GSP Lifestyle Question Questions

Hello all - I am writing you to get your opinions and feedback on my husband and I adding a GSP to our home. We live in a house with a good sized fenced in backyard. We are climbers, hikers, runners, mountain bikers, and campers in Colorado. My husband is in beginning stages of getting into bow hunting. We have a 3 year old Akita and a 14 year old Pomeranian that get along fantastically. As a runner foremost myself, I find my Akita has no drive to run over 6 miles, and I don't push her to do more than she pleases. Here is the catch.. we both work a pretty standard work week. Our dogs are left alone at home from 8:30 to 5:30 Monday - Friday. They always accompany us on runs and mountain adventures outside of work, but still, we work. If we entered a GSP into the family we would hire a dog walker for a mid-day walk of 30min -1 hr and invest in some doggie day care days at Camp Bow Wow as we can afford. My question to you seasoned owners is, with a morning bout of exercise (an hour+), a midday half hour walk, and an evening bout of exercise (an hour+) during the work week be enough to keep a GSP content? Would this be a good quality of life? Thats 2 and a half hours of activity.. but I don't know this breed personally. I want to know what you all think! I should add that we plan to do all of the behavioral classes we can with any new canine member of the family, of course. Thank you so much in advance.

That sounds like plenty of exercise, which they need (and love) (and you'll enjoy too). We are first time owners of two 3-year old GSP's, and WE LOVE THEM. I don't know the Akita, but I had a Pomeranian as a kid and, well, you know. Their energy is amazing, but they are then fine in the house (for the most part, like 98% of the time).

One of the best things we did was train them with the shock collar. Now we just open the door and let 'em go. We have a school yard behind the house and they're running like mad, but they stay in the confines.

We haven't trained them to hunt or do field trials, but it's something to consider. Their instincts are amazing and fun.

Plus very people (and dog) friendly

Good luck!

Is this shock collar for an invisible fence or just as a training tool? I personally don’t like the use of shock collars. I’ve have had friends that used the invisible fence and often the dog would chase something to the other side and then not want to get shocked to get back in..

I'm so glad to hear this could be enough activity with us working full time jobs! Thank you for your input!!

I'm curious how shock collar training works as well, would have to do more research on that one. A dog running free off leash is one of the most awesome/beautiful yet dangerous things at the same time.

I don’t know anything about GSP but would suggest getting the opposite sex of your Akita, as you probably already know they can have same sex aggression.

I’m wanting to go running with my Akitas but have an issue with how my kneecaps are tracking.. so need to keep up with physical therapy before I can do that. I quit smoking last April and want to get my lungs really pumping but will have to wait, I do short bursts with them now.

How about a few pics of your Akita? And the Pomeranian too

We would certainly only consider a male for that exact reason. She and the pom being females, don't need to add any more of that to the mix!! She too does great in short bursts.

Personally I find shock collars cruel. If you are thinking of using one, put it on yourself first, then see if you still want to use it on your dog.. I don’t think adult Akitas should be off leash outside of their well fenced yards. Just my opinion

Japanese Akita?

You have a well fenced back garden. You plan to give your dog plenty of exercise and go to training. No need whatsoever to cause your dog discomfort and distress by adding an e-collar into the mix.

One word of caution, puppies can't cope with too much exercise too soon. Before growth plates are fully set, caution should be the by word when it comes to exercise

I fully endorse everything in @Chris B 's post above. Couldn't have put it better.

There is a competitive dog sport called CaniX or Canicross. There are special harnesses and bungee lines for running with your dog. Purely as an example see
www.runnersretreat.biz

The shock collar is for open field, it's not cruel. It is a slight shock, you can test it on your hands, it's light but unmistakable, and there are light to medium to high settings. There is an option for buzz as well. It's what the dog hunters use. But yes - you could be cruel with the shock collar. We were scared at first but it's fine if used properly.

Like Angie said:
[QUOTE="A dog running free off leash is one of the most awesome/beautiful yet dangerous things at the same time.[/QUOTE]
- yes to both, kind of like raising kids. So caution is the rule, but consider it an option. We have two places that they run, so they know the confines. I'd be a bit nervous taking them to some unknown place. Dogs take training (as you know and we are learning).[/QUOTE]

[/QUOTE]

Is the shock collar the same as an e-collar? We are looking at a GSP rescue who's foster parents would like us to continue with e-collar training if we were to adopt.

You got it! She's a small one at about 55lbs and a total love bug, to her people of course.

Thank you so much for sharing this info with me! I have never heard of Canicross before, but I'm sure a GSP would take to this sport!

Yes, absolutely. We waited until our Akita was 1.5 yrs to run her for that reason. We are looking for a young dog, but not a puppy.. maybe a 1-5 year old.

Why do you feel the need to use a shock collar for basic training?

Mine is very submissive and not typical of the breed I think. She does well running off leash in safe areas that are known. Never new unknown areas. When we see another dog in the distance, she knows Leave It quite well and comes back to me and I put her on leash. She greets others just fine, but I don't risk it

I don’t own a GSP although I do love them!

I have catahoulas who are built about the same and I imagine would have the same activity level.

I’m also a trail runner! Just wanted to comment here that I run my dogs, off leash, for an hour or more every morning and then again in the late afternoon.

I’m home all day and they are let out for a few hours in a fenced yard and played with as well.

After the run they sleep from anywhere from 2 to sometimes 4 hours.


I also use an ecollar (vibration mode) because one of my dogs is deaf and another is partially deaf. They are trained to run to me when it vibrates and are rewarded with treats.

You will be fine working a day job!

Is the shock collar the same as an e-collar? We are looking at a GSP rescue who's foster parents would like us to continue with e-collar training if we were to adopt.[/QUOTE]

Yes it's the same. A collar with a receiver box and then a transmitter you hold. It's also called a bark collar but with the GSP it's not really an issue.