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Choosing toys for your German Shepherd

Most German Shepherds take their play seriously — so it’s up to us to find toys that satisfy this powerful play drive, are safe, and last more than 20 seconds once the dog starts using them!

My German Shepherds love fetch above all games, so toys that feed this frenzy are the ones I gravitate toward. Soft latex or plush toys aren’t suitable for most adult shepherds (although some German Shepherds, females especially, enjoy carrying around a fleecy toy like it’s a puppy). Stuffed animals, particularly those with squeakers, tend to be disemboweled after only minutes of playing fetch, and latex ones are torn apart even faster.

Besides fetch, a game of tug with me or another dog makes my German Shepherds’ list of all-time fun activities, so knotted rope bones, strong rubber tug toys or large plastic bones are in the toy box.

My first criteria when choosing a toy is “Will it last more than five minutes?” If the answer is yes, then the toy likely passes the safety test, as well (no word on dog toys recalled from China). The second is, “Will my dog play with it?” Toy-treat combinations, such as products made from rawhide, might be enjoyed, but unless I use them for hide ‘n’ seek, only the dogs’ jaws will be exercised! Outside of treats shaped like toys, German Shepherds are usually happy to make a toy from anything, but it’s important to start teaching your German Shepherd early in puppy hood which objects are his and which objects belong to you.

Here are four of my favorite German Shepherd toys:


If ever a toy was designed specifically for German Shepherd Dogs, the Kong Company has made it happen. The Extreme Black Kong toy is made for hard chewers and can withstand more abuse than its red counterpart. If you have one of those rare German Shepherds who does not enjoy chasing or chewing the Kong, stuff it full of canned food and freeze — Voila! A doggie Popsicle!


The Jawz disc by Hyperflite is an extremely durable disc that flies just like a regular one. My large male German Shepherd will destroy a regular plastic disc in one 20-minute play session. Although puppies and young dogs should not jump to catch discs until their growth plates have closed, you can begin teaching German Shepherds of any age how to grab short tosses and snatch rollers off the ground.


The Buster Cube is one of my go-tos for occupying busy German Shepherd Dogs on rainy days. Like the Kong, you can fill it with treats (or kibble — I feed my dogs their meals this way), and it stands up to harsh treatment. The hard plastic outside is great for a dog who loves to pound toys with his paws, and stands up well to harsh treatment.


Jute tug toys are a must for big dogs who like to play tug. I particularly like the double-handled version of this toy, which gives the person a better grip. Be sure to follow the rules for tug when playing this game with your GSD!

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.

Want a smarter dog? Try target training

An easy way to add to your German Shepherd’s repertoire of tricks or commands is to teach her how to target objects.

Targeting (or “target training”) means your dog pays attention to, and then performs an action based on, a particular stimulus (usually an object such as your hand, or a target stick). A dog putting his paw on an object on command, or bumping your hand with his nose upon request, is targeting. Targeting is a super-quick behavior to teach and has a variety of uses.

“Go to your mat” is one handy result of target training. We first teach the dog to “target” his mat, add the cue “Go to your mat,” and then place in a location of our choosing. Agility trainers use targeting quite often to teach their dogs not to skip contact zones while climbing or dismounting obstacles. Service dog trainers use targeting to teach German Shepherds to open doors, turn lights on and off, and more. Target training is useful in the show ring to teach dogs how to gait and stack.

Teaching hand targeting

Targeting your hand is an easy behavior for most dogs to learn. Follow the steps below to get started. You’ll need a clicker, a bunch of small, tasty, easy-to-swallow treats, and a leash (if your dogs needs a reason to stick around).

  1. Remember to always offer your dog a reward after you click, even if you have made an error.
  2. Offer your dog your hand, palm facing the tip of her nose (you can hold your hand in whatever position is most comfortable). Most dogs will sniff or lick your hand out of curiosity. As soon as she touches your hand, click and offer a treat. If your dog does not attempt to touch your hand, put it behind your back for a second or two, then try again. If your dog is having trouble finding your palm, hold it closer to her face. Click only when she reaches and touches your palm with her nose.
  3. Timing is everything! Be sure you are clicking as the dog’s nose touches your hand, not after. Otherwise, she won’t understand which behavior is earning a treat.
  4. Add the word “touch” or “target” just as your dog touches your hand. As your dog becomes more fluent, begin asking your dog to touch your palm, using the command.
  5. Raise and lower the target hand so that your dog has to take several steps to reach it. Have you moved it closer and closer to the ground, and up high so she has to stand up on her hind legs to reach it? Have you moved across the floor and had her follow you, nose to the target, as if her nose was magnetized?
  6. Begin asking your German Shepherd to target other objects with her nose, such as small container lids, pieces of cloth, the end of a stick, etc. You can also vary the length of time the dog must keep her nose on your hand or target object before she gets her click and treat.

