I need help with my German Sheperd pup?

Question

Me and My wife have been tring to potty train him for 2 weeks and he isn't getting it. and when we play with him he starts to bite, when i tell him to stop he dose but he still dosn't listen to my wife.

Answer 1

First of all you need to be a little more patient but stay consistent with the potty training.
Secondly, someone in your house has to be #3 in the pecking order according to the rules of the pack. Sounds like you are the alpha and he wants the wife to be third. The wife has to take on the role as #2 but sometimes the dog all out refuses to be #3. Be consistent with your training or he will take over #1. He will gentle fall into 3rd if you and your wife be firm (no hitting) and consistent. He will learn how to respect you and your wife and grow up to be a great dog.

Answer 2

It takes longer than 2 weeks, you gotta have patience with your little fella. Do you mean mouthing (play biting) or actual aggressive biting? The latter if it is aggressive, must be reprimanded. You have to make him accept that biting is bad. Play biting is OK but the minute it gets aggressive you stop playing and shake him by the scruff of the neck, and tell him it is bad. This isn't a cruelty thing, this is psychological because this is what the mother would have done, her control on them was around the scruff of their necks. It won't hurt unless you are over vigorous and set out to hurt him. Other than this, you will have an aggressive dog that thinks it is OK to bite. As for the potty training, find him a spot outside that will be HIS spot. You should put newspapers down so he can get his scent down and know that this is his little area for going to the bathroom. When he goes on the paper (or a pad) praise him like crazy and tell him he's a good boy. Make sure you pet him and praise him a lot for this so he recognises it as good behaviour. Don't punish him for going indoors, puppies don't understand punishment very well when it comes to potty training. If he has a little accident indoors, simply clean it up and move him outside to his spot. If you catch him mid-potty, quickly move him outside to his little area and tell him he's a clever boy when he's finished going (on his paper/pad of course).

I hope this helps, but remember to be patient he IS a baby and it takes a while for them to learn. A human baby doesn't learn to go to the toilet in just 2 weeks. Give your little fella time he will learn at his own pace.

Good Luck!

Answer 3

Friendly Hello, I would do crate training. When you are not home keep him there so he does not urinate or deficate all over your home. Not to mention any chewing he may start. Everytime you take him out of crate. Put him outside first before playing with him. Then when he comes in praise him. (I use a bell on a piece of leather so that every time just before I open the door I ring the bell. My puppies start learing then to ring on their own) Every time you feed him. Take him out doors. Dont play first. As once that food hits the tummy. It begins to get processed. So guess what. If inside. He will do his job. Letting him out doors more frequently is the best suggestion I can give you. Now the biting. Well this will ge worse and can be very bad as an adult dog. So this is what I would do. Every time the puppy pinch bites or play bites of any kind be it skin or grabbing the paints. You grab the mouth and firmly hold closed the jaws and be firm and say NO. Then put directly in crate and no longer play for a short time. Blessing and the very best of Luck. Kelly

Answer 4

Welcome to puppy ownership. I have a 5 month old pup. To house break then you must be consistent. Take him out regularly after he eats and drinks, first thing in the morning and at bed time. Always, when he has an accident in the house take him outside and show him where he is to go. Most importantly use a pet stain/odor remover, the enzyme ones from the pet store, nothing else works, every time he has an accident. If there is a trace of urine in the carpet or floor he will go back to that same spot and pee again. It takes time, ours took a little over a month. As for the biting, when he bites put him down and ignore him. Biting is how they play and if you refuse to play when he bites he will get the idea. Make sure its actual biting. Chewing is normal and should not really be discouraged unless he gets too agressive and begins to bite. Give it time. We kennel trained ours. They will not usually go to the bathroom in their bed so we kept him in his kennel overnight and took him out each morning. We also put him in his kennel when we went away during the day and took him outside when we let him out. He still has an accident every now and then and he still bites from time to time.

