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The GSD Hub with Jenny Gould, Bristol (2025)

29/06/2025

Balls!!!!

Giving our GSDs a job to do on a walk goes some way towards preventing them from finding their own, possibly inappropriate, job!

I don't know about you but I am paranoid about mine swallowing their balls. Mine are always on a rope and tennis balls are a massive no no in this house!

Which balls do your GSDs love?

23/06/2025

🐶🐶🐶You've got your new puppy and you can't wait to get them out into the big wide world!

🩷 All and sundry squeal and rush to fuss your adorable pup, many with their own dogs - and who can blame them? Puppies are adorable.

Then, in the blink of an eye, your cute puppy is no longer fluffy and to make matters worse, they now have pointy ears!

Suddenly people are cautiously crossing the road, pulling their dogs back and avoiding you. All the while, your puppy doesn't understand why people and dogs aren't saying 'Hi!' any more.

🤔Then before you know, you have a frustrated dog pulling and jumping on the end of the lead, vocalising their confusion. All they've known until now was everyone was their friend.

We all know, prevention is better than cure. As you can see in this snippet, I'm setting Chitta's expectations around dogs and people by walking parallel with a trusted dog and human but without interaction.

Chitta is learning here that not all dogs and humans are new pals. That not every person and dog we see is going to lead to interaction. This is turn will help prevent her becoming a frustrated adolescent around people and dogs.

❤️ Do yourself and your puppy a favour and teach them NOT to expect to interact with every person or dog they see....all ready for when THAT time arrives.....

22/06/2025

🙌 Bring On The Bias....

There is no one size fits all in dog training. Learning theory can help of course but it is only the beginning.

We need to look further. We need to recognise both ours and our dogs' bias BEFORE we begin to address a behaviour. This in turn can make a huge difference in our likelihood and speed of success.

Compare a Labrador's natural sociability with a much more aloof breed such as an Afghan Hound. It is obvious that your ratio of allowing interaction would be 1/10 for a Labrador whereas you could probably increase the ratio to 10/10 for an afghan and it still would not give a damn about deigning to interact with anyone!

Even within a single breed there will be variation. In my most recent German Shepherd litter all puppies are confident and social with humans and other dogs. My own puppy Tove however is less of a human social butterfly than some of the other puppies. Add to this fact that MY own bias is to encourage a very strong focus on me and you can see that I can afford to be more generous in allowing her freedom of interaction whilst still young.

Take a specific exercise such as retrieve. Is your dog naturally possessive? If so then the dog is highly likely to grab the item from you but the odds of that dog staying within your vicinity is low. With the less possessive dog you will likely need to work harder to gain interest but the dog is not so likely to disappear off into the sunset with it. Knowing your dog's bias before you start this exercise will enable you to take a more educated guess at how to train it. Believe me when I say not all gun dogs want to retrieve and not all Bull breeds want to possess!

Know your own self. Is YOUR own natural bias likely to inhibit a puppy or are you likely raise a wild child? Dog ownership and training is a two way street. BOTH of our bias' need to be considered if we are to do the best job possible.

Sit back and consider who you are as well as who you have in front of you BEFORE you begin to teach.

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19/06/2025

Teens and Puppies socialising together?

Yes or No?

As with many things "dog" .... it depends on the individuals. Not all of my GSDs enjoy puppies and that's ok. I get it....I don't particularly enjoy children. I respect their choices.

I am incredibly selective about whom I allow my puppies to mix with. I am fortunate to have good friends with absolutely super balanced dogs of different breeds whom my puppies are safe with.

I am equally selective about whether I allow my teenagers to mix with puppies. I would be mortified if one of my teens frightened a puppy with their exuberance, however 'sociable' they may be.

My advice to you when making these decisions is, if in doubt, DONT! Our GSDs are socially sensitive and it does not take much to upset them, particularly during certain phases as they are maturing.

Ask yourself if the other owner is objective in understanding their dog's temperament? If not then avoid them. Your GSDs do not need endless reinforcement from other dogs and most certainly do not need inappropriate social interactions.

Here is my teenager Tove with my friend's border collie puppy Drama. We often mix our babies with the other's older dogs. We are always aware as to whether the pairings are conducive to good learning. Until now they have been but we never take that for granted.

