# Training Sequence?



## JS_280 (Apr 6, 2011)

I've searched quite a bit on here and can't seem to find anything, so forgive me if this has been covered before...

My wife and I are expecting a GSD puppy around the end of June (she's due May 10). This will be the first GSD that we have owned and definitely the first dog that I have had an interest in training. 

With that said, is there a suggested order of actions to train listed on this forum somehwere? For example, one video I have watched suggests the first thing you should teach a dog after familiarizing the dog with the clicker is the "Touch" command which can be carried over and used for training many other actions. After "Touch" I would assume that "sit", "down", "stay" and "shake" are other actions that will help to build into more complicated actions later down the line.

If you could point me in the right direction or give me any other suggestions it would be most appreciated.

Many thanks!


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## mhadz (Apr 7, 2011)

*This will help*

first of congratulations in advance for you getting a GSD 
there's a lot of technics that you can use to train GSD or any other dog, you'll just need a lot of patience and determination, since repetition is one of the key to train it. I'll give you a link of site that offers great tutorial and trainings for german shepherd puppies.
But of course feel free to browse the forum guide and look into others posts to learn more. I personally went to the site because of a friend's recommendation. It helped me a lot!


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## DJEtzel (Feb 11, 2010)

A lot of people train differently, but I do not feel that the Touch command is very important as puppies. Start with teaching his/her name. Then commands such as sit, focus, come, down, and stay should all be being worked on at the same time. You won't proof any of them for months, so work on training them all. You also want to pay special attention to loose lead walking as a puppy as well. Good luck!


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

I would work on focus first. Recalling the pup to you is a life-saving important tool so that would be what I work on as well. The other commands will come, when you see a pup in the position mark it with the word, and praise. 
If you are training in a "formal session" only do 5 minutes at a time for a baby puppy. This video is showing engagement, luring into positions, marking the position and recalling.


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## JS_280 (Apr 6, 2011)

Great replies...I completely forgot about "look" or "focus". That will definitely be an important one to teach right off the bat. Thanks for the suggestions as we anxiously await our new puppy.


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## szariksdad (Jun 25, 2010)

I like to start with the sequence of teaching name and then look and then recall as the most important the next kind of fall into place.


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

In the first few weeks after I bring home a new puppy I work on teaching name recognition, reinforcing focus, short recalls, sit, down, touch, find it, and walking with me (off leash around the house) using a treat lure. I like to teach an automatic sit when I stop, and I'll introduce "wait". 

I also work on retrieving by rolling a ball a couple of feet and encouraging the puppy to get it and bring it back. Tugging is good too - you can teach her to give up a toy on cue by holding a treat right up to her nose, marking it when she lets go of the toy, and then giving her the treat. I do trading games so that the puppy learns to trust me, and won't develop resource guarding behaviors. 

I don't worry about stay right away, that usually follows a bit later, (although you can teach her an implied stay, where she's to remain in position until released), or tricks like rolling over or shake, but there's no reason you can't do them sooner if you want. Introduce a release command, and impulse control around food. I like this game - it's sort of a default "leave it" where the puppy learns that he can get what he wants by leaving it alone and focusing on you instead: 






I use some of the puppy's daily kibble as training treats and spend some time every day working with them. Training sessions should be very short as a young puppy will have a very short attention span, and be sure to keep it FUN! Most of my training around the house is off leash, but you can have her drag a leash around to get her used to wearing it, and it's also handy to grab if she tries to wander off or you need to run her outside for a potty trip. 

I don't have a particular order I teach things and I don't believe it's necessary to do one or two things at a time before adding anything else. I spend an awful lot of time just hanging out with the puppy, marking and rewarding any behavior I like and want to encourage. The more behavior is reinforced, the more likely it is to occur.


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

Lots of great info here: Digital Dog Training Textbook | Dog Star Daily


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