German Shepherd Training Tips

Known as the best police dog all over the world, German shepherd is a noble and one of the most dependable dog breeds. Being a wonderful animal, it not only makes a good working dog, but also proves to be a superb family pet. It requires a lot of exercise and mental stimulation and when well trained, the dog can do almost anything. A German shepherd has to be socialized from an early age. It requires plenty of exposure to people and other dogs, so that it does not develop aggressive tendencies on maturity. German Shepherds are quick learners and prove to be good guard dogs. In case you are looking for tips and techniques for training a German shepherd, check out the lines that follow.

How To Train Your German Shepherd Puppy

It is advisable to start training your German shepherd when it is as young as seven weeks. It will make the process easier.
Train your puppy for about 5 to 10 minutes a day, as it will have a short attention span, just like human kids.
Use short and simple commands, such as “yes”, “no”, “sit”, “good”, “bad”, etc and repeat them every day to let the pup get familiar with them.
Do not mix the commands with other words, as this will confuse the dog and lead to improperly executed tricks. It can also make the training carry on for a longer duration.
Train your German shepherd with tricks to help it understand the different commands and signals. This will prove helpful when it grows old.
Develop a habit of patting your dog or rewarding it with treats whenever it completes a task or follows a command successfully.
Your voice tone and way of delivering the commands play a major role in training the dog. Have a soothing voice for young puppies to encourage them to try out new things. Change over to firm commands when your puppy grows older.
Never ever raise your hand on your German shepherd, instead use a stern “No” to banish him to the dog bed. Hitting your pup will encourage the tendency to cringe. Remember, you have to treat your pup like a child.
Yelling, scolding and punishing will push the dog away from you. This will make it stubborn and in turn, make your dog training all the more difficult.
Give your German shepherd puppy a lot of exercise to help it become stimulated, both physically and mentally.
Train your pup to bark when it hears someone at the door or senses someone around the home. Make it stop the barking if the person is known to you or is a friend. If the person is a stranger, let the dog bark a little louder.
Train your dog not to accept food from anybody, except you and other family members. Ensure that it is well fed at all times, so that it does not get tempted to eat food from a stranger.
If your dog nips at you, yell out to make it understand that it has hurt you. This will stop it from biting you the next time.
Get your dog used to grooming, since it will shed copious amounts of hair. Although it moults only once a year, it can last for 365 days.

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