German Shepherd Pup

[TysonNobdie86]

Hello, my brother is getting a new pup on Saturday. She is a Black and Tan German Shepherd.
He has always wanted one and my mum is very experienced with dogs.
None of our family have ever owned a GS, has anyone got any tips, food, collars, lead, training? Anything to make sure we are prepared for such a big dog
TIA

I have a 13 week old GS pup and a 10 year old GSD! Lovely dogs, but they get bored, they are clever and can be overpowering as a first time dog. I am home all day with mine so that helps, we do a bit of training everyday and he is learning a lot from the older dog. If he's planning on leaving the pup for long periods it's probably not a good idea. Boredom and frustration leads to distructive activity. I bought a few sterilized bones and he loves to gnaw on those. He loves sticks and we do training with a SuperKong bouncy ball. It squeaks but it's hard to break, tennis balls don't stand a chance. Get a big adjustable collar, normal lead with a padded hand bit because they do pull and it hurts your hand. Nappy sacks for poo bags are good.

Also they grow fast and are very good at reaching stuff from the top of units!!
They are very trainable, our pup learned to sit and wait for his food in one day really. He also walks very nicely on the lead mostly because the kids have been dragging walking him round the garden for a while before his first walk out in the world. Also the first 20weeks are the most important. Let her experience as much as possible in that time, kids, traffic, visitors, doorbells etc.

Excellent thank you, brother is at home all day, if he is not my mum would be.
:)

I have 2 GSDs a 2yr old & 7 month old. Like klef said they are smart, hard work if not mentally & physically challenged. Easy to train.

I adore GSD's. can u tell?

Thank you Jax :)
They sound like wonderful dogs, cant wait on behalf of my brother

GSD's are great family dogs, I am very at you getting a lovely puppy! Our GSD was a bit of a nightmare pup but has turned into a fantastic adult dog, one of the main problems we had is that she wanted to be the dominant member of the household but once she realised that she wasn't she settled happily into her 'place' in the 'pack' and is a great family dog.

Have a 12 month GSD - had her since 7 weeks. Absolute dream and a real member of the family. Once they get to about 8-9 months they can "forget" everything they've been taught and become real teenagers - but staying constant with instructions and keeping them in their place in the pack soon sorts them out.

They are highly intelligent dogs and need a certain amount of stimulation, but DON'T over exercise them too young. They are large breed dogs and too much walking early on can potentially cause problems later on with their joints.

Enjoy.

oh yes sportsmum my puppy is at that teenager stage just now and we call it "cloth ears"

Thank you all for your advice, brother got his dog today, she is beautiful and he is naming her Shadow

aww love GSDs, we have 2 girls aged 7

Sounds great, GSDs are lovely! Depending on how old she is she might still be biting a bit - this is playful but hurts nonetheless!! Your bro may need to google 'bite inhibition' if so - very useful when I fostered a GS pup.