New GS puppy help please

Dogbetty141

Dogbetty141

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Hi Guys

Not been on the hound section before but seen as im a new dog owner with no horsey anymore I was just wondering if anyone could help me please. We have a 8 week old German Shepard puppy called Lexi whio is gorgeous but so cheecky! She is getting better at the toilet training but she chews your feet when you are walking & chews on your hands rather than her toys anyone know how I can get her out of doing this? She has also started on the carpet now!

I will try and post some piccies later!

Thanks

Liz
 
Hi, there are people on here who will have some great advise for you about your pup when they see this post.

I just wanted to ask who the handsome dude in the baseball cap is? :D
 
Thats Rolly hes a lab cross retriever he is my OH's mums dog he is lovely! This is my first dog ever I have always had cats so we decided to get a dog and love it its like having a child but very hard and I can wait for advice!

Thanks

Liz
 
In terms of your hands, I think all play should stop the minute her teeth touch your hand, say a firm no, stop the game and walk away.

Carpet = firm no, and give her something she CAN chew, something much tastier than the carpet! Has she got plenty of nice things to chew?

Maybe she is trying to play when she's nibbling at your feet, again I'd say no but then distract her with a different game :)
 
I think she thinks no means yes as she keeps coming back for more and doesnt listen to you? Has anyone tried shaking stones in a bottle does this help? We have cats which we used to spray with water when they were naughty will that work with her? She has loads of toys but prefers anything else!

Squealing makes her do it more!lol

She a monkey

Liz
 
Please don't shake stones at an 8 week old pup, it is all playful behaviour, she just needs to learn her boundaries. As suggested a firm No, and then, in the case of your hands just moving them out of her reach should get the message over, I have to admit most of my pups have hung on my laces etc when young, you should try walking with a litter of 8 anchoring you.:D However, if you don't want her to do it she should respect you telling her No. If just the command doesn't stop her catch her by the scruff of the neck and give her a gentle shake, and again say no. Once she is paying attention to you not your feet offer her an exciting toy.
They are a very intelligent breed and she should already be capable of learning how to sit, find a toy etc, the more you stimulate her with learning games the more boring your feet will become. Hopefully the breeder will have given you lots of tips in your puppy pack, but if you need more advice I am sure between us on here we can help you out.
Oh, forget to say, pictures are required, and for us nosy GSD lot breeding would be nice (pm the latter if you prefer).
 
Squeeling really does stop puppies in their tracks when they are giving painful bites, it seems to make them realise they are hurting you. I've done it with generations of mine and it is the one tactic that never fails.

Your pup is just a wee baby and may well be teething. Give it plenty of things to chew, fresh marrow bones from the butcher are ideal. Don't give the fried ones you can buy in pet shops as they tend to chip and the pieces of bone can be dangerous. Please don't rattle tins or bottles of stones at it, GSDs are sensitive dogs and you don't want to frighten the life out of the poor baby. If it starts chewing furniture distraction is the best move, get its attention onto something it CAN chew.

GSDs are super dogs but need careful handling. If I were you I'd join a breed club, they will have lots of experienced owners and breeders who are only too happy to help whenever you need it. They are also likely to run events and trainiing days that can teach you and your dog a great deal and which are also a lot of fun.
 
You need to learn puppy language and squealing is puppy language! Put your hand down as if inviting her to mouth you, when she does squeal, this says "ouchie you hurt me!" and no puppy really wants to hurt you, she just wants to play. Make sure you leave your hand there, don't pull it away as this turns into a toy to be chased. Repeat a couple of times and get all your friends to do the same, she think that you are all very sensitive and easily hurt, but that's exactly the point! She will very quickly stop mouthing you!

As for biting carpets and other things, distraction is your best friend at the moment! You need to either keep an eye on her constantly or place her in a safe area such as a crate when you can't supervise. If she does something you don't like, like biting the carpet, use a toy to get her attention and focus it on something else. Meanwhile work on your "leave it" command, this is the command which means whatever you are doing now stop it please and you can use it to get her to leave the carpet, food, etc. It's always a good idea to join a puppy socialisation class and a dog training class which should give you a lot of advice on all these training issues.

