10 Weeks Old
When a puppy reaches 10 weeks of age, or about 2.5 months, it is fully ready to begin training and likely should. If you’ve established bite inhibition, moving on to other training will be much easier.
Even though you can train a German Shepherd at this age quite easily, the amount of commands that you can teach is quite low, and they are partially just for looks.
By 10 weeks, a German Shepherd’s ears may stand up. If they aren’t, consider waiting a bit longer or visiting a vet.
Weight and Size
Still rapidly increasing, the weight and height of a puppy is already at around 30% of the full-grown size. Though 10 weeks is the point where that growth starts decreasing, and halves at around 4 months or so, before completely stopping.
Overall, for female German Shepherds average weight is 8 to 9 kg (16 to 18 lbs), for male dogs it is 10 to 12 kg (20 to 24 lbs). The height doesn’t increase too much at this point, and it is around 15 to 18 inches.
At this point, a dog’s appetite may decrease.
Ears Not Standing Up
German Shepherds ears stand up at 10 weeks of age at most. There are some exceptions that vary from one dog to another, though you probably won’t see a GSD with relaxed ears older, than 3 months.
And still, some owners are struggling with that problem. So what should you do, in that case:
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- First of all, for many young German Shepherds the ears are not consistently up. There may be periods when they are up, and sometimes they are just leaning on one side. It is completely normal – they are gradually developing into an adult, and their body changes relatively. A good solution would be just to wait and see.
- If the ears have been damaged, whether by accident, or by tampering with them, you should definitely take your dog to a vet clinic, where vets will decide what to do.
- Lastly, if the puppy is older than a year (or half a year), and the ears are still not up, then you should, as always, consult a vet. They may operate on the ears if necessary.
Behavior
It’s essential that the puppy learns bite inhibition by 10 weeks. But if it doesn’t (uncontrollably bites people, sometimes even strongly) then is has to be a number 1 training priority.
Nobody wants an aggressive German Shepherd, does anyone? And that is exactly what’s going to happen without bite inhibition. But in case the bite inhibition has already been taught, you may consider training the dog to:
- Stand up/sit down. Should go before every other command, as these tricks also induce patience for the German Shepherd. Learning them first will prove to be beneficial in further training.
- Lie down.
- To “speak” (bark on command).
Additionally, you should never blame your dog if it does something wrong – just repeat the command, until it works out. Then, greet your dog for doing everything correctly. A puppy will never learn anything in a strict and unwelcome environment.
But it will surely remember everything if you make it a good and relaxing time, or some sort of a game. In the end, we wish you best of luck with your 10 week GSD, and thank you very much for reading.
