# What age do puppies start understanding?



## Mr & Mrs Kirkley (Mar 9, 2012)

Today will be third day with our 8 week old German Shepherd puppy. We've noticed she tends to go to the door and start sniffing around when she needs to potty (she had a couple of accidents when we didn't move fast enough). Most of the time, she does potty when we take her outside, so it seems like she associates going potty with outside. Unless distracted or sleeping, she's starting to look at me when I say her name. When I talk to her, she looks at me and slightly tips her head to the side like she's trying to figure out what I'm saying. How much can an 8 week old German Shepherd understand? Also, at what age are German Shepherds capable of learning basic obedience training?


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## *Lisa* (Nov 20, 2011)

We kept our first few days to a week at home very fun and focused on potty training & crate training. There would be days when we'd think she'd understand to go outside, and then she'd seemingly forget the next day.

At 17 weeks, Jazmyn now consistently asks to go outside by walking down the hallway towards the doorway (in our apartment, this would be her only need to head down the hallway. Funny enough, this past week, she will actually grab her leash off the stairs on her own, drag it to us, sit for a treat and wait for us to get ready to go outside.

We started teaching basic obedience right away, but just sit and lay down to start. Jazmyn caught on very very quickly for those 2 items. As she caught onto those items, we taught her a few more things, like just focusing on her name ("say her name, give her a treat") or teaching her "watch me" over and over again. We also practiced manners, like waiting for her food bowl, or politely walking through a door. Just kept it really like & fluffy haha.

They learn so quickly. Take it at your puppy's pace and have fun!


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## TaZoR (Jan 26, 2012)

Tazor started learning at 8 weeks, but just when I think he is amazing and is trained at something..he back tracks on me. I bragged he was potty trained at about 3 different ages lol.

It is important to be consistent with training early as well as being reasonable in your requests. Basic commands will sink in though. 

Dont forget pics 

Jen


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## GSDkid (Apr 19, 2011)

Start Obedience training immediately. I wish I got my girl when she was 8. We got Abby when she was 11 weeks, lived outside with mom. We had to house break her and potty train her so we took her out every 3 hours. Did that routine for a month and gradually gave her longer waiting periods. 

Give treats everytime your pup reacts to her name. I'm having to do this again because everytime she does a trick, I say "Good Girl" and give her a treat. Now she thinks her name is "good girl". LOL.


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## Laney (Feb 12, 2012)

I am not a professional but from my experience it is different with every puppy. Rivers (now 8 months old) had a severe UTI when I first got him at 9 weeks, so potty training was difficult because he "leaked" everywhere and had no control over his bladder. I had to take him out to go potty about every half hour...even in the middle of the night  (so glad that is over!). So I didn't focus on that until he was healthy. That did make crate training VERY important, which he didn't have ANY trouble with 
I didn't have to train him sit. On day one...I looked at him (with no treat in hand) and said "Rivers, sit." He instantly sat. This made me very proud. 
He learned "down" within the first few days of being home. 
And he knew his name perfectly in about a week.
I don't know if this is the usual case, but they can learn a lot while they are young. These puppies are VERY smart! Have fun with yours!


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## bocron (Mar 15, 2009)

They are ALWAYS learning, especially at that age . We start obedience training the second they walk in the door, it's just not class type obedience. We do things like teach them to always sit in front of us for attention (we never pet, cuddle or give a treat if they are jumping up). We reward constantly when they look us in the eye, and start introducing a command for that ASAP. We start teaching sit and down in a fun way as well. They will learn bad habits just as easily as good habits, so keep that in mind. Even if you don't think you are training, you are!


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## 1sttimeforgsd (Jul 29, 2010)

Since this is just your first week with her I would mostly concentrate on the potty training and bonding with her. It sounds like she is catching on to the outside for potty thing pretty quickly, keep up the good work.


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## Loneforce (Feb 12, 2012)

Jonas is a very smart shepherd at 8 weeks .... Quick learner


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## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

I agree- start now. Get into a puppy class, but you can be teaching her name, come and sit are commands she should know soon. If she's going to the door to go out you can reinforce that by hanging a bell from the doorknob and teaching her to hit it with her nose when she has to go out. As you've noticed, they're incredibly smart and eager to learn especially at this age so don't miss out by waiting too long. Congrats on your new pup!


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## Skribbles (Jan 11, 2012)

We picked up Chloe at 8 weeks. At 8.5 weeks she had figured out how to ring the bells on the door when she wanted out. That's not to say she was accident free but she learned the concept right away.


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## Ken Clean-Air System (Feb 27, 2012)

Start on basic commands like sit, work on recall, and engagement right away. Teaching that eye contact with people is a good thing is important and can be started very young. Also, even if you don't need guidance in training find and enroll in a puppy class with a good positive reinforcement based trainer if for no other reason than socialization with other people and puppies.


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## Good_Karma (Jun 28, 2009)

Doesn't matter what you teach as long as it's fun for both of you!

For me personally, I found that once I learned how to train, my puppies learned fast, lol!


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

bocron said:


> They are ALWAYS learning, especially at that age . We start obedience training the second they walk in the door, it's just not class type obedience. We do things like teach them to always sit in front of us for attention (we never pet, cuddle or give a treat if they are jumping up). We reward constantly when they look us in the eye, and start introducing a command for that ASAP. We start teaching sit and down in a fun way as well. They will learn bad habits just as easily as good habits, so keep that in mind. Even if you don't think you are training, you are!


Absolutely! We had a 10 hour trip home from Oregon with Dena at 9 weeks old, and I sat in the back seat next to her crate while my husband drove. When she wasn't sleeping (or shrieking, lol!), I was teaching her her name, and marking and rewarding her for eye contact. They are capable of learning quite a bit from a very young age, but keep it short, simple, and very positive. Puppies have very short attention spans and aren't going to figure out complex tasks, but you can do a lot of foundation work starting right now, things than can be built upon later.


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