German shepherd puppy play...?

Question

My 7 week old puppy likes to pull items from my hand (like socks, clothes etc). He growls and barks a little bit as he pulls trying to take it away but he waggs his tail...Would this play encourage him to be aggressive? He has very sweet and friendly personality. What do you all think?

Answer 1

Many breeders let puppy's go at 7 weeks. I have recieved all of my working pups at 7 weeks. So do not worry about the age of puppy.
I personally keep my puppies until 8 weeks but it is more so we can evaluate them and keep the working ones for ourselves.

Leerburg would be last place I would go for advice or information.
Try the german shepherd pedigree search forums; although really not much better.

As far as the play; pulling items from your hand at this age is just play and nothing more. If a puppy did that here we would get the puppy rag and start limited bite work with tug of war games. Sometimes puppy can win and sometimes you win. This establishes a well balanced puppy.
Remember german shepherds were bred to work. Your puppy is showing NO signs of aggression. Your puppy is showing the desire to possible do something like schutzhund or even search and rescue work.

This type of play will NOT encourage aggression. It will strengthn the bite and it will teach puppy when and what to put his teeth on. Use this game as a tool.

One thing though; get a toy for this play! Not your socks or clothes because you do not want your GSD to start eating your clothes and what puppy can steal and play with so can adult when he is full grown.

Answer 2

The age of your puppy is a much bigger concern to me than the play behavior. Seven weeks old is much too young for a puppy of any breed to be separated from his mother and litter mates.

In most states, the law actually requires pups to be at least 8 (and in some places 9) weeks old before they are separated from their litter. In many instances, responsible breeders keep them until about 12 weeks old. The reason for keeping them so long is that they develop much needed social skills in that period, through play and interacting with their mother and litter mates. Some of the things they learn are appropriate play and bite inhibition, which are very important.

Since your puppy is only 7 weeks old, he is using his teeth to explore the world around him. He's playing, yes, but you also don't want to encourage the biting and pulling behavior too much. Particularly, you want to teach him that dog teeth should never make contact with human skin and that he cannot have anything he can get his teeth around.

I would cut down on the amount and type of play you're allowing. If he goes for anything of yours - your hand, socks, clothing, etc. - offer him an appropriate item instead, such as a toy or tug.

If you introduce a toy or tug the correct way, you will also be able to later use this to build drive and as a reward in training. Toy rewards are a much better training aid than food, and having a dog with toy drive makes training much easier!

Great toys to introduce to a German Shepherd to build drive (and encourage appropriate play) are chamois cloth and soft jute tugs and puppy bite pillows. He's a little young for the bite pillows, but they do grow fast ... Working dog stores, like Elite K9 and Ray Allen K9 (Google them) sell a variety of those training aids.

Some people here have also suggested that tugs is never an appropriate game. That is wrong. Tug helps build drive and can help build a dog's confidence, too, if he can win the toy or tug at the end. This is used extensively in the sport of Schutzhund where the sleeve the dog bites is given as the reward afterwards. It's how you *use* this tool (playing tug) that is important. It's a game that needs to have rules.

The first rule is always "All toys belong to the humans". That means, the human pack leader decides when the toys come out, as well as when the toys "go away". They decide who can have the toy and when it must be given up. If the dog does not play by the rules - the rules being "OUT" means release it now - the game ends. The human takes the toy from the dog and walks away, ignoring all other demands to play.

The Leerburg website (www.leerburg.com) has many very good articles on working dog puppies and raising them, as well as on training. This is one of the best sites out there for training and living with a working line dog, which are very, very different from pet stock dogs. (Has a lot of good info for everyone else, too, of course.)

Answer 3

Spray him with a bottle. When my dogs are playing too rough I go up to them and kind of yell, but it's not too loud. It should spook him and should give him the idea to stop acting that way. Soon he will get the message that playing too rough is wrong. It also might be possible that since he is a german shepard, that he is "training" and becoming stronger like many other shepards are. Strong, but gentle.

Answer 4

ok in march i got a boxer puppy and she is a loving puppy...when she wants to be. I made the mistake that you will soon make. I would play tug-o-war with her and i would never stop becuase i have such a soft-spot for animals and shed steal it and run behind the couch and eventually come out and want to play again. when she got bigger she became very strong and eventually she started to get very agreesive and start to attack after you stoped playing. i disaplined her but obviously not good enough because at times she doesnt know the differnce between play and fight. so disapline her early and dont let her get away and end play time when its time to end it.

Answer 5

I don't think so, My dad had a GS which he used to play rough with all the time. He'd put leather gloves on and tug lightly on the feet, nose, ears etc, (the dog will try to catch your hand in his teeth). The dog loved it and always knew that it only played like that when the gloves were on, he never showed any other signs of agression.

Answer 6

First it should never have been removed from its littermates that young and will likey have difficulty with its own species - either overtly fearful or agressive towards them. The behavior is PLAY and it is what puppies do at that point, usually with their littermates so that they learn how to interact with them -- it doesn't mean anything about how he will be in the future with you or people though - that will depend upon how well you socialize the dog with people as well as how its temperament is genetically. Good luck...

Answer 7

I agree with all the answers. He is too young to be separated from his mother. However heed the advice that you have been given. One thing that nobody mentioned I think is ,Never hit a dog. Always chastise him with your voice. He will soon learn when you are cross especially when you walk away afterwards. Good luck and don't forget to have the vet give him all the necessary shots.

Answer 8

7 weeks? Why do you have a dog that's this young? Please take him back to his mother.
The fact that a puppy learns proper socialization skills from his mother and from the other puppies cannot be ignored. Irresponsible breeders who sell pups so they can make a quick buck are at fault for the re-socialization that the pup's new family must undertake. If it's absolutely not possible for you to take the puppy back where he should be, then *please* find a positive training class for puppies. Check with your Vet to be sure your pup has all of the shots necessary to attend.

Answer 9

it won't turn into aggression, however, if you do not start correcting the behavior, then he will start going after your socks and other items when you are not wearing them. Also, if he ever, ever bites you, do not hit him on the nose or anything like that. Simply yell really loud, ouch, then walk away.

Answer 10

I have had German Shephards all my life, and it sounds like typical puppy play. He barks because he gets excited and wants your attention. Maybe get him a large rope type dog pulling toy, they love those.