A Princess for Prince,,?? - Page 3

A ten years old boy is far too young to take care of a dog, is too young for walking a dog by himself, and is too young to train a dog by himself.
It´s your responsibility, and it´s your time.
Today I heard for the first time that there is a club in your direct neighborhood. Your son is too young to get there by himself, so it´s up to you ( again, your time ).
But why don´t you train in this club with your dog already? This would help you, and this would help your dog far better than asking online for advise.
Out of your posts it seems like your young, healthy male not only is the "prince" but also is the "boss" at home.
What happens, if a puppy will try to get "his" food or "his" toy, is playing with "his" humans?
Are you able to separate the dogs? Do you have enough spare time to walk two dogs?

In my opinion you should join the club with your dog and with your son. After a whilw you may see if your son really is interested, meanwhile your dog may learn some new stuff
Maybe there even are some older, retired dogs your son can "train" or "show" in the beginning - way to go!
 

Laura,,Thanks for the post,,,:)

Keith, ,,ya gotta do" what ya gotta do",,,sometimes,,;)

Susie,,I hear you and I agree. I do not want a dog for my son to be responsible for, but rather one he can enjoy in a way that he can not with Prince....I am actively involved in all that my children do especially when it comes to our pets,,I have no intention of dropping a new pup in his lap to raise. I just want something we can take together to a public place and work happily around other people. I want to get involved with other people and their dogs and enjoy training ...If my son takes to it that would be an extra blessing,,If he doesn't it will be my joy still,,,

I have  a lot to consider and I am glad for all the input,,Its a big decision and I don't take it lightly..

****I received an email from a member that suggested maybe finding a older retired sport dog that we could learn from..Realisticly how hard would it be to find a really nice minded, older female, that is close to retiring age, that could help teach us the sport???...Opinions please??...


 

Susie, excellent post and advice.

After looking at all the posts in this thread, if I was you I would wait with addition of another dog for at least 3 years and focus on working with your current dog (as Susie suggested).
Good luck.

"I want to get involved with other people and their dogs and enjoy training ...If my son takes to it that would be an extra blessing,,If he doesn't it will be my joy still,,, "

Without being rude, you would have been able to do this with Prince, but you didn´t - why do you want to do it now?
 

Susie,,You are welcome to your opinion, but it is only your opinion,,You might be right and then again you might not be..It really has nothing to do with what is going on here and now,,The fact remains that Prince does not enjoy people (and hasn't since he was 12 weeks old) and he is not a dog that I or my son can manage comfortably around other people,,Period!,,,,Could someone else have addressed it and possible changed it?, I am sure you think so, but it is futile at this point to speculate,,Everyone is welcome to a guess,,,

I am not desperate for another dog and I will be happy to carry on as I have been..Thaks for your input and you have made your point well...

 

Sorry, Ruger, I really tried to help you in your decision.
My thought: You need to like clubs and dogsport as a whole, otherwise you will loose interest.
And if you really would be interested, you had started 2 years ago with training your dog.
Not everybody is "born" for dog clubs.
Are you able to separate the dogs? In this case I´d think about an adult female, but not as big and strong as a German Shepherd for your son.
 

Susie may actually be on to something here.  Jagger doesn't particularly care for people outside of our immediate family either but he can't wait to go out to the field and train.  It isn't like someone gets his/her dog out and a love-fest ensues with all of the other club members fawning all over the dog.  While starting an adult dog is not as optimal as working one that has been imprinted since being a puppy, I can envision several ways working Prince in IPO could potentially help your relationship/situation with him.

You should go without Prince for a couple of weeks and just watch, Deanna.  He really won't be that close to other people for most of the obedience and tracking and you want him to bite in protection so...