From those first few days when he or she arrives with you, that mind starts to tick, first taking in the geography of the place, then sorting out who's who, and what gives. Now! right now, is the time to start training. Not a minute later!

Learn to read your Shepherd's mind. A good start is trying to understand when he/she is telling you they want to go to the loo. They do very positively tell you "Hey I wanta go. Now!" Ralph was shown where we would like him to conduct that type of business, and generally he obliged. Sure, we had many accidents in the beginning, usually as a result of leaving it to the last moment! or just getting over excited!. We always take him out last thing at night (say 9.30pm) and never had a wet bed from day one. Both dogs are very good and it a rare thing to find "anything" deposited in the garden!