# 10 week old german shepherd



## JamesMackin

Ok so my puppy is pretty playful, I dont take her for long walks its pretty cold out, i play with her alot in my room, she gets tired, then jumps on to the bed and sleeps. My main 2 questions are, what tricks should it know by now? It barely knows "come", she is pretty agressive to, not to my mom, but to me and my dad,(im 17/m) she is a great dog, and i do not beleive in hitting, i no puppys bite, nut she gets very nippy and isnt shy to aim to the face, and i cant have this as there is small children in the house, im consistant with the basic comands, im working on come and sit.
Is there certain tricks they should know by a certain age? will the biting stop as she grows? 

Any info would be great

Thanks Jmaes


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## Liesje

By ten weeks mine had sit, down, speak, and was working on come.

A ten week old is not aggressive, just playful. Don't encourage really hyper play where the puppy gets all worked up around people and startes biting hands, pants, etc. Yes, they will bite at your face at this age, they don't mean anything by it. Some people yelp and turn away (like another puppy would), I just say "no bite!" in a serious voice and walk away from the puppy. He learns that getting rough means I leave and he has no one to play with. Also I make sure he has plenty of things TO bite. We play lots of tug and chasing rags and balls. He has many dog toys and chews.


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## DianaM

Good advice and info from Lies. Have you signed up for puppy classes, yet? You should be all prepared to jump into classes as soon as your vet gives the OK.







Classes help LOADS!


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## JamesMackin

Yeah thanks for the info and very quick replies. She has tons of toys, and i rigged this squeaky toy up to shoe laces to a hook in the roof, and she loves that. Yeah she loves the pants too, i kinda live outa town aways from the closest place that even offers classes, i read its important to be around other dogs, so i have the advantage of my sisters two dogs, a dalmation and chiauwaua.
Do any of you think if im consistant enough i could train it to be a good dog, in my home?


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## DianaM

James, classes are so much more than dog training. They teach you how to teach your dog, they help you and your dog bond, they help you work through problems, they're great for socialization in a controlled environment, they're just GREAT. PLEASE take classes, at least one puppy class and one basic obedience class with a GOOD trainer (not a petsmart/petco class) and you will be SO THRILLED you did.


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## JamesMackin

what would you say ages are for the puppy and obedience classes?

Yeah see i was thinking about what petsmart offers and thats still far from home.


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## benkllr

Welcome!

At 10 weeks, mine also had sit/down/come/touch down pretty solid. Try doing some short training sessions with her, before you feed her. it really doesnt take much, they learn soo fast. Have you given any thought to how you will train? Clicker/Marker? There is alot of good information on this board, I'd suggest looking through all the /stickies and assimilating as much info as you can. Whatever training path you take, stick to it. Get her in a routine of what you expect from her. Start instituting the things you're going to want her to do...right now. 

The biting...I know how you feel. Mine is 4.5 months, and he's still a little crocidile. Just be consistant, I've tried the Yelping technique. I know at first, he was biting kind of hard...but since teh yelping techinque..now he barely just mouths me. He is teething like crazy...just lost his first tooth..so I'm sure his jaws are screaming. I've been told they mellow out on the biting after they are done teething...I'm waiting to see myself. Good luck.

Puppy classes are a major +++++. If anything it will teach you how to train her. And it will introduce her to major distractions, and she still needs to listen to you even with that cute foo-foo dog so close...lol


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## Castlemaid

Hi James from another BC-er!

Your pup sounds totally AWESOME!!! I think you can be very proud of her! At 10 weeks old, don't worry so much about what she "should" know, and just enjoy her and continue having fun with her. There really isn't anything a 10 week old should know, except how to be a puppy, and how to have fun, and it seems you got those areas covered. 

I didn't even start teaching my puppy any tricks or commands until he was 5 or 6 months old, but of course, you can start now, as you are doing. Remember that their attention span is equal to that of a goldfish at this age, so training sessions should only be about 5 minutes long, if that!

