How To Stop A German Shepherd From Chewing

Why Not Just Use The Good Ol Rolled Newspaper

Many dog trainers and pet owners still use punishment to correct behaviors that they dont like, this can be detrimental to your bond with your dog and can also cause extreme behavioral complications in the long run. Lets use our teacup Chihuahua as an example again: if Sparky has stolen a dish rag and is chewing it when I get home, and I snatch it from him and spank him with it, there are a few different behaviors that could follow. Sparky could immediately aggress towards me, because I have activated his fight or flight instinct.

Alternatively, Sparky could cower in fear, and my bond with him could potentially be damaged. Though he may not cower in fear for the rest of his life, Sparky may always show a fear of soft toys with a texture similar to that of the dishtowel, or may become fearful every time I am near the dishtowel while doing dishes or cooking. This is causing undue fear and punishment when Sparky has done nothing wrong.

Train Your Gsd To Obey Anti

Even with the best of training, your German Shepherd Dog will try his luck with chewing things he shouldnt once in a while, such as the leg of your wooden kitchen table!

Using anti-chew commands is important in deterring your dog from destructive chewing when you notice his attention to a non-chew object such as wooden furniture in your home.

If the obedience command you use when you want to stop a behavior in your German Shepherd is leave it! use that to deter your dogs temptation to chew what he should not.

Alternatively, you can generalize the LEAVE IT! command by presenting your dog with the valuable object he tries to chew and repeating the command when he puts it in his mouth.

Reward your dog with a treat, his favorite chew toy, or a GOOD DOG praise every time he heeds the command to ensure he understands that not chewing the shoe is what is expected of him.

When Do German Shepherds Stop Teething

Has your adorable German Shepherd puppy turned into a shoe-destroying, furniture-ruining chewing machine? Dont panic! It is just a teething phase.

Just like human babies, dogs lose their milk teeth too. While a dogs teething phase can get really overwhelming for you as a pet owner, you can rest assured that this phase will end soon.

You need to understand the teething process to help deal with it effectively. Heres what you need to know:

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Is Yelping A Good Way To Stop My Puppy From Biting Me

While you may have heard about the common practice of yelping like a puppy and stopping the game, this method doesn’t work with all puppies. In some puppies with strong prey drives, the yelping may arouse them even more.

So you must ask yourself, is my yelping in pain increasing or decreasing the behavior? If it is increasing and doesn’t reduce, your yelping is likely positive reinforcement, meaning that the nipping behavior will continue and you are further fueling it.

This is the most likely scenario if after your yelp, the puppy doesn’t stop, but actually is more aroused and comes back to more biting and with more intensity. If it is actually decreasing over time, what you’re doing is likely working and you must continue what you are doing. Be aware though of extinction bursts.

Hand targeting helps reduce and eventually stop German shepherd puppy nipping.

Give Them Plenty Of Appropriate Toys

Its easier to train them to chew their toys instead of a table leg than it is to train them not to chew at all. By having lots of interesting and appropriate chew toys on hand, itll be a lot effective to re-direct them from destructive chewing.

Do be aware that some dog toys and chewables can be ripped apart, and these can pose a choking hazard. Make sure the toys or you select are safe and appropriate for your dog according to his size .

It is also important to rotate your dogs chew toys and treats regularly so that they dont get bored and start to develop destructive chewing behavior again.

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How To Discourage Jumping And Biting Behavior

Thankfully, there are ways you can curb German Shepherd jumping and biting.

• Be proactive. If I knew someone was coming over, I would put Allie in another room or in her crate. Once our visitor was in the house and the initial excitement had passed, I would let her out. By keeping her from greeting people right when they walked through the door, I could minimize her overzealous behavior.

• Teach a place command. This is a simple command that teaches your dog to stay in her place until you give a release command. This is another way to allow the initial excitement to pass and your German Shepherd to calm down a bit before greeting anyone.

• Redirect attention to a toy .

• Fold your arms and turn away. You can also use an off command when you turn. Keep turning until your GSD stops jumping, then praise them and use a treat as a reward.

This training method works great because youre refusing to give your German Shepherd what they want attention! Its best to practice this when you dont have guests over so that your pup knows how to handle excitement in advance.

The Bite Of A German Shepherd

Theres a saying that when a German Shepherd bites you, shes in it for the long haul. An aggressive 70-pound dog pouncing on you can get quite ugly fast.

