Training German Shepherds
German Shepherds are one of the best companion dog breeds, and they’re both smart and eager to please, so training your Shepherd will be a great experience for both of you. Because German Shepherds are working dogs by nature, they are eager to have a task, and you can easily teach them not only basic training like sit and stay, but also little tricks and jobs like bringing the paper or the food bowl at dinner time.
Training a dog, any dog, is primarily a matter of teaching the dog what you like for him to do. If you give treats and praise for certain behaviors, your Shepherd will naturally want to perform those tasks, hoping for more praise and treats. That’s just doggy nature, much as it is also human nature.
The reverse is also true. If you do not want your dog to do certain things, the best way to stop those behaviors is to stop paying attention to those behaviors. After all, even negative attention is something. Ignoring things you don’t want your dog to do, and especially replacing them with desired behaviors and praise, is the best way to get good behavior.
If you are not an experienced dog trainer, consider taking your dog to an obedience training class, or hiring a dog trainer to help you train your dog. German Shepherds need different techniques than other dogs; every breed is a little different. Because Shepherds are eager to please and extremely intelligent, they learn fast and respond to training more quickly than some dogs.
You should learn the basic training commands, and teach your dog to sit, stay, come and “drop it,” of course; these are the techniques your dog will need to know in order to live comfortably in the presence of humans and other dogs. Any other techniques and tricks you want to teach will give your dog something to do, keep him active and interested, and provide bonding time between you and your furry friend.
If you’re not sure whether you should train your dog, give some thought to how frustrating it is, both for you and your dog, if you cannot communicate with him. You want him to come, but he wants to go. You want him to stay, but he again wants to go. Training does not mean forcing your dog to do something that he doesn’t want to do; it means teaching him to do things that you want him to do. He learns that these things please you, and he will be happy to do them.
If your dog is going to be a true companion and live in your life and be part of your household, the most important thing you can do for him is teach him what is expected of him. You do this courtesy for your children, and you should also do it for your dog, so that he can have the satisfaction of doing what is asked of him and receiving praise for that. After all, dogs want to be good, and we have to help them know what that means.