August 4th, 2010 by Jenny

German shepherd puppy training tips are absolutely vital if you want to raise a well-behaved and loyal dog who obediently follows your commands without question.  With effective training, you can have a german shepherd who doesn’t jump on your furniture or bed, won’t bark at strangers, claws at the rugs and scratches up your belongings, or goes to the potty when and where he shouldn’t.  Contrary to what many dog owners believe, not much of this is dependent on the dog’s personality; training is something that can be done with any dog, and german shepherds (being herding dogs) are extremely responsive to training. 

If you want to avoid the frustration of a puppy that chews on everything and poops on all your furniture, you need to follow these german shepherd puppy training tips.  

1. Start training from day 1

Do not waste any time with thinking your puppy is so cute and adorable that he does not need to be corrected when he jumps on you or your furniture.  Of course that is the temptation, but you must avoid giving in to it or else your puppy will not be as responsive to training later on.  After all, if you only correct him sometimes, how would he know when he isn’t supposed to do something? 

2. Understand how important positive feedback is

A common misconception is that training a dog involves telling them “NO” all the time and constantly slapping them or being abusive.  That is very much not the case; in actuality, negative enforcement doesn’t work as well as positive reinforcement.  This is absolutely crucial in german shepherd puppy training.  When you see your german shepherd doing something you want to encourage, give him a treat and some praise - and you will see much better results when you encourage this good behavior in your german shepherd puppy. 

3. Make sure your puppy is adequately socialized

This is one of the most vital of german shepherd puppies training tips.  By ensuring that your dog is constantly in contact with other people and dogs, he will never be confused and startled when someone new enters the house, and he therefore will feel no need to jump on them or bark.  Your german shepherd puppy needs to get used to seeing new dogs and people all the time.  Simply sign up for a dog training class or take some walks to your local park - preferably a dog park if you have one nearby.  Your dog will love this, as dogs are naturally social animals. 

It might seem like training a german shepherd puppy is a lot of work, but you must remember that you accepted this responsibility when you got a dog.  Dogs are a lot of work if you want to have a well-behaved dog - at least at first.  As time goes on, the training will get easier both for you and your dog, as these good training habits will be second nature to you and your dog, and he will recognize you as the pack leader.