My family and I recently acquired a German Shepherd puppy. We got him at 10 weeks old, and were very lucky that the breeder we got him from had already been working on house training. It wasn’t perfect, but with constant attention, it soon broke down the house. However, we quickly decided that training at home was not enough. This pup would need a lot 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, it will be very large. However, he is very adorable and eager to please. It also became clear that as we could see him grow and get stronger every day, we would soon not be able to control him physically. We would have to train it to respond to our verbal commands.
My first course of action was to look for puppy obedience classes in our area. Several were available, but after personal recommendations and scheduling issues, we settled on the Companion Dog Club. We have met once a week for the last seven weeks with a group of like-minded dog owners. We start with the basic commands of sit, look, come, leave and stay. Every week was a struggle with dog control and discipline.
I must say that with the addition of a spike collar, my job just got a whole lot easier. Buddy (our dog) has learned a lot in the last few weeks, but I must say so have I and I have come to understand that puppy training is not accomplished in a week or several weeks, it will be an ongoing process. process for many more years. Consistency, firmness, and lots of praise are the key ingredients to successful puppy training.