How to make this puppy YOUR dog
You have to earn dog’s “respect”. Many people mistakenly think that person who feeds dog will be accepted by the dog as their master. However, dogs are much more intellectually developed creatures than that. You have to have authority in their eyes, your input has to have weight. When we correct them we pretty much give our opinion on how they handle themselves, and their reaction is a direct result of their regard of our opinion. Even though humans are a bit different, try to think about yourself: do you like steak? I personally love steak! It’s the best! You can lure me anywhere with a smell of steak. Would I value an opinion of a great steak cook about my views? No, he is a steak expert! His role in my life is to provide me the steak. That’s it! Now the college professor that teaches class I am taking, who makes me think, opens up new horizons, demonstrates ordinary things or events in unexpected perspective - now this is a person who greatly influences my views! If he ridicules my opinion it may be enough to change it dramatically, if he praises my response it may be enough to motivate me to do so much more! Now back to the dogs. Who do you want to be for your dog - steak cook or college professor? Dogs are not primitive creatures. They crave mental stimulation, especially intellectual breeds like German Shepherds! Be that college professor for your dog! Don’t just be a steak cook for your dog, a couch buddy or a ball thrower! Open their horizons! You don’t need to buy expensive trinkets - like spendy puzzles your dog will crack on his own. Do things with your dog! Teach them to do new things, challenge them to take a step further, find new smells, walk the unknown ground, solve problems and discover new things. Be there to guide them through the tasks! You don’t have to spend a ton of time! 15 minutes a day of just you training your dog to do something new will upgrade you from the steak cook position in your dog’s life to a college professor and it will make a difference! So when you correct them on simple undesirable behavior, you dog won’t just pretend that they don’t hear you. They will value your input!
P.S. Steak is like the best food ever! So you are a steak cook if you actually give your dog the great food! If dog food you choose is not that great, you may be McDonalds or gas station junk food dealer for your dog! Now try an upgrade to a professor from this point!
You have to earn dog’s “respect”. Many people mistakenly think that person who feeds dog will be accepted by the dog as their master. However, dogs are much more intellectually developed creatures than that. You have to have authority in their eyes, your input has to have weight. When we correct them we pretty much give our opinion on how they handle themselves, and their reaction is a direct result of their regard of our opinion. Even though humans are a bit different, try to think about yourself: do you like steak? I personally love steak! It’s the best! You can lure me anywhere with a smell of steak. Would I value an opinion of a great steak cook about my views? No, he is a steak expert! His role in my life is to provide me the steak. That’s it! Now the college professor that teaches class I am taking, who makes me think, opens up new horizons, demonstrates ordinary things or events in unexpected perspective - now this is a person who greatly influences my views! If he ridicules my opinion it may be enough to change it dramatically, if he praises my response it may be enough to motivate me to do so much more! Now back to the dogs. Who do you want to be for your dog - steak cook or college professor? Dogs are not primitive creatures. They crave mental stimulation, especially intellectual breeds like German Shepherds! Be that college professor for your dog! Don’t just be a steak cook for your dog, a couch buddy or a ball thrower! Open their horizons! You don’t need to buy expensive trinkets - like spendy puzzles your dog will crack on his own. Do things with your dog! Teach them to do new things, challenge them to take a step further, find new smells, walk the unknown ground, solve problems and discover new things. Be there to guide them through the tasks! You don’t have to spend a ton of time! 15 minutes a day of just you training your dog to do something new will upgrade you from the steak cook position in your dog’s life to a college professor and it will make a difference! So when you correct them on simple undesirable behavior, you dog won’t just pretend that they don’t hear you. They will value your input!
P.S. Steak is like the best food ever! So you are a steak cook if you actually give your dog the great food! If dog food you choose is not that great, you may be McDonalds or gas station junk food dealer for your dog! Now try an upgrade to a professor from this point!
German Shepherds have to be trained. They are very easy to train, because they are eager to please - that's a key for successful training. They say that it takes 5 times training a command for GSD to learn it, it seems to be true, but don't forget about reinforcement - GSD are smart like velociraptors and will test you for consistency.
It's best if you can train your dog by yourself. It forms great bond between you and your dog. We post here videos we find essential for new puppy training. We recording videos with our puppy Drogo as he is growing. Enjoy and follow along with your puppy!
It's best if you can train your dog by yourself. It forms great bond between you and your dog. We post here videos we find essential for new puppy training. We recording videos with our puppy Drogo as he is growing. Enjoy and follow along with your puppy!
