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New Puppy questions
So we adopted a GSP/Hound mix from a rescue in PA back in late September. His name is Scout and he is about 6 months old now. Poor guy & his two littermates were found on the side of highway in Bristol, TN and then transported to Greenmore Farm Animal Rescue in PA. He is awesome and super-smart, but very high energy. I expected that with GSP in him. 
I just have a couple questions that I just now you kind ladies will be able to help or at least relate to. My one concern is that he doesn't have a very soft mouth yet. We are doing training class that is offered through a local shelter, so I plan on asking the trainer about this more as well. I have an almost 3 year old little boy, so I would definitely like to learn how to help Scout be more gentle when taking treats, toys, etc. Do you guys have any suggestions? We learned "Leave It" last week and are still working on it, but when I release him and tell him "okay", he is not very easy. My hands and fingers are taking quite a beating from playing with him. Not a huge deal, but if there is something I can do to help, then I am willing to try it.
My other question is about how much exercise he should be getting. I walk him for about 45 minutes every morning, which has helped immensely, and my DH plays fetch with him for about 1/2hr - 45 minutes. We have about 2 acres and DH can launch a ball, so he does get a good amount of running in with this. Is this enough?
Last one, I think. 
He has a very strong natural doggy odor about him. Even after giving him a bath, he is stinky again within a day or 2. I thought maybe it was his food, since he also has some pretty righteous gas, so I am in the slow process of switching him from GrandmaMae's Country Naturals GrainFree, to TOTW Wetlands formula. Any thoughts about this?
Lastly, here are some pics of my little cutie for your viewing enjoyment.
Re: New Puppy questions
We also use a command for when our guy is taking treats, we say take nice. We started this from the beginning and he takes his treats and toys super gentle now! Even at 100lbs! We use "leave it" as well for things and it works great!
As for exercise, PP is right, it depends on the dog. I have an italian mastiff so he is generally very lazy. He goes outside for a few mins runs around and thats it. For mine, the amount of exercise you provide would be more than enough.
As for the smell, i cant help you, I love how mine smells, haha weird i know. It is possible its the food. I hope the switch helps
Exercise definitely varies by dog, so I would just observe whether your pup seems hyper, restless, or bored or gets destructive, as those are all signs that he may not be getting sufficient physical exercise or mental stimulation. With a smart, working dog like a GSP or hound, the mental component us just as important as the physical component. Training class, games, puzzle toys, teaching tricks, and physical activities with a mental component (agility, scent tracking, etc.) are great ways to stimulate your pup.
As for the smell, I have heard that hounds may smell more than other breeds due to their oily coats, but I haven't been able to confirm whether that is in fact the case. Feeding a high quality food (TOTW is a good choice, but there are many others if it doesn't agree with him) and bathing when needed (too often can dry out their skin or coat, but frequency depends on the individual dog - my pug only gets a bath once every few months or if he gets dirty/muddy/sandy) should help. GL!
B/w 1/8: betas 17,345, progesterone 25.6
To address the issue of a soft mouth I can offer some advice, the things that worked for us.
First of all I would like to say the earlier you can train him to take things softly, the better it is for him and the easier the solution.
Phase 1: Rough play
Part a) How we solved this problem ( after using some advice we received from a friend with a dog that would nip and bite as a puppy) is when the puppy tries biting your hand make a fist and stick it in his mouth. I don’t mean forcefully however, enough to make it uncomfortable ( I would hold it there for a moment to let the puppy know I wasn’t afraid, to make it uncomfortable and to make him understand that this was not a desirable thing to do).
You have to remember a puppy’s mouth is his hands; he is just trying to interact with you the best way he knows how. After 2 and half weeks of this our puppy was annoyed and he stopped nipping.
Part b) Along with this whenever we would “rough” play I would give him a small toy (and eventually ball )for him to put in his mouth. That way he couldn’t use his mouth in play the same way.
This was extremely helpful when he got older and wanted to play with kids, he would first find a toy put it in his mouth and I didn’t have to worry about his sharp puppy teeth hurting anyone.
Phase 2: Taking treats softly
It is going to take some time to work with him and maybe even scraped fingers however, it is very important that you place a command with him taking the food out of your hands in the manner you would like. For us we use the word “gentle”.
Hold the treat in your fingers and only let go when he takes it in an acceptable manner. I would let him take it roughly and then say gentle, on his second attempt it would be softer. If he still didn’t have a soft mouth I wouldn’t let go. I repeated until he understood my expectation. I continued this every time I gave him a treat. I let him take the treat when it was soft enough. (once again although it may be a little painful with those puppy teeth, it is worth it, be thankful its not the next kid he meets)
Although this seems like a lot of work and that it may hurt a little bit, if you wait to train him, it will only get worse, you could lose a finger! When he is a puppy you have the upper hand and this is the time to train him right.
Phase 3: Consistency
Make sure you are consistent and clear with your expectation. Once again it may seem like a lot of work up front but it is worth it when you can feel comfortable with your dog around anyone and any age.
He is slowly getting better about having a soft mouth, which is good because his big boy teeth have come in and I like having all of my fingers. I have been walking away from him any time he starts to nip or chomp his jaws at me, which seems to be working. I have been working to keep him mentally stimulated and that is helping a lot too.
Our current frustration is counter surfing and bullying my toddler. By bullying, I mean that he knocks my son over and steals his toys, mostly just for attention, I think. And Heaven forbid, my son sit on the couch with a snack. It is causing a lot of frustration in our house right now. So much so that my DH has brought up returning him to the rescue, because he feel like he is constantly pissed at the dog. I feel like we have invested time & energy into Scout and made a committment to him and need to stick by it. Plus we love him, pain in the rear though he may be. I think DH forgets that he really is still just a puppy. However, I do feel his frustration at times because dealing with a toddler and a puppy is not easy. But... we knew that going in and just need to suck it up. I just want to figure out how to get Scout to be gentle with my son and I think things would be much smoother in my house.
For the specific issues you mentioned (counter surfing and trying to steal food from your toddler), preventing him from having the opportunity to perform those undesirable behaviors is important. For example, you may want to tether him to you with his leash or crate him so that he can't sneak off and get on the counter when you're not watching. I would also teach "off" and "leave it" and try not to leave enticing items on the counter.
It may also help to teach him a "place" command. My pup knows "place" means his bed in the living room, and we send him to his place whenever we have food on the couch or any other time we want him out of the way but still able to be "with" us.
I agree with you that you made a commitment to this dog when you adopted him, and all the behaviors you described are typical puppy behaviors that you anticipated when adopting him. Having a puppy and a toddler must be incredibly challenging (I have a 6 year old dog who I've had since he was 13 weeks old and a 4.5 month old daughter, so I have some idea), but as you said, you knew that going in!! GL!
@Caz1221
Thanks so much for the advice. We basically have been doing NILIF without really realizing it. We have been working on the "leave it" & "off" commands. Leave it is the tough one for him. He can do it, but not for very long yet and not if the object is especially enticing (i.e dropped food). I know he'll get there though. We are going to puppy class tonight and the trainer is supposed to work on the place command with us. I think that one will be especially helpful!
Also, unless your vet is a certified behaviorist or trainer, I would be wary of taking training advice from him/her, but for me, if my trainer or behaviorist suggested grabbing my dog's snout to stop mouthing, I would find a different trainer. To each his own.
@-)