Nip Nip, light bite, more light biting.. bites that leave marks...

[bridget246]

I'm having 3 really big problems with my German Shepherd (working class). She is 6 months old.

1) She bites when I put the lease on her. She bites when I ignore her and I tried ignoring that and she just bites me harder till I finally take notice and punish her for it. She goes off when I tell her no to something that she is enjoying, almost as if she wants to overpower me to get it despite the fact that this only gets her in more trouble.

2) Trash, she digs in my trash. If I tell her to leave it she will leave it but when and if I turn my back she will jump back in again. She also goes counter and table surfing. I tried to keep the rewards down as far as possible by leaving my counter and table clear. She has even figured out how to open my cabinets. She knows she isn't allowed on tables,trash,counter, and in cabinets. If she hears me coming she will jump off and play innocent. I have to sneak into the kitchen to catch her.

3) Bathroom upstairs. We stopped the bathroom from happening downstairs but she still thinks that going upstairs makes it alright to use it. She'll go as far as to eat it or hide it by covering it up with something for me to find later. Words can't express how much I hate this. I've stopped her from going upstairs by blocking it off and recalling her whenever she heads that direction. No block and she will run up and ignore my words as if going upstairs means I no longer have any control over her. I hate blocking the steps as this limits my freedom in the house as well because I have to keep removing it and rebuild it. I don't understand why I lose all control the second she hits the stairs. She will stop fighting the block the instant I ask her to even if I'm no where near her.

[catahoulamom]

I can't give you much training advice, but does this dog have a job? Do you do any structured activities with her outside of the house? Search & rescue, agility, even obedience class (I don't know if she's old enough for agility or S&R)? It sounds like she is DYING for a job to do... she is a working class shepherd after all. Seems to me she is bored and not stimulated enough, but that's just from the information you provided.

[magicre]

just my personal opinion, and i am not a trainer....

i think you need to contact a trainer in your area for hands on sessions....

[Tobi]

I'm having 3 really big problems with my German Shepherd (working class). She is 6 months old.

1) She bites when I put the lease on her. She bites when I ignore her and I tried ignoring that and she just bites me harder till I finally take notice and punish her for it. She goes off when I tell her no to something that she is enjoying, almost as if she wants to overpower me to get it despite the fact that this only gets her in more trouble.

Mine used to do much of this, and it was more or less because we were letting it happen, we were feeding it with attention of any kind. When he puts his mouth on me now i ignore him completely, sometimes we will get extinction reactions from him... some nipping at my heals and things like that... it's not happened in a long time though, and completely ignoring his negative actions have worked very well for us and his mouthyness.

2) Trash, she digs in my trash. If I tell her to leave it she will leave it but when and if I turn my back she will jump back in again. She also goes counter and table surfing. I tried to keep the rewards down as far as possible by leaving my counter and table clear. She has even figured out how to open my cabinets. She knows she isn't allowed on tables,trash,counter, and in cabinets. If she hears me coming she will jump off and play innocent. I have to sneak into the kitchen to catch her.

Don't leave the temptation there, you are allowing it to happen by leaving the temptation open to her. you can A. Hide the trash can, or B. get a heavy duty one that is going to keep her out of it. install some child locks on the cabinets to keep her out of it. they are cheap and can be found a home depot or lowes.

3) Bathroom upstairs. We stopped the bathroom from happening downstairs but she still thinks that going upstairs makes it alright to use it. She'll go as far as to eat it or hide it by covering it up with something for me to find later. Words can't express how much I hate this. I've stopped her from going upstairs by blocking it off and recalling her whenever she heads that direction. No block and she will run up and ignore my words as if going upstairs means I no longer have any control over her. I hate blocking the steps as this limits my freedom in the house as well because I have to keep removing it and rebuild it. I don't understand why I lose all control the second she hits the stairs. She will stop fighting the block the instant I ask her to even if I'm no where near her.

An accident in your house is only your fault to be completely honest... if you're not taking a 6 month puppy out every hour or so you're setting your dog up for failure. We still take our 7-8 month old foster out every 2 hours just to be sure, we haven't had an accident in the last 2 weeks now. Tobi hasn't had an accident since he was a baby because we made it such a fun thing to go out and go potty, he gets the biggest reward even to this day.


how much exercise and activity is this dog getting daily?
are you meeting her needs as a working breed dog?

because it doesn't sound like you are. I have owned, and do own a working breed dog, and i know first hand how horrible they can be if they aren't physically and mentally challenged.

[catahoulamom]

I agree with Re (magicre), especially since she is very mouthy and nippy, I would contact a local professional positive-reinforcement based trainer, because in a few months she will be much bigger, and a mouthy 80lb german shepherd is a liability, even if she isn't aggressive. I'd find a trainer that works with dogs in some kind of sport, whether it be obedience rally or something. Like I said, this girl needs a job!

