How to make my new pup behave

I am a firm bliever in obdience training. You have to make a commitment to work with your dog, but it is well worth the effort. Make sure your dog gets exercise everyday, too. A daily walk, a game of fetch or playing in the hose are all good activities. Getting rid of pern-up energy will do wonders to get your dog 'centered' and attentive! Good Luck!

Your dog needs to know her name. They don't understand our language so you need to help her out so she knows when to pay attention. With my Shelby, when she was a pup, I would call her name and when she looked or came running, I gave her a lot of praise and petting. Later, to get her to come to me, I would do the following. When you are playing with her and she's running about, when she runs past you, try just walking backwards while calling/beckoning to her. When she comes towards you give lots of happy praise. Sometimes we would run around the yard for the heck of it and I'd either run away from her or run backwards and she'd come running for me, and I'd say her name, and then "come". I praise her a lot and she never had a problem coming to me when I need her (even for ear cleaning which she dislikes). This also teaches her to pay attention to you as well.

Once she figures out that you are talking to her by learning her name, you can try to teach simple commands like sit, stay, come, heel, etc. The sit is probably the easiest. You need to put a leash on her to teach it. Do not ever push down on her rump, you can damage her hips permanently. Instead, hold her leash and while she's standing in front of you, say her name followed by the command. Then immediately pull up and slightly back on the leash. This will automatically make her sit back. You can also try holding a small treat near your face or with your lips (don't eat it though). That way she'll focus on your face too. Don't wear sunglasses while training because she needs to see your eyes. Later, when she's good at it and you've taught hand signals, you can wear shades.

Try not to repeat the commands too much, they tune you out just like a husband tunes out a nagging wife.

Personally, having had 3 german shepherds I can tell you the biggest puppy problem I had was the biting of my hand, calf, or shirt with those sharp puppy teeth. To stop that I would say loudly "Ow!" and then "No Bite!" after which I put her in her kennel/crate and leave her alone. After a while, I take her out and we play more, but if she bites me again, I do the same thing. If they want to come out and play, they have to not bite.

The other problem was the constant jumping. I tried several things, knee to the chest to ward off the jumping (which sometimes doesn't work), grabbing and holding the paws even while they struggle and cry, then letting go once they give up. Two methods that I found successful is to walk into them as soon as it seems like they are jumping. This makes them back up right away. The other method is to step on their back toes as soon as they try to jump. This works super fast and they stop it right away.

All in all, I love this breed. They are big and silly and goofy sometimes, and very vocal, not in a barking way, but almost like they are talking. I also took all my dogs to obedience class and trained everyday, either 1 hour a day, or a half hour twice a day. Putting the dog in a small area for 15 minutes before the training helps a lot, and after the training, you put them in a small area to be alone (with water of course) for maybe 30 minutes. We don't play right after. The reason is that the dog has time to think about the training. Also by not playing, you are teaching them to look forward to the training and not to forget everything only so that they can play. Once your dog is trained and knows everything and does everything, then you can play right after and you don't have to do the small space thing before or after.

Lastly, I have to stress that you should never train while you are angry or frustrated. The dog won't learn anything, and you'll get more mad. It's best to be positive and patient during these times. If you watch Dog Whisperer, you know that dogs are very in tune to the emotions and energy that you the owner project. I find that sometimes just going for a walk is nice and helps you bond with the dog.

Puppy obedience classes! That would be the easiest solution, but you could get some books on puppy obedience.

PetSmart has training classes I'm sure their are private trainers also if you think you cant do it , but my goodness you've only had her a day and she's a baby that has had her life turned upside down, give her a chance and allot of encouragement, please don't yell at her or expect her to be perfect in a day, I hope you have a crate, she won't get herself in trouble, but don't leave her in there all day, get to know & love your new dog.

A puppy has no knowledge of what you want. In fact, dogs explore their environment by smelling and mouthing everything. Your puppy doesn't know what you want or what acceptable behavior is. I would recommend you call local kennel clubs and sign up for a puppy class. They can help you learn how to raise and train a dog. Imagine you are in a strange world away from everything you know and there isn't anyone of your species around. It'd be confusing and frightening wouldn't it? The best way to help your pup learn about this new world is to take a class and read several books. Congrats on your puppy!
Bethany