German Shepherd Training Information in an easy, no-nonsense approach.
Well, let me start off right now with this disclaimer: I’m not a professional trainer! I’m just a dog owner who happens to find training dogs to be very interesting, fulfilling, as well as beneficial to the dog.
What you’ll find here is my experiences “Training a Working Dog for Dummies”. I’m going to chronicle my German Shepherd Training Information of my GSD’s, who’ve included the previous and current dogs, Sable, Schatzie, and Zero – and so I invite you to come on in and join the ride. I’ve also been training at local Schutzhund clubs.
If you’re looking for information on the different colors of GSDs, check out the latest page on that. Or how about checking out our great articles on dog health and diet issues, as well as training your puppy and older dog. And if you’d like to leave a comment for us, simply click on the Comment >> link below all the pages and posts.
The Recall is THE most important command we can and should teach our dogs. Here is a short video clip of my GSD Schatzie obeying the “HEIR!” command (German for “come”). Her sit at the end is sloppy lol, which it normally isn’t. Typically she sits Very Fast and straight:
With the recent dog food recall, people have been looking to alternative food sources for their dogs (and cats). Let me ask you this, have you ever read the ingredients of your favorite kibble dry food for your pooch? Fillers, meat by-products, and protein sources that are not native to canines are what’s packed in them.
I supplement my own dog’s diet of the highest grade food I can purchase with RAW food twice or more a week. My dogs prior received nothing but a raw diet, and their energy levels where OFF THE THE CHARTS, not to mention the improvement in their coats which was worth the bit-extra in price for raw food.
Biologically appropriate raw food is The Best for our dogs. Leerburg.com agrees (feeding a raw diet) with my opinion. You can read more at the leerburg site, as well as reading more at Barfworld.com.
I hear it all the time… “My dog would protect me and my family!” But professional trainers (and I hope ONLY A SMALL PERCENTAGE of crooks know this) know that most “pet dogs” that have not been trained in one of the dog sports, like schutzhund or mondioring, knvp, etc, AND cross-trained in PPT (Personal Protection Training) CAN BE SCARED OFF with TONS OF PRESSURE from the assailant (called the helper in training.)
Only a sound, confident, TRAINED IN BITEWORK can be 100% counted on to find, hold, and if on command from you ONLY, hold down the assailant.
The proof has been demonstrated time and time again.
I’ll continue this discussion tomorrow. Feel free to comment however.
It’s been awhile since our last article on this website, but that has been due to my father’s illness. Much more training and lifestyle dog tips and tricks are on their way!
I know it’s been a long time since we’ve had a new post here on dog training, but I do have a very good reason for that.
You see, I have been taking care of my dad since we “rescued” him from certain death!
Anyway, more about that later, I just wanted to let you all know that I’ll be back with new training and dog lifestyle articles very soon!!!
photo credit: Scott Hammond
I get asked that question allot, I to which I answer, “Well, what do you do currently to stop this behavior?” Even before asking about the age of their dog, or what circumstances this bad behavior is most occurring in, I have found that this one question will lead to a better response from me. “Well, I tell him no most of the time…but he is just so cute when he does it, I mean, this is how he shows me he loves me!”
My answer? “Enjoy your jumping dog…” Because with a dog, either training a bad behavior out of him, or training a cool, neat trick into him, is all dependent on your perspective. You see, that dog owner can try different approaches to handling a dog jumping up problem that will stop the bad conduct, but until they become consistent in their training, the poor dog will be the one to suffer.
