Potty training a German shepherd puppy takes time and consistency but is not at all stressful. Persistence is the key to any kind of dog training type. With all dog owners, whenever you bring your German shepherd pup or in fact puppy of any breed to your home, the first thing you make him learn is to poo and pee at right places. Anyone would hate to clean the mess every day and would eventually start hating their puppy. I have some experience of potty training various german shepherd puppies and I would love to share some tips and tactics with fellow dog lovers.
So, the first and most important thing you need to teach your dog is that eliminating his poop inside the house is not an option. He cannot poop inside the house even in case of an emergency. Otherwise, he would poop inside whenever he feels difficult to go outside or convenient.
Tips on How to Potty train a German Shepherd Puppy
1. Reliable Bladder
When your puppy is 20 days old, he can control his body functions. That means he can control his poop whenever necessary. Now it’s up to you how you can take advantage of this feature in him. At 8 to 16 weeks, your puppy can control his pee for approximately 2 hours of time and believe me, that’s a lot of time.
Once your german shepherd puppy is 6 months old, he can control his pee and potty for up to 4 hours. These figures tell us that German shepherds have the capability of being potty trained easily.
2. Nature
German shepherds are naturally clean. In past times when German shepherds used to live in forests and less habituated places, puppies used to eat, pee and poop inside the den. Mom had the responsibility to clean the den. This indicates that German shepherds have a habit of living in clean places, so they won’t oppose getting potty trained. But this also has a downside as they never learn to potty outside the den from their moms.
3. Your Attitude
Potty training a German shepherd is also influenced by your attitude greatly. Your attitude determines how long your dog will be thoroughly potty trained, or will he even be? Do not rush or create a feeling of panic in your puppy, as this will only distract him. By spoiling your dog, you only increase the period he needs to learn.
4. Routine
Like Humans, German Shepherds also needs to Potty first in the morning before doing anything else. They also poop after their meals, after playing and waking up after a good long nap. These timings shall be kept in mind and you should ensure he is outside in the backyard or somewhere he is allowed to poop during this time.
5. Brain Training
Dogs are very Intelligent but their intelligence has to be maximized by using some games called brain training games or brain games. Why do we need to increase their intelligence?
This is because an intelligent dog will grasp all our training techniques better and it would become super easy to potty train or even obedience train any dog. You can have a look at a very inspiring story of a woman and how she trained her misbehaving dog using Brain Training For Dogs.
Also read: How to Prevent Pet Accidents in The Home