Six month old not happy with certain things! :-(

tessthebear · 12-10-2011, 08:31 PM

I have a six month old German Shepherd named Bear. He's a wonderful lad in general just a couple of things that I need to work on with him. Whenever it's time for him to go out of the living room, he doesn't listen and just sits and looks up at me. When I walk towards him, he sometimes walks sideways away from me, swinging his head with his tail flicking, he sometimes retrieves to under the coffee table. (I do walk slowly towards him, making no eye contact and sideways as I was advised to do in the puppy books!

)

Whenever I try to get him out from under the coffee table by recall he runs across the living room, wagging his tail, play growling. When I finally get to catch him, I give a small tug on his collar so he knows to come. But instead he throws himself on the floor, rolls over and is in a fit of screams and groans whilst trying to bite me. I don't reward the behaviour with strokes and cuddles but I always think I'm hurting him! I don't know if puppies over react to get their own way but this biting is very painful.

This happens almost every time people touch his collar, it's the perfect fit and we don't drag him out but he looks so scared! The only way to get him out of the living room is by throwing food into the kitchen, but the food is losing it's worth and he isn't listening. As for discipline, a raised voice makes him bark at you, and nip whatever part of your body is available to nip as if to say 'Stop. This is a correction for you.' But if you move forward he runs around the back and leaps on you, sometimes grabbing your arm. I hate it when he leaps in the air like this because he's going to fall on our laminate floor one day and break a leg.

His biting is painful because his jaws are gradually getting stronger and he has all his adult teeth. He continue's to puppy bite and my arms are like a bruised apple! I'd like some recommendations to stop this 'over reaction' to people touching his collar and any tips to stop his 'back chatting/nipping/leaping' would be much appreciated, thankyou! xx

Lakl · 12-11-2011, 12:23 AM

The biting is normal for a puppy of this age. Thats why we call them landsharks!! When he bites you, you need to redirect him to a toy or something else. You also need to engage this puppy and make learning fun. If you are trying to get him to leave the room, you need to make it fun. Be animated and use a high pitch tone as your leaving the room and calling him. Make him curious to follow you and WANT to come. Do not throw treats across the room. Keep them in hand, and when he comes to you, reward him from your hand with the treat and rubs and praise. Pulling him by the collar will not guide him to understanding what you want.

MaggieRoseLee is a moderator and has some great videos of work with her pup. I will point this thread out to her, as I'm sure she can give a lot better advice than I can.

**MaggieRoseLee** · 12-11-2011, 08:41 AM

There's a whole lot going on with your pup and it's great that you posted to get help!

Most of the current dog/pup training is MUCH more about how do we figure out a smart way (using our human brains) to get our pups to WANT to do something. Rather than the old methods (and seemingly 'easier' ) involving making our pups do something.........which is what is happening when you take your puppy by the collar to 'make' him go where you want to.

Developing into what you are seeing that your dog does NOT like when you grab the collar cause it's ALWAYS INVOLVING MAKING YOUR PUP DO SOMETHING IT DOESN"T WANT TO DO, and additionally you using the collar to continue to force what you want.

Instead, what we should be trying to learn (not the puppy, but US!) is how can WE make ourselves and what we are trying to teach our pup be THE BEST THINGS EVER, so our pups can't wait to leave the room with us cause we are fun fun fun and can't wait to listen/learn/obey cause it's such a blast!

RELATIONSHIP building with our pups using exercise, play, treats, toys, play play play is key to this. Getting their attitude to WANT to come so we never have to touch that collar at all! And if we do it's just to attach a leash for another fun jaunt out in the world!

What you are missing is 'engagement', take some time to watch this site and look how it involves no leash/collar at all ---> Engagement - Key to Training

The biting is normal for our GSD pups for many reasons. Frustration? Anxiety? Trying to play?

Once again, we have to leave the house, pack the pup in the car and use our brains to figure out ways to both mentally AND physically work with our pups in a healthy and good way. One of the easiest things (and why most of us do it

) is find some great dog classes cause they physically and mentally challenge our pups while teaching US how to teach at the right speed the right behaviors.

Finding other socialization opportunities is also a great help. I know once I start looking, the radio, newspaper, and people in my dog classes always seem to know about dog 'events' that are upcoming!

