Well we added another puppy to our pack saturday. She is a 4 month old female german shepherd mix (From looking at her I cant tell she has anything else but gsd in her). We rescued her from the humane society and she's just starting to feel comfortable around the other dogs and her new enviroment. Anyone had experiance with gsd's? Any helpful tips or quirks about this breed? What works best as far as potty training? School me.
Tips for a german shepherd pup?
- Thread starter 89jeepxjw
- Start date
hurley842002
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Parker, CO
Patience is all I have to say! We picked our German Shepherd (Bella) up about 7 months ago, and she was about 4 months old. They are too smart for their own good, and VERY energetic. Bella is now in what I believe is the Terrible two's of doggy years, and is a nightmare. She knows to listen, and knows what she is supposed to do, but is often tempted to not listen or do the complete opposite. She is getting better and i'm very confident once she is about a year and a half, she will be an AWESOME dog.
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RNMedic
NAXJA Member #659
- Location
- Dayton, Ohio
research crate training, it is the only way to potty train usually takes about 2 weeks.
YELLAHEEP
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Littleton, Colorado
I've had 3 GSD dogs now. Gunnar is 1yr old this month and has been a good dog overall, just some small bad habbits. Our biggest thing to deal with is his spastic energy at times. It's like he's the energizer bunny with A.D.D. He won't listen, won't settle down, won't regard verbal commands unless you derail his brain. I've had to resort to grabbing him when he's out of control, forcing him to lay flat on his side on the floor and tell him repeatedly to calm down in a calm voice. Then slowly release holding him down and petting him until he gets the idea that it's not ok to be spastic. It's working with small increments of success now after about 4 weeks of it. He really can't seem to control his energy. GSD's like to chew. Pressed/knotted rawhide or the Kong toys (if they'll take to 'em) are the best candidates. I've found that 2 of my 3 dogs ate those rope toys - Gunnar being the worst so he doesn't get those anymore.
But, when I've got a tennis ball - he's a totally different dog. Focused, obedient, fairly calm until you haven't thrown it for too long (in his mind). Then he gets rambunctious.
Separation anxiety can be a big issue with GSD's. Gunnar was a total indoor dog and that wasn't working out with our 3 cats (he wants to play, they don't and he won't leave 'em alone) so we spent 2 weekends putting him outside in increasing time increments. Once he became comfortable that we would be back, he improved. Now, he'll whine about us leaving but we can leave him outside for most of the day and he does fine. I couldn't leave him indoors alone though due to the cats and the potential he'd chew on something.
I believe most of that is still puppy and he'll grow out of it. Playing fetch with him for 20 minutes seems to be the best remedy when he's spastic.
:thumbup:
But, when I've got a tennis ball - he's a totally different dog. Focused, obedient, fairly calm until you haven't thrown it for too long (in his mind). Then he gets rambunctious.
Separation anxiety can be a big issue with GSD's. Gunnar was a total indoor dog and that wasn't working out with our 3 cats (he wants to play, they don't and he won't leave 'em alone) so we spent 2 weekends putting him outside in increasing time increments. Once he became comfortable that we would be back, he improved. Now, he'll whine about us leaving but we can leave him outside for most of the day and he does fine. I couldn't leave him indoors alone though due to the cats and the potential he'd chew on something.
I believe most of that is still puppy and he'll grow out of it. Playing fetch with him for 20 minutes seems to be the best remedy when he's spastic.
:thumbup:
hurley842002
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Parker, CO
Bella displays pretty much the EXACT behavior Troy listed, so I can assume that is normal for all GSD's. She LOVES knotted rawhides and will destroy one within a matter of 30 minutes or so. She is VERY social, so that can sometimes be an issue with dogs that aren't as social. One of my roomates dogs is very anti-social, so Bella would try to play with her, and she would get aggressive (though Bella would have the last laugh). The roomates other dog is a large Argentine Dogo, and despite his size advantage, Bella and him will wrestle around, and he just can't handle her energy level, he tires out VERY quickly compared to her, so be prepared to exhaust some of that energy. Great choice on the GSD though.
So far "tera" has been relatively calm for us, but does show signs of seperation anxiety and a little bit of attention aggression. She constantly needs to be making contact with you,even on a short jeep ride she always puts a paw on my leg. Overall shes showing signs of a great dog...even this early on. I have no idea what she is mixed with, but whatever it is hopefully keeps her this calm.
Sting25
twitter.com/cmchadwick
- Location
- Wheat Ridge, Colorado
I have had many protective and smart dogs currently an Akita. I suggest in addition to obediance classes spend LOTS of time in usy people places and with other dogs. Socializing is important. Secondly pick up a used treadmill and teach them to use it, my brothers rottweiler runs on a treadmil 30 mins a day and its one of his favorite things to do. the added bonus is a well muscled and tired dog.
