How to Train a Belgian Shepherd

The Belgian Malinois is a herding dog that shares many characteristics with the German Shepherd, including that they require special training and attention. You should start training Belgian Shepherds from a young age. Initiating training early and thoroughly will help eliminate territorial or aggressive behaviors that can appear in this breed if not trained well. With consistent, clear and experienced training, the Belgian Shepherd can do a lot of things like guarding and herding. ^{[1] X Trusted Source American Kennel Club Go to Source}

Table of Contents

Lay the foundation for training

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Introduce your dog to society from an early age. Between 4 and 14 (or possibly up to 18) weeks of age, puppies will go through a socialization phase. ^{[2] X Research Sources} You should introduce your dog to a variety of places and people during this time so that they learn that new places and people are a normal part of life. ^{[3] X Trusted Source American Kennel Club Go to Source}

Walk or carry your dog to public places, such as busy streets and markets, so that he can get used to crowded places. When introduced so early, the dog will feel less threatened when meeting strangers.
Invite many people to the house to play. Strangers coming to your home will help your dog know that it’s normal for a new person to be in the house and that they don’t need to feel threatened by this in the future.

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Spend quality time with dogs. Play is an essential part of a dog’s life, and it’s also great for building a bond between you and your pet. The Belgian Shepherd is an exceptionally affectionate dog that loves to spend time with its owner. That’s why, from a young age, you should spend quality time with your dog every day. For small dogs, the appropriate play time is at least 30 minutes a day, with larger dogs, it needs more time to play and exercise with you.

For example, you can give your Belgian Shepherd a rubber ball as a toy. Throw the ball to the dog and train it to pick you up.

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Be gentle with the dog. To build a good foundation for future training, you should not get angry or violent with the dog. Belgian Shepherds generally do not respond to violent training methods. In addition, you should avoid treating dogs too harshly when they are young so that they trust and enthusiastically carry out the commands you give them. ^{[4] X Research Sources}

Control your expectations of your dog’s behavior and focus on building a bond based on love rather than fear.
While it’s important to stop your dog’s bad behavior, such as going to the bathroom in the house, it’s more effective to redirect and show your dog what to do than yell or hit him. Remember, when you scream, the dog has absolutely no idea why you’re doing it.

Teach your dog basic commands

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Start training when the dog is 8 weeks old. Puppies are fully capable of learning to follow commands and starting training early will help them avoid bad habits. Ask your dog to “sit down,” “stand still,” and “come over” when you want them to perform these actions. While it’s hard to expect dogs to perform these actions perfectly at such a young age, starting to use verbal commands will help them become obedient as they grow up.

For the Belgian Shepherd, starting training so early can be the key to helping the dog develop a pleasant and likable personality in the future.
For example, you should start potty training your dog as soon as possible. Take your dog outside regularly and take him to the toilet in the same place so he learns that he is only allowed to defecate outside.

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Use reward training techniques. Instead of punishing when your dog does wrong, praise and reward him when he has positive behaviors. When your dog goes to the toilet outside, sits, or runs to you on command, pat him on the head, praise him for being smart in an encouraging voice, or give him a reward right away. By starting to reinforce good behaviors in a positive way early on, your dog will always strive to do things that will please you in the future.

You can start these positive reinforcements very early and continue when the dog is young, which will make future advanced training easier.

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Consider training your dog with a clicker. Clicker training is a type of reward-based training combined with a distinctive clicker sound. You will click the clicker when the dog follows the command, this will help the dog understand when the command you gave it has been completed.

Clicker training is a very useful training method because it eliminates the confusion that can sometimes occur between the dog and the handler. The clicker squeaks as soon as the dog has completed your request, it will no longer be vague about that command;
This is very useful when training dogs in advanced skills, especially with Belgian Shepherds.

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Adjust the duration of each training session to the age of the dog. When the Belgian Shepherd is young, each training session should last a maximum of 10 minutes. As your dog gets older, you can gradually extend the training time to 30 minutes or 1 hour per set. ^{[5] X Trusted Source American Kennel Club Go to Source}

Belgian Shepherds love to learn, exercise and spend time with their owners, so most of them are happy to do several training sessions a day.

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Teach your dog to sit down . When you want to ask your dog to sit down, you need to wait a bit until the moment when you are about to sit down, say “sit down”, praise and reward the dog. If you repeat this process over and over, your dog will begin to associate his actions with your reward.

Train your dog to sit down while you take him for a walk. When stopping somewhere, be prepared to reward or praise the dog because often the dog will sit down when standing to rest.
The time it takes for dogs to learn to sit down on command varies greatly. You will have to repeat it many times before the dog understands the command and why it is rewarded.

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Introduce additional commands once the dog has learned to sit down. Sit down is the starting point for many other commands, such as stand still and lie down. For example, when the dog sits down, you’ll give the command “lay down” and signal that the dog needs to lie down. You should wait until the dog is ready to lie down, give the command and give him the reward, the same way you did when teaching him to sit. ^{[6] X Trusted Source American Kennel Club Go to Source}

Remember the technique of positive reinforcement by praising the dog “well done” when he does the right thing.
Repeat this process every day until your dog follows your commands.

Prevent bad behavior

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Control your dog’s hunting instincts. To reduce the dog’s instinct to attack prey, familiarizing the dog with the environment and people is the first solution, but not the only one. Train your dog to walk close to his heels when walking outside. You can also teach the Belgian Shepherd the “stop” command so it won’t approach a certain object. Teaching this command with a reward-based training method will help control the dog’s hunting instincts.

All Belgian Shepherds have a very high hunting instinct, which means they often chase small animals such as cats, smaller dogs and possibly children. So you need to be alert and restrain this instinct of the dog from birth.
Also, when taking your Belgian Shepherd for a walk, be sure to fasten the leash so the dog won’t get out if it’s chasing something.

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Reduce chasing behavior. When the Belgian Shepherd begins to chase you or others, you need to stop this behavior immediately, or it will turn to biting people very quickly. The first course of action is to have the dog do something other than chase, such as play with a toy or go for a walk. However, you can train your dog to “stand still” to stop it chasing the target. ^{[7] X Research Sources}

The Belgian Shepherd is a herding dog, so try not to get upset when it follows you around the house.
Chasing behavior can become a serious problem if dogs start chasing children or elderly people who are not strong enough to fight them.

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Reduce begging behavior. You need to make it clear that when you eat rice and when you feed your dog are two different times. During training, you need to teach the dog that he must not stand in front of you while you are eating. Teach him to sit by the door when you and your family dine.

Advice

When training, give the command “no” or “stop” just before the dog behaves badly. If you speak after bad behavior occurs, you may be inadvertently reinforcing the behavior.

Warning

It is extremely important to train the Belgian Shepherd thoroughly and keep it busy every day. They were bred to be protective and hardworking species, so if left to command, they can become aggressive towards strangers, destructive, or behave badly.

Steps

Lay the foundation for training

Teach your dog basic commands

Prevent bad behavior

Advice

Warning

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