As with any breed, german shepherd dog training takes consistency, persistence, and patience, but the rewards are well worth the time and effort.
Since German Shepherds are generally larger dogs with an unfortunate bad reputation in many people’s eyes, it’s your responsibility to show what a great and obedient dog your GSD can be.
Training should start as young as possible, and crate training puppies is a great place to start. Your German Shepherd needs to know from your first day together that you are in charge.
You can set the tone early by doing simple things like always entering and exiting doors first, because a physical following will translate into a following mentality.
German Shepherds are very mouthy, bitey dogs, even though they may be just playing, so you need to discourage this early and often, because this could turn into a sign of dominance, if not complete aggression.
If your shepherd starts to chew on any part of you, immediately stop and correct the behavior by giving them something acceptable to chew on, like a bone or rawhide. Do this for as long as it takes, until they realize you are not a chew toy.
The next step of training, before even moving on to the more traditional commands, is to socialize your dog, so it gets used to other people and pets.
Any signs of aggression should be stopped and corrected instantly, but never hit or abuse your dog, because that could only make the problems worse down the road.
Using calm and assertive tones and actions will have a more positive and lasting effect.
German Shepherd Dog Training – Advanced
Once you’ve mastered basic social training and established yourself as the leader, then you can move on to the more novel tricks and commands.
Always start with the most essential and useful ones: sit, stay, down, come, and heel.
These can come in very handy in public situations to keep your dog out of trouble and in control.
If you’d like to venture into the fun and more complex training techniques, GSD’s are very versatile and adept at mastering just about anything, which is why they are so often used as police and therapy dogs.
They respond well to agility drills, fetching, attack and stop commands, and more, and all of these things are excellent not only for their physical needs, but they provide much-needed mental stimulation as well.
German shepherd dog training is a very rewarding thing to concentrate on, and the sky is really the limit with the general intelligence and obedience of this wonderful breed.
A German Shepherd kennel comes in handy in several different circumstances, whether it’s indoors, outdoors, in the car, on a plane, on a boat, or, well… you get the idea.
It’s a versatile piece of equipment for you and your German Shepherd, so it’s important to get one that is going to work well for both of you.
In fact, if you can’t find one you like, don’t have the funds, or just enjoy building things, you should weigh the pros and cons of making your own kennel versus buying one from the store.
Either way, you’ll see how valuable kennels can be for everything from crate training puppies to simply providing a makeshift den to satisfy your GSD’s natural instincts.
If you just need a simple kennel crate and you have the funds, then buying one already made is the obvious option.
A quality one for a full-grown German Shepherd can cost anywhere from $80 to $150.
Try to avoid the big name pet stores, as I got burned at one of those, before finding out I could get them for a fraction of the price on Amazon and even at Walmart.
I now have two, and though the one from Amazon was about 20 more dollars, the fact that it has two doors, one on the side and one in front, has been more than worthy of the added expense.
If you’re in a pinch though, we did find that Walmart usually keeps them in stock in their pet section all the way up to the large size we bought of 48″ x 33″ x 30″.
If you fancy yourself a carpenter or welder, building one yourself could save you money, cutting the cost in half, if not more.
Metal is usually the better choice for portability, since you will be able to fold it if you use hinges, but wood is easier to use for building if it’s going to be outside or stationary.
Whatever you decide, a German Shepherd kennel can come in handy for you and become a “home of their own” for your GSD.
All color variations of GSD’s share many of the same characteristics, and white German Shepherds continue their tradition of loyalty, intelligence, and obedience.
Of course, the biggest determining factor in their specific temperament starts in their bloodline and how they were bred by their German Shepherd breeder.
Were they bred for looks, personality, size, working ability, or a combination?
While you can’t change the bloodline, taking the time to work on training and care can go a long way in shaping your pet’s behavior.
Because of their superior intelligence, white German Shepherds can easily become bored, leading to mischief, destruction, or other outlets for their pent-up energy and anxiety.
It is essential that you give them the exercise they need, in the form of both walks and playtimes.
German Shepherds, in general, are known to be extremely loyal, almost to a fault, depending on how you handle them, so it’s important you socialize them early and often by bringing them around other dogs and people.
When they sense a threat to their owner or other member of their family, something primal is triggered, and they will do whatever they can to eliminate that threat, though they may be perfectly calm and gentle at home.
This can be a problem if they misconstrue someone’s intentions and wrongfully identify them as a threat, so again, socialization is the key to harnessing their fierce loyalty.
In addition to their loyalty toward their owners, they often “adopt” the children of the family as their own, which also has its advantages and disadvantages.
While this will make the family dog very protective of the kids, leading to the same potential overprotective qualities mentioned above, they can also begin treating the children as one of their own puppies.
In the wild, they nip, tug, and carry their puppies to care for and correct them, so any uncomfortable mouthing or rough behavior with the kids should be stopped and corrected immediately.
With German Shepherd dog training, it’s all about finding that perfect balance, so you can enjoy the loyalty and playful temperament of your dog, while saving the protective nature for when you really need it and an actual threat exists.
White German Shepherds are shunned by some as being too brightly-colored and easily noticeable to make good guard dogs, but they don’t know what color they are and will protect their family to their last breath.
We’ve trained our white German shepherd to control her excitement and sit down before receiving affection or acknowledgement. This is great for making sure she doesn’t jump all over us or other people. You can see how excited she is to see me, then quickly transitions into a calm and submissive mode without me saying a word.
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