German Shepherd dog training class in Los Angeles

     The majority of German Shepherd dogs enrolled in the Head Start puppy training classes have responded quickly to the training exercises, particularly with the "go to place" command and the "stay" command. Our experience has been that many German Shepherd puppies tend to be very vocal, and usually respond better using social praise rather than food. We have also found a behavioral difference between the Sable colored German Shepherd puppies as opposed to the traditional black & tan. We have also found that hand signals particularly effective in training the German Shepherd dog.

     Owners with German shepherds need to be aware that, on their own, individuals usually become naturally protective of their territory, and protective of their owners and family, without any further specific training beyond the basic obedience. We do not recommend specialized protection training which could become very problematic.

      Early training of the German shepherd puppy is recommended to avoid later behavioral problems occasionally seen in German shepherds such as fear biting, dominance aggression and over-protectiveness. These kinds of problems, however, appear to happen more frequently in individuals obtained from puppy mill breeding stock.