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German Shepherd Training

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How to Train a German Shepherd

German Shepherd Training
German Shepherd sitting down in the heel position.

Are German Shepherds more difficult to train than other dogs? The simple answer is no. Training German Shepherd dogs is easy. Start with teaching polite greeting manners, leash manners and body handling.

Anytime a dog trainer is training a German Shepherd to learn polite behaviors, the trainer will utilize about 90% of the same techniques to train any dog breed. All dog breeds learn in the same ways.

Top 3 Dog Training Behaviors

Let’s discuss the differences between German Shepherd dogs (GSDs) and other breeds of dogs.

German Shepherd dogs, as with all dogs, do not respond to authoritative or punishment-based training methods. GSDs understand consequences and will respond quickly when set up for success. Pushing, pulling or forcing a GSD to comply with a behavior will mostly likely result in a dog bite or your dog will become afraid of you.

Top 3 German Shepherd Behaviors

  • Polite Greetings: With any herding and guarding dog breed, it’s vital they learn how to greet other people and dogs politely. German Shepherd dogs are big so they should learn how to sit when approached by visitors. Also, they should learn to ignore other dogs. This is easily taught during a group dog training class.
  • Polite Leash Manners: German Shepherds need to learn not to pull on the leash. You can train your dog not to pull by holding still when he does. Once he learns to stop pulling, then walk forward. Front clip harnesses work great for GSDs, as they control pulling.
  • Body Handling: As with most large breed dogs, it’s important for GSDs to allow body handling. Start by touching your GSD’s ear, then click and treat. Next, touch his nails, then click and treat. Practice this everyday for one minute.

VIDEO: How to Train a Dog – Body Handling

Similar to all dog breeds, German Shepherd owners should socialize their dogs at an early age before they hit the 16-week mark. This means introducing your puppy to lots of new people and dogs. Want to bring a German Shepherd into your home? Learn more at National List of German Shepherd Dog Rescue Groups and German Shepherd Dog Club of America.

Tell us about your GSD and what polite behaviors you taught them in the comments below.

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Housebreaking a Puppy

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How to Housebreak a Puppy

How to Potty Train a Puppy
Learn the seven tips to potty pad training your puppy.

What do you do when your puppy really needs to use the restroom. Take your puppy for a walk, right?

Sometimes it’s easier said than done. For many folks who live in high rise apartments, it’s challenging waiting for an elevator when your puppy needs to go now! Also, some people work long hours and would like their puppies to have immediate access to a potty spot. Potty pad training is a nice solution to fulfill these needs.

Benefits of Puppy Pad Training

If your dog is home for long hours, please invest in a pet sitter to provide mental and physical stimulation even if you are potty pad training. They need a walk to burn through their excessive energy just like people. Puppy training classes are a great way for them to learn while burning off some energy.

Before starting, read these tips on how to potty train your puppy. The difference is, instead of bringing your potty outside, you will bring your puppy to his potty pad. Also, instead of placing him in a crate, you will place him in his confined area.

Yes, your puppy will learn to potty on his pad and outside!

Train Your Puppy to Use a Potty Pad

  1. Most dogs will potty in the same spot so we can use this to our advantage. Dip the center of your potty pad in his urine (after the puppy potties outside or if he has an accident indoors). If he poops, you can place one small chunk in the center of the potty pad also. While there are some products that mimic urine smells, I recommend the real stuff. 🙂
  2. Add the scented reminder in the center of the pad so your puppy potties on the pad instead of the edge or slightly off the pad. Also, you can add two potty pads to provide additional potty area (cover one corner of the bathroom between the toilet and bathtub).
  3. Confine your puppy in a small room, such as a bathroom with a baby gate. Trust me, the baby gate will save your closed bathroom door from hideous paw scratches! Place the used potty pad in the far corner away from his food, water, bedding and baby gate.
  4. If you have difficulty confining your puppy to an area, read this crate training article for tips. Crate training has basically the same principle as potty pad training except your puppy is learning to potty in a specific spot of his area.
  5. Always add and rotate toys daily so your puppy plays with food stuffed toys instead of having a party with his puppy pad. 🙂
  6. If your puppy still plays with his pad, you can place it in a plastic potty pad holder.
  7. Once your puppy reliably uses his pad (100% of the time), I recommend placing it in the corner of a bathroom so you can scoop and flush chunks as needed.

As your puppy is learning potty training, always scent the new pad with his urine or poop. Once he understands the pad is the puppy potty spot, you can remove the scented reminder.