Teaching puppy their name and start training recall (come when called)
Sit, Stand, Down
Great exercise to start with your puppy as you bring them home. Notice how easy puppy learns three different commands at the same time? Make sure to move from lure to reward. The difference is very important: with lure the puppy just follows his nose and gets rewarded immediately, with reward - he follows your command even though he expects reward. As you keep training him make sure to increase time between puppy demonstrating behavior you ask for and you giving him reward. Remember, keep puppy training sessions short - 5-10 minutes and change activity or stop all together! That's a lot of work for puppy! You will get much better results out of 2-3 5-10 minutes sessions every day, than from 1-2 hours training once a week. Even grown dog has a mind of 3-year-old child, puppy's brain is even younger!
Great exercise to start with your puppy as you bring them home. Notice how easy puppy learns three different commands at the same time? Make sure to move from lure to reward. The difference is very important: with lure the puppy just follows his nose and gets rewarded immediately, with reward - he follows your command even though he expects reward. As you keep training him make sure to increase time between puppy demonstrating behavior you ask for and you giving him reward. Remember, keep puppy training sessions short - 5-10 minutes and change activity or stop all together! That's a lot of work for puppy! You will get much better results out of 2-3 5-10 minutes sessions every day, than from 1-2 hours training once a week. Even grown dog has a mind of 3-year-old child, puppy's brain is even younger!
Leash training - Release the pressure
Single the most useful exercise to help with your dog leashing. It does not take long - 5-10 minutes a day practice for several days and you will see magic happen. Notice, this exercise is for dogs, who do not have pulling habits yet. It’s perfect new puppy conditioning/training exercise.
Puppy nipping stage
How to deal with puppy biting - few tips and tools here to survive German Shepherd puppy shark stage. I want to emphasize that when you scream to let your puppy know he hurt you, make sure you have a scream of pain, not "you're in trouble" scream. There is a huge difference! Puppy is playing with you and you just need to help him gage what play is fun for you and what hurts you. If your scream is more scolding type "you're in trouble" puppy will get confused: he comes to play with you, but gets scolded for it. Do not send your puppy mixed messages. You love playing with him, but biting hurts you. Please, do not wait to do this training! Puppy will not "outgrow" this stage, there is no certain age puppy stops biting! There is a myth that puppy nipping stage is over at the age of two, don't believe it! If you do not teach puppy "no teeth on skin" now (absolutely no teeth on skin in any way, shape or form!!!) puppy will grow into large dog with big teeth and 238psi bite power who does not understand that his bite hurts. Please, reach out to us, we can come over and do some tuning sessions with your puppy if you need help.
How to deal with puppy biting - few tips and tools here to survive German Shepherd puppy shark stage. I want to emphasize that when you scream to let your puppy know he hurt you, make sure you have a scream of pain, not "you're in trouble" scream. There is a huge difference! Puppy is playing with you and you just need to help him gage what play is fun for you and what hurts you. If your scream is more scolding type "you're in trouble" puppy will get confused: he comes to play with you, but gets scolded for it. Do not send your puppy mixed messages. You love playing with him, but biting hurts you. Please, do not wait to do this training! Puppy will not "outgrow" this stage, there is no certain age puppy stops biting! There is a myth that puppy nipping stage is over at the age of two, don't believe it! If you do not teach puppy "no teeth on skin" now (absolutely no teeth on skin in any way, shape or form!!!) puppy will grow into large dog with big teeth and 238psi bite power who does not understand that his bite hurts. Please, reach out to us, we can come over and do some tuning sessions with your puppy if you need help.
Leave It
Ok, this is a must do training for every dog, especially, GSD. You will not believe how great it is to walk around D&B Supplies with all their low stored unpacked treats and see your puppy dog heed no attention to them! We lived this experience and can attest that it’s amazing!
We will post here videos, please, practice each exercise for multiple days. You will notice that your dog is learning not just Leave it, but also Focus on you, Impulse control and just general obedience. Do not rush through! Take your time, it is worth it!
When you should train your dog? Every day! Don’t exhaust yourself and your dog, 5-10 minute happy sessions you both enjoy will be the best investment in the great companion you can do!
Building “OFF” switch
This is absolutely awesome exercise, and it does not take much "designated" time. You can do it while watching TV, reading a book, or supervising your children on a playground.
