German Shorthair People

I really like seeing how my girl compares to your dogs and I wanted to mention since their was some talk about wiehgts that there really is a lot of difference in size between the males and females of this breed.  There are 2 males in Abbi's obendience class and they are so much taller than her.  They don't even look at first glance like the same breed of dog.
At her class we have been using a prong collar.  I didn't want to go that route at first, but I have tried almost everything else to get her to walk well and now that I see how it works I wish I would have tried it earlier.
The only problem we are having at class is the down command.  This is going to require a lot of practice.
I had to laugh about the dog park stuff earlier in here.  I can only take Abbi occasionally, long drive.  Anyway, once this guy asked me if here could play fetch with my dog, but she didn't understand that game.  He just kept throwing stuff for her and she never brought any of it back.  Apparently, retreiving is not an instinct for them.  I actually had to teach Abbi how to play fetch.

Yep, A few weeks ago we went to the vet and you could see his ribs and he was 35 lbs…after increasing food at the vets suggestion he is good to go. Still lean and muscular. The males are larger than females. I believe they can be up to 65 or 70 lbs. The vet said looking at him during his FIRST exam that he would probably be at least 60 lbs. He is lean and fit though…just a big boy!

ORIGINAL: Marie0604

Butterfly- Forty pounds at 5 months? Our GSP (female) is almost 11 months and 40 lbs...I think she's just now starting to pick up a little weight though.
Anyways, Dakota loves the dog park too. I wish there was one in our hometown, but she only gets to go when she visits me at school. Unfortunately, she is definitely the "bad dog" at the park...my fiance and I don't want to claim her most of the time. Last trip, it was wet and muddy...so of course, darling Dakota finds the deepest, muddiest puddle in the park and literally submerged herself in the hole. The other dog owners thought it was hilarious until their dogs started catching on to the game...haha.
Sounds like your guy is doing way better than Dakota on walking on a leash also. We've resorted to a prong collar (she's too smart for halti's) when I'm walking her because she almost dragged me out into the street a few times. Are there any trainers I can ship her to for a couple of weeks? She's just not learning from us...and I'm tempted to think that the problem isn't entirely us because the new rescue (Boxer, 6 months) is picking up everything SO fast. :igh:: I *would* get the monster GSP, lol.

Jazzie at 10 months old is 56lbs,very lean but solid,different positions shows his ribs,he eats very well and much prefer him to be on the leaner side than weighty.
Bags and bags of energy!!!
Great to hear about all your PointersI Love Mine xx

I'm tempted to think that the problem isn't entirely us because the new rescue (Boxer, 6 months) is picking up everything SO fast. :igh:: I *would* get the monster GSP, lol.

 
Some shorthairs take longer to mature mentally.  You just have to be consistant and patient.  They are very hard headed but they do want to please you.  I remember when I was teaching Hawk to whoa it took me like 50 times of picking him up and putting him back where he started  before he got it. Then when he finally understood what I wanted he was the best dog in the class.   I never had to use a prong collar either.  Whenever he pulled I would just quickly change direction and he figured out he better watch where I was going.  Never give them an inch because they will that a mile.[sm=wink2.gif]

I hope I did this right with the quote thingy below...
 
Don't worry about the prong---I was opposed (at first) to using one on my guy but when he hit his "teen years" he was nearly pulling my arm out of my socket on a daily basis. I would warn you to keep focused on working toward walking on a loose leash without a prong. It is easy to get used to the prong effect and the dog knows when the prong is on and when it is not. LOL
 
As for fetching---Gizmo didn't get it until maybe 6 months old and now I can go outside and hit tennis balls for what seems like forever and he'll just chase and chase and chase them....be careful how well you teach her to play fetch []
 
Elizabeth
 

At her class we have been using a prong collar. I didn't want to go that route at first, but I have tried almost everything else to get her to walk well and now that I see how it works I wish I would have tried it earlier.
The only problem we are having at class is the down command. This is going to require a lot of practice.
I had to laugh about the dog park stuff earlier in here. I can only take Abbi occasionally, long drive. Anyway, once this guy asked me if here could play fetch with my dog, but she didn't understand that game. He just kept throwing stuff for her and she never brought any of it back. Apparently, retreiving is not an instinct for them. I actually had to teach Abbi how to play fetch.

ORIGINAL: seashell

I know the prong doesn't really bother her because when I grabbed it to take her for a walk today I had to wait 20 minutes for her to calm down enough to put it on her.  I try to refuse to reward her jumpiness and excitement.
 
My goal is to get her off the prong by summer, before camping season starts. At some point, maybe 4 years from now, I would like to get her volunteering as a therapy dog and she will need to be able to walk on a loose leash with a buckle collar for that.

Good luck Seashell.  That sounds like a great thing to do.