Tell us about your puppy potty pad training success stories in the comments section below!

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Puppy Biting

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How to Stop a Puppy From Biting

How to Stop a Puppy From Biting
Puppy nipping — ouch!

As my first puppy training class begins, I notice fresh scratch marks along pet parents’ hands and arms. Their puppies are nipping, mouthing, biting or whatever you want to call it. So we cover puppy nipping during first class. We want to save your skin. 🙂

Puppies teethe. It’s normal and all puppies go through it. Think of a puppy’s teeth as his fingers. He is “touching” everything now and learning how much pressure to use when “touching.” This is called bite inhibition. Also, he is losing his puppy teeth, which hurts!

The goal is to teach your puppy something else to do with his  mouth by giving him treats and rewards when needed.

Five Puppy Biting Tips

  1. Teach your puppy to target his nose to your hand. Your puppy learning to bring his nose to your hand instead of his teeth is rewarded.
  2. When a puppy puts too much pressure with his teeth, let him know by standing still and squealing. Once he stops mouthing, give him a toy he can mouth on instead of you.
  3. If your puppy continues to bite, walk away. If your puppy chases you and begins pulling on your pants, stand still and wait until your puppy lets go and reward him with a treat or toy.
  4. If your puppy is mouthing on your naked ankles, ask him to target your hand and reward. Then, give him a toy that your puppy can chew on. You can teach your puppy to target your ankle or foot for treats too!
  5. Teach the on/off game. Using a tug toy, wiggle it around so your puppy can pull and bite on a tug toy. Then hold the toy and your body still until the puppy releases the toy. Once he releases the toy, begin another game of tug. The tug game will not teach your puppy to be aggressive. It’s a self-control game of which the goal is for a puppy to learn when to play and when to give the toy back.

Always provide your puppy with plenty of chew toys so he can bite them instead of you.

RELATED: How to Stop a Puppy From Biting

Puppy Treats that Help Prevent Biting

I recommend bully sticks, food stuffed toys, tug toys and Jolly Balls. Never leave your puppy unattended when he is chewing on any toys unless it’s a food stuffed Kong.

When your puppy is teething, freeze his food stuffed toy to soothe his  inflamed gums, as teething hurts. I’ve gone as far as dipping a large towel in low sodium broth, freezing it and giving it to my puppy to chew on. Never leave him alone with the frozen towel. This is simply a tool to relieve the inflammation of his gums.

Puppy chewing deterrents can be useful. However, I’ve noticed a large population of dogs that enjoy the taste of bite deterrents. When polling my students, over half of their dogs will happily lick sprayed chewing deterrents—yuck.

If your puppy wants to chew something badly enough, he will endure the taste. 🙂

Dog Trainer Fanna Easter

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Professional Dog Trainer

Dog Trainer
Dog training expert Fanna Easter.

Fanna Easter is lead contributor for Dog Training Nation, and has contributed articles to Dogs Naturally Magazine, Animal Wellness Magazines and numerous online blogs. Fanna has been instructing dog training classes for 23 years, and currently owns and operates Positive Pooch Dog Training & Behavior. She offers group classes and private lessons in the Phoenix, AZ area.

With her past experiences as Petco’s National Dog Training Expert for 5 years, Fanna is very passionate about having fun and setting everyone up for success! Fanna and her team developed and launched positive reinforcement training methods in all 1,500 stores and trained over 2,000 dog trainers.

Dog Training is a Science

Fanna loves that science has caught up with dog training. Now there is proof that specific behaviors do work! Fanna is currently consulting with Veterinary Behavior Solutions in Dallas Texas as needed, lecturing about canine reactivity with dog trainers and teaching classes in Phoenix AZ. If that’s not enough, she’s also pursing her undergraduate degree in behavior. Fanna teaches Puppy Manners, Basic Manners, Canine Good Citizen classes, and Reactive Dog classes.

Fanna shares her home with Miss Stella Mae (Miniature Bull Terrier) and Sobek (Rottweiler). She is currently obsessed with AKC obedience.

