Teaching More Advanced Commands to my German Shepherd

When teaching a German Shepherd advanced commands you must have a good strategy for the basic commands that you once started with. All dogs should be able to sit, lay down, wait, and to come to you on command. A few commands that I have taught my Shepherd are front, to me, sit pretty. She is six months old and now I am working on other commands like heel walking commands to make her heel then sit on command and wait. I am also working on spin left, spin right, and roll over. When teaching front i would make my dog Kawi come up to me straight ahead and sit and look up at me. This command did not take long because she is very eager to please me or anyone who is training her. Shepherds are known for listening to one person more than anyone else. With my family we have all worked on teaching her using the same commands and trying to use the same body languages. As she gets older we slowly change how we all train her and she is listening. This is great to have for when she is older because she will be able to listen to other people if an opportunity ever presents itself or if we ever go on vacation and have to leave her behind she will listen to the border. While I am no professional dog trainer I do think there are a few things that you can do that help with making training much easier. One thing that you can do is use the same commands. Make sure you use hand signals and voice commands. When training a good habit to have is to state the dogs name then the command so they know it is directed straight at them. Also when you state a command make sure that the dog does the command the first time. When doing advanced commands such as the command I do with Kawi called to me I would have a treat in my hand let her smell it then i would say to me and put the treat behind my right leg and then between my legs to the front making her be under me. Then give the treat and give her praise. I would then repeat this about 10 times to get it in her mind but not bore her. If a dog gets bored they will not want to listen to commands so keep training sessions short. Try to make the command make sense and the movements of your hands make sense with the command also. Sit pretty was a challenging command and it took awhile for her to learn the balance aspect of it. She now is a very good at balancing.

Teaching Commands to my German Shepherd Puppy

When teaching my German Shepherd commands it came very easy to her. After about 10 repetitions she would have it down for a while after. When started to train her I would use small treats, verbal commands and hand signals at the same time. This helped establish that there are different ways to command when called upon, weather verbal or non-verbal. The first command I taught her was sit. This is a very useful command for almost any situation. If you want them by your side, or to sit and relax for a minute while they are excited. I would work on sit as much as I could and keep her excited with it. If you get frustrated the dog will get frustrated and not listen to you. Dogs are very good at sensing what you are feeling towards them and your own attitude. Another command that is very useful is stay or wait. These are two commands that any dog owner should teach early off. It is beneficial because if you happen to drop a food that is toxic to them or drop a medication they will not go over and eat it instantly. This command is taught best by setting a treat on the ground and tell the the dog to wait. At first as soon as they wait for a split second you praise them and let them get the treat. This way they know why they are getting the treat and you can make them wait longer for it. Another command that is good to have is Lay down. It is helpful due to keeping your dog in control when you want them to be. This can be done two ways. The first way involves saying the command and putting the treat and hand on the floor to make them lay down to get the treat or you can apply light pressure near their shoulders so they know they should lay down. Another command that is easy to teach and looks like your dog is very smart is roll over. To teach this command have your dog lay down, then you want to place the treat behind their back on the side that they are laying on to make them roll to the left or right. When training your dog always make sure to say the command once and make sure you find a way for them to do it. When commands are stated more than once a dog thinks they can get away with not listening for long periods of time. This can hinder future training and it can impact how fast your dog will listen to you on the fly when you need them to listen at a words notice.

First Time Visiting the Lake

One day I decided that it would be a good idea to take my puppy to the lake after I found out that she liked water. In all honestly it probably was not a good idea due to the lake still being partially frozen over but i thought it would be a good idea to let her explore something new. When we arrived to the lake it sounded like a drain and she did not like this sound for some reason. It was the wind pushing the ice over top of the other sheets of ice. Once the wind calmed down she started to act more like herself and was having a blast chasing the ball. We went to an area of the lake where there was water and no ice on the edge and she slowly walked in and loved it. She went out far enough to tread water and then came back to me when I called her to me. I started to throw the ball in this open area and she had a blast chasing it and bringing it back to me. I looked over to the dog park area that was fenced in and there was another dog over there. So I decided to take my dog over to play with the other dog that was a beautiful Siberian Husky when arriving they played for a while then we started to throw the ball to allow them to wear off some energy. When my dog Kawi was distracted the Husky ran after the ball. My dog decided that she would run atop the ice to get to the other side of the play area where the husky was. I was almost certain that i was going to be swimming in the water to save my dog. As she ran across the ice you could see the ice move with the weight of the 40 pound German Shepherd run across the ice atop the water. As she neared the other side I heard the ice crack and she jumped off the ice and the end and barely got wet. I was worried and figured that she could get trapped and I was ready to freeze to save my dog. As she crossed and did not fall in relief set over me. The owner of the Husky and I laughed and I was much more cautious of where she was when the ball was thrown because I did not want her to run atop of the ice again.

