A sound temperament is a must in a German Shepherd Dog (GSD). By sound, I mean a disposition where one minute you can let a protection trained GSD play alone with your 5-year old child, pull on its ears, pet its head, tug on its tail and NEVER-EVER be in harms way; while the next minute, it should turn into the “terminator” and crush its enemies as soon as it senses an intruder.

There are three conventional methods of dog training that you can choose from in order to train you German Shepherd Dog (GSD). They are training with treats, training with treats and clickers, and training with praise. All three methods of training will work; however, there is one that stands out from the rest. That is, oral praise. Why? Because you want your dog to listen to your commands even when you don’t have any toys, clickers, and/or food. Imagine you dog wanting to jump at your every command simply because it wants your praise and love and not because you are going to bribe it with treats. Once your dog gets used to getting treats for performance, it will cease to perform when you don’t have any more treats left. So, treat your GSD with kindness, and train it with praise. Read the rest of this entry »