I'm in Pittsburgh, PA.
As far as 'puppy issues' , I'm not sure where to begin!!!
Also, I'm not sure if I'm the right person to listen to--And I'll tell you why:
I was smacked upside the head with a TM--when what I wanted was a rottie.
...I did not go into this willingly...
Rotties & TM's are are worlds apart.
Anyone who tells you different doesn't have a clue.
Independent breeds are so different & this is why most people do not have them as pets, but as working dogs.
I really mourned the differences.
I really struggled because I had to let go of *ALL* of my plans & ideas for what my life with Tessa was going to be like.
I was never going to get that rottie response to commands, & I didn't trust the independent nature. I didn't want a dog that made decisions for itself, I wanted a dog who would look to me for direction & follow my commands through. Period.
Hindsight being 20/20, I clearly see now that MOST of Tessa's issues were actually MY issues. She was an extraordinarily well behaved puppy. An old soul.
It was as if she were born 'knowing'. Never had such a good puppy!
I say Tessa is "the goodest bad dog ever"...
I suppose the 2 biggest issues were that she didn't listen or respond like a 'regular dog', sayuing she was stoic is an understatement. And she postured & unshakably observed everything that was new or different from the 1st day. Her attention could NOT be shaken. Her sensory perceptions were so strong & different. I had to find a way to work WITH them in hopes of shaping responses I could live with & learn to trust.
I had zero TM experience, zero LGD experience, zero independent breed experience.
I wasn't looking for an 'independent' breed of dog.
I never knew there was a such thing as 'independent' breeds.
I could NOT wrap my brain around why anyone would want one.
I had 25-30 yrs of experience with large & giant breeds before Tessa.
I had mastiffs/shepherds/danes/rotties--All very dependent dogs.
I wanted a dog that would listen & respond to me.
My previous pooches were trained to verbal & hand signals & I could take them everywhere--I derived a LOT of joy out of knowing I could give a tiny signal to my pooch from across a field & they'd respond. Off leash stuff was a large part of my previous life & I never had a pooch where recall couldn't be relied upon.
I really had to wrap my head around the fact that Tessa was different, & was going to continue to be different. Outside of this forum, I got a lot of flack--people kept telling me "a dog is a dog", a TM isn't any different--blah blah blah.
If I were going to make the relationship with Tessa work--I had to trust what the actual TM owners were telling me their direct experiences were.
For me, this meant I had to ignore most everything--from everyone else, including local trainers--because TM's are so rare-no one had experience with them, & since I am in the city, no one had LGD's, which is the next closest thing to a TM.
I had so many people who told me that Tessa's responses--or lack of responses was because of me--it was something I was doing wrong...I was told if I could figure out what I was doing wrong--Tessa would respond like any other dog...Hah!!!! Don't drink that cool-aid!
The reality is that Tessa's responses are genetic, tens of thousands of years of isolation for specific tasks changes things.
----------Nature vs nurture can only go so far.
I can train & make consistant 'suggestions'--I can show Tessa many experiences in order to shape her world--but ultimately, Tessa's final resonse (her actual decision) will be out of my control, because she thinks independently.
***This is what terrified me***
It wasn't that Tessa didn't listen or respond--It was that she had different queues & different responses--She beat to her own drum & it did not make sense to me.
Because it did not make sense, I struggled with it, & did not trust her.
I did not understand at what point I could trust Tessa, if ever, because she did not carry out my wishes when I wanted her to...
She was (is) still a pup, so I set out to make sure I could let her experience as many different people/animals/environments as possible, while still consistantly 'requesting' certain specific behaviors--& I kept at it daily, regardless of whether she carried the 'request' or not. It was exhausting & I broke down more than once because I was so out of my element.
My theory was the more she experienced young, the more rounded & capable of making a proper decision she'd become. I also needed to figure out her sensory queues.
Essentially I was 'conditioning' Tessa rather than 'training' her.
It is splitting hairs--but there IS a difference.
I have some backround working with kids with varying degrees of Autism.
It was something I picked up when I was young, & autistic kids have different sensory perceptions--the cues they respond to takes time to understand & shape. It's a lot of observation & a lot of trial & error to get 'in tune' with what they are responding to, but once you figure it out, you can shape the response quite a bit if you are vigilant & consistant.
Also, autistic kids can be very OCD-especially with repetitive movements-but if you can find a way to distract you can sometimes get a different response--This is basically how I was handling Tessa, especially with her posturing & unshakeable observation.
I also positively reinforced every submissive behavior she displays-with other people & animals. For the most part, I still do this. I don't know yet if this part was right or wrong, as I would not have gone this route with a rottie.
Tessa being 1/2 breed TM, I have tried to do is tap into the golden retriever soft side as much as possible, because all of that posturing worried me. I don't know if that thinking is plausable, but I try regardless.
I have a butter soft girl, but I have been told TM's are this way with their owners. I won't really know how this is going to work out til she's around 3 yrs old or so, but so far, she's consistant & so am I & the posturing is a LOT less because she has a LOT of experiences observing things & learning they are not a threat.