What a first week. I felt like Tom Hanks in Turner & Hooch!
In all seriousness though I am having a blast with our new pup. It is definitely a huge learning experience for me, puppy’s can certainly be confusing if you have never owned a dog before. 
Initial training is going well. He is not food driven at all, and we have tried at least 7 different treats now. Everything from Wellness Puppy Treats, Blue Buffalo Treats, Dehydrated Liver, and hot dogs. The liver and hot dogs are definitely his favorite, but he still loses interest in them faster than Rosie O’Donnell loses interest in a salad.
A few days ago I finally figured out that he will work for his raccoon toy! He has a very high prey drive. So I have been training him by letting him play with his raccoon if he gives the desired response. It is working so far, however this way will definitely take longer than training him with treats. Maybe he will develop a food drive as he grows older.
We have been feeding him Eukanuba Natural Puppy food, because that was what the breeder was feeding him. Tonight I plan on starting the transition over to either Wellness Large Breed Puppy, Blue Buffalo, or Solid Gold Wolf Cub. Maybe a change in diet will make him want to work for food a bit more.
Welcome! My name is Jason and I am a first time dog owner as of September 2010. I have been doing extensive research on dog training/behavior, and I hope you will follow me through this amazing journey of raising a dog.
make sure he’s HUNGRY when you try and practice, and only practice for short durations pups have the attention span of a knat, so only do 2 or 3 and then stop, but he has to be hungry to get his interest, I like Blue Buffalo lrg brd pup, not sure what’s in Solid gold I can’t remember, but I don’t like Canola oil I think that’s in wellness. Are you signed up for a class to add distractions and socialization? Make sure the class can be sanitized and disinfected and they check for shots from a VET, and use Pos reinf. Don’t forget don’t let others play or mess with his ears, so they get a chance to stand up, ppl like to pet and touch them cause they’re so soft..LOL
I concur with K9Trainer. My puppies are nearly 7 months now and they’re training lasts, at most, 5 minutes. Even an hour with our trainer wears them out for the rest of the day and she’s training and only works with them for about 10 minutes (and not straight).
We had our puppies on Wellness, but I think it was making them itch, because once we switched over to Nutro for large breed puppies, they stopped. It also could have been a coincidence.
We’re lucky, because our pups have always been very food driven. We train them when they’re hungry – that’s when they get the best response – and we have play breaks if the trainer is longer (like when Shannon visits).
Glad you’re having a great time. Isn’t amazing how little you know even though you prepped and read and studied? We’re still learning.
I agree with both comments above — pups this young have extremely short attention spans! You may find that he’s more food driven as he gets a little older. Right now everything is just really exciting and overwhelming for him. Work on some basic commands, but ENJOY this time. We miss it! It goes by so fast.
And don’t forget handling exercises. You’ll miss cuddle time once your guy is 80 pounds!