# German Shepherd training at 9 months



## Nima (Jul 16, 2010)

I've just bought a GSD and he's 9 months old.

I will be starting his obedience training in a week. He only responds to the command 'sit' but it's not fully established. Is it still possible to train him from now? I know its preferred when they are much much younger but I still like to train him now.

He has not been desexed and he jumps a lot. How can I go about stopping that behaviour? Although I will be desexing him in 2 weeks, will that help his jumping? Will he calm down?

Also, how can I go about toilet training him? He just does his business wherever in the backyard at the moment.

Thanks for ANY help


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## RobD-BCactive (Jul 1, 2010)

Don't worry!

Started a class at Dog training club recently, with a 16 week puppy. All the other dogs seem fully grown, few of them youngsters like your dog. Many of them seemed rather unruly and a handful.

In practice, all the dogs, responded to the postive training methods, and were successfully completing the basic exercises, despite some of them looking like unpromising referral's from Dog Borstal or It's Me and My Dog at the beginning.


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## Daggre (May 2, 2010)

Of course you can start training  GSDs are very intelligent and if you use positive training it should be fine!

You can teach 'off' to stop jumping, kikopup on youtube has a guide:
YouTube - How to stop Jumping up!- clicker dog training

^^ great channel BTW, has most commands on there.

Not sure about training him to go in a certain spot, Star is allowed to go anywhere


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## RobD-BCactive (Jul 1, 2010)

I'll try answering the TT question : The standard tactic on toilet training, is whilst they do the business you say a trigger word, then praise and reward with training treats. Then after a while you can take your dog to a suitable spot, and use the word to trigger the job.

If you're thinking you want the dog to go in a particular spot in your yard, you basically should have them go there, say the word, and after a while the dog should naturally prefer it.

Changing surfaces might be more difficult, if they've not been on it as a puppy.

There's a big deal about toilet training, precisely because it tends to involve fair amount of supervision to avoid "accidents" which set things back considerably.


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## Nima (Jul 16, 2010)

Great!

Thanks all for your help. I had that idea with the toilet training so I'm going to go ahead with it and I feel more confident in taking him to class.

One other thing that arose last night..it was his first night here and he didn't take it so well. Throughout the night he was barking. We have dogs surrounding us but none of them were barking much. My dog was just walking around barking for no reason so dad and I had to go to the shed and sit in there with him from 4:30 till 7:30. He was perfectly fine sitting down after a few jumps here and there and slept...is this a new home transition phase? How long does this last?

Thanks AGAIN for any help


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## RobD-BCactive (Jul 1, 2010)

It could be a 1 night thing, or every night for ever more, depending on how you deal with issues and why the dog barks.

I personally think you should try to make sure the dog is familiar with the shed, have access to it's water there in the day, bedding and be able to relax there, so it feels secure there at night. Then if you do decide to get up, try to reward a period of peace and calm, not let on to the dog that the barking is what's bringing you to him and minimise fuss and attention during sleep hours.

My young dog sleeps happily in a back porch after a week spent there at night, and hangs out there fair amount in the day, even without dog bedding being down, despite his usual location being inside house by some French Windows.


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## Burrowzig (Feb 18, 2009)

It's asking a lot to expect a new dog with strange people in a strange place NOT to bark at night when he's left in a shed by himself. He will be feeling very unsettled and (as you found) needs your company and will quiet down when you are with him. As he gets used to being with you, it should get better - but can't he live in the house, at least for a while?


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## JjPhoenix (Jan 6, 2010)

yes i also wanted to ask, why the shed? I also have a rescue german shepherd, she was a semi feral fed on birdseed, she has a crate next to my bed and near my staffys crate, she settled after a night. 
training will be fine at that age, if i can recommend a book to you, 

100 ways to train the perfect dog by sarah fisher and marie miller, honestly its the pet dog owners bible, helps with socialising too.


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## Nima (Jul 16, 2010)

He slept through the night like a baby last night. He responded to barking when other dogs barked but it was very little, only a few barks and that was it so I'm very happy with how he's settled now that I think of the reason. I think everyone has misunderstood me lol he wasn't in the shed, he was roaming around the garden the whole night and then cause dad has a computer with the internet in the shed, he went to the shed and sat with the dog while he was researching a bit about the barking, as he was doing that the dog was lying next to him sleeping. We spent 4-7am in the shed with him and he was snoring. It was good to make him feel safe and see him sleep.

Thanks for all the help, very much appreciated :thumbup:


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## RobD-BCactive (Jul 1, 2010)

You should train him to surf the net then, and find the solutions to yr problems himself then :lol:


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## PoisonGirl (Oct 24, 2008)

He will sleep better if you give him somewhere to sleep and ask him to be there.
If he has space, he is more likely to want to use it and not relax.


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## Nima (Jul 16, 2010)

Well I don't want to lock him up in the shed. He is using his kennel now which is good, before he would sit on top of it lol. He has been good for these last few nights which is relaxing. Thanks for everyone's help :thumbup:


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## Nima (Jul 16, 2010)

Oh I forgot...Is getting bones good for him? I didn't think it is a good idea cause he is a bit of a leg nipper so I thought it would encourage him..


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## RobD-BCactive (Jul 1, 2010)

Having bones to chew on, won't encourage leg nipping.

In fact having something like a bone / toys that's his, that are allowed activities are necessary to replace the playful nipping behaviour you dislike. 

You must have the behaviours you want in mind, so you can encourage those, not just be negative when he's doing something you would rather he didn't. Reards can be training treats, praise, or fun games he likes.


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