Of course, you can teach your dog to target any number of objects, whether portable or not. The most portable object I ever used to teach target training was a sticker, which could then be placed anywhere, including unmovable places like walls!

When to seek help with your dog

German Shepherds are amazing dogs, and typically biddable (making them easy to train) and smart (making them quick to learn). However, this doesn’t mean your dog fits the mold, or even if she does, that you’ll always have a smooth relationship.

Most folks who get a German Shepherd either know of or used to have a dog that was absolutely perfect — never made a mess in the house, didn’t shed, never jumped up, never barked inappropriately, never lunged at people or other dogs, never chewed the furniture, always laid quietly in another room during dinner, always paid its taxes on time, never forgot to bring home the milk, etc.

Not all of us are as blessed. Sometimes, a dog comes into our lives who has perfected a different art: making our existence miserable!

Here are a few signs to indicate that your dog’s behavior may require professional intervention:

Your dog is actively threatening to harm or has harmed a person. As much as dogs will be dogs, this is the land of people — and sometimes litigious ones. Besides not wanting anyone to be hurt, it’s important to get a handle on your dog’s aggressive behavior, because sometimes an aggressive display (barking, lunging, jumping at a person’s face, etc.) can be misinterpreted. In fact, any “biting incident” involving a dog, even a dog with no prior history of aggression, and even if the bite did not break the skin can be grounds for euthanasia in this country, as the case of Rolo demonstrates.

Your dog has threatened or harmed livestock, cats or other dogs. Again, besides the potential for euthanasia (or worse, if a neighbor or livestock owner has vengeance in mind), these kinds of dog problems aren’t simple to fix. Unless there’s a sibling rivalry issue between two dogs, this type of behavior is likely rooted in predation. Lots of well-meaning folks follow the advice of friends, “trainers,” or relatives, and punish the dog in an attempt to “correct” predatory actions. But predatory behavior is unlikely to be wholly suppressed with positive punishment, no matter how creative. And painful and/or threatening treatment (including yelling and leash-popping) of a dog who dislikes other dogs can exponentially worsen the problem.

You’re feeling helpless about, hopeless about or afraid of your dog’s behavior. If you’re dog is soiling his crate every day, or tearing up the house, or refusing to budge from the couch or bed when asked, ask yourself whether it might be time to call for professional help. Although animal behavior consultation can be expensive, it is a far smaller price to pay than chancing the dog’s life — which is likely to be the outcome when you decide not only can you not handle the behavior, but life would be easier without the dog. A well-known fact is that dogs are relinquished to shelters for behavior problems more than any other reason. Don’t let your dog be one of them.

For help finding a professional dog trainer or animal behavior consultant near you, visit the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants at iaabc.org, or the Association of Pet Dog Trainers at apdt.com.

How to stop your dog from barking in class

German Shepherds are notorious for telling everyone in a group training class what they think, typically by barking — loudly — at people and other dogs.

If you’ve been in this situation, then you know how embarrassing or frightening it can be, especially when the other dog owners give you dirty or fearful looks and the trainer implies (or outright tells you) your dog is “aggressive.”

German Shepherd GL

Photo by Raveller

Is Your Dog Aggressive?

First, let’s break this down a bit. Lots and lots of dogs are “reactive” on leash. “Reactive” is dog trainers’ lingo for a dog that barks, growls or lunges in response to exciting stimuli — people, other dogs, cats, squirrels, and the like. Often these “reactive” dogs are perfectly fine off-leash with people and other dogs.

Dogs use aggressive displays, such as barking, lunging and growling, to let us know they are uncomfortable with the situation at hand. Clearly, these displays are unacceptable in modern-day society, and if we don’t react appropriately, our dogs can transition from threatening displays to actual bites. However, in most cases, the dogs are content to announce their presence, so to speak, and we must teach them to be calm in the face of exciting or fear-inducing stimuli.

NOTE: Be wary of a trainer who tells you your dog is aggressive and then proceeds to show you how to physically punish the dog to control the aggressive behavior. With a dog who is merely reactive, this will create even more problems. With a truly aggressive dog, physical corrections are likely to lead to someone being bitten!