Think broken bones, damaged muscles, deep lacerations, bruises, scars, and expensive medical bills. Although uncommon, it can sometimes lead to the victims death.

German Shepherds have a bite force of 238 PSI , compared to humans with a bite force of 162 PSI.

In fact, the American Animal Hospital Association lists the German Shepherd as one of the six breeds with the most dangerous bites, based on a US study.

Therefore, training your GSD to inhibit her bite is mandatory as it not only rewards you with a well-behaved dog, but also ensures your safety as well as the safety of the people around you.

A crucial step towards correcting this nasty behavior is to first understand why German Shepherd puppies bite.

Before we move on, take a look at some important and useful information that weve written for you in the following 2 articles:

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Reasons Why Your German Shepherd Is Destructive

Do you see anything on this board that might cause your dog to become destructive?

German Shepherds arent generally known as destructive dogs.

They are a highly intelligent breed that requires an owner willing to invest time with them. Consider why your German Shepherd might turn to destroy things so you can understand how to help and train them to stop.

Here are some reasons why your German Shepherd is destroying everything.

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Why Your German Shepherd Bites Your Feet

Each of the different reasons why your German Shepherd bites your feet and ankles will likely come with a number of clues in the way that it does it.

Below, I will mention a number of reasons why your German Shepherd might bite your feet or ankles and the signs to look for.

It wants attention

The reason why it bites your feet could be that it wants your attention.

This would be more likely to be the reason if it starts biting your feet when you have not been giving it attention for a while. It would also be more likely if it does it when you had just left it alone for a long time perhaps because you were at work.

If that is why your German Shepherd bites your feet then it would help to give it more attention in the form of exercise, training and playing games such as tug of war in addition to training it not to bite your feet.

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It is teething

If your German Shepherd is a puppy then the reason why it bites your feet is likely to be that it is teething. When they are teething their gums will be painful and biting and chewing on things helps to soothe their gums. This is why they tend to bite and chew on things a lot as puppies.

If your German Shepherd is still a puppy then it is very important to take the time now to train it not to bite your feet and to behave the way that you want it to. You can do this using the tips mentioned below.

It wasnt trained not to as a puppy

Excitement

It is exploring

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Games To Curb German Shepherd Puppy Biting

The best time to curb a German Shepherd puppy from biting is during a play session between you and your puppy.

I suggest initiating play sessions with your puppy as often as possible until you have taught your puppy to have a soft mouth.

I suggest using a clicker for these games. If you don’t already know how, check out my article on before getting started.

Why Do German Shepherds Chew

Chewing is a natural behavior for dogs, they enjoy it, and it helps keep their teeth clean and jaws strong. All dogs explore the world with their mouths. Whether your German Shepherd is chewing because theyre feeling restless, bored, anxious, or theyre teething as a puppy, it is normal behavior for a dog.

The problem starts if your German Shepherd starts to chew your personal possessions such as socks, shoes, coats, or even the wooden leg of your dining table! This is known as destructive chewing.

Causes of destructive chewing are a lack of training, insufficient exercise, boredom, attention-seeking, anxiety, or other medical causes.

Anxiety can manifest itself in three forms noise sensitivity, fearfulness, and separation anxiety. The latter is common in German Shepherds but research shows that all three types of anxiety can cause behavior problems in dogs.

There are plenty of methods that you can use to stop this destructive chewing. Rather than scolding them and causing fear, use these 16 ways to stop your German Shepherd from destructive chewing and teach him what he can chew on.

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Physical Correction For Biting Is The Least Effective

You should never strike or verbally reprimand your puppy for biting.

As for yelping or squealing in imitation of how a littermate might react to a painful nip, the results are mixed.

Loud yelping sounds work on rare individuals and often serve to arouse GSD pups further. Excitement will intensify your dogs biting.

Other tactics, such as grabbing your dogs snout, pinching her muzzle, or tapping her on top of the head, will teach him to fear your hand or cause him to react aggressively towards it.

Other trainers teach people to stuff their hands deeper into their puppys mouth or insert their thumb under the animals tongue.

Again, making your dog uncomfortable for an activity that comes naturally to her will often stimulate fear or aggravate her aggression.

As reported by several sources, including Shibashake.com, physical correction can cause anxiety, fear, or stress in puppies and dogs. Harsh punishment and even moderate physical or verbal reprimands too frequently lead to future aggression in dogs.

