Create A Quiet Zone For Their Naps
Put your dog to bed if theyre wild and out of control. German Shepherds need plenty of rest to stay happy.
Remember when I said that puppies sleep up to 20 hours a day?
In the beginning, youll need to ensure your puppy gets their rest and sleep so they arent irritable and cranky.
Just like in toddlers and human babies, your puppy can become hard to handle and act wild when they havent had enough sleep.
Your German Shepherd needs to have a bed of their own in an area away from the business of your family.
Bonus: Use White Noise
German Shepherds become restless at night when they hear noises. The best way to buffer the sounds is by using white noise.
White noise contains equal intensity and all frequencies. These can cover up loud sounds that stimulate your brain. Thus a recommended solution for your dog who responds to outside noise.
Today, white noise is easily accessible to you. You can find it both on YouTube and Spotify.
Play it the next time your dog wont sleep at night. Its beneficial for both of you.
A German Shepherd Puppys Body Needs Lots Of Growth And Development
Fun fact: GSD puppies grow 3 to 6 inches in the first month, 6 to 9 inches in the second month, 8 to 10 inches in the 3rd month and 10 to 12 inches in the 4th month.
Everything, ranging from the muscles, and the immune system, to its sensory nervous system to its brain, develops during sleep.
With such an astounding growth rate and development process, its no surprise that they sleep 70 percent of the day. And a lot of this growth occurs during nap time.
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Why Does My German Shepherd Sleep So Much
If your German Shepherd has been sleeping a lot then you are probably wondering why and what you can do about it.
This post will show you a number of reasons why your German Shepherd might be sleeping so much and what you should do.
So, why does my German Shepherd sleep so much? An adult German Shepherd will naturally sleep for 12 hours per day, puppies and older German Shepherds will sleep for even longer .
There are actually a number of reasons why your German Shepherd might be sleeping so much. Depending on the cause there are also a number of things that you can do about it.
Why Do Dogs Sleep So Much
You will notice that your dog does not go into deep sleep for long periods like you. Thats because they have relatively shorter sleep cycles. They tend to nap and are a lot more aware of sounds and motion than us.
Dogs spend a big part of their day either sleeping or relaxing. Apart from the fact that they experience much less REM sleep time than us, they are also balls of energy when they are active. Recharging their batteries by sleeping more than 8 hours a day is quite normal among dogs
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Sleeping Habits Of A German Shepherd Puppy
It is very normal for German Shepherd puppies to sleep approximately 18 to 20 hours daily. Also, it is common for a pup to have difficulty sleeping through the night. Just as newborn children require a schedule, so does your new GS puppy. At the age of eight weeks old, your puppys bladder will not be strong enough to retain them for the entire night.
When your German Shepherd dog puppy is still under eight weeks old, he will regularly wake you up twice or three times a night to go potty. But as he grows older, he will gradually decrease the potty calls to once a night. Their expanding bodies require more nutrition and rest. Furthermore, they get fatigued quickly when exercising or exploring their surroundings therefore, they require a lot of rest.
Interesting And Exciting Things Outside
Comparing humans to dogs, dogs hear sounds at higher pitches or frequencies. In fact, according to a study, 32% of dogs were noise-sensitive. Thus for some dogs results in anxiety or phobia.
Signs and symptoms of noise phobic dogs
- Hiding.
- Attempting to escape.
- Defecating or urinating indoors.
Hyper alertness due to noise phobia is one reason your German Shepherd becomes restless, especially at night.
Using white noise and other therapy music can help a lot in reducing their anxiety.
Exposing your dog to the noises and sounds theyre afraid of is necessary for overcoming their phobia.
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In Summary: German Shepherd Sleep Position Habits And Quantity
An adult German Shepherd should have 12-14 hours of sleep each day, while puppies and senior German Shepherds sleep for 16-20 hours. Of course, the amount of sleep highly depends on the lifestyle and health of the German Shepherd.
A Healthy German Shepherd will get its beauty sleep, and most times, the sleeping position will communicate how comfortable, safe, and rested the dog is. However, if the pup is battling any sort of health condition, whether mental or physical, sleep patterns may likely be affected. You may find that your German Shepherd sleeps less or more depending on the kind of illness it is battling.
