Every dog owner has a few things that drive them a bit crazy. If you own a German Shepherd and are wanting help with some of these behavior issues you may be having, here are five top German Shepherd training tips.
1. Excessive Barking – German Shepherds can be extremely vocal for a number of reasons. To start with, they will alarm bark in a number of situations. They are easily agitated by sounds outside, strangers, and other dogs.
German Shepherds are wonderful guard dogs so you don’t want to entirely discourage or stop all barking, you just want to alleviate excess barking. The way to do this is to teach your dog to speak. Other German Shepherd training tips will tell you to limit contact between your German Shepherd and outside influences, but only do this when inside. Allow your dog to mix with the people and animals that get it so upset, outside.
2. Separation Anxiety – As far as German Shepherd training tips, few are more requested than solutions for separation anxiety. This is a breed that is constantly showing signs of anxiety when left alone for any period of time.
The result is a highly frustrating situation where your poor dog never stops barking and may start making messes or tearing things apart. Ideally, you should avoid being gone for extended periods of time.
But, if the anxiety develops from short absences, you should stop giving attention to your dog when you’ve just come home or are just about to leave. Additionally, attempt to desensitize the dog to your schedule by mixing it up a bit.
3. Jumping on People – Jumping on people is another common issue with German Shepherds, and because they are large dogs it is a problem that needs to be avoided. Fortunately it is also easy to fix. The key here is to be an assertive leader or the alpha dog in your home. Make an artificial boundary between the door and a spot on the floor that your dog cannot pass.
When you open the door, don’t allow the dog to pass that line. Communicate to your visitors that the dog should be ignored. If he jumps on people use a calm, assertive correction and then continue to ignore him. He’ll figure it out pretty quickly as German Shepherds are very intelligent dogs.
4. Chasing the Cat – There are few German Shepherd training tips for this one. Ideally, you should introduce your cat to the dog when he is still a puppy. This will allow him to socialize with it, and if you do this they will become the best of friends.
At an older age, keep your German Shepherd in the house and control the situations in which the two pets are in the same room together. In this way you can let them get used to one another and use corrections if your German Shepherd grows aggressive.
5. Housebreaking Problems – While most German Shepherds will be diligent in their potty training once it’s instilled, crate training is very important and should be started at a young age.
It will ensure your dog learns early that they need to hold it. You should also be available for frequent walks in their early age. The more you can control when the dog goes and when he does not, the easier it will be to make necessary corrections.
It is important to remember not to punish your German Shepherd for a mistake after the fact. They simply won’t remember what they did wrong.
There are a lot of possible issues you may have with your dog. For each of them, there are German Shepherd training tips that will pinpoint the problem, correct the offending behavior and ultimately repair whatever issues may have arisen because of them.
If your dog continues to behave poorly despite everything you’ve done, it might be time to employ the services of a professional. There are more advanced training regimens out there, as well as obedience schools and trainers who can provide hands on assistance and this could be the best money that you spend. Just remember to never give up and work together with your German Shepherd. If you are able to do this you will have a wonderful friend, companion and guard dog who will do anything for you.