Answer 5

I breed and train German Shepherds...
Two weeks isn't very long. Be patient. You need to take him out about once an hour while your with him. If your not in the same room with him make sure he is confined in a small room like a bathroom or mudroom or crate train.
As for the biting. He sees you as alpha dog. This may sound cruel but use a choker collar on him. When he bites her and she says no in a firm voice, if that doesn't work have her pull on the collar and say no. Still no effect have her pull harder again and repeat no. It will take time. But he will learn that biting is unacceptable.
You will want to check into obedience training too. Need more help, just email me, be glad to help.

Answer 6

Ahh bless him ....

My German sheperd is now 10yrs old , and believe me they are very messi puppies....

I started by moving the training paper to the back door, then eventually outside, it takes a lot of patients and love , they are very hard work and can try the most Patience of people.

Also a very good point to remember which has happened to me is around 1yr + there will be a time when he/she will try be dominating by this i mean they will not does as they are told and try to snap at you.

I was told by a x marine that they do this as they are a pack animal and its what they would do to become leader.

My advice is DO NOT be afraid show the dog who is the boss by what ever means ( within reason ) this is when you either gain total respect or lose control ....

I have a grumpy old man now, and he has been very hard work but the loyalty and love is un conditional and worth all she **** (literally ) as he was a pup...


Hang in their and remember YOU are boss , it will come and you need to be in control....

Answer 7

Try crate training. You can buy a book on it. It works every time. Just keep him in a kennel/crate when you are gone, or when it's bed time, and every time you take him out of it, take him outside. He will learn the difference between the place he lays and the place he pees. And, be patient, it will take longer than two weeks.
Oh, and lots of puppies nip at that age. When you are playing, and he does nip, just flick his nose (not too hard, just enough to make him know you mean business) and say "NO!" very firmly. Just be consistent with both, and he'll get it. It's just a tough age.

Answer 8

On the biting:

Puppies bite - that is how dogs and puppies play with each other. He thinks he is playing with you by mock fighting. Its a dog's favorite game - watch two good dog buddies ripping tearing rolling - and diving at each other and grabbing without puncturing.

You have to DO something about it. With a GSD it is VERY VERY important that you do something. These are high-prey drive dogs which means they want to go after anything that moves, chase it and GRAB it. She has to get control with him. I made a house call in a situation with an 8 month old GSD who had been doing the play nipping and grabbing unchecked as his owners (2 sisters divorced/widowed) didn't know how. The one was purple and yellow with bruises from her elobw to wrist and the other wore high top Maine hunting boots at all times to protect her ankles. They were close to putting the dog down. (Yes -I fixed it with no problem and he kept his home with his monogrammed bed from Orvis.)

Now what is really really neat is your puppy came pre-programmed to understand certain behavior as disapproval and approval. In dog language, behavior is communication.

In a group of dogs, if he nipped the leader and the leader was not amused, they would knock him over, grab the skin on his neck or the side of his face and pinch it without breaking the skin, and growl. Dogs communicate with each other by their eyes and facial expressions (and they have many faciall expressions besides "duh" and a growl. The leader, when getting after a miscreant, never looks away first.

So do what they would do. That is something a dog understands instinctively. Lot of theories out there about yelping in pain and pushing him away (duh...that is what the dog who LOST the mock fight does and the winner is the boss now) or all this other stuff - but your puppy didn't read those books!



Step One: Learn to use your voice. Mot people either let their voice slide up in register or they sound futile and weak. You want to deepen your voice and sound like a drill sergeant. The word NO is basic to doggy manners (and people too.). The deep sound mimics the rumble/growl of the top dog.

Step Two: Do what the leader would does physically (well, mimic it - biting him wouldn't be fun.)

When he nips at you, roar NO in a deep voice, grab him by the collar or back of the neck, push him down and hold him on the ground and as you are doing that and snap your fingers on the end of his nose or slap his nose with your fingers. While you pin him down and get his nose, lean over him and keep saying BAD BAD BAD - do NOT let your voice slide up, make it deep. Now be sure to make him look at you as you hold him and scold. Make eye contact with him, don't look away and frwon and look stern. (Dogs watch you face far more than most people realize.)


