Puppies!

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mschrank

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Hi, my wife and I were just married and I thought it’d be a good idea to get a puppy. More specifically, a German Shepherd.

I had no idea, but German Shepherds are what they call a ‘high energy’ breed. Who knew!!? So he terrorizes the house and runs around like a whirlwind. He’s not that bad though, he doesn’t bark and he doesn’t chew.

However he has another bad habit- biting. Not as in snapping, but as in ‘play with me now!’ kind of biting. This dog is not normal, I swear, he doesn’t like to be rubbed or petted like every other dog. The second you put your hand next to him his little mouth automatically opens and tries to attach itself to you.

I don’t know if anyone else has had this problem, but is there anything I can do? I just want him to be a normal dog that you can pet.
 
mschrank said:
Hi, my wife and I were just married and I thought it’d be a good idea to get a puppy. More specifically, a German Shepherd.

I had no idea, but German Shepherds are what they call a ‘high energy’ breed. Who knew!!? So he terrorizes the house and runs around like a whirlwind. He’s not that bad though, he doesn’t bark and he doesn’t chew.

However he has another bad habit- biting. Not as in snapping, but as in ‘play with me now!’ kind of biting. This dog is not normal, I swear, he doesn’t like to be rubbed or petted like every other dog. The second you put your hand next to him his little mouth automatically opens and tries to attach itself to you.

I don’t know if anyone else has had this problem, but is there anything I can do? I just want him to be a normal dog that you can pet.
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  1. Have you ever raised a puppy before?
  2. Did you get the dog from a reputable breeder? (I’m thinking not because no reputable breeder would have sold a puppy to somebody who did not know that the breed is high energy).
  3. How old is he?
 
mercygate said:
  1. Have you ever raised a puppy before?
  2. Did you get the dog from a reputable breeder? (I’m thinking not because no reputable breeder would have sold a puppy to somebody who did not know that the breed is high energy).
  3. How old is he?
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Very much agree.

German Shepherds are not for the inexperienced dog owner.

Get yourselves and puppy to a reputable trainer now. If not, you are in for heartbreak later.
 
Is there anything you can do?

Well, I do not think they have perfected transplanting the briens of cats into dogs. (I think the problem is there is not enough room in the dog’s heard.)

Seriously, though, the nipping is a problem. One solution that has worked for me is a simple spraying water bottle. Buy a little empty spray bottle that you would use to mix cleaner in but fill it is plain water instead. (Make sure it is CLEAN!)

When the puppy is misbehaving, a little squirt of water can work wonders. It is harmless, but it gets the message across that he is doing something wrong. This is particularly true with the nipping. That is a bad habit you must address quickly.
 
When our dog was a pup the book “Good Owners, Great Dogs” was very helpful. That was 14 years ago so there is probably a lot more good stuff out there now, but FWIW, this was a good one.
 
**We too made the mistake of getting a puppy without educating ourselves:(. Hubby wanted a Bouvier because of one he remembers from his childhood. NOT a good enough reason to commit to a breed we now realize…

Anyways, Bear was a lot like your puppy. He was ALL MOUTH. We toyed with the idea of naming him JAWS. Well, even WITH a very reputable obedience school we still have problems. He has a very dominant personality and semi-aggressive nature. But in his defense he does a great job at protecting and defending as well as looking very intimidating (which is what we wanted when I had to live alone for 6 months while hubby was overseas with the military.).

But now we have to be careful with guests, keep him separate from our DD when we aren’t there to closely supervise, and accept that we made a mistake. We love him and care for him but this is not how I imagined things…

So, I suggest talking to a very reputable trainer (and it will most likely cost big bucks), talking with the breeder you got him from, and possibly consider a more suitable home for him before you get even more attached…

malia**
 
Feanaro_s_Wife said:
We too made the mistake of getting a puppy without educating ourselves:(. Hubby wanted a Bouvier because of one he remembers from his childhood. NOT a good enough reason to commit to a breed we now realize…

Anyways, Bear was a lot like your puppy. He was ALL MOUTH. We toyed with the idea of naming him JAWS. Well, even WITH a very reputable obedience school we still have problems. He has a very dominant personality and semi-aggressive nature. But in his defense he does a great job at protecting and defending as well as looking very intimidating (which is what we wanted when I had to live alone for 6 months while hubby was overseas with the military.).

But now we have to be careful with guests, keep him separate from our DD when we aren’t there to closely supervise, and accept that we made a mistake. We love him and care for him but this is not how I imagined things…

So, I suggest talking to a very reputable trainer (and it will most likely cost big bucks), talking with the breeder you got him from, and possibly consider a more suitable home for him before you get even more attached…

malia
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Bouvier? Good GRIEF! NOT a fuzzy-wuzzy house dog!
 
