Question are you there or is he by himself?
If he is by himself he needs to go into a crate
he is still to young to have free reign of the house
If he is by himself he needs to go into a crate
he is still to young to have free reign of the house
tearing up everything
I have 5&1/2 month old gsd he has been chewing up everything. Yesterday in a span of 15 min he chewed our fan cord in half tore the liner out of my moms cooler and tore up a new extension cord what should I do. We just had to give away our st benard who he played with all the time could that have anything to do with it.
1 - 11 of 11 Posts
The pup is teething.
Give him appropriate things to chew--raw bones, a rope, or hard rubber toy.
But more importantly, the pup needs supervision. He should either be in a crate when you are not there, or in the same room with you when you are.
Puppies need lots of exercise to burn off energy or they will find ways to do it by being destructive. If he's not getting to run and roughouse with the other dog any more, then you'll have to provide him an outlet to burn off energy---long walks, long sessions of playing fetch--something to help him burn energy.
Give him appropriate things to chew--raw bones, a rope, or hard rubber toy.
But more importantly, the pup needs supervision. He should either be in a crate when you are not there, or in the same room with you when you are.
Puppies need lots of exercise to burn off energy or they will find ways to do it by being destructive. If he's not getting to run and roughouse with the other dog any more, then you'll have to provide him an outlet to burn off energy---long walks, long sessions of playing fetch--something to help him burn energy.
puppies esp gsd pups, need lots of stimulation, physical as much as mental. Yeah you can throw a ball to him but he is going to need some sort of mental game to go with it. I agree with littledmc, if he is by himself he needs to be crated or otherwise contained. What I did with one of my dogs at puppy stage was leash em up and sit right with me. Of coarse I gave it a toy to chew.
Echoing the above - if your pup chewed several things in 15 minutes, where were you? That is far too young to be unsupervised. Use a crate and leash (yep, even indoors). Remove obvious temptations that can be moved to puppy-proof the common areas he will be.
Provide a few appropriate chew toys - at that age, get some that are recommended for teething. Kong makes some good products. They also like to gnaw on ropes, but not for too long - as they can destroy them into strings. Start teaching "leave it" and "drop it" using his toys.
Lots of excercise!!!
Provide a few appropriate chew toys - at that age, get some that are recommended for teething. Kong makes some good products. They also like to gnaw on ropes, but not for too long - as they can destroy them into strings. Start teaching "leave it" and "drop it" using his toys.
Lots of excercise!!!
If that was the only way the pup got exercise, maybe. Exercise, training and crate time will solve your problems. Sounds like he is bored silly.Originally Posted By: bearcatfb30We just had to give away our st benard who he played with all the time could that have anything to do with it.
Adding to the above -- yes I'd bet giving away the saint has had a lot to do with this behavior. (As well as teething.) Dogs pick up on the degree of human commitment around.
My puppy is ALWAYS in one of the following places:
1. One of her two crates
2. Outside, with me directly supervising, as she plays with my other dogs, or toys
3. Her ex-pen, although she climbs out of that, so now I have to be in the same room and constantly glancing over.
4.Tethered to a safe place (in our case, the fireplace supports), where she has about 30 inches of radius, lots of toys, a soft bed, and NOTHING she can damage (except the bed and the toys). I check on her no less than every 10 minutes or whenever she gets too quiet. (Toys, IMO, should be so interesting that the dog is pouncing on them, pushing them around the floor, chewing them, or 'talking to' them. In other words, you should be aware your dog is playing with them from a room away. If not, then you likely need to invest in different toys. And mix them up. The same old toys get boring day in and day out.)
5. Tethered to me. I attach a leash to her and to my belt. I give her two toys (one chewy and one soft) and she lies next to me while I'm working on the computer, folding laundry, or otherwise, going through the day. She learns to be with me quietly and to move around the house without grabbing whatever happens to be on the floor.
Those are her options. She doesn't play by herself anywhere she wants in the house or outside. When I play with her, I'm either in the yard or she's almost always on the tether so she can't dash off and get into something or potty under the draperies. -- I"ve found that puppies are much quicker than me when I'm sitting on the floor. -- She's very young and not 100% potty trained yet.). A young puppy doesn't need full-run of a house.
Freedom is a privilege. It's earned in very small chunks. When I first brought my pup home, she wasn't potty trained at all, so she didn't even get to be left unattended on a tether at all, or I'd end up with a wet floor or wet dog bed. She's earned being left alone for short period of time. She's earning trust and building up her freedom VERY slowly.
