Dog Care Frenzy

The German Shepherd dog breed is currently listed as the third most popular dog breed registered with the AKC.  This dog resembles that of its ancestor, the Wolf, an d was originally bred to be the ideal hunting Shepherd and guard dog.

Although this breed went through several name changes during World War I, mainly due to its German heritage, it was officially renamed the German Shepherd and recognized by the AKC in 1931. And while its popularity ranking is down just a bit, it has been a top choice as a family companion for generations.

German Shepherds score very high in terms of protection ability, watchdog status, and training adaptability.  Although playfulness and affection does not rank as high as other dog breeds, the German Shepherd is actually a perfect choice for a family pet.

This dog is extremely protective of its home, as well as members of the family. He is considered aloof and a bit suspicious towards strange people and other animals.  However, they can be tamed and gentle around children and other house pets.

German Shepherd Dog Breed Care And Maintenance

As far as upkeep is concerned, German Shepherds need mental and physical challenges on a daily basis.  With the ability to learn new tricks and obedience lessons, this dog is extremely intelligent.  Physical activity must also be a part of this dog’s daily life.  Long walks and running outside is ideal.

German Shepherd Dog Breed Health Information

What it comes to health issues, there are two concerns that you need to know about: CHD and elbow dysplasia.  Minor health concerns which occasionally strike the German Shepherd dog breed are skin allergies, hemangiosarcoma, malignant neoplasms, cataracts, elbow dysplasia, degenerative myelopathy, gastric torsion, and hot spots.

The lifespan of the average healthy German Shepherd is anywhere between 10 and 12 years.  This is based on a dog who remains healthy and is active throughout its lifetime.  Specific health tests suggested by veterinarians for German Shepherds are elbow dysplasia and hip dysplasia.

Check Price and Availability of German Shepherd Dog Breed Merchandise

The German Pinscher dog is one of the better known of the Pinscher breeds. Its origins date back to the 17th century, and traced to the German Bibarhund and the Tanner of the 14th century. During the 1600s the Rattenfanger was created, which was a mix of black and tan terriers created to make a working ratter and watchdog. The Rattenfanger eventually became the Pinscher.

This Pinscher remained a very hard-working dog for the next few centuries and was valued for its ability to catch rodents and other small game, specifically around stables. Once the popularity of dog shows hit mainstream during the late 1800s, more and more dog enthusiasts became interested in the Pinscher.

The very first Pinscher breed standard was created sometime during 1884 but the dog did not gather enough popularity and their numbers dwindled before the war.  Although there was a large effort to count and register all known Pinschers, these efforts were thwarted by World War II. And by the end of the war, this dog breed was all but extinct.  In fact, not one Pinscher litter was registered in West Germany between the years 1949 and 1958.

This is where the survival of the German Pinscher becomes interesting. The breed would not have been alive today had it not been for the help of a miniature Pinscher, one of its closest descendants. In 1958, four larger-than-normal miniature Pinscher were chosen and then registered in West Germany by the Schnauzer Club.  A female Pinscher was then smuggled from East Germany where some Pinscher dogs still survived.

This female Pinscher was bred with three different miniature Pinscher males and practically every current Pinscher of today descended from those five dogs. German Pinschers then started to show up in the United States sometime during the late 1970s. In 2001, the ACK accepted the German Pinscher dog into the miscellaneous class. And finally, it became an official member of the working group in 2003.

The German Pinscher Dog Personality

The German Pinscher is considered to be extremely courageous, tenacious, and makes the perfect watchdog.  It is very playful and affectionate, yet overly cautious and reserved towards strange dogs and humans it does not know.  It is very alert to intruders and considered to be somewhat stubborn, especially when it comes to training.

German Pinscher Dog Care

Upkeep and maintenance of the German Pinscher takes a bit of attention.  This is one dog that does not like to be left alone or committed to a kennel for any period of time.  It enjoys being right in the middle of all of the action and is most happy when around its owners. The German Pinscher as high energy levels and requires daily exercise, as well as mental stimulation through training. Grooming is simple and only requires the occasional brushing to remove excess dead hair.

German Pinscher Health Information

Like a small group of other dog breeds, the German Pinscher is extremely healthy and there is absolutely no health problems to worry about.  These animals have a long life span of up to 16 years, with the average time being 12 to 13 years.

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So many dog owners have great intentions when it comes to dog training. After all, training a dog is not so difficult. You are simply communicating to your pet that you want her to do something. But then you start trying to train your dog and by the middle of the second training session your dog is bored and you are frustrated.

You give up. But it does not have to be this way.

The main reason people give up training their dogs is because dog training isn’t fun for them. And that goes for the dogs as well.

But you can make dog training fun! If training is fun then you will stick with it and your dog will enjoy learning. That’s what it’s really all about. You and your dog will be having a good time together.

How To Make Dog Training Fun

Your Dog Learns Everything From You

That means that she also picks up on your attitude about training. If you think its boring then she will, too. If you approach training with a positive attitude, then your dog will be a lot happier about her training lessons.

Your dog can pick up on everything you’re thinking and feeling. Dogs are extremely perceptive. So, if you want your dog to have fun with dog training, the change in attitude has to begin with you!

Make Training a Game

You don’t have to train your dog with the same boring exercises over and over. Instead of giving your dog a command and a simple “good dog,” you should really be happy and excited about what your dog is doing.

Reward her with something that she really, really likes! Some dogs are strongly motivated by food and dog training treats. That’s great. But don’t just give her a treat. Make a big deal out of it and tell her how great she did! Make her remember how wonderful it is to get it right when she does this exercise.

Other dogs are less motivated by food and treats, or they may like something better than food. For these dogs you can pull out their favorite toy or a sock. These things may make them happier than anything. That makes it fun for them — and for you!

