Training

German Shepherds are far from difficult to train. They are one of the most intelligent and trainable of all the dog breeds. But unless you are a highly experienced dog owner, training classes are definitely advisable for the German Shepherd Dog and its owner.

Why? To begin with, it will help to socialize your dog. With all dogs, early socialization is necessary in order to accustom them to new experiences, new sounds, new places and new people. The more varied a dog’s experience when it is young, the better prepared it will be to cope with those things when it encounters them later in life. This is all the more important with a dog such as the German Shepherd.

Just as importantly, dog training classes are equally beneficial to dog owners, particularly those with little or no experience of dogs. Dogs are pack animals. Like all pack animals, they will look for a leader to follow. If a dog such as the German Shepherd Dog does not find strong leadership from its owner, it will assume the role of leader of the pack itself. And that is the last thing you need with a dog as big and powerful as a German Shepherd.

And don’t think that training your German Shepherd can wait until it is older. It cannot. Teaching your German Shepherd Dog right from wrong and good from bad has to begin from day one. Your German Shepherd will be a much happier German Shepherd if it understands that it has to abide by your rules, not his!

There are bound to be dog training classes in your area. There are also many excellent books available on the subject. One we can highly recommend is How to Train Your German Shepherd by Liz Palika.