“Dogs do speak, but only to those who know how to listen” ~ Orhan Pamuk

GSROR Now has Bumper Stickers On Sale

Stickers

There are 2 cool stickers for you to choose from at the amazing price of $5/each, all proceeds will go to help the dogs in our rescue.

To purchase your stickers please contact Jessica by email and place your order. Please specify which sticker and how many you would like.

The first sticker is 3 x 5” black, white & red and second is 3 x 10” clear sticker with white lettering.

Payment can be made through the PayPal (click on the Donate button located on the left side bar) or by check made payable to GSROR and mailed to P.O. Box 1481, Westminster, CO 80701. Once your payment has been received your stickers will be mailed to you so please make sure your address is included on the Paypal order, on your check or let us know where you would like them shipped to.

Thank you for your support and please make sure to tell all your friends, neighbors and family as this is for a good cause to help the ones that are waiting for their family to come and take them home.

Pinterest

German Shepherd Rescue of the Rockies is now on Pinterest! For pictures of all of our adoptable dogs, health news and just general great shepherd/dog stuff, follow us today. http://www.pinterest.com/GSROR

Please share our pins with your friends who may be looking for a German Shepherd or just need some good information. And if you’ve adopted from us, please share pictures of your pup. Happy Pinning.

Foster Homes Needed

In order for us to help save more dogs we need people like you to open up your home and foster one of our dogs until their family comes. A foster home provides a safe and temporary home for dogs while we search for their permanent home. Please click on the Fostering Guidelines for more information about our foster program. Some of our dogs come to us with behavioral issues, so we have found that previous experience with German Shepherds is helpful. If you have the desire and the interest, but are not familiar with German Shepherds, we ask that you fill out the application. Regardless of your experience with this particular breed, our dogs need good foster homes. We hope to soon have a program available to educate future foster and adoptive parents about the breed and provide training tips.

We want to thank you for your interest in helping GSROR by opening up your homes, families, and hearts to help a dog in need. Rescues would not exist if not for the thoughtful time and generosity of foster parents.

Mission Statement

German Shepherd Rescue of the Rockies (GSROR) serves the public as a non-profit organization dedicated to the rescue of homeless and abandoned German Shepherd Dogs (GSD) in Denver, Colorado and surrounding areas. While providing loving and temporary care, the goal of German Shepherd Rescue of the Rockies is to find well-matched, carefully-screened, permanent homes and families for each dog. As a community resource, we provide nutrition information, referrals, education, and other services.

Brian’s Bite-sized Behavior Bits
The power of NOW

Click here to see all of Brian’s Bite-sized Behavior Bits

In the previous installment of Brian’s Bite-Sized Behavior Bits, we explored the power of YES. This time, we’re going to focus on the power of NOW. What is it, exactly? Consider the following scenario: you’re in a restaurant and ask your waiter if you can take a look at the dessert menu he’s got tucked under his arm. He says “Certainly, sir” and just stands there. You keep waiting for him to hand it over but to your amazement he looks at you as though he didn’t even hear what you said. After a long, awkward silence he yawns, stretches his arms above his head, and finally relinquishes it to you

The power of NOW is what you would have liked your not-so-awesome waiter to have exercised in the restaurant; as in “give me the menu in a reasonable time frame, please”. It’s also what you would like your dog to have done when you asked him politely to lie down and he did it… like three years later when he was good and ready. Requests – at least to us humans – hold an unspoken expectation that there is an associated time window in which they should be carried out. How do you activate the power of NOW? First, you need the power of YES in your corner. Your dog must understand what you want him to do before you can expect to sharpen his response time. If you haven’t yet read my last article, make sure you do so to ensure that your dog has a proper foundation in place. Then you can begin to fine-tune his obedience and teach him about earnestness.

One tool I have found quite useful is something I like to refer to as the “you snooze: you lose” technique. In the early stages of teaching your dog a command, be very patient and tell him “Yes!” as soon as he does what you asked. When you start teaching him about the power of NOW, however, you only say “Yes!” and give him a reward if he does it quickly; you are effectively raising your standard – and his requisite workload. When he first learns a “down”, let’s say he’s completing the task in 5 seconds, on average. In order to polish that response, you become pickier and only say “Yes!” If he does it within 4 seconds… then 3 seconds… and eventually 2 seconds. This is accomplished gradually by capturing and rewarding progressively faster responses and ignoring latent ones.

Another way to build speedier obedience is through providing guidance with light pressure. For instance, if you say “sit”, allow for compliance within your pre-determined window before gently introducing steady pressure to your dog’s leash in an upward direction. Maintain that pressure until his bottom is on the ground and then release it altogether. When you give commands in the future, he will begin to anticipate the collar tension and respond more quickly. Applying these concepts to our example with the waiter, you could omit a tip on visits when he procrastinates (no reward). If he doesn’t understand the purpose of your passive-aggressive hint, you could help him understand by applying some social pressure, i.e. clearing your throat and holding your hand out for the menu. It’s the same concept.

Incorporate the power of NOW into your daily training sessions. It teaches your dog that when he dillydallies, he misses the opportunity for a reward and/or feels mild pressure until he does what was requested of him, but when he does things on time, he earns a “Yes!” plus a treat, toy, or praise.

Content Copyrighted 2014. Brian Bergford. All Rights Reserved.