I have a "don't do that" command as well, but I don't use the word "no" for it. "No" is used far too often and dogs become desensitised to it. I use a "uh, ah" sound that's unique to that command and means "whatever you are doing, stop it". Key to training that command is that when you say it, if the dog ignores you, you need to drop everything and make sure the dog listens.

Good luck and post some pics of her!
 
She's a puppy. This is normal puppy behaviour.

Give her an alternative thing to do, a distraction.

Get her two ball-on-a-rope toys. Some vets do a really good one by Nylabone where both the ball and the rope are chewable and will help ease her mouth.

Make sure they (and you, because you give them and take them away and make them active and fun) become her main focus.
Training everything else, recall, ignoring other dogs/people, will then become so much easier as she grows. She only gets one, as a reward for giving up or bringing back the other one.

She will not have constant access to it - it's for playtime and fun and when you say so.

Other times, as said, use a good quality chew toy.

You don't give a baby an abacus and expect it to know how to work, similarly, you need to show a puppy why chews etc are fun.

I second the recommendation of a good breed club, seriously, this is nothing to worry about. They are an active, thinking breed and need lots of mental stimulation (don't overdo the physical exercise before a year old), good luck :)
 
Hi thanks for the replies, this is dogbetty141's OH she just txd me the login details so i could read the replies too.

Lexi seems to be calming down a little bit on the biting, she will still attack feet alot but she seems to stop and let go of them easier, so maybe shes slowly getting the message. We're not being over the top or anything, i wouldnt have minded so much if it was gentle, but she drew blood a few times and ive been told to put a stop to it now. The yelping method just excited her, i made the mistake of pointing at her a saying NO but she bit my finger lol so that was my fault.

She was the smallest out of a litter of 10, and when we went to see them all she was the cheeky one when all others were sleeping she was still playing etc. & the breeder we got her off who was great i might add did tell us she could be a little bugger. But im hopeful that shes just got a big character rather than naughty.

Here are some pics

Fell fast asleep on her water bowl lol








Her parents are sire: dechsline zito vom agios dam: dechsline winnie vom agios
if that means anything to the poster who asked about breeding. Hips are 4/3 and 6/7 so she from good breeding we beleive. Her grandparents VA INGODDS AGASSI and V TRAMELLA NATZ were apparantly amazing dogs.
 
Beautiful pup!

She is displaying normal puppy behaviour but it is still annoying and it is important to nip in in the bud (pardon the pun!)

When my GSD was a tiny pup, he was exactly the same. I had only had him a few days and was playing with him on the floor when he looked at me and then bit my nose- hard. I reacted instinctivley, yelped and smacked him (not something I'd advise you do but it really hurt and it was a quick reaction).
He drew blood from my face and I know that he didn't mean it maliciously at all and it was just play, but for me it was completely unacceptable. Imagine if it had been a child sitting and playing with the 'cute' puppy...

Read about bite inhibition, it is important. Join a puppy/ dog training class, preferably run by people who know and love the breed, it is so helpful.
Enjoy your dog, although they can be challenging at times!
 
Aw she looks lovely, the water bowl sleeping one is fab, Im with MM, Im a smack on the bottie person or a little scrag (short, sharp shock and then all is forgiven, I don't use the whole high pitched noise but have seen others use it very successfully and others where it has made 1 iota of difference or even heightened the behaviour mor :D
I sent ya guide, ay probs, give me a shout (it should have sent ok)
Keep coimg her GSD fanatics will keep ya right:)

I now have another puppy :eek:, so I feel your pain :(
 
Lovely looking girl. She definitely will need to be kept busy, as others have suggested I would try and find a breed specific training club and get her started as soon as she is old enough, her brain needs to be occupied. My Evie was the "little bugger" of her litter, I have had GSDs all my life and still found her quite challenging, so I bet she will keep you on your toes, when she is not biting them. :p
Sounds as if you are starting to see some improvement in the biting, as long as you are firm with her she will soon learn. Look forward to lots of updates and pictures.
 
