For so many reasons. To be a good dog owner, you must often check their eyes. ears, nose, mouth and teeth. This occasional touching of the dogs head while they are training and being rewarded desensitizes them to being touch and is also a form of physical reward. They learn to love it early in life so you can inspect them properly throughout their life to ensure cleanliness and good health

Remember for a new dog it takes 3 days of feeling overwhelmed and nervous, 3 weeks of settling in and 3 months of building trust and bonding with you, the dog you see in the shelter will not be the dog you see once this 3/3/3 period is over. In March of 2023, I adopted a 14 m/o female Belgian Malinois who had been adopted twice, returned twice for biting and then a dog fight. The fear biting was due to the new person thinking it was a good idea to force a human interaction without allowing a clear escape route for which the dog can use to retreat. The dog fight was from an improper introduction to the resident dog, the second family did not remove all the toys and meat bones from the house and a fight resulted over both dogs wanting one bone. Both examples were from handler stupidity, yet the dog is blamed and suffers when gross missteps are made by humans. I know this is long, but I tried to shorten it. Once home I found Maxine had no recall or training whatsoever, she was unsocialized to most environmental objects and stimuli. On leash she was highly reactive and fearful of everything, likely due to no socialization as a puppy, she aggressively barked, lunged at cars, inanimate objects of all shapes, sizes and people. I was committed to Maxine's welfare and protecting her from herself and possible euthanasia due to more bites. I am guessing her behavior worsened as she got older and larger until she was far too hard to handle and was surrendered to the shelter as so many are. I immediately started on engagement exercises, name/verbal/whistle recall, then basic obedience and muzzle training. We focused on important exercises that would keep her and others safe while I addressed her severe reactivity. Corrections were hard but fair, with clear and concise communication. Arousal was a major contributing factor in her aggression which included redirecting on me during times of frustration or high arousal. Verbal, toy and food praise was paid jackpot style on success, we ended training sessions on a success. Our training sessions were brief but many throughout the day. Human interactions caused a state of high arousal, so humans became neutral and interactions off limit, hurt feelings resulted, I didn't want her to rehearse more nipping or biting. Cesar's "no talk, no touch, no eye contact" philosophy brought success. Maxine has a solid recall and will recall off prey species, I don't know if I can ever trust her off leash as she will at times load on cats, birds, small prey animals and sometimes unknown people. She has amazing food and ball drive with an excellent off switch for indoors. Family and friends are slowly introduced in a muzzle with strict protocol instructions as she gets bitey/nippy/mouthy when excited. Recently a friend couldn't believe Maxine was the same dog from a year ago, allowing me to take a minute to appreciate and celebrate her progress. Overall, the road ahead is long but filled with optimism. We're now training for her French Ring Brevet, btw I'm 62 & disabled. Good luck with your new pup!!

Thanks for your comment, Our love and passion for dogs is why we do what we do. it is so rewarding to bring harmony to dogs and owners. THe German Shepherd is one of our favorites as well..

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It depends on the breed and age of the dog. In general a training session can be roughly 15-30 minutes about 2-4 times per day.