How to educate a German shepherd

The German shepherd is a dog that has lived with us for centuries, intelligent, active, sociable, with great ability to work in teams, strong and a long list that we can summarize by saying that it is an extraordinary breed. He is predisposed to the vigilance and protection of his family, so you have to teach him well from a young age to avoid possible problems later on. Although it is far from being an aggressive dog by nature, it is a dog with a lot of courage that will defend us if it is really necessary. Do you live with a German shepherd and have doubts about what to teach him and how to do it? Then, from .com we invite you to continue reading this article so that you know how to educate a German shepherd and so you can enjoy your best friend to the fullest, as this will be a balanced and happy dog.

The socialization of the German shepherd puppy

The socialization of a dog from puppy is very important, accustomed to a number of things in their environment, what is good to do and what is not a routine are points in their education that will make it a balanced dog. With a good socialization we will have a furry obedient, mentally healthy, happy and easy to deal with. It is better to educate a dog from an early age, making the most of the stage of their life in which they learn most easily. The first months are very important, but educating a dog that is already an adult is also perfectly possible.

It is really important that in order to be successful when educating a German shepherd, from the beginning we base ourselves on a positive reinforcement education, leaving aside the shouting, the sudden movements, the punishments, etc. It is better to ignore negative behaviors and always reward good and positive ones, in this way we will achieve that the dog prefers to behave well and does not pay attention to other habits that we have ignored. Obviously if it is something serious, such as attacking someone or another dog, instead of ignoring it, we must act and make him understand that he should not do it, but it is not at all recommended that we do it aggressively and, if we see it necessary, we go to a canine behavior professional to help us.

To socialize the puppy successfully you will have to present things from your day to day gradually . For example, to get used to the noises of the street from very small, even if you can not step on the ground for not having the necessary vaccines, it will be good to walk in your arms for a while each day. Thus, for him the sounds of cars, people and bicycles will be normal. When you can walk down the street it will be good that, at times and little by little, during the walk you will get closer to other dogs, seniors and children. We must try to make the first contact you have as positive as possible to avoid fears. In the same way we should gradually accustom him to other members of the family, pets, friends, the veterinarian and to make their needs outside the home. There are many things to consider to educate a puppy well, so we recommend that you also read this article on how to socialize a puppy.

The education of a German shepherd

Educating an adult German shepherd who has his defined character and behavior is also possible. You can learn both new things and correct some that are not appropriate, such as how to walk or lose fear of people. The most important thing to keep in mind is that, since it is already a trained mind, the sheepdog or German shepherd that has to change habits and learn things will need more dedication and patience than a puppy.

Whenever we use positive reinforcement, our dog will learn faster and better everything we teach him, be it some new orders for him like coming to your side, sitting or lying down, or behaving when there are visitors at home. In addition, the German or Alsatian shepherd has no difficulty in learning new things throughout his life, as it is one of the most intelligent breeds . You must devote a few minutes each day to teach him these new tricks that you want him to learn or what is necessary to improve coexistence, but you should not overdo it because it will become very boring for the dog and he will get tired, without learning anything. We recommend that you do not spend more than 15 or 20 minutes in a row every time you teach your loyal friend something new. It is important to note that it is not good that we teach things with punishments and screams, because these outdated techniques only end up damaging dogs and only generate aggressiveness and unwanted behavior, since they expose the dog to great stress and even fear.

Advanced education and training

Because the German shepherd has a great capacity to learn and to work together with his human companion, he has been used as a working dog forever. These dogs can work as shepherds, police dogs, firemen, rescue and even therapy, so it is a truly versatile breed and it is not very complicated to educate a German shepherd.

Having these capabilities is good for the mental and physical health of our dog that, although we do not work in any of the previous professions, we offer the opportunity to receive a more complete and advanced training. We recommend that you allow practice with circuits and exercise routines to stimulate it with tunnels, ramps, etc. If you want to develop some of these skills in a more specific way it will be good that you go to a professional education and dog training to guide you as best as possible to both. If you decide to do it, you will see that your German shepherd is a more balanced, complete and happy dog ​​than ever.

Required exercise for a German shepherd

Like any other dog this breed needs daily exercise to tire physically and mentally, thus feeling complete and relaxed. It is good to walk three times a day and that at some point of the walk the dog is let loose a few minutes so that he can explore to his liking. We must let him smell his surroundings, run, relate with others of his kind and with people, etc., this will be a way to enrich him and free him from stress and excess energy. It is not recommended that you spend hours every day exercising your German shepherd, think that you should also rest and recover and that, in addition, this breed is prone to problems in the hip and, therefore, it is good that you know how to care for a dog with hip dysplasia.

It is very important that you educate your dog to walk well when tied and you can also teach your dog to walk without a leash, learn to walk close to you and come to your side when you call. If you have problems during the walk because your dog stretches too much of the leash or crosses too much in front of you as you walk, you can try to improve it by changing the collar by a special harness to avoid pulling and stop walking when you do wrong and try to correct it with patience, congratulating him when he does it well. Remember that if you still can not get better you can go to an ethologist or a canine educator. Now that you know how to educate a German shepherd, we invite you to read this article in which we explain how to care for a German shepherd.