CAYLA said:
Aw she looks lovely, the water bowl sleeping one is fab, Im with MM, Im a smack on the bottie person or a little scrag (short, sharp shock and then all is forgiven, I don't use the whole high pitched noise but have seen others use it very successfully and others where it has made 1 iota of difference or even heightened the behaviour mor :D
I sent ya guide, ay probs, give me a shout (it should have sent ok)
Keep coimg her GSD fanatics will keep ya right:)

I now have another puppy :eek:, so I feel your pain :(
Click to expand...

Smacks never ever worked for B (and she really was a little *****), she just bit me harder:rolleyes:

and dont think I didnt notice.... PUPPY?? we clearly need to be kept informed of these things!;)
 
Dogbetty141 said:
Hi thanks for the replies, this is dogbetty141's OH she just txd me the login details so i could read the replies too.

Lexi seems to be calming down a little bit on the biting, she will still attack feet alot but she seems to stop and let go of them easier, so maybe shes slowly getting the message. We're not being over the top or anything, i wouldnt have minded so much if it was gentle, but she drew blood a few times and ive been told to put a stop to it now. The yelping method just excited her, i made the mistake of pointing at her a saying NO but she bit my finger lol so that was my fault.

She was the smallest out of a litter of 10, and when we went to see them all she was the cheeky one when all others were sleeping she was still playing etc. & the breeder we got her off who was great i might add did tell us she could be a little bugger. But im hopeful that shes just got a big character rather than naughty.


Her parents are sire: dechsline zito vom agios dam: dechsline winnie vom agios
if that means anything to the poster who asked about breeding. Hips are 4/3 and 6/7 so she from good breeding we beleive. Her grandparents VA INGODDS AGASSI and V TRAMELLA NATZ were apparantly amazing dogs.
Click to expand...

Ha ha, I like how you got the GSD size bowls for her to grow into, she's gorgeous and takes me back to when we had our GSD max, he used to run up to you and pee on the carpet wagging his tail, I used to say to him yes its good you are peeing (because I used to make a fuss of him when he peed outside) he was chuffed he was doing it and was waiting for his fuss for being good ha ha, he got it in the end.

Max never mouthed, he didn't really like tugging games either, he liked squeeky toys, if you put your hand in his mouth he used to spit it out, when my mother came to visit, she was petried of GSD's not him though as she'd known him from a pup, he used to greet her at the door and hold her hand softly in his mouth and lead her in ! never did it to anyone else, it was like he was saying come on in nan I won't hurt you

Can't say he'd have been the same with strangers ha ha
 
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Thanks for all the advice guys she coming along a litter better! She has seemed to stop when I ignore he and stop playing with her she still does it but she seems to be getting the idea! I yelped really loudly last night and that shocked her she stopped then too! She just seems to be finally learning! Anyway i wont jinx myself and will let you know how we get on over this week! Could you also let me know what you all feed or fed your puppies she is on royal canine junior which we got off the breeder thanks in advance

Liz
 
She's a real cutie pie

Dog star daily http://www.dogstardaily.com/ which has already been mentioned is a fantastic resource. You can download the "after you get your puppy" book from there too, or download it from here http://gooddogschool.webs.com/downloadsandarticles.htm

Also get yourself along to puppy socialisation classes as soon as she is able to go out and about. Preferably run by an APDT http://www.apdt.co.uk/ trainer as then you'll know that they use kind fair effective methods. If there is no ADPT trainer near you then contact INTODogs to see if they can point you in the direction of one of their trainers.http://www.intodogs.org/

Smaking a puppy can teach them that hands and people hurt, and some pups then, understandably, grow up to be defensive and bite whenever someone goes near to them. Rattle bottles, squirty guns etc will also just teach you pup to be afraid of people.
 
I like Arden Grange for GSD pups/adults.

Also, I wasn't joking about the balls-on-ropes, if I was doing things over again with a baby pup those would be my first purchase - once you see an adult, high-octane GSD focus on NOTHING else (other dogs, cats, horses, lorries etc) but when Mum is going to get that ball out and throw it you'll know what I mean :D
 
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