First we had Queenie/Witch, then Witch/Tove and now we have Tove/Drama. Our girls are all learning appropriately from each other and changing roles as they mature. It is beautiful to watch❤️

18/06/2025

Do not buy a German Shepherd!

Do not buy a German Shepherd if you are going to expect them to fit into the lifestyle YOU choose for them.

Do not buy a German Shepherd if you do not have the commitment to work through the tough times...of which there will be many.

Do not buy a German Shepherd if you are going to look for quick fix training.

Do not buy a German Shepherd unless you are prepared to invest in their training for a minimum of 3 years.

Do not buy a German Shepherd if you have lifestyle time restraints.

Do not buy a German Shepherd if you expect them to behave perfectly at 10 months old.

Do not buy a German Shepherd unless you are willing to be patient.

Do not buy a German Shepherd if you expect them to behave like any other dog you have owned.

Do not buy a German Shepherd unless you are willing to lose your heart.

16/06/2025

This one is for you, Baxter. You're starting out on a big adventure.

13/06/2025

We are coming up to camping season! What would you add???

12/06/2025

🏡Moving House

🤯 Many of you out there are only too aware of the stress involved in moving house. We have just recently experienced this and my goodness what a stressful event it was!

23 months since the beginning of the process and we finally moved into our new home. We have now been here for 3 weeks and are feeling much more settled so I thought I would pen some observations and suggestions for anyone going through this process.

🐾 Understand that our emotions affect our dogs. Whilst we cannot prevent feeling stressed we can reduce the effects on our dogs by letting off steam when not around them.

🐾 Ensure the dogs are well exercised. This can be difficult when there is so much to do but a tired dog is a more settled and relaxed dog.

🐾 Have a ready supply of chews and bones available at all times. Chewing is a great stress reliever and also helps to provide some activity whilst our hands are busy!

🐾 If at all possible get yourselves sorted and the house secure (fencing, stair gates and non slippy flooring for example) before introducing your dogs into the equation. Also, the more familiar items that have been unpacked before your dogs enter the house the easier they will find it to settle.

🐾 Try to maintain as similar a routine as possible in the early days. For example if your dog is usually crated at night then crate them at night in the new home.

🐾 The boxes can actually wait! Get the necessities in place and then go take the dogs for a long walk.

🐾 Ensure that your dogs have rest time and sleep. With so much happening around them, many of our dogs will be on the go far more than when they were relaxed in their previous home. If you are constantly on the go then your dog will be too. Use segregation and/or crates if necessary. This is something my adolescent Chitta definitely needed help with!

🐾 Utilise some natural remedies. Offer them rescue remedy or some essential oils. My guys went absolutely mad for Violet Leaf essential oil. Do ensure you only buy from reliable sources. I recommend Whitethorn Herbals and Caroline Ingraham.

🐾 Do try not to worry about them too much (easier said than done as I discovered). Dogs are amazingly adaptable and they really just want to be with us so don't sweat it. They will be just fine in the long term.

For those of you who have moved house what would you add?

12/06/2025

Puppy Class? Yes or No?

For 30 years I taught puppy classes in person. I now teach puppy training online.

I have observed and taught puppy training from both angles and I can honestly say that they complement each other beautifully!

If you possibly can I would recommend you enrol in both in person classes and online courses. They both have their merits.

🐾 Training is always best taught initially at home with no distractions (Online ✅)
🐾 Once taught that skill should be generalised into different environments (In Person✅)
🐾 Owners learn best without having to concentrate on the puppy at the end of the lead (Online ✅)
🐾 Puppies need the opportunity to watch other dogs in a safe environment (In Person✅)
🐾 Owners all learn at different paces without feeling peer pressure (Online ✅)
🐾 Some owners feel more comfortable having an instructor to physically watch them with their dog (In Person ✅)
🐾 Dog training can often be complex and detailed. Time restraints can conflict with delivery of detailed instruction. (Online ✅)
🐾 It is lovely to watch our puppies enjoying sensible interactions with other dogs in a controlled environment (In Person ✅)

We invest so much into a new puppy.

💵Purchase price
💵 New vehicle
💵 Crates and/or pens
💵 Beds
💵 Collars and leads
💵 Toys

Please do not skint on their training....you will be repaid tenfold!

The GSD Hub with Jenny Gould

29/06/2025

23/06/2025

22/06/2025

19/06/2025

18/06/2025

16/06/2025

13/06/2025

12/06/2025

12/06/2025

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