Step Three: when you let him up, you relax your voice and face and say "okay, now be nice" and let him come back over and get petted. (That is the postive part.) The more he settles down and gets petted without nipping, the happier your voice gets.

Get after him about EVERY SINGLE TIME - you must be 100% consistent.


Now when he comes over and snuggles and licks and doesn't nip, he always gets "What a sweetie", rub, pet, cuddle and smiles (seriously - he will be watching your face.) And guess what? That is exactly how dogs express approval of each other!

Answer 9

First I'd like to appologize greatly for the length. But it's all relavent to your question.
Yay training!
1) Go to the petstore and look up a "mark no more" product. Or try mixing water with vinegar and wiping or preferably spraying on the areas where he goes to the bathroom in the house. The idea is to remove the smell of the waste so the dogs don't associate it with they're outside bathroom.
2) Training. Go back to step one with house training. Get the puppy training pads from the petstore, or use newspaper for a cheeper alternative, and put them where he's been doing number one or two. Also put one by the door that they would go out to go to the bathroom outside, the door that leads to your backyard as an example. Praise him when he goes on the pads. Treats, play time, a scratch behind the ears, do something he loves! Make peeing or pooing on the mat seem like the most exciting thing in the world and he'll learn that's where he's supposed to go.
But that's not the final step. You still want him going outside to do their buisiness.When he's consisitantly going on the pads then slowly remove them one by one. Try for one a week. Still praise him when he goes on the pads. You don't want him to regress back to using your carpet or bed as a toilet. ^^
Keep removing them until you've only got the one near the door where he's supposed to go outside. (Remember to continue to praise him when he does use the mat, and go happy nuts if he 'goes' outside. ^^ but don't scare him. Just be really happy, all smiles and "good girl/boy") When he's got this mat mastered then start putting it out side for him. Have one in by the door and one outside on the grass.
This is the difficult stage. If you catch the pup going on the mat praise him. But start to ween off the praising in the house regarding "going" on the inside mat. Or at least make it a casual, "good dog" but no special treat. If he goes outside and go pee/poo, go crazy happy nuts again ^^. The dog will learn that you're more happy about him going outside then going inside. He'll learn he gets speciall treats for going outside. Now once he's going outside consistantly, you don't need to keep dancing around the mat every time. Praise him calmly but still being happy. And don't forget the treats. They'll become your best friend. ^^

Regarding the fact that the pup doesn't listen to your wife this house training will help a lot. The reason he's not listening is because he doesn't see her as an alpha. He thinks the heiarchy in your house hold starts at you, then goes to him then her. To fix this, get her training him. Get a few treats (small and easy to chew like theones that you were using for house training. I use "Rollover" cut up into smaller peices) and start simple. Sit, down, stay, heal, sit pretty or shake a paw. You and your wife share equally the training time. Make sure that when you two put the food down he waits until you two have eaten something, and also until you both say (or who evers home) that it's ok for him to eat.Heiarchy in a pack stands on different grounds but a simple on is who eats first. If the pup sees you and your wife eating first, and then him, he'll soon realize she's higher up in the pack than him.
When he's biting, firmly both of you say no and stop playing. If for example you're all playing on the living room floor an he bites you or your wife, both of you say "No!" then stand up and do something else. Do not pay attention to him for a few minutes. Within a few times of doing this he'll realize that biting means no more playing. And for a pup that's a startling epiphony. ^^ Try to support him playing with a toy in his mouth. Like fetch, or just wrestling while he's holding a favorite stuffed toy. It'll give him something to hold onto and bite while playing instead of you and your wife.

Sorry for the length. Hope that it helps, and good luck.

~Manda

Answer 10

when he bites you then close his mouth and try not to press his skin then tell him NO biting and give him a toy and tell him this is for you to bite usally they take about 5 to 6 weeks to potty train when they do accidents in the house then press their nose tiht into the place where they did it and take them outside once youy go outside then tell the puppy this is where you do your buissnes that might work im not telling you how to take care of yuor puppy thats just how i got my puppy to be good and not to have accidents hope it works!