Hi Tana, I can's stress this enough...CONSISTANC Y is the most
important thing you can do for your pup. My sister trains seeing eye
dogs and PAL dogs and she has given me some really good tips over the
years. She takes all her ques from wolf behavior...and these have
ALL worked for us.

First...your dog will NEVER come to you consistantly if you ever get
angry and yell "get over here"...would YOU go to someone screaming at
you?...what we did with our two GS's was to get a long (15ft) horse
line (like they train horses with...they are light weight cotton
leads) and when we were out with Zovy and Zepplin in the yard...one
of us would have one on the line. I would say..."Zovy come...and of
course she would ignore me in the beginning. I would keep
saying..."Zovy COME" in a gentle voice while "reeling" her to me with
the line..When she finally was in front of me I would shower her with
praise and "good girls" (no treats)..just verbal praise and love.
She understood "coming to her" will get me praise and pets...

We started when they were 10 weeks, everytime we were out side and
finally the line was no longer needed. To this day 7 years
later...neither of those dogs has EVER refused to COME when we
call...now all we need do is say COME and they are right there...even
when there is a deer or bunny that would be much more fun to chase...

Another thing we did was to train them to go potty on command. We
had to think of one word that we would never use in the house...

EXIT is the word we use...We started when they would pee or poop on
their paper in the house. When we took the paper out to the place
where we wanted them to go when they were bigger...we would take them
as well and put the paper down and say "EXIT" and point their noses
at it. When they were finally big enough to go outside to do their
business...and did finally pee or poop...(yes we had to wait around)
we would say EXIT at the moment they were doing whichever, then loads
of praise and "good dogs". I never had to wait while they decided
to "go"...I let them out and say EXIT and they go right out and do
it. Now...we do accompany the going poop with a treat upon return.

We also have always had large kennels for them to have as THEIR
places...the kids were never allowed to go into the kennels and the
pups knew they could "get away" from people into their "dens" when
they needed. We've never had the doors on those kennels and to this
day they sleep in them every night. We got the large grey plastic
crates...but if you get the metal grid crates, cover them with a
blanket so they have darkness and quiet when they need it.

Oh and another thing to remember.... NEVER let YOUR head get below
your dogs head....this is very important in Wolf behavior. That
means no rolling on the floor with your puppy or dog. That's when
they take the upper and hand...and as a young dog that's not a good
thing...Always stay above your dogs head. Also...it's best not to
rough house with your dog in the first year to 18 months. Keep them
calm and only gentle play...remember you are patterning them for the
rest of their life in that first 2 years.

We had a "reunion" with our dogs siblings a year after we all got
them and ours sat and watched as the rest were berserk! We were so
glad our dogs were the one's sitting and mellow while the others were
just wild. Believe me...Zovy and Zepplin play...roughhouse with each
other and will run with us...but do not roughhouse with us...which is
when owners accidently get hurt.

So...consistancy is key...gentleness and firm commands with a tender
voice. LOVE and Praise when they are good. Turn your back and
ignore them when they are bad...make a statement that unacceptable
behavior will only get them ignored...and. ..as with kids...the most
horrible thing is withholding love...withholding affection is the
worse punishment.. .

hope some of this helps...we have the best two German Shepards in the
world...oh.. .and having two is a great idea...they are each others
best friends and companions and playmates. love and peace...lynnann

--- In German_Shepherd_ Puppies@yahoogro ups.com, Tana <tana820@... >
wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> I look forward to hearing from other gs owners to get tips on
training my pup, he's 7 weeks old.
>
>
Tana
>
>
> ~Tana~
>
>
>
>
>
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