A dog who poses a prominent danger to people or other dogs typically responds differently than an insecure or reactive dog. These dogs might:

  • Appear to be on the “offensive” rather than “defensive” — ears forward, mouth and whiskers forward, standing on their “tiptoes” with tails raised;
  • Give hard, unwavering stares to the object of their aggression and are not easily dissuaded;
  • Wait until the “last minute” to lunge or attempt an attack;
  • Have caused another dog to receive veterinary attention as the result of a fight, or have broken skin on a human;
  • Become excited and agitated (can be silent or with high-pitched crying) at the sight of strangers, children, smaller dogs and/or cats.

If your dog displays any of these signs, he or she is NOT safe to have in class and should continue private lessons with an animal behavior consultant experienced in dealing with aggressive behavior issues.

Strategies for Dealing With Barking in Class

First, is there a way for you to physically leave the training area with your dog (another room, down the hall, outside the door, etc.) each and every time your dog starts to bark? Doing so will give your dog the opportunity to calm down instead of continuing to be excited by the sight of other dogs.

Second, most dogs enjoy working with you and getting treats, so if all the fun (fun = seeing the other dogs, getting treats and your attention) stops when he barks, he’ll have to pick another strategy. In other words, it becomes HIS responsibility to stay quiet, not yours to correct the barking.

Third, position your body so you are in front of your dog during class, blocking his view of and access to the other dogs. Do NOT let him sniff or interact with the other dogs without your or the instructor’s permission; and get comfortable asking classmates to keep their dogs from making eye contact with yours. Eye contact is the first precursor to staring, which leads to barking. And of course, you’ll be doing everything in your power to keep your dog focused on you.

If you are thinking you will get very little obedience training done and lots of time out in the hallway with these methods, you are correct! But this is valuable training for your dog.

Ask the instructor if you can repeat the class as many times as it takes to make this work (and if he’s a smart dog, which most German Shepherds are, it shouldn’t take a terribly long time).

So, it looks like this: Dog barks, you immediately start pretending he doesn’t exist and go back the hall/into other room/out of the building. Once he is quiet, can focus on you and perform a sit (or other simple behavior), he comes back inside. Barking = process repeats. If you manage to get inside and have more than two seconds of quiet, reward HEAVILY and keep him busy! Chances are this means you’re not doing what the rest of the class is doing, but that’s OK!

This method works outdoors as well, provided you can get your dog out of sight of whatever it is he finds so enthralling until he settles down.

See “There’s Money In Dogs… Well, Sort Of,” for similar ideas.

What is Canine Hip Dysplasia?

Canine Hip Dysplasia is a hereditary, degenerative disease common in many large breed dogs and large mixed breed dogs that can cause crippling arthritis in the hips. This disease is especially prevalent in German Shepherds; the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals notes that one in five German Shepherds whose hips are x-rayed and reported to the OFA show signs of the disease.

Normal hip joints function with a “ball-and-socket” construction; the head of the femur, or thigh bone, fits tightly within a circular inlet in the pelvis.

Normal Hips
Source: Gulf Cost Veterinary Specialists

In dogs who are suffering from hip dysplasia, the ball does not fit snugly within the socket; the head of the femur can be shaped incorrectly, or be a loose fit with the pelvis, or both. This condition causes unusually heavy friction on the joint as the dog moves, which in turn can lead to osteoarthritis, a painful inflammation of the joint.

Hip Dysplasia
Source: Gulf Coast Veterinary Specialists

Hip dysplasia is rated by the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals as mild, moderate or severe (there is also a “borderline” category, which indicates the dog is capable of developing hip dysplasia). Dogs with hip dysplasia can show few symptoms, or become incapacitated, depending on the severity of the dysplasia, the progression of arthritis, and environmental factors such as weight and exercise level. Although surgical options are available for severely affected dogs, these are often expensive and are accompanied by a long recovery period.

Hip dysplasia is almost always evident by the time a dog is 18-24 months old. There is no way to declare a dog free from hip dysplasia, or diagnose hip dysplasia, without hip x-rays.

The most common visible signs of hip dysplasia include difficulty rising, stiffness or soreness following heavy exercise, a distinct gait in which the back legs move together rather than independently, and reduced muscle mass around the hips and thighs. Some severely affected puppies will develop a limp before they’re five months old; to the untrained eye, this limp appears to be on a forelimb, rather than hind, as might be suspected with pain in the hip joints.

Maintaining a dog with hip dysplasia requires attention to nutrition, weight, exercise and activity levels. Check with your veterinarian regarding medical options, including surgery or anti-inflammatory drugs.

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