Therefore, if you want a healthy German Shepherd, be sure to check on its habits and conditions. Ensure you provide the most comfortable option for the pup, be it sleeping on its own bed or yours.
Reference
How To Know If Your Dog Is Not Getting Enough Sleep
It may happen that your dog is not able to get enough sleep, which can cause anxiety and restlessness during the day. In the case of German Shepherds, such anxiety is a clear sign that they are not getting enough sleep. That is, if this breed is tired during the day, it may be because it does not sleep well at night.
Given this, actions can be taken that lead to the animal becoming more tired and sleeping better, starting with activities such as running when you take him outside. German Shepherds are dogs that can run long distances, so a good solution may be to find long walking spaces and go with the animal to regulate his rest hours.
In short, a German Shepherd is an active and intelligent dog, but like all people, he needs his rest. Therefore, it is recommended that you be attentive and check that he sleeps enough for a dog of his breed.
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How To Get Your German Shepherd Stop Barking At You
Below, I will mention a number of things that you can do if you want to get your German Shepherd to stop barking at you.
You can look at the book Training Your German Shepherd on Amazon to get more tips about how you can train your GSD.
Positive reinforcement training
One option would be to try positive reinforcement training. This is where you reward your German Shepherd for behaving the way that you want it to.
To use it to get it to stop barking you would do something such as:
- Stop giving it attention when it starts barking at you
- Give it attention when it stops barking at you
- Stop giving it attention again if it starts to bark at you again
- Repeat the above and reward it with treats when it does not bark at you when it normally would
Avoid reinforcing the behavior
While positive reinforcement training can work well it can also work against you.
If your method of getting your German Shepherd to stop barking at you is to give it things that it wants such as a toy, a walk or attention then it could be that it has learned that barking at you will get it those things.
Instead, an alternative option would be to stop giving it attention until it stops barking at you and then to reward it when it does not bark at you.
Get help from a trainer
If you are unable to get it to stop barking at you, it seems to be aggressive or you are unsure why it barks at you then getting help from a dog trainer would likely help a lot.
Be consistent
How To Get Your German Shepherd To Stop Barking Howling And Whining At Night
There are a number of things that you can do to get your German Shepherd to be less noisy at night that I will mention below.
Make sure that you are feeding it correctly
Since diet might be the reason why it gets loud at night it would help to make sure that it is eating the right foods. You can look here to see what you should and shouldnt be giving it. Feeding it earlier in the evening would likely help as well.
Give it exercise
As mentioned above, German Shepherds are a breed that is meant to get a lot of exercise daily. If your German Shepherd does not currently get much exercise then it would help to make sure that it does. You might find that just walking it isnt enough in that case you could train it to play fetch to wear it out even more.
Make its sleeping environment comfortable
It would likely help to make sure that its sleeping environment will allow it to sleep as easily as possible. You can do this by reducing how much noise it lets in, turning the light off, keeping it cool and making it comfortable.
Try crate training
Crate training is where you teach your German Shepherd to learn to be comfortable inside of a crate designed for dogs.
If you crate train your German Shepherd in the right way it will give it a space where it can feel safe. This will give your German Shepherd a space where it will be able to feel secure at night without you being around.
Train it to be less anxious without you
You can see more on how to do this in the video below.
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Your German Shepherd Puppy Can Wake You Up For Midnight Potty Breaks
What about your sleeping schedule then? Well, your puppys schedule wont match yours automatically.
Your pup might wake you up during the middle of the night, for bathroom breaks. A lot of german shepherd dog owners even get woken up 2 or 3 times.
But, after a few weeks, your german shepherd puppy will get used to the schedule and not wake you up at night at all. Till then, youll have to make the extra effort.
What You Shouldnt Do
There are some things that you should avoid when training your dog to stop biting. The first thing you want to do is avoid yelling at your dog or hitting them. Why?
If theyre biting for your attention, youll be giving them what they want. Moreover, itll give them negative feelings, and we dont want that.
Also, when they try to bite your hand, dont move it away. They might think its some sort of a game and keep trying to bite you.
Last but not least, dont opt for shock collars as theyll only cause your puppy pain and they wont solve the problem anyway.