German Shepherd puppy 15 Weeks - Socialization at Dog Fair - YouTube

Hiking the Poconos w/Friends and their dogs - YouTube

German Shepherd Socialization - Wildhaus Reunion Winter 2008 - YouTube

**MaggieRoseLee** · 12-11-2011, 08:46 AM

Another perfect training method to use for your pup would be clicker training. Absolutely perfect for your situation.

Intro to Clicker Training (perfect for puppies!) <---- click on that

**Castlemaid** · 12-11-2011, 10:12 AM

There is a whole lot going on there with your puppy, and you will need to look at how YOU are interacting with him that these behaviours are now a problem. There is a lot of info in what MRL said, and I second it all. The way you need to approach things is not how to 'fix' certain behaviours, but instead, how to 'fix' your relationship with your pup so that listening to you is second nature and doing what YOU want is rewarding and fun for him. This will take a shift in your thinking and expectations for both of you. It will not happen overnight and will take some consistent work and training from your part.

To address a few points in your post:

There is a school of thought that if your dog does not want to do something, you MAKE them do it. End of story. I used to be of the same frame of mind, and believed it showed my power and leadership to my dog and instilled greater respect in them. It worked well when I had an easy-going, totally non-aggressive spaniel/retriever mix. Well doesn't work that well now that I have dogs whose background breedings do involve natural aggression and a hardness and willingness to fight people (as that is what these breeds were bred for). So we must find better and SMARTER ways of working with our GSD pups, or Rottweiler mix rescues (as in my case).

What I learned along the way, much of it from this site and much of it from obedience classes, is that if we want success, we set up our pups for success. Much better to manage a situations so that our dogs do what we want them to do and reward them, then force them into situations where they have a chance to be 'bad' and punish them. You were on the right track with the treats thrown in the kitchen, so think how else you can set up scenarios where the pup does what you want, and that makes him the best puppy in the world!

If you have some good obedience classes in your area, take full advantage of them. They are wonderful for bonding and developing a postitive relationship and understanding how dogs think and what motivates them. Make sure the classes use positive, reward-based training (like food, tug play - something more than praise). Clicker classes are a good example of positive, reward-based training techniques, but there are other type of positive training using food as a reward that will work for you too. Avoid classes where they are talking about using correction collars on a six month old.

For the biting - you pup should be getting over the biting stage. One way to control unwanted behaviour is to channel it into something that is fun but that you can control. Second the suggestion of always, ALWAYS redirecting the biting to a toy. That means you need to always have a tug toy on you or near at hand, and when your pup gets into a bitey phase, grab your tug toy and play with him like crazy. Just giving him the toy won't do, your pup wants to interact with you, so humour him. Humour him because the tug is something you want him to play with (not your body parts). Do this enough and consistently, and eventually he will bring you toys for you to play with him, instead of just launching himself into the air to engage you.

Also, six month old puppies are real Drama Queens! The screaming over getting his collar grabbed is but drama, you are not hurting him, and he is over-reacting, but still, stop the collar grabbing and take on some patience and develop new (positive) routines to stop this behaviour. At six months, it is puppy-drama. When he is two years old, you don't want to still have to grab his collar to make him do things. At two years old, don't be surprised if you get growled at and snapped at for the same thing.

They are a lot of fun at this age. Making your training and interactions fun for him is building a foundation of him wanting to engage with you and associating all your requests with postive outcomes - a foundation of building a fun relationship that will be very rewarding and natural for both of you.

tessthebear · 12-11-2011, 10:14 AM

Thankyou very much the both of you!

I'll go get a clicker and he's already been placed for novice training classes. I just want my lad to be happy!

The dog forum I was previously on were bashing him because he was long coated and a gold sable, so I was intimidated to ask any questions regarding behaviour because I thought it would just be another excuse for them to have a go at him. I feel much better asking questions here, I haven't been on 24hours and you all seem so nice.

Thankyou again! xx

Lakl · 12-11-2011, 11:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tessthebear

Thankyou very much the both of you!

I'll go get a clicker and he's already been placed for novice training classes. I just want my lad to be happy!

The dog forum I was previously on were bashing him because he was long coated and a gold sable, so I was intimidated to ask any questions regarding behaviour because I thought it would just be another excuse for them to have a go at him. I feel much better asking questions here, I haven't been on 24hours and you all seem so nice.

Thankyou again! xx

I have 2 long coats!

. We love ALL dogs here! Would love to see pics!