Fanna Easter
Fanna Easter

Accomplishments:

  • Animal Behavior College Dog Trainer – Level 2 Certified (ABCDT-L2)
  • Primary Tag Teach Certification
  • Karen Pryor Academy Certified Training Partner (KPA CTP)
  • Certified Pet Dog Trainer (CPDT-KA) since 2003
  • Associate Dog Behavior Consultant with the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants (IAABC)
  • Canine Good Citizen (CGC) Evaluator
  • Adoption Coordinator, Southern States Rescued Rottweilers
  • Graduate of:
    • DOGS Course Graduate, Purdue University
    • Living & Learning with Animals: The Fundamental Principles and Procedures of Teaching and Learning (Professional course)

Dog Training Tips

Dog Training Nation offers dog training expert advice for the everyday dog owner and dog lover. We want to help you succeed in training your dog! While we provided tons of tips, articles should never take the place of a professional dog trainer.

Providing dog training advice and learning how to train your dog to perform at his best behavior are two of the goals we hope to provide you when you visit our blog.

Why You Should Enroll in Puppy Training Classes

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The Importance of Puppy Training Classes

Puppy Training Classes
Bigandt_Photography/iStock

One of my favorite classes to teach is puppy training class! Attending puppy training classes is vital for so many reasons. Let me explain why.

Benefits of Puppy Training Classes

  • Plain and simple: Puppy training classes provide your puppy valuable opportunities to experience new situations positively.
  • During your puppy training classes, your puppy will experience new people, puppies, dogs, places, sounds, smells, car rides, leash and collar wearing, and body handling.
  • Puppy training classes allow for plenty of opportunities to reward your puppy for polite behavior.
  • You’ll get to work with a fabulous dog trainer to assist you in training your puppy.

When to Train a Puppy

Puppies learn fast. They’re sponges just like human children, constantly learning and exploring new things in their environment. From birth to 16 weeks of age, puppies are open learning funnels. For this reason, you should train your puppy within the first 16 weeks.

During this critical time, puppies are learning how to navigate and participate in life and their environments. You should make sure you’re introducing your puppy to new experiences in a positive way.

How to Train a Puppy
Tips on socializing your puppy by DoggieDrawings.

Puppy Socialization

Most puppies will walk right up to strangers and other dogs. Puppies generally chase or approach new objects (trashcans, butterflies, flowers, etc.) with curiosity. Allow your puppy to watch, sniff and meet different types of people when he chooses to do so.

Expose your puppy to: 

  • Men
  • Women
  • Children
  • People wearing hats
  • People wearing hoodies
  • People wearing sunglasses
  • People who are walking strangely
  • People making loud noises
  • People with beards
  • People carrying and opening umbrellas
  • People jogging behind you or in front of you
  • People approaching you
  • Babies crying

How to Socialize Your Puppy

Puppy Socialization
Two puppies playing politely.

Socializing a puppy “is the process by which puppies learn the skills needed to mature into normal adult dogs,” according to Wikipedia.

Always allow your puppy to take the lead he’s when meeting a new object. He should walk to the person, dog or object on his own and you should reward your dog for it profusely. If your puppy won’t approach the object, never force or pull him toward the object. Simply ask the person or dog to move away from your puppy, or you may move the object further away.

Personally, I’m still traumatized by Santa Claus at the mall. My momma (bless her lil’ heart) picked me up while I was screaming and crying, and placed me on Santa Claus’ lap. In the picture, I was crying uncontrollably—not a cute look! While I’m comfortable seeing Santa Claus at the mall from a distance now, he still creeps me out. Don’t force your puppy to do something that he’s uncomfortable with. This will only scar your puppy to continue feeling uncomfortable in similar situations later in his life.

If Your Puppy Got Scared

Oops, your puppy got scared! It’s OK. It’s our job as dog trainers and pet parents to let puppies know that the object is safe. If your puppy becomes startled, take a step back from the object. Next, click or treat your puppy when he looks back at the scary object. Clicking and treating your puppy is the reward that lets your pet know he did the right thing.

Repeat the approach and reward the process at least 10 times to reinforce the proper behavior. You will also want to click or treat your puppy each time he walks toward the object. Again, this helps your puppy learn a scary object is OK to approach. Eventually, your puppy will touch the scary object, which is the goal.

So run, don’t walk, and enroll in a puppy training class. Your puppy will thank you with polite behavior for a lifetime!

Tell us how puppy training classes have benefited you and your puppy in the comments below.

More on puppy training:
New Puppy
How to Potty Train a Puppy
Puppy Biting
Complete New Puppy Checklist

Dog Training Nation is a dog training blog for pet owners and dog lovers. We cover a range of topics from puppy socialization tips to dog aggression to dog health. It is our hope you share our content to make the world a better place for dogs.

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