WalandLibby

I think so, actually I think it's wonderful. And if you make a mistake, there's no harm done and you can just reteach.

I think she's saying pretty clearly that the collar is big deal for her, and that she's learning far too much from it - not only for eg to avoid the things you are actually trying to punish her for, but also a whole lot of other things in the environment too. This is a common side effect of punishment - it's very difficult to target punishment only to the behaviour you want to. If you're interested, this is an article I have on my website about the difficulties of using punishment - http://furpersondogtraining.webs.com/punishment.htm

As you've described it, Black Magic, I don't really understand why it's a problem. Isn't it just an endearing Labrador-y thing? Is she actually pulling on it, or just holding it in her mouth as she trots along?

I think it's a lovely thing, a sign that he likes and trusts you and doesn't expect you to take his stuff away or at least to give it back if you do (that is presuming that he cares about the bone, I get the impression he does). I say enjoy it, you're very lucky.

I'm a committed reward trainer, so I wouldn't do it even it I could, but until the fear response develops, I don't actually think it would be possible (which is about 8-9 wks usually). After that they'd be in a fear imprint stage, and the fallout from being corrected (by a human or the environment) could be profound. In the case of breeds that tend to be predatory towards cats, you'd have a good chance of them recognising cats as individuals that are of social interest, rather than prey, simply by socialising them to cats from early on and continuing it as they grow.

I read something recently on a GSD site about not allowing a GSD pup to loose it's puppy fat because it is hard to get it back on, which struck me as a bit strange. Does that make sense to you?

Well that's great. Is she generally a bit anxious? because often anxious dogs don't eat really well.

In feeding tests dogs generally prefer cooked to raw. But most dogs love both ;-) Is she eating a full ration of RC or still picking at it? My dog (not a GSD) has never been a good eater which I put down to him being a stressy child - he always ate enough to get by and he wasn't skinny, but he didn't act like he 'liked' ordinary food. As he's gone on to develop terrible liver disease I wonder whether eating gave him nausea. Has your vet done blood tests or only done a physical exam?