Zisso · 12-11-2011, 11:02 AM

I am a lover of Long Coats!! Not the best in training and giving advice, but love my coaties!

tessthebear · 12-11-2011, 11:15 AM

I have posted some pictures up in an album! It's called 'Bear' there's a couple of one's on his first day and one recent one. I need more but my camera isn't to good and I'll be hopefully be getting one for Christmas!

**Castlemaid** · 12-11-2011, 11:20 AM

Here's a link to Bear's Album:
http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum...74-bear-c.html

Just adorable!

12-10-2011, 08:31 PM	#1 (permalink)
tessthebear Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Newcastle, North East England Posts: 41	Six month old not happy with certain things! :-( I have a six month old German Shepherd named Bear. He's a wonderful lad in general just a couple of things that I need to work on with him. Whenever it's time for him to go out of the living room, he doesn't listen and just sits and looks up at me. When I walk towards him, he sometimes walks sideways away from me, swinging his head with his tail flicking, he sometimes retrieves to under the coffee table. (I do walk slowly towards him, making no eye contact and sideways as I was advised to do in the puppy books! ) Whenever I try to get him out from under the coffee table by recall he runs across the living room, wagging his tail, play growling. When I finally get to catch him, I give a small tug on his collar so he knows to come. But instead he throws himself on the floor, rolls over and is in a fit of screams and groans whilst trying to bite me. I don't reward the behaviour with strokes and cuddles but I always think I'm hurting him! I don't know if puppies over react to get their own way but this biting is very painful. This happens almost every time people touch his collar, it's the perfect fit and we don't drag him out but he looks so scared! The only way to get him out of the living room is by throwing food into the kitchen, but the food is losing it's worth and he isn't listening. As for discipline, a raised voice makes him bark at you, and nip whatever part of your body is available to nip as if to say 'Stop. This is a correction for you.' But if you move forward he runs around the back and leaps on you, sometimes grabbing your arm. I hate it when he leaps in the air like this because he's going to fall on our laminate floor one day and break a leg. His biting is painful because his jaws are gradually getting stronger and he has all his adult teeth. He continue's to puppy bite and my arms are like a bruised apple! I'd like some recommendations to stop this 'over reaction' to people touching his collar and any tips to stop his 'back chatting/nipping/leaping' would be much appreciated, thankyou! xx

12-11-2011, 08:46 AM	#4 (permalink)
MaggieRoseLee The Agility Rocks! Moderator Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Bushkill, PA (The Poconos!) Posts: 22,215	Another perfect training method to use for your pup would be clicker training. Absolutely perfect for your situation. Intro to Clicker Training (perfect for puppies!) <---- click on that __________________ MACH2 Bretta Lee Wildhaus CGC TC TQX Glory B Wildhaus NA, NJ, NF + LOL (still) "*Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much." - Oscar Wilde*

