My family and I recently acquired a German Shepherd Puppy.
We got him at 10 weeks of age, and were very fortune that the breeder we got him from had already been working on house training.
He wasn't perfect, but with constant attention, he was soon house broken.
However, we very quickly decided that house-training was not enough.
This puppy would need much more time and attention to be an indoor/outdoor addition to our family.
German Shepherds are large dogs, and by the size of our puppy's paws, he will be very large.
He is however very lovable and eager to please.
It also became apparent that as we could visible see him grow and get stronger every day, we would soon not be able to control him physically.
We would have to train him to respond to our verbal commands.
My first course of action was to seek out puppy obedience classes in our area.
Several were available, but after personal recommendations and scheduling issues, we settle on the Companion Dog Club.
We have meet once a week for the last seven weeks with a group of similar minded dog-owners.
We started with the basic commands of sit, watch, come, leave-it and stay.
Each week was a struggle with dog control and discipline.
I will have to say that with the addition of a prong collar, my job became much easier.
Buddy (our dog) has learned a lot over the last several weeks, but I would have to say that I have also and have come to understand that puppy training isn't accomplished in one week, or several weeks, but will be an ongoing process for many years to come.
Consistency, firmness and lots of praise are the key ingredients for successful puppy training.
We got him at 10 weeks of age, and were very fortune that the breeder we got him from had already been working on house training.
He wasn't perfect, but with constant attention, he was soon house broken.
However, we very quickly decided that house-training was not enough.
This puppy would need much more time and attention to be an indoor/outdoor addition to our family.
German Shepherds are large dogs, and by the size of our puppy's paws, he will be very large.
He is however very lovable and eager to please.
It also became apparent that as we could visible see him grow and get stronger every day, we would soon not be able to control him physically.
We would have to train him to respond to our verbal commands.
My first course of action was to seek out puppy obedience classes in our area.
Several were available, but after personal recommendations and scheduling issues, we settle on the Companion Dog Club.
We have meet once a week for the last seven weeks with a group of similar minded dog-owners.
We started with the basic commands of sit, watch, come, leave-it and stay.
Each week was a struggle with dog control and discipline.
I will have to say that with the addition of a prong collar, my job became much easier.
Buddy (our dog) has learned a lot over the last several weeks, but I would have to say that I have also and have come to understand that puppy training isn't accomplished in one week, or several weeks, but will be an ongoing process for many years to come.
Consistency, firmness and lots of praise are the key ingredients for successful puppy training.