Edit: didn't see David's post at first, great advice!

[jenv101]

Ditto to all of the above. Welcome to the world of a working line puppy! :) I would also advise not leaving her with free roam of the house, set her up in an Ex Pen or crate for when you cannot keep an eye on her, or tether her to you so she can't go getting into trouble.

You can also buy some child proofing things for your cupboards and trash, and block off access to upstairs.

[bridget246]

I figured as much. I can't really afford a good one. I paid petsmart. All that did was waste my money. The trainer did show us a few more advance tricks that weren't part of class since my dog knew 80% of what they had to offer and now 100% of what they have in the intermediate class. The trainer who told me I had a working class dog also informed that I wouldn't be able to train her on my own with my experience. However, he wanted 2,000 dollars from me.

Jobs, what sort of job can I have her do? I didn't know I was buying a working class dog. I thought she was going to be like my other german shepards I had growing up, though I now realize they were all herding.

I have toys for her. She doesn't really like toys. If it doesn't break or have food then it is boring. I brought a hallow bone and made a treat for her with pumpkin and her dog food. I have it compacted and frozen so she doesn't actually eat very much of it and seems to enjoy it for awhile. A 12 in bully stick last about 20 minutes so it isn't worth the cost.

Finally, I have a food toy that is shaped like a mushroom. I put a half a cup of food in it and 2 balls. She knows all to well how to get the food out and seems to enjoy using it. I don't want to give her all her food in that because I'm afraid of bloat. So the bulk of her food comes from me holding it and telling her when she can eat and when she has to stop for breaks. I keep hoping that this would give me more discipline over her with other things but it only seemed to apply to food and I think that is only because she knows she is going to get it back so she is willing to wait.

Ditto to all of the above. Welcome to the world of a working line puppy! :) I would also advise not leaving her with free roam of the house, set her up in an Ex Pen or crate for when you cannot keep an eye on her, or tether her to you so she can't go getting into trouble.

You can also buy some child proofing things for your cupboards and trash, and block off access to upstairs.

I love the suggestion. I just don't know how that will teach her not to do things like go counter surfing. At some point I would like her to get free roam of the house when I'm not home. I know I'm far from that point but I'm trying to work towards it.

[magicre]

I agree with Re (magicre), especially since she is very mouthy and nippy, I would contact a local professional positive-reinforcement based trainer, because in a few months she will be much bigger, and a mouthy 80lb german shepherd is a liability, even if she isn't aggressive. I'd find a trainer that works with dogs in some kind of sport, whether it be obedience rally or something. Like I said, this girl needs a job!

Edit: didn't see David's post at first, great advice!

are you saying i'm mouthy and nippy LOL

i know you're not, but read what you wrote.....made me laugh....

to the OP....if you can't afford a trainer, then tire this dog out.....put a back pack on him and get a four wheeled wagon and let him pull you....or take him running....if you run.

but this dog has way too much energy and needs it worked out.....david (tobi) gave you good advice...

p.s....i had a trainer for my pug for things i couldn't do.....2000.00? really? are there other trainers in the area?

[maplewood]

THIS DOG NEEDS A JOB!!!

Are there any training clubs in your area? Unless you want her to do something like Schutzhund, training a job need not be expensive.

Go to JandJ dog supplies or DogWorks websites, you'll find countless inexpensive books that will tell you "how too" train certain things. She's old enough to use her nose "Fun Nosework for dog" Roy Hunter. Trieball, advanced obedience, and ground work for agility are things she could be learning( I wouldn't recomend having her do agility jumps, because of te risk of injury) As she gets older, she can do agility jumps, carting, Search and rescue work (even if she isn't certified, tracking is fun and good excersize) ect ect ...

How much excersize is she getting during the day? Is she getting mixed signals from other people in the household?

[xellil]

She should be confined until you can trust her in the house. Will she go over a baby gate?

I don't like either of my dogs going upstairs because of various health problems, so I just put a baby gate at the bottom. It's not attached to anything. but I know not all dogs would stop at that kind of very mild barrier.

Also, you shouldn't let her in the kitchen unless you are in there with her for sure. She sounds like she needs a little structure, and a lot of mental stimulation!

I am not crazy about PetSmart. I think they have very poor trainers. And often they are more expensive than a "real" trainer.

our humane society offers training at a reasonable price. We found a very good trainer that does 8 weeks of novice training for $99 and got excellent results.

Edited to add: I dont' mean confined to a cage. Confined to where you are, or to a particular area where you don't have problems with her.