About
German Shepherd Training Information in an easy, no-nonsense approach.
photo credit: Gunty
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 both very interesting 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 both of my GSD’s, Sable and Zero.
Give Credit Where Credit Is Due!
I’m learning German Shepherd training information from multiple internet and book sources, as well as friends of mine. These techniques will probably differ from what the typical “Obedience Training” books offer. That’s because these techniques are strictly for “working dogs” – like the GSDs. There’s a huge difference between the way you raise a pet vs. a working dog! From bite inhibition (you don’t want to inhibit biting from a working dog, just redirect it), to the way you socialize, raising pet dogs and working dogs differs in techniques. Follow the links to the right – those are my personal favorite training forums and article sites.
German Shepherds Rock!
A bit about my GSD’s
Sable
Sable’s a purebred “Sable” German Shepherd. We got her as a blessing from her first owner. Actually, Sable was my Valentine’s Day present from my lovely wife! She’s the best present I’ve gotten, besides my bride of course! We got her when she was just 12 weeks old. What I did the few first weeks was to seriously build a bond with her. I did a technique called “tethering”. Basically, you connect the dog’s leash to you, and so everywhere you go, your puppy goes to. I’ll cover this bonding technique, among others, in the links provided.
What’s a Sable?
Sable GSDs are not the typically colored Black & Tan color variety that you see. Their coat is black and tan, or black and red, but not in the saddle back configuration. And the ends of their fir contain either silver, or red, or more, hence the sable name! Now, again let me remind you that I’m not a pro at this stuff, so if you want a concise description of GSD’s and their colors, you can Google a hundred different sites for that.
Zero
Zero’s a purebred black & tan, in a saddle back configuration, German Shepherd. He was also a blessing from his previous owner. Unfortunately, she did not have the time for him anymore, so I adopted him. I got him a 2.5 years old, with very little training. Actually, he’s had zero training (zero training for Zero ,~) He PULLED you on his walks, jumped onto furniture/beds/kitchen table/people. Since I got him, he no longer does MOST of this bad behavior (UPDATE: Zero does none of this undesirable behavior anymore 
). Most excitedly, he walks in a near perfect Fuss! Taking lessons learned w/my Sable, I applied a training technique using a “training collar”, and w/just one 5 minute session, perfect fuss!
What’s a Saddle back?
Saddle back is the color pattern you’ll see in most common GSD’s. Their coat can be black and tan, or black and red, and in a “saddle back” pattern.
Training Experiences
How many times have you told your dog to “sit”, “stay”, “heel”, and “Don’t Bite Me!”. I admit, during my 39 years of life (and remember…It’s better to look good than to feel good!), I’ve had quite a few dogs that I’ve been responsible for. But I’ve never really put in the time and effort to fully OB my dogs. So, please join me in the continuing saga in my German Shepherd Training Information.
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July 18th, 2008 at 10:09 pm
I recently got a male shepherd who is with me all of the time. He is now 16 weeks old and is biting me in the back of my legs to the point I am bruised and he has broken my skin. I have tried everything…and he keeps coming back for more, barking and biting. It starts out like he is playing but then seems aggressive. He only does this with me, so I feel he is trying to show me that he is in control. I have four other dogs and have not had this problem, but they were not this young when I got them. Any suggestions you have would be great.
July 20th, 2008 at 12:47 am
Hello Sharon,
The two things you can being to do with your GSD is to to redirect his “play biting” with a toy, and give a firm, “NEIN!” (or “NO!” if your training in English commands) as it happens.
I assume you’re raising him as a pet – and not a SchH dog, so this will be acceptable. With a SchH, or PPT (Personal Protection Training) dog, you would NOT want to hinder his bite, just redirect it.
At 16 weeks, he can act aggressively, but this does not mean he can follow through with aggression towards you. I would simply do the above technique (Say a firm, “NO!”, then immediately redirect his bite to a toy he can chew on).
It’ll take time and patience, but it’ll be worth it in the end! Also, since you have 4 other dogs, I just wanted to give you a friendly reminder that you have a very full dog pack on your hands, and will need to lead it with as a strong/firm but fair pack leader. Read my article on Pack Leadership for details.
Let us know how he develops!
September 22nd, 2008 at 2:59 am
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October 1st, 2008 at 8:57 pm
Hello! My name is Kasey and I just recently bought a 2 month old purebred German Shepherd.
She is extremely active and is a BITER! I want her to be a guard dog and I want her to be able to walk with me without a leash and obey my commands and attack people only on my or my husbands command. She doesn’t have any training now, so I would like to start teaching her all the basics and gradually teach her to be a wonderful guard dog.
Also, what do you mean by “redirect” their biting? I need help! Thank you!
November 5th, 2008 at 7:03 pm
Hello Kasey,
First things first – find a GREAT Schutzhund club in your area. The foundational training of “building drive and focus” is so important, and we as handlers can make TONS of mistakes if not done correctly.
Redirecting a bite is a technique that we use to stop our alligat…hum….dogs to stop using us as a chew toy without correcting them for it. If you were raising a dog as a pet, then a correction as simple as you yelling “yipes” when it bites, then taking your body part away and ignoring your pup for 5 minutes will eventually do the trick. But for those of us raising ScH (Schutzhund) or PPT (Personal Protection Trained) dogs, we need to NOT correct, but re-direct. So to do that you take your hand/let/head – whatever the dog is biting out of his mouth, and immediately place a “tug” into it, and giving him a tug-o-war game.
November 3rd, 2009 at 9:41 pm
I have a GSD she is 11months hold she weighs 49.7. She was the runt of the liter its it normal for her to be so little. She has me worried. She is up to date on her shots. She look so skinny I feed her Purina puppy chow. Can you give me some hints to fatten her up… thank you.
December 9th, 2009 at 8:36 pm
@regina – Hello! Barring any medical conditions for her size and weight, I’d go with an all natural kibble. I recommend Natural Balance (check their website from that link for shipping to your area.).
Maybe a visit to your vet for a complete checkup will be a good idea. Can you send pictures of your girl to: pictures (at) germanshepherd-breed (dot) org so we can see her?
December 15th, 2009 at 8:49 am
We’d love to have you at Shepherd Talk Martin. You’d be a wealth of information to our members. Come visit us!…
http://www.shepherdtalk.net/forum
December 17th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
@Elizabeth – Thanks for that invite! I’ve created a profile on your site
June 15th, 2010 at 6:44 pm
i have a 6 week old purebred german shepherd.. and i gave her a chew toy.. and yet she still bites feet and legs. when i say no she still does it. and what are german shepherds allergic to?
July 21st, 2010 at 7:55 pm
Sable looks JUST like my Alexandria when she was younger!