TRAIN YOUR GERMAN SHEPHERD TO FIND THINGS

November 6, 2020

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German Shepherd is a highly intelligent dog breed. It is efficient, strong, and offers great companionship to its owners. It is naturally adept at nose games and can easily sniff out the hardest of objects when trained properly. This also helps the dog burn excess energy, and reduces boredom. German Shepherds can use their incredible sense of smell to locate missing persons, diseases, and even explosives. In domestic households, this can train your pet to find things easily and play games with you better. 

INTRODUCE THE COMMAND

To enable your dog to find things, you need to teach your dog to use its nose to do the trick. Teach it the command, your German Shepherd should spring into action the moment you say “Go, find it”. Do this by first choosing a tasty dog treat, then toss it on the floor. As your German Shepherd dog moves to fetch the treat, say the magic command “Find it”. Try challenging your pet, hold its leash, and toss the treat towards a place away from your dog’s line of sight. Let it explore the proximity and recover it. The practice is what matters eventually, it takes time but the results can be great. 

  • Allow the German Shepherd time to find the treat, never rush.
  • In case the dog is unable to find it, accompany it by the leash and let it sniff around till it hits the jackpot.
  • Keep it fun to avoid frustrating your pet and yourself. Let your dog enjoy every moment of it.

KEEP GOING STEP BY STEP

As you observe your pet, you would know when it masters the initial act. Once your German Shepherd is ready, introduce a new scent.  Challenge your dog again and let it find this too and master its search abilities. This will enable it to differentiate between the two scents and make things more accurate.

TEACH YOUR PET THE ‘FOUND IT’ SIGNAL

Once your German Shepherd accomplishes the task, appreciate it and teach it a signal that you make when the dog finds and retrieves the object. Your German Shepherds would be able to locate and retrieve various objects that have different scents and would be easily able to differentiate among these. Play the command and retrieve games often.

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