Other dogs may like it best when you spend a couple of minutes really focusing on them and petting them. If that’s what makes your dog happy, that’s what you should do as a reward.

Don’t Overdo It

You should also make sure that you don’t overdo things. You only need to train in one or two short 20-30-minute sessions per day. Anything longer than that and you will be losing your dog’s attention.

Dog training should never be a chore. It shouldn’t be repeated so often that your dog’s attention (or yours) strays.

Keep it fun, keep it short!

Move On To Other Lessons

You should also move on to new lessons once your dog has mastered a command. There is no reason to keep repeating the same command over and over. You should go back to and make sure that your dog remembers the command. But endless repetition is not necessary and it’s boring for both of you.

Look for ways to make dog training fun. You can end your training sessions with a play session, too. Your dog will enjoy playing with you after your lessons.

If you keep a positive attitude and stay happy, you will do a lot to improve your dog’s attitude about training. Find the things that make your dog happy. Once you do these things training your dog will be a lot more fun.

Best,

p.s. If you are looking for dog training help check out Secrets to Dog Training at http://dogcarefrenzy.com/likes/secrets-to-dog-training.

www.petsmart.com%2Ffamily%2Findex.jsp%3FcategoryId%3D3201406%2526sr%3D1%2526origkw%3Dtraining%2520treats">In many types of dog training, such as clicker training and other forms of positive reinforcement, people use treats and other kinds of food as the reward. The natural question would be, is this a good idea or not?

Benefits of Using Dog Training Treats

Those who train their dogs using positive reinforcement training (which includes clicker training) point out that training should be fun for a dog. Therefore it is necessary for the dog to be motivated to learn.

One of the best motivations for any dog is often a treat or other food item. Not only does the www.petsmart.com%2Ffamily%2Findex.jsp%3FcategoryId%3D3201406%2526sr%3D1%2526origkw%3Dtraining%2520treats">dog training treat reward the dog for what he has just done, but it lets the dog know that he has done something good.

For example, you may be teaching your dog to sit. When she actually does sit you praise your dog and give her a training treat as a reward. The dog is loves the treat, but she also learns to associate the treat with doing what you want her to do, which is sit.

This means that she has learned that doing what you want produces a result that she likes. In this example, using the treat to reward the dog is helping her to learn the desired behavior.

Criticisms of Using Dog Training Treats

Critics of training with treats believe that using treats to train a dog causes the dog to become too dependent on food. They say that dogs trained with treats may not obey the owner if there are no treats present. If you remove the food reward, then the dog has no incentive to listen to your command.

This can be a valid criticism unless the owner/trainer is careful to start phasing out the dog training treats once a behavior is learned.

Using the sit example again, once your dog knows how to sit when asked and is rewarded when he does so, the owner can begin to vary the command in different ways and ask for more from the dog before giving a treat.

The owner may also begin to phase out the food treats and add more praise and petting instead of treats as rewards. It is important to periodically give your dog a big payoff for obeying, so you can bring out the food treats again at a time of your choosing to keep your dog interested.

Training with treats and giving them as rewards is a very useful way of training dogs. However, some dogs may not be as motivated by food as others. For some dogs human praise is a more effective reward; or playing with a favorite toy. It’s really up to the owner to  learn what works best to motivate their dog to learn.

Best,

p.s. By now you probably have decided whether or not you will be using dog training treats in your own dog training sessions. So, while you are here why not grad some for your dog.

Check Price and Availability of www.petsmart.com%2Ffamily%2Findex.jsp%3FcategoryId%3D3201406%2526sr%3D1%2526origkw%3Dtraining%2520treats">Dog Training Treats.

Although training your dog with praise and reward is a very popular training method, there are still situations where you may want to use gentle correction.

Praise Your Dog With Gentle Correction

One of the most important ways that you can praise your dog, but use correction in dog training is with house training.

When you are house training your new puppy he has no idea that there is anything wrong with using the bathroom in the house. House training depends on teaching him two things:

1. the appropriate places for doing his business
2. the inappropriate places for using the bathroom

This means that you will praise and reward your puppy when you take him outside and he relieves himself. If and when, your puppy has accidents in the house, you will correct him, but only IF you catch him in the act.

That last provision is very important. Correction only works if it happens when a dog is doing something he shouldn’t. It doesn’t help at all to correct a dog an hour after he’s had an accident in the house.

However, if you see your puppy in the act of having an accident in the house, then it is appropriate to correct him. That doesn’t mean punishing him or scaring him. It means telling him, “No,” and taking him outside. That’s an appropriate correction for a puppy.

Other times when it’s appropriate to correct a puppy or dog would be when you catch them chewing on something such as your shoes or digging in the yard. But, you should always be nearby when you find your dog doing something that needs to be corrected so you can carry out the correction at the appropriate time.

If your dog is digging and you yell, “NO!” from the house your dog may ignore you. In that case you haven’t done anything but shown your dog that he doesn’t have to obey you. If you are going to correct your dog make sure that you are close enough so your dog has to take your seriously.

Many times a simple, forceful “No” is a good correction. Don’t forget to praise your dog when he stops doing the undesirable behavior. It’s usually a very good idea to teach your dog a better alternative behavior or at least offer him some better choices. In the case of chewing on your shoes, make sure than he has plenty of his own things to chew on — and put your shoes away.

Dogs need to learn what we expect from them. Training with praise and reward works very well for teaching many things. but there are times when you have to teach a dog that some things are not good. There are undesirable behaviors that should be corrected.

However, remember that correction never has to be harsh or cruel!

Best,

p.s. Now that you know how to praise with gentle correction, I suggest you check out this article – Praise Your Dog While Training Your Dog.