I may sound like a control freak. But I like to look at it this way -- I don't want to put my puppies (or my adult dogs) in situations that they are likely to fail in. Success breeds success. If a dog never learns a bad habit, I don't have to train them to break bad habits. My GSD has only chewed on one thing I didn't want him to chew on (a stuffed animal that had emotional value to me. But it looked like all his other toys.). He's never chewed on shoes, or cords, or pillows or furniture. Am I brilliant trainer? Nah. Is my home impeccably cleaned up at all times? Ha!
I just made sure he didn't get freedom until he earned it.
That, and he burns a ton of energy every day with suitable activities. A GSD that doesn't have a job will make one for himself. Fetch, Walks, Find-it games, be creative and make your own games. Keep his brain and body busy. Give him physical boundaries and let him earn any freedom he gets. THEN you'll have a reliable dog.
1. One of her two crates
2. Outside, with me directly supervising, as she plays with my other dogs, or toys
3. Her ex-pen, although she climbs out of that, so now I have to be in the same room and constantly glancing over.
4.Tethered to a safe place (in our case, the fireplace supports), where she has about 30 inches of radius, lots of toys, a soft bed, and NOTHING she can damage (except the bed and the toys). I check on her no less than every 10 minutes or whenever she gets too quiet. (Toys, IMO, should be so interesting that the dog is pouncing on them, pushing them around the floor, chewing them, or 'talking to' them. In other words, you should be aware your dog is playing with them from a room away. If not, then you likely need to invest in different toys. And mix them up. The same old toys get boring day in and day out.)
5. Tethered to me. I attach a leash to her and to my belt. I give her two toys (one chewy and one soft) and she lies next to me while I'm working on the computer, folding laundry, or otherwise, going through the day. She learns to be with me quietly and to move around the house without grabbing whatever happens to be on the floor.
Those are her options. She doesn't play by herself anywhere she wants in the house or outside. When I play with her, I'm either in the yard or she's almost always on the tether so she can't dash off and get into something or potty under the draperies. -- I"ve found that puppies are much quicker than me when I'm sitting on the floor. -- She's very young and not 100% potty trained yet.). A young puppy doesn't need full-run of a house.
Freedom is a privilege. It's earned in very small chunks. When I first brought my pup home, she wasn't potty trained at all, so she didn't even get to be left unattended on a tether at all, or I'd end up with a wet floor or wet dog bed. She's earned being left alone for short period of time. She's earning trust and building up her freedom VERY slowly.
I may sound like a control freak. But I like to look at it this way -- I don't want to put my puppies (or my adult dogs) in situations that they are likely to fail in. Success breeds success. If a dog never learns a bad habit, I don't have to train them to break bad habits. My GSD has only chewed on one thing I didn't want him to chew on (a stuffed animal that had emotional value to me. But it looked like all his other toys.). He's never chewed on shoes, or cords, or pillows or furniture. Am I brilliant trainer? Nah. Is my home impeccably cleaned up at all times? Ha!
I just made sure he didn't get freedom until he earned it.
That, and he burns a ton of energy every day with suitable activities. A GSD that doesn't have a job will make one for himself. Fetch, Walks, Find-it games, be creative and make your own games. Keep his brain and body busy. Give him physical boundaries and let him earn any freedom he gets. THEN you'll have a reliable dog.
3K9mom has hit the nail on the head.
I just completed a make shift wall to divide the kitchen and din/living rm. Our 8 week old GSD had too much room to roam. Our little guy, Yeager, helped me, he held the bag of srews ( small papper bag, took srews out first ) Yeager held the bag , carried it around as I was working on the wall divider. I did hide the cordless drill just in case he wanted to dismantle the wall. Keep them busy and they are happy. good luck
I have nothing to add, good advice, my personal experience with my Ava was she tore up one of my new dining room chairs when she was a puppy....it was my fault, I gave her too much freedom too soon. I now can leave her home alone with no worries of her tearing up anything but her toys (or even eating the cat food, amazing really). Keep him attached to you and keep an eagle eye out, when you cant watch him kennel him, it is for his safety after all. If he chews through a live cord he can electrocute himself. Teething hurts and I'm sure it feels good to chew, make sure he has appropriate chew toys, kongs are great (put a little peanut butter in it an freeze it to get him to use it). Also, I used a lot of rawhide chews when Ava was little, just make sure they are the right kind, and supervise closely when he is chewing one.
1 - 11 of 11 Posts
- This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
German Shepherds Forum
A forum community dedicated to all German Shepherd owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about bloodlines, training, breeding, service dogs, and more!
Full Forum Listing
Recommended Communities
