Playing Reward Training Sit Stay

I love watching the training videos, particularly the ones in the English manor house with the puppy classes. Unfortunately I can only access them on rare occasions. Are they always available to view? or as in my case only sometimes? when there are only 3 pages. When all the videos are available there are 9 pages. Where are they? I have a new 15 week old Border Collie puppy & find it easier to view the videos, than to read through all the information available.

I have a 15 week old Weimaraner puppy, I have ordered the Sirius puppy training and also the Training the Compainion Dog. I love them and am almost done with them. I have been working with our puppy, Mercedes, since we got her. We brought her home at 7 weeks. I have a problem with her and other dogs. When I take her to socialize with them, at a trainers house outside, she will not play at all. Just tuck her tail and whine. This goes on the entire time. Just near the end of 2 hours she will start to sniff. We have done this a few times. Should I leave her at the trainers alone? She does not act like this at home, she plays with our other dog. She also loves all people she meets. She is also twice the size of the pups we are using. I need some advice. Thanks
Lorraine
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Hi Lorraine,
I am glad to hear that you are enjoying the videos. Congratulations on your new puppy! I understand that it can be concerning when your puppy is exhibiting some fear and is not making the progress you desire. Let's see if we can help you find some ways to help her to feel more confident around other dogs. I do have a few questions for you.

1. Does she act afraid in general in the yard? Perhaps part of her fear is specific to the yard or new places. Have you tried indoors?
2. What kind of dogs is she socializing with? Are they active and playful or more passive? A passive dog, one that does not show much interest in her, will be the best dog to help her come out of her shell. Trying older dogs first and then moving on to puppies may help.
3. Has she gone to puppy class? Most puppy classes accept puppies up to 18 weeks of age. At 15 weeks she would be one of the older and bigger dogs in class, making her a big fish in a little pond.
4. Do you see any signs of comfort when she is out with the dogs? If so, be sure to reward her with food. Classical conditioning goes a long way in these situations.

Try visiting with just one passive dog for a much shorter amount of time. During that time period use lots of yummy treats to reward the beginning of social interaction, i.e. sniffing other dogs, moving towards or lack of avoidance of other dogs. It may take time to help her feel comfortable enough to play, but by starting small and rewarding tiny successes, you will be heading down the right road.

Looking forward to continuing our dialogue,
Erica Dafoe
Dog Star Daily Resident Answer Expert

Erica,
Thank you for your response, To answer your questions.
1. If you mean does she act afraid in our yard, no. She is a little leary of new places but does not take her long to get over it. I have taken her many places and she seems to do fine after about 5 to 10 min. She actually will go towards new things to ck them out. We have taken her camping with us for 4 days and she really did wonderful with all the new sounds and smells, and sights. But we did not really encounter dogs that were coming up to her.
When we first get to the trainers house, ( we have been there 4 times now) she acts a little leary. She will wander around and keep looking at me. Keeps her tail tucked a lot longer there than when we go to someplace that she has never been to before. She will whine and act uneasy. When the pups were out she just ran around trying to stay away from them. She would look at me and run over to where I was standing and then go off again. The puppies are smaller than she is. One is a yorkie 4 months old, Jack Russell Terrier- 3 months old, and another one smaller, They really were not aggressive towards her. The yorkie really wanted her to play, but she would not. After almost 2 hours she would run around them but not engage in play she did start to sniff them, but this took close to the 2 hours. The second time we were there for play she had the same dogs and then put them up and took out a couple of older dogs. This did not go over at all. They were still pups, one 7 mo. old choc. lab, and and a 7 -8 mo old boxer. The lab just bumped into her and she went yellping and running so fast you thought someone was killing her. She did settle down after a while but still did not want to go near them.
2. I don't know where to go to be around too many dogs. So the lady I was bringing her to has a kennel, ( she boards and trains from her home) We live in a rural area. She has not been to a puppy class like where you get together with other people and do it. She has only been to this ladies home with the other dogs around. The first 2 times it was just her and the new place. She does not settle down there as well as she does in other new places. It is outside and a large area. The closest class is 75 miles away at Petsmart. Which is difficult to attend once a week. I really wish we had something around here.
3. The trainer wanted me to drop her off for the day and see if she did better w/o me around. I just don't feel comfortable about that.
4. It does take a while for her to get to where she is not tucking her tail and just sniffing them. I did not bring treats for this but I will do that.
I dont want to make her dependant on me and have a seperation issues. I am trying everything I know. We do train at home and I take her out places.
She does love all people and will go to them easily, She loves children also. She is a very smart puppy and a quick learner. My 6 yo. has been watching the vidoes and training her also. She will do what he is trying to get her to do. I just don't want to do the wrong thing in this area. Thanks so much