High energy dogs are working dogs they need to be worked hard to be happy.

Some people think every dog is like that perfect picture of the dog by the fireplace at his masters feet, or the porch dog taking an afternoon nap. And that is just a small part of their lives 🙂

We have a Chesapeake Bay Retriever who - without his daily 2 mile running would run amok in the house. I call it “getting the quarters out of his bum”. (Picture those horses at grocery stores that kids used to ride on… the more quarters, the longer the action).

Our Chessie is also a hunting dog and we take him out often to play “find the bird”… just a dummy that I hide in the brush when he’s on stay behind a tree. Even simply walking and giving simple commands gives a working dog purpose and a sense of doing something.

He’s not necessarily begging to play as much as begging to be WORKED.

Get you both to a great dog trainer ASAP… more specifically one trained for working dogs, or for your breed.

You’ll both be a lot happier.
 
Bowser is 12 weeks old, and we got him from a good breeder. Anyway, my wife is the dog person.

He’s going to start puppy kindergarten soon, and he’s going to an obedience school that specalizes in German Shepherd Dogs.

But, really does anyone know how to discourage biting?
 
German Shepherds are great, wonderful dogs. But they also require a lot of training. Coming from my own sad experience (long story), get with a professional trainer right off the bat and MAKE SURE you socialize your puppy every single day starting now.

As for the biting, as soon as he bites all play stops immediately. Give him a firm NO and then turn your back and walk away. Don’t look at him or talk to him. Play session is immediately over…for at least 5-10 minutes. I know it’s hard at this stage because that’s all they want to do at this point. But he’ll learn quickly if your consistent. 👍
 
Oh my goodness, that pic brought tears to my eyes. Reminds me of mason when he was a pup!

He’s adorable!

Let me go find some pics of Mason for ya…
 
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mschrank said:
Bowser is 12 weeks old, and we got him from a good breeder. Anyway, my wife is the dog person.

He’s going to start puppy kindergarten soon, and he’s going to an obedience school that specalizes in German Shepherd Dogs.

But, really does anyone know how to discourage biting?
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A flick/snap of the finger under the chin with a sharp: “No Bite!” is a good start.

12 weeks is VERY young. He’s developmentally unready to learn really big stuff. You can start training him to “sit” though.

These dogs are very smart. But they take a LOT of hands-on training. NEVER give a command without making it happen.
 
Thanks for sharing! Hey, he’s a black and tan just like Bowser.

Another thing that worries me about Bowser is that he is defiant sometimes, I tell him no, he looks me in the eye and then barks. This hardly happens, and when it does I usually motion towards him and he runs for his life, but it just makes me wonder- I can scare him now and physically discipline him if he gets really bad (scruff shake) but what the heck will I do if he is still a defiant dog when he’s big!?

Well, that’s another reason why I insisted to my wife we take him to obedience school.
 
mschrank said:
Thanks for sharing! Hey, he’s a black and tan just like Bowser.

Another thing that worries me about Bowser is that he is defiant sometimes, I tell him no, he looks me in the eye and then barks. This hardly happens, and when it does I usually motion towards him and he runs for his life, but it just makes me wonder- I can scare him now and physically discipline him if he gets really bad (scruff shake) but what the heck will I do if he is still a defiant dog when he’s big!?

Well, that’s another reason why I insisted to my wife we take him to obedience school.
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OBEDIENCE school NOW! Learn about “dominance gentling.” Go to the library. Get books! Talk to the trainer. Get yourself an education: FAST.
 
German Shepherds are wonderful dogs, and are personnally my favorite bread. ***BUT…***they are not for everyone. They can be very dominent and high energy. I would agree you sound like you need the help of a trainer ASAP to nip the behaviors in the bud. Please know that he will be high energy for quite some time so you might need lots of yard time, daily walks or some other activity to help keep this dog from getting bored. You must learn to be the Alpha partner before he decides its up to him to be, and beofer he gets to be 120 pounds.

PS- My biggest problem with Shepherds is that they shed 24/7, all year long. There is no shedding seaon for them. So if you are not a daily cleaner, you can quickly have dog hair dust bunnies the size of a softball rolling around your house. I’m keeping mine till they get big enough to release back into the wild.
 
TAS2000 said:
PS- My biggest problem with Shepherds is that they shed **24/7, all year long. There is no shedding seaon for them. **So if you are not a daily cleaner, you can quickly have dog hair dust bunnies the size of a softball rolling around your house. I’m keeping mine till they get big enough to release back into the wild.
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Except they double the hair action in the month of May!
 
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