Training German Shepherd Puppies

Puppies are incredibly cute.  It’s hard to resist a German Shepherd puppy.  They can wrap you around their giant paws and make you do whatever they want.  For that reason you may be surprised when your darling puppy starts displaying some rather devilish behavior.  Like all puppies, German Shepherd puppies go to their new homes without knowing any manners or having any training.  They don’t know about house training or other lessons.  They don’t know that nipping people is naughty. It’s up to you to teach your German Shepherd puppy everything he needs to know.

Check out Dog Training Made Simple

Training German Shepherd Puppies

Training German Shepherd puppies covers a lot of different things in the first few months:

• House Training
• Bite Inhibition
• Socialization
• Crate Training
• Good Manners

House Training

The first thing most people need to teach their German Shepherd puppy is house training.  For the first few weeks of their life a puppy’s mother cleans up after him.  After that a puppy may learn to use newspapers or potty training pads.  Most puppies are not house trained or potty trained when they go to their new owners so it will be your task to teach your German Shepherd puppy about potty training.  Fortunately, German Shepherd puppies usually learn about potty training very quickly.

Bite Inhibition

Bite inhibition means that your German Shepherd puppy learns that it’s not okay to nip you or other people even when playing.  Puppies usually learn this when they are playing with their mother and littermates but it sometimes takes them a little time to figure out that they can’t nip or play too roughly with humans either.  If your puppy does nip you when playing you should stop playing with him and ignore him for a minute.  Then you can resume playing.  If he nips again, stop playing and ignore him for a longer time.  If he nips again, call off play and put him in a time-out until he calms down.  If you do this consistently for a few days your puppy will stop the nipping and rough play.

Socialization

Socialization is important for your German Shepherd’s development as an adult dog.  It helps build confidence and will help avoid behavior problems later on.  You can take your puppy with you when you go places.  Encourage friendly strangers to pet him.  Enroll your puppy in a puppy preschool or puppy kindergarten class offered by a pet store, animal shelter, kennel club, or trainer.  These classes have lots of puppies learning how to meet and greet each other politely.  Some classes also offer some basic obedience lessons.

Crate Training

It’s helpful for your German Shepherd puppy to learn about crate training.  If you ever plan to fly with your dog, he will need to fly in a crate.  Many people travel with their dog in a crate in the car, which is safer than letting your dog ride loose.  And crate training can help with your puppy’s house training.  Plus, lots of dogs like to have a safe, quiet place to hang out in the house.

Good Manners

You can also use the first few months of your German Shepherd puppy’s life to teach him about good manners.  You can do this mostly by gently but firmly correcting your puppy when he does things he shouldn’t do, such as grabbing things off the kitchen counter, chewing on things, or jumping on people.

Conclusion

There’s a lot of training for German Shepherd puppies in their first few months but these puppies are very smart and they love to learn things.  Spend time with your puppy and teach him what you want him to learn and you will have a very well-behaved puppy.