I did a lot of research before getting my gsp and she's just what I expected and wanted.  I think I've been able to avoid the activity and boredom problems since she has about 20 wooded acres to roam; though she's content to stay fairly close to home unless I go with her.
 
She does a good job of taking care of squirrels, possums and raccoons and "patrols" the area around the house several times a day. 
 
She's good in the car now, but was carsick alot until she was a couple of years old.  She does pretty good on a leash with just a regular choker, even though I only use one to take her to the vet. She's crate trained and quiet in the house, gets along with friends' dogs but chases off strays and she actually likes my three cats. Her coat is very low maintenance and she doesn't shed alot.
 
I get a kick out of the little head tilting thing they do and the way she drums her front feet when she's excited and her teeth chatter when she's excited or just chilled, (that trait may not be typical). I don't hunt with her, but when I clean out the bird houses I like to hide the nesting material around the yard just to see her go on point. She's eager to please, without being demanding...I just think she's great and would gladly own another.
 

They are high energy dogs and extremely focused prey drives!  We're on the beach (going home tomorrow-[]) and walking my pointer and setter down the beach has been a chellenge.  I really can't trust my English ointer off leash without an e-collar because she looks down miles of sand with gulls, pellicans and sandpipers and thinks that she has went to heaven and doesn't hear, smell or see you any more until she has run out of the former and is hungry or tired. 

We do agility and obedience with our girls.  They are just as zonked after a class as they are after a romp at the dog park.  Making them actually think about what they are doing instead of just zoning in on what their nose brings, is so incredibly good for them.  You want to develop that.

I also have a wireless fence.  We are using it around the beach house down here on the beach - it's portable!.  It works wonders.  My pointer is very boundary sensitive.  You can see the cattle path in the sand that she has created right where the transmitter boundary is. 

They are a blast though, and I woundn't trade them for all the shih-tzus in China (sorry Shih Ztu owners - I love the bird dogs). My pointer does that little tap dance, too!


Below is Grace shakingthe *funny snow* off after a good run.

Can you give a little more info about this wireless fence?

There was a wireless fence here when I moved in but I had a chainlink installed anyway because there are a lot of wild animals (coyote, deer, raccoons, fisher cats, etc.) here and I'm not willing to risk the chance of my dogs catching any diseases from them. True the dogs don't get out, but what's to keep the critters from coming in?

We got our dog, Dutch, when he was 11 weeks and he is almost a year and a half and about 165 lbs.  He is a great dog, but a master of counter measures.  He surfs with glee, scoffing at our attempts to curb him.  He has been all too happy to set off the mousetraps on his way to the butter.  I think he would be happy to jump through fire if butter was involved.  No, the only fix that I can see is that, we, his owners, just can't leave food out... Ever.   He will also get into the garbage if it is available, and chew the odd stuffed animal. 
I take him out just about every morning for an off-leash walk that lasts anywhere from a half hour to 1 1/2 hours. When we first got him he would retrieve pretty much from day one, wether inside or out.  Now he loves to retrieve indoors, but outdoors has become more of a delayed response, if at all.  He is pretty much bullet proof with our 5 year old daughter.  Super loving. 

The PetSafe wireless fence is not "installed"  It is a plug-in sonic transmitter that you can use it anywhere. 

[linkhttp://radiofence.com/dog_fences_wireless.htm]http://radiofence.com/dog_fences_wireless.htm[/link]

No, you can't keep critters out, but whenever the dogs are outside, we keep an eye on them so that we know that they aren't in trouble.  I never leave the girls out in the yard all day unattended.  Down at the beach, I was more worried about human critters coming by and feeding "God knows what" or unclipping the collars and taking them.  That could happen in a fenced yard as well.  The fence allowed me to set a blanket and chair down on the beach and let my dogs be down there with me untethered to dig in the sand and chase beach birds.  They had a blast! 

We got back to MI last night and when they went out in the yard in the snow and cold, they came in and looked at me with long questioning faces as if asking "Where's our beautiful beach and stuff, Mom?":.

Nothing is perfect except a tall chain link, and I've seen dogs that can scale those.  Grace's foster mon still doesn't know how Grace could excape from her tall solid privacy fence!

Miss Trudy Blue pointing at a little crab (discovered by me in the sand after taking the shot)

Thanks for the link.  I appreciate that and will need to find time to explore the site further.. 
I would love to have my dog outside with me without always needing a leash or tie-out.  I live on a really busy road so I never can let Abbi off-leash at home and I can't have a fence in our yard.

The Pet Safe fencing sounds like something for us to look into too, as Dakota can't be off leash anymore after an escape and close call with the road. She has NO recall.
Just a little update on us- my fiance stopped and got the paper work for doggy daycare, finally. He has also been using the NILIF training, and it has been amazing. She is still, by far, the worst dog I've ever seen...but she's definitely showing some improvement...so there's hope []