A well trained German Shepherd is a joy. The breed is known for its intelligence and loyalty. But unless the dog is under four months, adopting one from a shelter is probably not a good idea. You need to get it when its ten weeks old. You might have an alpha dog which in a German Shepherd will be a major challenge.
German Shepherds are easy to train when they are young but require continuous reinforcement throughout their lives, of what they have learned, because they have a strong tendency to want to be the boss and will dominate their trainer if they possibly can.
It is never too early to start training. Suppose your puppy is eight weeks old. Covering the floor of his crate with newspaper, is the start of his training. After a week, removing a section in the back of the crate where you place his water and food bowls. This is now a major learning experience. Shepherds prefer to move away from their water and food when they relieve themselves. So now he moves from the back of the crate forward towards the "door" or out. It makes it clear to the puppy that paper is all right and the bare spot isn't and that "out" is where it is good to be.
If your vet says you may let him out in your own garden where other dogs are not free to run, then each morning and several times during the day and before he goes to sleep for the night, you carry your dog out to where you it to urinate and defecate.
You are not training your dog to be lazy because you carry him. You are training him or her it to use a place of your choosing not his.
How great for you not to have to clean up feces off the grass or sidewalk or have yellow spots everywhere. Believe it or not, if you do this consistently for about three weeks, the puppy will walk to the designated place on his own. Each time he does, you command "Be Clean". When he is finished you praise and give him a tidbit.
In about another three weeks when you want to take a walk, make sure he has relieved himself first. Then put your dog on a leash and walk down the street, You will see that he will not lift his leg at every fire hydrant or bush. If he does, you say no and tug gently on the leash. German Shepherds get the message very quickly: the world is not his toilet..
So yes,you must start immediately, when they are puppies establish who is boss and continue this for the rest of their lives. Otherwise they do what they please.
One puppy I had was totally irresistible. I often took him up on my lap. At three months old, he was nothing but love or so I thought. We were seated together in my comfortable arms chair when he moved off my lap into the small space between me and the side of the chair which I hardly ever noticed. He laid his head on my lap. That seemed all right. The next night the same thing happened except that after a few minutes of that, he nudged me with his nose ever so slightly and I couldn't help laughing, not quite bothering to think about what he wanted. Now the following night it happened again, except this time the nudging against my upper arm and elbow was quite forceful. The light dawned. This little alpha dog was trying to push me off the chair so he could have it to himself. Next obedience class I had a chat with the trainer. Yes, I was told, exactly that. Tough look, you have yourself a big time alpha puppy who o will grow into a major big time handful unless you lay down the law.
So we have started on learning how to dominate an alpha dog without turning him into a belligerent aggressive monster.
Puppy training http://www.americanmadeyes.com/bigdog.html |
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment