Tip #: Your German Shepherd Puppy Needs To Learn Things In Different Places And Every Time From Scratch
This is a hard concept to understand for us, clever human beings. Dogs are well lemons as expert trainer Jean Donaldson calls them in her Must-Read book The Culture-Clash. When we learn something new, we can very easily generalize the concept to any situation, that is what makes us creative creatures. Dogs, on the other hand, cant make that cognitive leap. If they learn to Sit in the kitchen, they most likely wont sit in the yard unless trained -from scratch!
Fortunately, you have a German Shepherd puppy, they are clever and chances are they will need less repetitions than the average breed. To help you out on this matter, this link will take you to a step-by-step guide to train a reliable command.
Find The Right Dog Treat
When training a dog, a tasty treat can be a pet parents best friend. That said, not all dog treats are the same when it comes to training.
Be sure to find a treat that is soft, easy to chew, and in small bite sizes, Greene said.
Crunchy treats take time to eat so stick with soft treats to avoid long periods of chewing during the training session.
Tips And Techniques You Should Use For Training German Shepherds
German shepherd, the best known police dog all over the world, is a noble and one of the most dependable dog breeds. With proper training techniques, this dog can be taught to do wonders.
German shepherd, the best known police dog all over the world, is a noble and one of the most dependable dog breeds. With proper training techniques, this dog can be taught to do wonders.
The German shepherd was bred for herding and guarding sheep by the Germans. This noble canine is also known as the Alsatian dog. It was christened Alsatian by the Britishers during the World War II, after the German-French border area of Alsace-Lorraine. This dog is also known as the Deutscher Schaferhund. The American Kennel Club, first registered this dog in 1908.
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Tip #: The Best German Shepherd Puppy Training Tip Is
Reward good behavior and ignore bad behavior.
This rule is amazing and will work wonders, besides it is really easy to apply, all you have to do is pay attention to your German Shepherd puppy and reward the good things he does. However, there are a couple rules to keep in mind for it to work:If you notice that the bad behavior is no getting any better, it’s probably because _somehow_ it’s being rewarded! You need to figure out what the reward is and remove it.If ignoring your pooch for the bad behavior doesnt work, then you can train your canine friend an incompatible behavior. For example, when a dog is laying down, it is harder to bark.
Teaching A Dog To Stay
Of course, when you ask your dog to lie down, you wont normally want him to get up again right away. Youll want to add some duration to your down. Or what we call a down stay.
Teaching your dog to stay in any position is done in exactly the same way, by teaching the dog a release cue, then building up durations very gradually, literally three to five seconds to begin with.
Add a few seconds at a time to keep your dog winning.
If you want to add move away from your dog on the stay, youll need to bring duration right back down again for a while.
And if you want to add distractions, for example keeping your dog on the down whilst other dogs pass by, youll need to bring both duration and distance right back down too.
You can read more about the principles of building up distance and duration in The 3 Ds of Dog Training
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Q: How Do I Train My Dog To Lie Down
A: Various trainers have developed incredibly complex methods of compelling or luring a dog into lying down. However, the easiest way to teach a down is simply to capture it. Even the most frenetic dog will eventually settle and lie down. The trick is to make that behavior likely, so you have something to click and reinforce.
Getting the behavior
The best place to start capturing the down is in a bathroomit’s small and easy to clear of all potential distractions. Take your dog in, shut the door, and wait. Sit down and read a magazine. Ignore your dog. Eventually, she will lie down. The moment she settles, click and offer a treat.
As soon as you click, your dog will probably become very interested in you. She’ll sit in front of you, stare holes in you, and try any and every behavior you’ve ever reinforced. Ignore her. Read your magazine. Eventually, she’ll stop trying to entice you and lie down again.
Do ten repetitions, then go play a game. Do another session later in the day or the next day. How long should you train in the bathroom? Keep doing bathroom sessions until the dog is actively offering downs to “make” you click. When you can get five downs in less than a minute you’re probably ready to move to another room. It might take one session, or two, or ten.
Making it perfect
Again, no matter how you define downor any other behaviorfor your dog, keep the same progression in mind when you train:
How To Train A Dog To Go To His Place
Read Carefully to learn how to teach Go to your Place to your Dog.
You can also add the Down command after Go to your Place. In this way when your German Shepherd dog will go on the mat or inside the crate. He will Sit Down.
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Positive Reinforcement Produces Positive Results
Your German Shepherd will respond best to training with positive reinforcement. Yelling or physical punishment will cause this intelligent breed to mistrust you.
Reward good behavior with treats or praise or both. Its the best way to show your German Shepherd that hes doing it right and its a motivator for him to continue with this behavior.
Remember earlier when I said that your German Shepherd actually wants to please you?
Well, once your dog has mastered the behavior, you can remove the treats and reward only with praise hell relish in it all the same.
You know by now that there are heaps of different training programs. Each program has a specific focus, function, and outcome.
Well take a closer look at some of these in future posts. So, for now, lets look at two basic programs
German Shepherd Basic Obedience Commands
German Shepherds can learn basic training commands within a week because they are highly intelligent. Here are some of the basic commands you can teach your GSD.
- Come- signals your GSD to come towards you
- Crate, Kennel, or Bed- signals your GSD to enter his crate, kennel or bed
- Get it or Go get- makes your GSD get an object that is laying on the ground
- Go in or Inside-makes your GSD enter the room or house
- Go out or Outside- makes your GSD leave the room or house
- Heel- reminds your GSD to remain at your side
- Lay down or Down- makes your GSD go into the down position
- Leave it- teaches your GSDs to leave or ignore an object
- Let go or Drop it- teaches your GSD to release or drop onto the ground any item in his mouth
- No or Stop- interrupts your GSD from doing something
- Okay- indicates that the situation is safe or in order
- Sit- signals your GSD to sit
- Stand- signals your GSD to stand up
- Stay- signals your GSD to remain where he is
- Take- signals your GSD to take things gently from your hands.
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Coupling Verbal And Gestural Cues Help Your Dog Learn Better
Most professional dog trainers will tell you to couple a verbal command with a gesture. The good reason for this advice is that body language is a canines primary mode of communication, and they have an excellent capacity to read visual cues.
Dogs will make out when you are sad from your face just as they will understand your hand and other body signals in training. This fact has been used to explain why deaf dogs will learn as well as those with optimal hearing capacity.
Research has confirmed that coupling your word with a gesture has a better impact on dog obedience, and this gets even better if the words and gestures are placed in a context. For example, telling your dog to search while pointing to the direction you want him to go will be more effective in a context where the search was done before.
Leaving The Dog Laying Down
Distance is the second component of the stay. You should begin this indoors too.
Once you have got a thirty second stay, you can start to introduce a little distance between you and your dog.
Take a step away from the dog and return. Mark and reward if he maintains the down.
Make the exercise easier if he does not.
For example, to begin with, you can lift one leg and put it down again rather than actually moving away.
Gradually increase the distance that you move away from your dog over several training sessions.
You should be able to walk several steps away from the dog and sit in a chair on the other side of the room for a few seconds at this point
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Determine The Best Reward
All dogs have a reward that they respond best to. Most German Shepherds are food-motivated, so youll find that treats are effective for reinforcing good behavior.
Others, however, prefer to play as a reward. For such GSDs, you might try tossing them a toy or playing a short game of tug whenever they get things right. Other dogs are happy enough with kind praises and an ear scratch.
Cut Down On Treats A Bit More
Remember to cut back the treats once your pet learns the new difficulty. But I personally do not recommend you go below 50% because you want to always keep your hound motivated!
A common question: Do you have to use treats forever?
Well, do you get a paycheck every month? Your pet feels the same way. A reliable response to your commands needs to be rewarded often! But because you will be doing it only half of the time and randomly, your pet will ALSO respond when you do not have treats!
