New dog owner - HELP Questions

Hello!
I’m looking for help with my new dog.
He’s a precious, amazing, sweet hearted, energetic, beautiful 9 mo GSP named Champion. This is my first dog and I know there’s a learning curve, but we (my boyfriend and I) know we just need to learn the best way for him to be a part of our family and what he needs, and it will all work out.

We’re aware he’s an energetic dog and needs exercise. We bought our house with a fenced in yard, fully expecting that to be enough to keep him in. Unfortunately after about 4 months, he found multiple escape routes. We spent two weeks exclusively walking him on a leash, and not only could you tell he was miserable, but he chewed everything. EVERYTHING. We then bought a tie out - ground stake and 30’ plastic coated steel cable, swivel top to eliminate tangling, no stumps, fences, etc he can just over and strangle, plenty of shade. It’s rated for a 150lb dog, even though he’s only a third of that, and I’ve been checking it every few days to make sure it’s staying snug in the ground.

Quick walks we use the leash, but he spends 2-4 hours a day (throughout the day, not all at once) on the tie out. We check on him periodically to make sure he’s ok. He seems to love it, you can definitely tell at the end of the day, he’s worn out and sleeps better, doesn’t chew as much, etc.

The problem is, he’s broke threw two harnesses already. One was definitely chewed because my boyfriend left it on while he was in the house. He just broke another while outside, and we’re not 100% sure how it happened but we assume he chewed it.

To get to the point - are we doing something wrong or is this to be expected? Is there a better solution? I hate the idea of an electric fence but some people have suggested it. Is there another, chew-proof harness I should try? He can pull out of his collar so I don’t want to use that. I feel like these are all things I need to hear from experienced owners.

Also, any other tips you can give, maybe that you learned from experience, I’d appreciate it!

What harnesses are you using?

Physical exercise is not enough for a working breed they need a job to do and mental stimulation.
There are lots of ideas on Google for dog mind games, puzzle toys ect:
http://www.milehighgsp.org/exercise-a-simple-solution-for-behavior-problems/

I would not advise an electric fence, far better to spend time training him.

The orange is the first one I used and the green is the second one. Both of them I would tighten on a regular basis, as I know the pulling will make them loose.

Thanks! I’ve heard/read a bit about that, we’re working on training him ourselves and plan on training him to be a hunting dog, so any resources help!

Have a look at the Ezydog Quick Fit Dog harness
http://store.ezydog.com/quick-fit-dog-harness/

and the Ezydog Chest Plate Harness.
http://store.ezydog.com/chest-plate-dog-harness/

Both cost $27 and are very strong - and they are not chewable.

Alternately, the Clean Run ComfortFlex Sports Harness. $34.99 and also not chewable. https://www.cleanrun.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&product_ID=1771&ParentCat=785

Pereg, the dog in my avatar, was wearing the ComfortFlex harness [with a matching collar for her tags] but she also had the Ezydog Quick Fit one. Whichever one she was wearing she wore 24/7 and neither of them showed any signs of breaking. She might have only weighed ~20 kilos but she was very strong. I had previous tried a similar one to the green one on her and that one kept coming undone

Of the two harnesses you showed, my little Tikva, when a small puppy, had similar ones to the orange one - and they broke and/or came undone. She only weighs 5.7 kilos at just over 3 years old but is also very strong, having solid bones and muscles. She now wears a harness in the same style as both the Ezydog Quick Fit and the ComforFlex one but a different make and obvious much smaller.

Incidentally, once these harness are fitted properly they cannot loosen so do not require tightening.

You'd be far better off to find a reliable training class that uses positive methods to show you how to get a solid basic training started. She will need that anyway if she goes on to hunting and it's a good way for you to learn what motivates her and the techniques that suit her best

Thinking along similar lines Chris. This is what I had written, prior to leaving off to.take a phone call.

A note of caution. If this is your first dog, and especially if you intend him to be a working dog, do seek out a good positive trainer, (or class), now. It is so easy to make mistakes in training, which can be really hard to correct at a later stage.

Will that teach him to stay in the yard?

Maggie, he can only be guaranteed to stay in the yard if the yard is 100% secure. My back yard is inaccessible and my front yard cannot be fenced, so I use a 12m tether which is fixed just inside my front door - which opens outwards - so there is 24m when going around the yard but not enough to reach the sidewalk.

I use the Ezydog chest plate harness, with traffic control bungee style lead. And it's perfect for Little Man.

Not the most flattering picture, but you can see the harness and lead!

What type of fencing do you have around the garden?

6 foot double sided panel fencing.
And @MaggieMay8 I don't tether him because there is no way he'd get out. Only had his lead on then because of his post op lampshade and strict no strenuous excerise!

That sounds a little sarcastic, but perhaps you didn't intend it to be.

Not on its own, you will need better fencing. For our rescue Lurchers we had to raise our fencing to six feet, and when we came to move house, even Eddie the Beagle was perfectly capable of clearing four foot six if there was sufficient to interest him on the other side.
What training will give you is greater attention, and a closer relationship with your dog, so he will have less desire to get out. You will learn how to enrich his life, and make yourself the focus of his attention. Along with this you should also gain a reliable recall, and a STOP command - which will be essential for a gundog. Any dog will do as he pleases until you teach him that your way is more rewarding for him. Essentially, training is showing a dog how his life can be so much more fun when he learns to check his impulses, and look to you for guidance.

First I would say you should check out youtube to help out on the training of your gsp their are many great trainers on there that will help answer questions and provide professional advice. But here is what i can tell you from a non professional. This breed is super smart and very high energy so leaving them outside alone is really not a good idea, they tend to get in trouble when you do. They need to be worked several times a day either with basic obedience commands and retrieving games or they need to be trained to work in the field for hunting. When they are not worked regularly they become destructive, i would also suggest trying to start working with an ecollar. Our dog is trained with it and she is able to be out in the front yard with no fence, she will not leave the yard even when people walk by with their dogs.
Last piece of advice check out standingstonekennels. Hope this helps

Sorry but I cannot endorse the use of e-collars.
This site is UK based and electric collars are not considered an ethical tool for public use. It is likely that they will become illegal over the whole of the UK when our individual parliaments get back to dealing with routine legislation.
There could be a dispensation for professional sheepdog trainers to use them on dogs which have proved to be likely to worry sheep or deer, but even this is not approved by some welfare organisations.