This is a very exciting time for you and your family. If this is your first German Shepherd puppy then you are in for a lot of fun. The most important thing to do with your puppy is to build a great relationship and do as much environmental exposure as possible. The first 16 weeks are the most important time for your puppy to create success for the rest of your puppy’s life.
If you haven’t got them all ready here’s some equipment that you need.
For all your training equipment I highly recommend ordering from Von Ultimate Dog Shop (A Melbourne-based small business). Evan will be able to help you choose the right equipment for you and your dog. Most importantly equipment sold by Von Ultimate Dog Shop is very good quality and made to last.
- Collar & Leash suitable for a puppy order here
- Flexi lead to teach reliable recall. Von Ultimate Dog Shop stocks 8 metre Flexi leads which are a great length for teaching recall (note I do not recommend these as a general-purpose walking leads, they should only be used for training) order here
- A clicker for training order here
- A treat pouch for training or ideally a training belt that holds training toys and food. A training belt is like an apron full of pockets, your dog will learn that when you are wearing this you are serious about training and ready to have lots of fun order here training pouch or training skirt
- Training toys for play and engagement. (Yes you really do need two of each, this will help build an awesome relationship with your dog and prevent resource guarding of toys during training)
- Once your puppy is older and grows out of their puppy collar you may look at a new collar. I find a good collar can be a Herm Sprenger fur saver. For puppies around 6 months of age, a 54cm would be ok depending on size. For females and smaller males, 59cm generally fit and for larger males, 63cm should fit. There’s no one size fits all dog so check out all the sizes and options here
