Hi everyone
New to the forum and also new to Shepherd ownership.
I have a 9 month old, male, West German showline. Lovely dog and generally does what I ask of him. Also hasn't been a very mischievous puppy to date.
However, lately I am encountering an issue where if I leave the house to go to the shop or to work and he is left in the care of a family member, he plays up. He does things like take the remote control, pull cushions from underneath them, steal their mobile phone etc. He is basically bullying them. To make matters worse they are also not very confident in handling him. When I am around though, he does absolutely nothing wrong.
So far I have become much stricter with his training in the hope this might make him better behaved when I am not around. I am also getting others to feed him, make him sit and wait for it etc. I am very strict with no jumping on people etc to also try and teach him to respect people. He also never bites me but with others he will sometimes gently mouth them, never causing a mark but I am also trying to work with him to get him to stop the behaviour.
Really after any ideas or success stories of others to help improve the situation.
He is not desexed yet as I wanted to wait until he is a bit older however I have also considered bringing it forward in the hope it might make things better when I am not around. Strangely if I leave him on his own he doesn't damage things.
Any help is appreciated. Thank you!
New to the forum and also new to Shepherd ownership.
I have a 9 month old, male, West German showline. Lovely dog and generally does what I ask of him. Also hasn't been a very mischievous puppy to date.
However, lately I am encountering an issue where if I leave the house to go to the shop or to work and he is left in the care of a family member, he plays up. He does things like take the remote control, pull cushions from underneath them, steal their mobile phone etc. He is basically bullying them. To make matters worse they are also not very confident in handling him. When I am around though, he does absolutely nothing wrong.
So far I have become much stricter with his training in the hope this might make him better behaved when I am not around. I am also getting others to feed him, make him sit and wait for it etc. I am very strict with no jumping on people etc to also try and teach him to respect people. He also never bites me but with others he will sometimes gently mouth them, never causing a mark but I am also trying to work with him to get him to stop the behaviour.
Really after any ideas or success stories of others to help improve the situation.
He is not desexed yet as I wanted to wait until he is a bit older however I have also considered bringing it forward in the hope it might make things better when I am not around. Strangely if I leave him on his own he doesn't damage things.
Any help is appreciated. Thank you!