What I did with my pup is encourage behaviours that I wanted. For the first few months, I went through life with my pockets full of kibble and treats. Pup comes to me when he sees me? Good boy! Here is some treats! Going for a walk on leash and pup stops sniffing, trots up to my left side and raises his head to look at me? GOOD BOY!!! treats treats treat!!!! 

Pup sits for me while I put his collar on? SUPER!!! Tons of treats!!!
At this stage, think more of shaping the behaviour you want, and less of "training". They are like 4 years old in pre-school, all play and fun, and they don't even realize that they are (sneakily) being taught things. 

As for the nipping, that is normal play. Nothing agressive about it. That is how your puppy is trying to engage you to play with him, and puppies play a lot! Of course it hurts, and should be discouraged (the nipping - not the wanting to play with you), and you seem to be on the right track. The best way to deal with this is to ALWAYS have some puppy toy at hand, and re-direct her nipping you and others to a toy. As soon as she is starts, grab a toy, stuff it in her mouth, and tug!!! Get everyone in your household on board with this, as you pointed out, consistency is important!

She will outgrow the nipping, it should taper off by the time she is done teething about six months. So there is going to be a lot of nipping and re-directing to deal with until then. 

She should be 100% supervised around small children, and I'm 100% serious about this. A puppy isn't any more responsible for her actions than a toddler, and nipping and rough play can accidently hurt a small child, especially as pup gets older. So if you are not 100% around to watch her, and your parents cannot watch her 100% of the time, keep her crated or baby-gated in another room, for her own good. You really want to avoid a situation where the pup jumps on a small child in play, hurts the child, and now the pup is "bad" and labeled a biter when it was puppy nipping excitment and normal puppy play! All can be avoided with proper supervision. As for the nipping the face, easy solution on that one: Keep your face out of reach! 

Welcome to the forum by the way, I hope that you get lots of good info and help around here.


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## Castlemaid

Just wanted to chime in that classes ROCK!!! Very true about needing to be around other dogs, but the more dogs you pup can interact with, the better! That is what classes are for! I have an older dog at home that my pup plays with all the time, but he was still shy around dogs he didn't know, so I go and continue going to classes with him to socialize him to new dogs, new people, new situations. I you live out of town, you will have to make an extra effort to take her INTO town, and get her used to strangers, noises, traffic, and everything and anything. This is super important, or you will end up with a pup that is fearful and unsure of anything new or unfamiliar.


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## Liesje

> Originally Posted By: JamesMackinwhat would you say ages are for the puppy and obedience classes?
> 
> Yeah see i was thinking about what petsmart offers and thats still far from home.


Mine started a puppy class and Schutzhund club at 11 weeks (waited until second set of shots). My club is a 45 minute drive each way and SchH club is 1.75 hours each way.


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## Kayos and Havoc

I also live a ways out from good stuff so you have to make the extra effort to do these things for the dog, it will pay off or the rest of your dogs life. 

You can also go online to http://www.dogwise.com and find one or two good puppy training books and read up and work at home. This should not take the place of a good class but augment it. 

A 10 week old is a baby but babies are sponges and can learn quickly in a positive manner. Great advice from Lies and Lucia!


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## Jake's Mom

We live WAY out in the country. It takes a real effort to find people, dogs, and places to take Jake (11 weeks). Once or twice a week we load up and drive an hour to town. His puppy classes start next week and we'll be driving over an hour to get there. 

The upside of being way out here . . . he's great with livestock!


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## Kayos and Havoc

Good for you!!! If you have made the commitment to the dog you have to follow through with what the dog needs not what you want.


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## Deejays_Owner

Hi &







from Ontario









Like the others have said, keep the training sessions very short, 2 -> 3 Min's at a time a few times a day.
Here is a short Video that I just uploaded to YouTube, of my Daughter & her pup.

---> Raven 10 Wks


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## MaggieRoseLee

*tricks to train 10 week old puppy?*


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## Jake's Mom

*Re: tricks to train 10 week old puppy?*

I forgot to add that add 10 weeks Jake knew:
sit, down, come, stand, gimme five, plus lots of household cues!


