What age to start

[thittle]

First off, Hello and thank you for the information you provide. My brother and I just purchased 2 German Shepherds (one each Harley and Xena). They are currently 8 weeks. Even at this age I have been teaching them to come and sit and they are picking it up. At this point this is all just fun and games to them. At what age should we start training at a higher achievment expectation?

Thanks again

[Mike D'Abruzzo]

There is a lot you can do at this age, but I wouldnt start on anything that involves any type of exercises that involves correction until closer to 6 months of age and even then be sure to always use the minimal amount necessary.

At this age i would recommend:

1. Lots of socialization! The more good experiences with dogs and different people the better. Stay up to date on vaccines and also bring to different environments with different walking surfaces, etc.

2. Work on positive based training. You will be amazed at the vocabulary you can build at this age with your pups and the amount of commands you can teach them using food, toys, or affection as a reward. This will give you a huge head start when they arer a bit older and ready to do more formal training.,

3. Work on proper play and interaction exercises. Lead games of tug, fetch, etc. Dont give affection when they are jumping on you. Set the pace through leadership exercises.

4. If doing leash walking out and about in public I would recommend the gentle harness made by premier that hook on the front of the chest. They are safe and will help prevent very bad pulling habits until ready for formal training.

5. Puppy massage important now too. IO have to post info and a vid on this still, but the concept is simple. Handle all those annoying places on a dog that may irritate them as they get older - ears, feet, teeth, etc. Give treats and make it positive from an rearly age.

I will be continually adding to the self help section of the site. The more you master the concepts (especially layer 5!) the better at this age.

hope this helps.

[thittle]

Yes, it does help. It was in fact exactly what I was looking for. As I said, right now all the "training" is fun to them, no correction and just lots of love for doing the right thing and an occasional treat.

Puppy message is something I didn't think about, thanks that's good information.