Using the method of primary and secondary reinforcers, every skill is taught in microsteps. The dog learns, slowly but surely, what to do and when to do it. If at any time your shepherd does not perform eleven out of twelve repetitions correctly, go back one level in training the command. This rebuilds the shepherd's confidence. Before you move to the next level, make sure you haven't missed a step. Often this type of training fails because the owner does not think the exercise through and fails to use small-enough increments of difficulty for the dog.

Well-trained German shepherds make fantastic companions.

The key to keeping the exercise increments small enough is increasing only one variable at a time. For example, if you are teaching the sit-stay, you would begin with all the steps to teach the sit until you reached the point at which your shepherd routinely sits on command with no touching and no food lure used. To teach the “stay” part of the exercise, you would first add time.

Stand by your dog and put him in a sit. Give the hand signal — a flat hand, palm out toward the dog's face — and the verbal command “Stay!” Count ten seconds. Click and reward. Release your dog. After every successful set (eleven successes out of twelve tries), add ten seconds to the stay. Work until your shepherd stays for one minute.

Now work on distance. Put your dog in a sit-stay. Take one step to the right and immediately step back to your dog. Click and reward. After eleven successes, add time. Take one step to the right, count ten seconds, and then step back to your dog. Click and reward. Then release. Easy, right?