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## thezinger

*Re: tricks to train 10 week old puppy?*

i dont quite remember what my kyah knew at 10 weeks. i think she just new sit, and had just figured out her name.

i remember reading on here at what everyone elses dog knew a that age and thought maybe i was doing something wrong, but i dont think knowing tons of commands at a young age makes any difference in the long run.

shes 17 weeks old now and has a learned lots of new commands/words.
she knows, sit, down, come, off(for jumping on people/furniture), drop it. she can fetch now.. she knows what dinner, outside, walk, car, misha(means we are going to my parents to see their dog(misha)). she knows heel to a certain extent and we are still working on stay.

a lot of them weren't even trying to teach her the word, she just picked up on it. they are very smart. find a treat or something she really likes, it will focus her on you and you can start teaching her something.

anyways, my point is my dog didnt know much more then yours at 10 weeks, and now only 7 weeks later has learned so much IMO. so i wouldnt worry about it.

also this site is a great resource for ways to train certain commands.


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## Smith3

*Re: tricks to train 10 week old puppy?*

Koch will be 10 weeks tomorrow. Sit is just starting to click, down does a bit, she can cue she has to go to the bathroom, and we starting working on come and stay today. She sits before I hope any doors. I don't expect her to know much at 10 weeks, by 12 i expect sit and down to be "functional" but not always followed. We prescribe to the "positive" methods and use a clicker to assist along with tasty treats. It is great when you see things starting to "click" with your pup

She will LATCH onto my jeans though. I mean, she will grip and not let go. We are working on that, but most often it is an indication that she has to go poop! (at least it is what I have found). But, when she gets onto my jeans I will stop ALL play time and she has started to get the hint. But if she persists, i take her outside to potty, so it might be a hint for you as well!

Koch will get her next set of shots next week, so hopefully she will be able to get into some classes soon. We can't wait to really start socialization!


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## doggiedad

*Re: tricks to train 10 week old puppy?*

don't over load your dog. she's only 10 weeks old. clicker training, sitting, come and stay. i think that's alot. at 12 weeks you want her to sit and down and be fuctional (whatever fuctional is) but not always following the command. sounds like you're going to teach her that it's ok to follow a command sometimes. i would work on one command at a time. i always put my dogs on a training schedule. we practice one thing. each session last 5 to 10 minutes and we end on a positive note. we have 4 to 6 sessions a day.

i've never trained a dog before they were 4 months old. my trainers always said bring them to them at 4 months old. my dogs knew some basic things before the formal training at 4 months. they were house broken (within 2 weeks), they knew their names, they're crate trained and they would come when called. they didn't know much more. then when i took them to the trainer at 4 months all of the good stuff starts.

that latching on to your jeans might be part of the nipping stage. you stop all play when she does this and you take her outside. you might be teaching her that when she latches on to your pants she can go outside. she needs another cue to let you know when she wants to go outside.

good luck with Koch.


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## doggiedad

when my dog was teething i would give him ice cubes. i also massaged his jaws/mouth. sometimes i would wipe my hands down with alchohol then wash them with soap and water. after drying i would put my finger in his mouth and gently massage/rub his gums.

when my dog was going through the nipping stage i would hold him by some neck fur and say "no biting". then i would rub his face. if he nipped again, which he always did i would repeat said action. i don't think this worked. i think he just grew out of the nipping stage. my boy is 19 months old and he'll still grab a body part every now and then. he'll put his mouth on you but it doesn't hurt. he doesn't bite down. now it's more like a lick-nip.


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## pamlarouge

Hi James-congrats on the new puppy! She sounds like a lot of fun









I got Sammy when he was 2 months, and we actually started doing some easy stuff with him a week two after we first got him. Of course, like the others have said, you can't expect her to catch on right away, although Sammy was super quick to learn things like sit, stay, give me your paw, give (something) to me, and roll over. Sit, stay and down were the first things he learned, and lately he's mastered the others, as well as "don't touch" "come" and many many household cues.

