6 week old german shepherd puppy

Question
Hi there, I have a six week old German Shepherd puppy. First off my family is very excited to have her, i did a little research on them as adult dogs before we got her, unfortunately I have never had a dog and am unaware of how to properly train her. She seems now to have somewhat of an attitude, i read that they are dominent dogs so is that why? also she started going potty on the puppy pads but now has found a favorite spot in the hall where she poops and pees non stop. we dont have a backyard only a small deck and patio, so her running area is basically in the house. another thing she doesnt like to cuddle up with you, when she sleeps she prefers to be left alone, like i said i never had a dog only cats, so is that normal for a puppy? Also when she is pooping or peeing or nipping my son my husband grabs her scruff, she yelps when he does this. I dont think its right but my husband says that it doesnt hurt her it's just uncomfortable. Can you please advise me on this as well. Please help I'm clueless about puppies and not sure how to start training her properly...
Thanks for you time.
Nichole

Answer
Hi Nichole, For potty training you need to start off keeping her in a bathroom, laundry room or other small room where you can put pads all over, and then place her food & water where you don't her to go in that room.  Keep her in this room everytime you can not keep an eye on her or whenever you leave the home.  As she starts to go to the bathroom, you will see the place she tends to pick to go.  Slowly remove the pads towards where she is going and you will see she will follow the pad that you have left.  Once you see that she is only going on the pad no matter where it is in the room, then open up her area to a bigger room.  Continue gradually giving her more and more space.  Soon you'll be able to have a couple of pads in the house and she will go to them to go to the bathroom.  This is a slow process as you are basically imprinting the puppy, which just takes time.  Some GSDs are dominant and some aren't.  You will want to get her in obedience training as soon as possible so that you have an upper hand on things as she gets older and goes through all the different phases during puppyhood.  Some puppies are cuddlers, and some aren't.  It depends on their own individual temperments.  Your husband shouldn't grab her by the scruf at this age as she is in the imrpinting stage of her life, and if he starts to imprint fear in her, she will become a fear biter, especially towards men.  It is better to correct her in the act when she is doing something wrong by swatting her on the rear litely, or using a squirt bottle with water from a distance if it is something like chewing.  For nipping, just pull her upper lip down and push it back up against her teeth as she is biting so that she associates that everytime she nips it will pinch.  Of course, everytime you correct her you need to tell her "no" so that she understands that as a negative command.  Again, signing her up for obedience lessons will help you to get an upper hand on everything as well as get her to understand where her place is in the home.  Hope this helps,

Dawn