12-11-2011, 10:12 AM	#5 (permalink)
Castlemaid Moderator Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Northern British Columbia Posts: 9,089	There is a whole lot going on there with your puppy, and you will need to look at how YOU are interacting with him that these behaviours are now a problem. There is a lot of info in what MRL said, and I second it all. The way you need to approach things is not how to 'fix' certain behaviours, but instead, how to 'fix' your relationship with your pup so that listening to you is second nature and doing what YOU want is rewarding and fun for him. This will take a shift in your thinking and expectations for both of you. It will not happen overnight and will take some consistent work and training from your part. To address a few points in your post: There is a school of thought that if your dog does not want to do something, you MAKE them do it. End of story. I used to be of the same frame of mind, and believed it showed my power and leadership to my dog and instilled greater respect in them. It worked well when I had an easy-going, totally non-aggressive spaniel/retriever mix. Well doesn't work that well now that I have dogs whose background breedings do involve natural aggression and a hardness and willingness to fight people (as that is what these breeds were bred for). So we must find better and SMARTER ways of working with our GSD pups, or Rottweiler mix rescues (as in my case). What I learned along the way, much of it from this site and much of it from obedience classes, is that if we want success, we set up our pups for success. Much better to manage a situations so that our dogs do what we want them to do and reward them, then force them into situations where they have a chance to be 'bad' and punish them. You were on the right track with the treats thrown in the kitchen, so think how else you can set up scenarios where the pup does what you want, and that makes him the best puppy in the world! If you have some good obedience classes in your area, take full advantage of them. They are wonderful for bonding and developing a postitive relationship and understanding how dogs think and what motivates them. Make sure the classes use positive, reward-based training (like food, tug play - something more than praise). Clicker classes are a good example of positive, reward-based training techniques, but there are other type of positive training using food as a reward that will work for you too. Avoid classes where they are talking about using correction collars on a six month old. For the biting - you pup should be getting over the biting stage. One way to control unwanted behaviour is to channel it into something that is fun but that you can control. Second the suggestion of always, ALWAYS redirecting the biting to a toy. That means you need to always have a tug toy on you or near at hand, and when your pup gets into a bitey phase, grab your tug toy and play with him like crazy. Just giving him the toy won't do, your pup wants to interact with you, so humour him. Humour him because the tug is something you want him to play with (not your body parts). Do this enough and consistently, and eventually he will bring you toys for you to play with him, instead of just launching himself into the air to engage you. Also, six month old puppies are real Drama Queens! The screaming over getting his collar grabbed is but drama, you are not hurting him, and he is over-reacting, but still, stop the collar grabbing and take on some patience and develop new (positive) routines to stop this behaviour. At six months, it is puppy-drama. When he is two years old, you don't want to still have to grab his collar to make him do things. At two years old, don't be surprised if you get growled at and snapped at for the same thing. They are a lot of fun at this age. Making your training and interactions fun for him is building a foundation of him wanting to engage with you and associating all your requests with postive outcomes - a foundation of building a fun relationship that will be very rewarding and natural for both of you. __________________ Lucia Keeta BH, OB1, TR1, AD (HOT) Rottweiler/Hairy Dog mix?? Shelter rescue Gryffon Vom Wildhaus BH, OFA Good (HOT) "Bites Through the Sleeve" Cuddlebug, b: Mar 2009 Last edited by Castlemaid; 12-11-2011 at 10:15 AM.

12-11-2011, 11:02 AM	#8 (permalink)
Zisso Knighted Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Tacoma, WA Posts: 3,002	I am a lover of Long Coats!! Not the best in training and giving advice, but love my coaties! __________________ Nadia - GSD -DOB 12-29-07 Zisso - GSD- DOB 9-16-07 Pepe & Kiki`my sweet kitties Zisso is my heart~Nadia is my Love~My kitties bring me everything in between~Together they bring me Joy!

12-11-2011, 11:20 AM	#10 (permalink)
Castlemaid Moderator Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Northern British Columbia Posts: 9,089	Here's a link to Bear's Album: http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum...74-bear-c.html Just adorable! __________________ Lucia Keeta BH, OB1, TR1, AD (HOT) Rottweiler/Hairy Dog mix?? Shelter rescue Gryffon Vom Wildhaus BH, OFA Good (HOT) "Bites Through the Sleeve" Cuddlebug, b: Mar 2009

12-11-2011, 12:23 AM	#2 (permalink)
Lakl Master Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Posts: 525	The biting is normal for a puppy of this age. Thats why we call them landsharks!! When he bites you, you need to redirect him to a toy or something else. You also need to engage this puppy and make learning fun. If you are trying to get him to leave the room, you need to make it fun. Be animated and use a high pitch tone as your leaving the room and calling him. Make him curious to follow you and WANT to come. Do not throw treats across the room. Keep them in hand, and when he comes to you, reward him from your hand with the treat and rubs and praise. Pulling him by the collar will not guide him to understanding what you want. MaggieRoseLee is a moderator and has some great videos of work with her pup. I will point this thread out to her, as I'm sure she can give a lot better advice than I can.

12-11-2011, 10:14 AM	#6 (permalink)
tessthebear Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Newcastle, North East England Posts: 41	Thankyou very much the both of you! I'll go get a clicker and he's already been placed for novice training classes. I just want my lad to be happy! The dog forum I was previously on were bashing him because he was long coated and a gold sable, so I was intimidated to ask any questions regarding behaviour because I thought it would just be another excuse for them to have a go at him. I feel much better asking questions here, I haven't been on 24hours and you all seem so nice. Thankyou again! xx

12-11-2011, 11:15 AM	#9 (permalink)
tessthebear Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Newcastle, North East England Posts: 41	I have posted some pictures up in an album! It's called 'Bear' there's a couple of one's on his first day and one recent one. I need more but my camera isn't to good and I'll be hopefully be getting one for Christmas!

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