I would strongly agree with the others that taking a good training class is the best idea, especially if you've never trained a dog before from the very beginning. I understand what it's like to be in a position where it's difficult to travel to classes! I'm in that position now, although, I've taken my other 2 dogs to training classes in the past so I'm a *little* more familiar with some of the methods. If you can't get to a class, spend a lot of time reading on this forum in the puppy section, also MaggieRoseLee gives great advice (thanks again Maggie!)-she's helped me a lot and I've seen great changes with my Sammy since I've started doing some new stuff.

Biting is really normal at this stage-I've had puppies before, but never ever did they bite like Sammy did and still does. Here's what I did to work with Sammy's biting-first we worked on his bite inhibition-puppies generally don't realize that it hurts you when they bite. So, from now on, anytime she bites you yelp LOUDLY. Not so loud as to make her run away and hide, but loud enough so that she stops biting and looks at you questioningly. This will teach her really quickly that biting HURTS! Do it every time, no exceptions, and remember that if she keeps biting you and doesn't pay attention to your yelp, it wasn't loud enough







Also, like the others said, don't encourage biting when you play with her-don't shove hands in her face or play "catch the hand", etc. GSD's have a strong prey drive, which means they will instinctually try to catch things that act like prey (such as petting hands). If you go to pet her and she makes like she will bite you, pet anyway, don't pully your hand away, it could increase her biting. 

Remember that whenever you're training your dog to do something, it's always better to reward her for doing the right thing rather than scolding for doing the wrong. You might have to be creative in how you do this, but here's an example for biting. While she's biting you, issue the command "don't bite" or "don't touch" "leave it" etc...just say it once and wait for her to stop. When she does, giver her lots of praise and a treat. However, since she's still so young, don't be too hard on her with the biting. A really young puppy like her could get away with a lot in a pack of dogs at her age, so you should gradually show her that you expect better behavior over time. 

I hope that helps! Just be patient-for us the biting part has been hard to deal with, but now that we understand the why and how of dealing with it, it's much better


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## MaggieRoseLee

*tricks to train 10 week old puppy?*


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## LedZep

*Re: tricks to train 10 week old puppy?*

First - welcome! Congrats on your puppy. I have had 4 GSDs in my life and several other dogs - and I have to admit that I suck as a trainer/leader. With my current dog (just over a year old now) I have really tried to make a better effort. I'd love to go back in time to a year ago when my pup was the age yours is and start over. So, I'll offer some thoughts - with all that in mind.

1. Have fun with the puppy! Enjoy the magical puppy months, and have tons of fun together.
2. As often as possible, get the pup around as many people and other dogs as possible (wait for all the shots before too much exposure to dogs). 
3. Start training immediately. Not formal, strict boring training, but incorporate a few minutes several times per day of training. Here is where you'll run into confusion and decisions - every one and his brother will offer different advice about how you should train. If I were starting all over with a baby, I would use clicker training right off the bat. You can get a couple of good books on the topic, or just surf this site and links for some great online material. 
4. Don't allow the puppy biting to get a foothold. I am still trying to ween my 14 month old from biting, and he is far more powerful now than when he was a cute little fur ball. Some suggest showing the pain and squealing, but I prefer just saying "ah-ah, no bite!" and then walk away for a few minutes. As others have said - they learn this is not acceptable, and the play stops if they bite people. 

I struggle to find classes also, and I don't even live in the country. That's why the clicker training is so good - you can (and should) do it at home or where ever you are. Best of luck! Keep us posted.


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## trudy

*Re: tricks to train 10 week old puppy?*

Welcome, My guy is 9 months old, we are finishing our third pup classes, and are registered for our first pup agility. He doesn't do everything perfect. But the whole point is I am happy with the social aspect, great manners and usual compliance to any command and most situations. I know that when i am ready to compete I will fine tune these commands and have an awesome obedience dog who enjoys doing it. I never want a dog to obey looking unhappy or rote. I want a dog who looks like he is having fun and is comfortable in all places.
My point is don't push the commands and say okay at this age he must do this and that. Let him enjoy being a pup and build the bond, if the sit is slow or lop sided or what ever don't stress it will be there when it is. HAVE FUN play with commands and make it social and happy


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