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[bina]

first of all, to teach all this cannot be done over the net; there is soooooooo much info on the web that u can really google for most. however, u can get your girlfriend in touch with our sponsor trainer, nienke, lives up north however, as she is a professional, and have your girlfriend take it from there.

second: a dog needs one place to sleep: a bed, crate, cage, doghouse. not a hole in the garden as she will learn to dig mor eholes for other places to sleep and u want a single place for when she needs to be sent to her place while there are visitors, repairmen, etc.  so whether in or outdoors she needs a definate bed area.
third: gsd are easily trained and therefore easily learn bad habits by laziness and lack of knowlege on part of owner so it is up to u: take her out on walks, praise her when she poos/pees, and do not head straitght home after she does so, or will train YOU to keep walking and she will never pee/poo while on leash, u have to have her 'go potty' at the beginning of the walk, praise her, then go and play, or be turned loose. so now u have to untrain her from running all over the place, and also get her on schedule i.e. after nights sleep go out, potty, then play. eat, then potty. mid day break, potty and a bit of play. dinner, same same. night before sleep, potty. stick to the same routine and she will learn.  
ah.  pick up all th epoo but one in an area that u want her to go in.  when u take her out, when u see her start to search for an area to go, as she goes, tell her 'go potty' or what ever word u want her to know for telling her to pee/poo . she will learn quickly to go in one area only,, and also on command if needed (when rushed for time). inside the house, keep her crated or tied in one area when u are not around, like at night (next to bed with water available, not food). block off the stairs when u arent around and never let her go up when u are around. most dogs learn quickly what and where they can go w/o invitation.  

german shepherds learn easily and praise works wonders with them; at around age  8 months they will test u again, but mature after that.  remember that she may come in to heat at 6-8 months so u will have to have a place to lock her up with no access to dogs, so get her used to being inside or somewhere, now.

bina
israel

and google for positive reinforcement training, etc lots of info for basic stuff.

[topt]

Thanks for your reply Bina especially as uit looks like you are away. We are however in Pattaya so Chiang Mai is out of the question. I have found lots of info but not specifics on the questions I asked.
We also contacted some local trianers and they all (3 of them) wanted 25k baht for a three month programme which I felt was excessive - both in time and money - is it?

In the last week the dog has been sleeping in the bedroom with my GF and has apparently been controlling herself - the dog that is   She is also getting more confidant on going down the stairs.  I am back in Thailand tomorrow evening so now have the issue of traing her not to be in the bedroom. Unfortunately the downstairs is very open plan and thetre is no way to block the staircase. I will be having a door installed on the kitchen with a view that that will be where she sleeps when I am there but I can see how this is probably going to be confusing for her although your post suggests it should not be a big problem - I am so hoping...

When I am there we take her for walks at least twice per day and let her off the lead on a couple of grassed areas in the village but she has not once shown any inclination (that I can see) to go?

I particularly would like some specifics as to how to train her to stop her jumping up at all and sundry - which I have looked for but can only find very general tips so far.

Thanks again .

[Nienke]

topt, on 2011-01-27 08:54:18, said:

I particularly would like some specifics as to how to train her to stop her jumping up at all and sundry - which I have looked for but can only find very general tips so far.

Don't reinforce undesired behavior, but reinforce and reward the behavior you want instead. And be consistent in that.

Btw I have had customers from Pattaya as well.

[topt]

Nienke,

Can you explain a little about what you mean by "don't reinforce undesired behaviour" as I was not aware we were - is there something I said we did that you feel does this as if so I would like to correct it? I know we are not being structured enough in her training along the lines as suggested in the earlier post by Bina but I still do not have any real idea how we stop her jumping up which is becoming more of an issue as she gets bigger. Turning aside and ignoring her does not seem to make any difference and if you put out hand/arm to stop her she mouths/bites - and becoming more of a bite the last few days.

Also if you could say how it would work having a customer in Pattaya - and what your thougfhts were on the rates I quoted?

Thanks