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clicker training

Teach your German Shepherd to stand still for grooming

Is your German Shepherd difficult to brush? Above is a video of Jabber the wooly mammoth, demonstrating a grooming trick you can try, along with a training strategy for teaching your dog to stand for brushing.

German Shepherds blow their coats twice per year: in the spring and again in the fall.

First, note whether your dog has any problems or sensitivity when you handle the following areas:

  • Ears (Does your dog have a history of ear infections?)
  • Tail
  • Skirts (hind legs)
  • Legs and paws (Any bad experiences with nail trims, in the past?)
  • Reaching toward her collar
  • Collar
  • Head

If so, you’ll want to resolve any handling issues before you begin teaching your dog to stand for grooming. (If your dog is growling at you or otherwise behaving aggressively when you attempt to touch him, do not attempt to train him on your own — contact a qualified animal behavior consultant or veterinary behaviorist!)

Steps for teaching your dog to stand on a platform while grooming

  1. Start by clicking for two feet on a platform.
  2. Once your dog will stand for 30 seconds or more on the platform, introduce the brush or grooming rake by showing it to the dog while he is on the platform, then clicking (or saying “Good”) and feeding. Don’t touch your dog with the brush yet! Repeat 4-5 times, or at least until your dog stops moving off the platform when you pull out the brush.
  3. Brush in short bursts, 2-5 seconds long, then stop, and feed.*
  4. Continue brushing 2-5 more seconds, then feed and release your dog.
  5. Start again, this time making some brushing sessions a few seconds longer before you feed / release.

Be sure to start brushing your German Shepherd in the easy-to-handle places (usually her chest and back) before you move onto trickier areas such as tail or skirts. Eventually, you can use the release as a reward, along with brushing areas he or she likes (such as the chest) as rewards for brushing the harder areas.

*You can drop the clicker at this step, unless you happen to be great at holding treats and a clicker while you brush! I do not use a clicker in the video above when I get to the brushing step, and carry the treats in my pocket.

When should I start training my German Shepherd puppy?

“How old does my puppy have to be before I can begin training?”

This is a question I am asked often. The German Shepherd puppy in this video is 10 weeks old; but you don’t even have to wait that long! “Training” starts the day you bring your new dog or puppy home to live with you — GSDs are learning all the time. This is why it is easier to prevent problems and bad habits than to solve them later.

But what most people mean when they ask this question is, “How soon can I expect my German Shepherd puppy to start performing tricks and basic obedience behaviors?” Happily, the answer is the same — immediately. Clicker training is an easy and fun way to accomplish this.

How to teach your dog a rock-solid stay

Your dog’s first reinforceable stays will probably be about 1-billionth of a second long.

Training your German Shepherd to perform a reliable stay is not as difficult as it might seem. You only need two things:

  1. Really yummy treats or some other desirable reinforcer.
  2. Patience.

The easiest way to envision stay training is to think of the “No running in the hall” rule. When you were in school, if you were caught running in the halls, your teacher did not grab you by the collar, physically drag you back to where you started, slam you to the ground and yell “Walk!” (Or at least, I hope not.) The teacher simply looked at you, possibly pointed a finger, and requested in a normal tone that you return to where you started and walk – rather than run – down the hallway.

This is how we instruct our dogs – although, because German Shepherds are experts at nonverbal language, we can simply accompany them back to their original starting position rather than ask them to return.

Here’s the hardest part about teaching the stay exercise: It’s your job to make sure the dog doesn’t get up! This is where we need patience.

There are only two possible scenarios in stay-land.*

Scenario #1:
Dog sits, you ask dog to stay, dog stays, you click and treat, or say “Good” and release.

Scenario #2:
Dog sits, you ask dog to stay, dog gets up — you accompany dog back to the start of the exercise and repeat, hoping for better results. (An alternate version of Scenario #2 exists if you don’t have the dog on leash or in a fenced area, whereby the dog gets up, then proceeds to run away, chase squirrels, cats, birds, trucks, etc., or pee on the neighbor’s trash cans.)

The easiest way to ensure that Scenario #2 never happens is to time your click and treat before the dog gets up. Your dog’s first rewardable stays will probably be about 1-billionth of a second long, because that’s how long your dog will remain sitting after the first few times you say “Stay.”

Gradually extend the length of the stays to whatever amount of time suits you, using the principles outlined above. However, throw in some random stays of shorter duration so your dog doesn’t begin to perceive the “stay” command as an aversive (i.e., “Each time she asks me to stay, I have to sit here for longer and longer periods before getting a treat – forget that, I’m outta here!”)

Extend the distance of the stays gradually, as well. Remember to extend distance the way you want the real-life behavior to look: For example, don’t begin to increase distance by backing away from your dog; begin by turning away. A stay the length of several football fields doesn’t do you much good if you can’t turn away from the dog!

As usual, the click ends the behavior, which means the dog can get up after you click. Eventually you can replace the click with a release word. Toss the treat after you click, to get the dog in standing position for the next stay exercise.

Clicker train your German Shepherd


When it comes to training methods, clicker training is the most exciting, relationship-building method available. There are as many ways to train dogs as there are trainers, some healthy for dog and human and some not.

For German Shepherd owners, hardly anything is as exciting as realizing your super-talented, beautiful friend is also able to understand what you want in literally seconds — rather than weeks of repetitive commands and endless tugs on the leash.

Training with a clicker doesn’t even require a clicker! Any short, sharp noisemaker will do; even making a “click” sound with your mouth works in a pinch.

We use a clicker instead of our voice because the clicker makes a distinct sound that only means one thing: a treat is coming! Our voices can vary in volume and pitch, and are applied in so many interactions with our dogs that they can have trouble understanding which behaviors earn a treat. Clicking when we see the behavior we want is like taking a picture of the behavior. Because each click is followed by a treat, the dog soon attempts to repeat the behavior.

Conditioning your dog to the clicker is a simple process. Grab a fantastic set of treats (10-50 will do), and click your clicker, then feed a treat. Repeat 10-20 times. Soon, your dog should be looking at you eagerly, anticipating a treat at the sound of the clicker…

BUT WAIT. You can easily misuse the clicker if you don’t understand what the clicker IS and what it is NOT.

The clicker IS:

  • A promise that a treat is coming.
  • An acoustical signal meaning “That’s correct!”
  • A connection between the desired behavior and the reward.

The clicker is NOT:

  • An attention-getting device.
  • A remote control.
  • A reward.

Correct:

ClickerRight

Incorrect:

ClickerWrong