On Leash Training

After going to into town for the first time I knew that I needed to teach my dog how to be on a leash. She was not bad, but i wanted to save myself from bad habits that could happen later on. She would slightly pull when she wanted to smell something, saw another dog, saw a person that made her excited, or was wanting to run. At first I started this training at the house. I would walk her and as soon as she would pull I would call her and slowly back up. You could tell she was getting frustrated, but when I kept my composure she realized I was looking for something. This took about a week of training for her to understand the concept at the house. I then felt confident that she could learn in public and was I wrong. When we got to public areas she would pull and pull and I felt like she was going to make herself pass out. The place I got her from told me that prong collars are the best way to train a German Shepherd. So I took her to our favorite store tractor supply to buy a prong collar. When we left we were getting weird looks thinking it was mean to put one of these on a dog. After training with it it is much more mean to use a normal collar to train. When using a normal collar it cuts off their windpipe allowing them to not breathe. Also when using a harness i don’t see as many improvements because it is never uncomfortable to the dog. The prong collar is just uncomfortable for the dog when used right. As the dog applies tension the dog is causing the discomfort and will quickly quit pulling on the lead. This is a fast training method because the dog knows it is causing itself the discomfort and not the person at the end of the leash. I have been asked multiple time why I use the collar and get looks of disappointment from people. They ask “is she aggressive?” and after I tell them she is not and explain the use for this collar they start to understand and do not judge why I am using what i am using. When explaining I always ask would you rather not be able to breath or be moderately uncomfortable? They always answer uncomfortable. She is now off of the prong collar and is wearing normal collar because she does not pull anymore. I found this to be a quick and safe way to train your dog on how to not pull when on walks.

First Time Going into Town

The second week I had Kawi I had read from multiple sources that you want to associate your dog with people and other dogs. You also want to have positive experiences for your dog so they are comfortable with other people and dogs. When we first arrived at the park at Cambridge Kawi was exploring her surroundings as any dog would. We then got close to some kids and Kawi because very excited with the noises that the kids were making. One of the children saw my dog and ran over, she got scared and barked and tried to run away from the kid. A mother and her children walked up and Kawi was fine. I was glad she got to experience this because she realized that not all people would scare her after the kid ran up to us. As we continued to walk more, more people were also out walking. She was the hot topic for the day. Everyone would come up and talk to me about her and love playing with her. Kawi was excited with people but finally got to meet another dog. She got to meet another female German Shepherd, they looked very similar and the older Shepard was very nice and played gentle with Kawi. Kawi also got to experience another dog being dominant which was good she was very submissive and got to learn how other dogs were. At the end of the day Kawi got to have a great experience with other dogs and people and I feel these moments shaped her for later down the road. After being at the park and meeting other dogs and people I decided that I would finish her day up at Tractor Supply. When we walked into Tractor Supply for the first time she was the center of attention. Everyone wanted to pet her and asked what breed she was. She also got a free pig ear from the register which she absolutely loved. While we were walking around the store she was intrigued by all the smells and the people around her. In the back of the store I saw that there was a pet wash station so I decided to take advantage of it and get her used to running water over her. As I turned the water on she started to lap it and I slowly moved it over her back. She loved the water running over her. She got so excited and wanted to play and this made me excited for the summer that is going to come to get her out in the water and let her play. My family and I have never had a dog that has liked water so it will be a new and great experience for us.

Teaching My German Shepherd to go "Outside"

When you bring your puppy home they do not understand the concept of going outside to use the restroom because at their old home they never had to do that and they are learning everything around them.Once we got home I walked her and as soon as we stepped inside she peed. At this point I was frustrated but I said “no” and took her outside right after this happened. I did this multiple times to make sure she knew that we should be outside before she pees. After about a week of working on this I started introducing "outside". I would go to the door grab her leash and we would walk outside until she used the restroom. After doing this successfully for 3 days with no accidents inside I decided to take it to the next step. When my dog Kawi would start sniffing the floor I would say “outside?” And she started going to the door to wait for me. This worked for a few days until I got confident in her and she had another accident. This is when I realized that I needed to be much more repetitive with her so she understood. After about 2 weeks of doing this method she did not have anymore accidents inside. Also when she is outside a good idea is to always make it fun. When she was on a leash we would play fetch as good as we can (due to her being on a leash) and I would run with her around the property. Making outside fun is a good way to have your dog want to go outside when they need to go to the bathroom. They know after they will get to play! While this is a good incentive it can make your dog want to be outside a lot which is never a bad thing. Getting outside is always a good thing just sometimes when it is cold we do not want to go outside like our furry friends do. Just make sure you bundle up and get outside and have fun with them. My German Shepherd love snow and cold weather. Her limit is she will not want to go outside if it is under 0 degrees Fahrenheit. Outside is a great overall command for the restroom for your dog and to symbolize play, I think that it is a great way to bond with your dog and to get outside and be active.

My German Shepherd and Drinking Water

When getting my German Shepherd the place I bought her from suggested that I have a method for when she is drinking to avoid having water come out of their mouths and onto the floor. At first I didn’t think much of this and thought she is just a puppy this will stop, and it hasn’t. When she walks away from the water bowl you might as well have paper towels on standby. There will be a puddle of water on the floor that she did not mean to make but it just appears. I was told to make her water bowl hard to get to. I decided that I would try and put the bowl in a corner… Which did NOT work. She would just back away from the corner as quick as she could. I then did some research and found that another way that people use is to put the bowl under a chair that way they can not raise up as fast. This worked like a charm and now she barely rarely can spill any water. It is also better for her being able to drink the right amount that she needs without losing the majority of it out of her mouth. When my puppy learned that water was fun to her to play with with her feet it opened a whole new world to her. She would spill the water bowl consistently and would cause me to have to clean up after her all the time. This became very annoying overtime due to her never drinking any water and me filling it because she needed to drink water. I found the only way to break her of doing this was to state no and give her an alternative to use which I used a lot in my later training with her. After she understood that water was not meant to be dumped out on the floor the battle with water was over for now. For any German Shepherd owners I am no expert but if your dog is losing lots of water out of their mouth try to put it under a chair. It will not work for everyone, but it could work for some and it creates a lot less of a hassle of cleaning up after your German Shepherd. Since they are such smart dogs they should pick up on drinking slower and lifting up slower fairly quick.