For example, when the new puppy comes home, and it’s all about excitement and playtime – jumping up on his new owners is “cute”. And that behavior goes on until he’s about, oh let’s say, 6 months. Now that 12 lbs puppy is 50 lbs now, and his jumping up is knocking down the kids! So as you can see, adjusting bad behaviors as soon as possible is the best route to take, and the most “fairest” for our dogs. photo credit: cwgoodroe
Fair, Firm, & Consistent
Once a dog understands that he is being disobedient, that is the time for corrections, not before! Please remember that when you first begin to start the “no jumping” training. After all, let’s be honest…who’s fault is it that our 12lbs-puppy-turned-90lbs+full-grown-German-Shepherd jumps up on us? Did we lay a foundation from the beginning that jumping was not EVER allowed? Not even once, when it was still considered “cute”? So to correct a bad behavior before our dogs know 100% that is is unacceptable is unfair. You can train that way (old school trainers call it, “Yank and Crank”), giving either verbal or physical corrections to get the desired behavior, but if your dog has a soft or medium temperament, your relationship and his obedience will be based on fear, and not on a willingness to please. And along with that, once your dog does understand a command and fails to do it, now is to time for a verbal or leash correction. Definitely.
Ok, with that out of the way, let’s get into our training!
No Jumping!
There are many ways to train this, and you can Google for them all day, but I’ll cover just some of the techniques I personally use, which are used depend on the dogs (age, temperament, etc.). DISCLAIMER: These – and any other training techniques – are much more difficult if your dog is an outside dog. In an ideal world, we all would have our dogs indoors because that allows for a much closer relationship between them and their “pack”. And that greatly enhances their willingness to train with us as well. So in doing these or any other training techniques, remember to practice much more patience with our outdoor living pals.
Ok, so your dog jumps up on you. With a soft/medium temperament dog, a strong verbal correction such as “NEIN!” (German for “No!”), or “NO JUMPING!” immediately followed by moving your body to face opposite of the dog will be sufficient. Once the dog is on all fours, or sitting down, then praise him exuberantly with, “Yes, good dog!!!” If he jumps up again, repeat the technique. Maintain this training – making sure the rest of your family is consistent with it as well – until the behavior stops. Since our dogs are so willing to please us, they will learn that the best and only place for them to receive our attention and praise is when they are sitting or standing next to us, and not on top of us!
For a hard temperament dog, one that is stubborn/hard-headed/wants his own way all the time, you will be adding a physical correction to this technique. Some people pinch in-between the toes of the paw, while others knee the dog in the stomach. While these ways do work, I personally do not recommend them. What I do recommend is pushing the dog down by the shoulder immediately after the verbal correction. So: photo credit: gianfrancopetrella
Dog jumps up. You give command, “NEIN!”, immediately followed by placing your hand on his shoulder and pushing him down. Once on all fours or sitting give exuberant praise, “Good Dog!”
The common denominator with these physical corrections is making the dog uncomfortable with what he is doing. Now once the dog is 100% trained not to jump up on you, your family, the mailman, the neighbor, or your elementary school principle, and does the bad dead of jumping up again – make sure your verbal and physical correction are quick and sharp. Disobedience should not be allowed.
Remember that every technique we use in training has to be modified somewhat to “fit” our dogs. So let’s please be fair and consistent with our dogs, and in return, they will be loving and obedient for us!
photo credit: tkksummers You can now view our website in your language as well as my native English! I have been wanting to add translation services to this site for quite awhile, as we get many visitors from all across the world, Germany, Japan, etc., and so now I’ve done it. You can access the different translations via the right-side menu simply by clicking on the flag of your choice, or by selecting the drop-down options.
Let us know what you think, and stay tuned for many more dog articles to come!
Just wanted to see Schatzie on the site, so I recorded this video on my phone. The quality sucks, but the videos will get better because of the camera I do have for this. So anyway, here is Schatzie and I messing around:
Funny, huh?!? Here’s another one:
So check back soon for our real video training segments, which should be completed soon.
If you are a professional or novice dog trainer, we would love to have you contribute to this site. It is valued as a great service to both the large breed clubs, such as the German Shepherd, among other protection dog clubs, to have your input.
Please contact us for inclusion into this site.
December 23, 2007 
Posted in German Shepherd Articles 
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