You are ready to move on to step 7 When your dog responds 8 out 10 times to both hand signals or verbal commands and is being rewarded 50-60% of the time.
Note: at this point you can start training another behavior at the same time. Try “Stand”.
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How To Train A Puppy To Sit
Training a puppy to Sit is usually the first command to teach your dog, and it will determine a base for many additional commands.
- Step 1: Take a handful of treats and take your German Shepherd to a place or room where there will be no distractions.
- Step 2: Stand in front of your dog with a treat in the hand that youll be using for a hand signal. Allow your puppy to smell the treat through your hand to capture your dogs attention.
- Step 3: Now that you have your GSDs attention, hold the treat between your fingers, so the pup could see it, and place it above its nose.
- Step 4: Start moving your hand towards your dogs rear side while holding the treat in line with its nose, over its head. At this point, your dog will have to bend its head backwards so it could see the treat and will automatically assume the sit position.
If your dog walks back instead of leaning in to the sit position , just try practicing the same activity with your dog against a wall.
- Step 5: The moment your pup sits, reward it with the treat, pet it and praise it with good boy/girl and a happy voice. Do not give your dog the treat until your puppy sits.
- Step 6: Repeat the same thing a couple of times. Now that your dog understands what you want from him/her and it starts associating the hand gesture with the command sit, start using the word sit right before doing the hand movement above your dogs head. You should repeat this until your GSD makes no mistake.
Before You Get Started
To start the training, you will need some small and delicious dog treats or your dogâs favorite toy. Rewards should be immediate and very valuable. You need to make the action worth it to your dog. Small liver treats, chicken pieces, or similar training treats work best.
You will also need a barking stimulus such as a doorbell or someone to knock on the door.
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Voice Training Your German Shepherd
- Your voice must not be too loud or too quiet.
- Dont yell at your dog. This will either frighten or confuse them.
- Use a firm, confident volume and tone for most commands.
- Use a louder voice for emergencies and danger.
- Use a lower and deeper tone in your voice to make commands.
- A higher tone is for praise and encouragement, such as in good boy or come.
Dog Laying Down On Verbal Command
Teaching a verbal command from a hand signal:
You are ready to move on to the next step when your dog responds to your verbal command 8 out of 10 times you ask!
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Why You Should Teach Your Dog The Basic Commands In A Foreign Language
Dogs dont understand the language as we do, but they can understand multiple words for the same command, which means that they can be multilingual .
Often people who own German Shepherds, or other breeds that originate from Germany, like to teach their dogs commands in German.
Teaching your GSD commands in German can make it easier for it to distinguish the words you use every day from the words intended only for your dog.
For example, if you often use the word sit with your kids, your puppy will start recognizing the word and realize that its not directed towards it, and the next time you try to tell your dog to sit it may not be sure who you are talking to.
Get Your Dog Laying Down
Reward your dog for every single correct response at this point. We will cut back on treats later on.
We will start teaching your dog to lay down by using the Luring method.
If you have already trained “sit”, then you know what to do.
Put a piece of really yummy treat between your thumb and index finger and show it to your puppy. Do not let him take the treat! Just let him sniff it. You will notice that your pet will follow your hand, which you can use to your advantage! Make your canine friend move the way you want!
Start with your dog in a sitting position. Lure him down by moving your hand slowly in a vertical way from his nose to the floor.
Go really slowly!
Your pet will try to follow your hand and most likely lay down. If your dog lays down,
If your pet won’t lay down try combining a little bit of Shaping. Mark and Reward for smaller approximations to the end goal. For example, first reward him for getting closer to the floor , then 3/4 of the way and so on. Repeat up to 5 times until your dog starts doing it faster, almost anticipating that he has to lay down to get the treat! Always give the treat in your hand to your dog after he is in a down position .
If your dog is laying down eagerly with a food lure, move on to the next step!Your furry friend is not following the treat in your hand?
Try a different treat, something he will go crazy for! Try a toy.
Nothing works?
Use the dog training method Capturing.
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