a tug a little however and I worked her on a pole with a ball as the flirt. Later she became a nut job for the ball .. people would take videos of her ball drive. Also .. a good nanny dog or an older dog of the opposite sex that she gets along with can show her the ropes. There are some things only a dog can teach a dog. It's just a phase .. she just doesn't understand the game yet.  If she see's another dog playing ball with you she will want to get in on the action .. just needs to be another dog that she won't start a fight with or an older dog that will put the youngster in check if she misbehaves over the ball.

Bubba .. First - yes dogs learn from other dogs !!... the expression " copy cat" came about because cats copy other cats .. dogs similarly copy other dogs too , I teach my puppies in a pack . for two reasons: the first being- i don't care what is going on in and around -I teach the puppy to pay attention to the task at hand- never mind the other dogs !!. The behavior/ task becomes in time the ONLY thing that matters to the puppy , for everything else is irrelevant. The second reason is that sometimes I want an older GS [plural] to teach and to motivate the other young ones. ,
Secondly , Bubba, you deserve a lot of credit with your dog. I have seen several times, dogs that wouldn't even look at a ball or item , never mind chase anything !! Somewhere between 1 to 1.5 years , just like a switch ,. the dog started chasing a ball . One dog in particular went on to get French Ring Brevet and French Ring Level 1. Another friend of mine's gs , same beginning but the dog went on to Sch 3 and V rated in Germany !! Both my friends were told that these GS were a piece of garbage as pups and told to get rid of them / sell them. So we don't need to use excuses about DDR or Czech , or West German lines . Dogs need to mature, physically , emotionally , hormonally , mentally , emotionally etc. !! [ BTW this is why I am vehemently opposed to neutering a dog at 6 months old , pet or not ] . What matters is understanding the lineage and fore-parents' genetic make up and understanding specifically the individual puppy itself* [ pedigrees don't tell you all of the info, but the dog does !!].
I wrote previously about misreading predatory behavioral indications and the misreading by helpers. Many fail to realize : each dog has it's own "style" of behaving /working . Another mistake by helpers : not recognizing the dog's individual style. This occurs because I believe there are latent genes that become activated in a dog at a certain point in it's growth and development. I liken this with the illustration : you don't see mating behavior in a infant or juvenile puppy , do you , but then behavior in regards to reproduction behavior changes with the onset of maturity , So the result often is not understanding a dog and making prejudgements. PATIENCE *** People don't have patience in a dogs life or especially in teaching it. Again a root of problems created !! Without patience one should think about having a dog .. That is the point of Bubba sharing... he/she had patience .. Good job Bubba.
The other side of this is that there are indications about a pup when it is very very young in regards to what it's make up is. To illustrate : I had an 8 week pup. two features , it went onto my leg to bite a rag I tied to my leg and when i threw a ball 10 feet out from me she ran -got- the ball- immediately spun around came back and placed it into my hand. . The moment she did tthose two things I saw Sch 3 wriiten on her chest, sort to speak .

" Both my friends were told that these GS were a piece of garbage as pups and told to get rid of them / sell them. "
Guess your friends should think about the people they are dealing with.

" I had an 8 week pup. two features , ..." "...I saw Sch 3 wriiten on her chest, sort to speak . "
Was it written on a scorebook later on?

The truth ... i only took her to Sch 1 and then she was placed into my breeding. At that time I was also doing French Ring training with a male , who I was considering sending to Bundessiegerprufung. Interacting with my 12 other gs with a full time vocation and a part time law enforcement job. I thought that was enough for me to iron out sort to speak.

     Yes seems cruel to say" get rid of them " .. I agree , vastly do agree , with your comment  about getting rid of young pups/dogs!!  But try to understand ,for some people in some countires [ purposely not named ] time is of the essence to make the grade , sort to speak . They have a lot on the line to be the best of the bests' Best. The GS is big business to them , only business .. they don't have these dogs in this respect as home companions.  I assure you this , I am not alone hearing this .. many ,many other people , countless in the horse and dog world ,  have uttered similar words " trashtis animal /get rid of the animal / sell it " .   As for me , thank God , and I have had 30 GS in my life , who all lived their life with me . Yes i agree with your comment  .  

30 personal dogs  that lived their whole life with you plus all the other dogs you mention seems a lot, a real lot of dogs.

I call BS.

Wait until she is 14 to 18 months to start this training, unless she naturally kicks in sooner. We should start dogs on things based on what they give us rather than a set time occurs or we are in training club.

I am wondering about a French Ring trained dog sent to the Bundessiegerprüfung ?!?

Don't be racist....

Give the dog time. Beau the mutt wasn't too interested at that age. Mojo the nanny dog always loves playing ball. Two ball game is a great game for teaching the out, if they already naturally bring it back.

Now, Beau loves to be first one to get the ball and bring it back. Both dogs love their balls, retrieve, and release just so we can do it all again.