Make A Homemade Chewing Deterrent

It might be a bit messy, but you can make a homemade anti-chew deterrent and put it on or near your valuables that your German Shepherd has started to chew.

Some things to try are pepper, vinegar, or Tabasco. You can also use lemon oil or orange citrus. Along with spicy food, dogs tend to steer clear from the smell and taste of sour or bitter food.

The idea is to first introduce the deterrent to your GSD by putting some on a small piece of cotton wool, placing it in his mouth, and seeing how he reacts. If he spits it out and then shakes his head or drools, you know that he doesnt like it.

He should now associate the smell of the deterrent as something he doesnt like meaning he wont go anywhere near it, never mind start to chew it! You may need to experiment before you find one that works on your dog.

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German Shepherd Puppy Biting Take Charge Like This

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German Shepherd puppy biting is one of the key behaviors you should take charge of as soon as possible.

Ignoring or encouraging biting behavior can lead to it spinning out of control. And once your puppy is older biting could mean big problems

Like puncture wounds, legal battles, confiscation or worse euthanasia.

Keep in mind that your German Shepherd puppy will one day be a strong and muscular dog.

Adult males can weigh anywhere between 30 40 kg and females between 22 32 kg .

And they have a powerful scissor-like bite exerting more than 1060 Newtons or 238 lbs of force. Trying to control the strong bite of an adult dog could end in disaster for you and your dog.

How Should I Exercise My Destructive German Shepherd

Try a tail-teasing flirt pole to entice your dog to hone their herding behavior, or find a set of hills nearby and race your dog to the top to develop their powerful agility skills.

Focus on a variety of exercise that works all their muscles and includes ways to entice their minds at the same time so that their daily walks dont become mundane.

Your breed requires at least 2 walks a day of at least 1 hour each time, but for many German Shepherds, this just isnt enough movement.

Your German Shepherd may get into the habit of using the same walking trail, so switch it up to challenge them and keep them from getting bored.

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Why Is My German Shepherd Suddenly Destroying Things When It Didnt Do This Before

If your German Shepherd is suddenly destroying things when it was previously well-mannered then there could be an underlying medical issue or emotional problem causing the sudden onset of this behavior.

Your dog might have an illness that you cant see that it is causing it to be destructive or might have developed a phobia due to previous trauma.

Get your dog booked in for a thorough medical examination from your veterinarian to rule out medical reasons your dog is destructive.

Make Commands Short And Sharp

If youre going to be loud when training your German Shepherd to stop chewing, make sure your verbal commands are short and sharp. Constant yelling wont stop your dog from chewing your shoes and will likely make him scared of you, which can harm him for good.

Instead, stick to a specific word or phrase that will make them connect their disliked behavior with the sound. You could try saying Ouch! or Ahh Ahh! both of which are sharp and sudden.

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Why Does My German Shepherd Puppy Chew On Everything

Puppies chew on everything when theyre teething to help ease the pain as their teeth push through their gums. Teething lasts for months and its natural for puppies to begin destructive chewing during this time. The best time to teach your German Shepherd the behaviors that you want is while its still young.

Here Are A Few Things You Should Not Do When Trying To Teach Your German Shepherd To Stop Biting

• Dont yell or use any kind of physical punishment. This is still attention your puppy bites, your puppy gets attention. You dont want to create that reinforcement loop!

• Puppies are easily excited, so dont jerk your hand away. Otherwise, your pup may see this as a fun new game, kind of like tug-of-war but with your hands or feet as the toy.

• Dont create tension or negative feelings around playtime. You want your furball to love playing with you! And its an important part of building a strong bond between you and your pup. The goal here is to encourage your German Shepherd to play as much as ever but to play gently.

Most of all, its important to remember to be patient and understanding during this phase. Your German Shepherds mouthy behavior is perfectly normal! And while it can be a challenge at times, youll make it through I survived my girls piranha teeth, after all!

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What Should I Do If My German Shepherd Runs Away

Many German Shepherd has the tendency to escape and chasing cars. The best solution to this problem is keeping your Shepherd Outside safely fenced. Dont Let Your Dog go out. If you take your Dog out, then make sure you take him on a leash. This will prevent any accident which can occur with your dog while he is chasing cars or running on the road.

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