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Theyre Trying To Keep Warm
This is the least likely reason for the behavior, but its still a possibility. Pet behavioral expert Dr. Margaret Gruen suggests that dogs who curl up in the fetal position during sleep are attempting to keep warm, in addition to protecting their vital organs.
If your German shepherd is taking this position night after night, it might be seeking additional warmth by climbing into bed with you.
Why Does My German Shepherd Puppy Bark At Me
First of all, from your dogs standpoint:
BARKING IS TALKING!
Think about it: We talk about everything we feel, hear or see even to ourselves. More so: Many people talk to some imaginary entity they hope or fear exists. And: Many people talk to their plants too.
To dogs, all this would appear outright insane . Why? Because dogs typically only talk:
- consciously to communicate with their environment
- and consciously or subconsciously to warn and fend off perceived danger including in their sleep!
So, dogs do not talk to plants, dogs do not talk to an imaginary entity, and dogs do not talk to themselves. Very different to people, indeed.
When dogs bark, they bark to communicate, or to warn and fend off perceived danger. Thats it.
This is absolutely crucial insight, because it helps you to understand and appreciate your dogs barking!
Top dog expert
Most dogs, including German Shepherds, really only bark when they expect that their body language alone may go unnoticed!
Dogs normally avoid barking because it drains a lot of their energy see Energy Tools in the Dog Training Toolkit. And because they know that their body language is much more precise if only the people and other animals understand the dogs body language as well as the dog understands theirs?
Very different to dogs in London, New York, or Toronto.
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Dont Alpha Roll Or Grab Your Dog By The Scruff
Outdated techniques, such as grabbing your GSD by the scruff and shaking him, or using an alpha roll may increase your dogs aggressive behaviors.
Results from a study using aversive training methods highlight:
The use of incorrect punishment can jeopardize both the physical and mental health of dogs.
You should never place your German Shepherd in a position where you are using old-school techniques that arent supported through science.
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Why Does My German Shepherd Puppy Sleep A Lot
If you have a German Shepherd puppy that has been sleeping a lot then you might be concerned and wondering why.
This post will show you why your German Shepherd puppy is likely to be sleeping a lot and what you should do about it.
So, why does my German Shepherd puppy sleep a lot? German Shepherd puppies naturally sleep for between 15 and 20 hours per day. This is because they are growing fast and they grow during their sleep.
While it is natural for a German Shepherd puppy to sleep a lot, there are actually a number of things that might be contributing to it especially if it is more than 16 weeks old.
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Is My Puppy Sleeping Too Much
- Not a substitute for professional veterinary help.
Getting a new puppy is, to many of us, as exciting and joyful as bringing home a new baby. We watch the puppys every move, reveling in this amazing little creatures antics , and are entranced with her even when she sleeps, her little legs twitching in her first doggie dream in her new home. But wait. She seems to be sleeping an awful lot is that normal? Is your puppy sleeping too much?
If youve never had a dog before, or if its been a while since youve had a puppy, its normal to wonder if were doing things right. We even worry about the big responsibility we have for this new member of the family, and what they need from us to live a full, happy life.
You expect the house training accidents, the chewing, and the crazy puppy playfulness and energy, but when it seems like he sleeps all the time, we wonder and worry.
German Shepherd Provides A Feeling Of Safety And Security
German Shepherd dog is the best guard dog you can ask for. It is used as a service dog, military, and police dog.
It has an incredible sense of spotting out the danger. Recognize any dangerous stranger and protect you from it.
It has a large and heavy body, which can change the mind of any aggressor or intruder in your house.
German Shepherd dogs sensitive hearing will pick up anyone trying to open the door, or your window, or trying to introduce in your house without your permission at night.
If you feel anxious about your safety when you sleep, then letting your german shepherd sleep beside you can provide you a steady reassurance of safety.
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Why Is My Dog Panting And Shaking
- Fact Checked
Typically, panting and shaking are normal dog behaviors and their causes are generally pretty clear. When dogs get hot, panting helps cool them down. Shaking can do the same and may also be exhibited when they get excited. Older and obese dogs tend to show these behaviors more often. They may pant and shake more as a result of general weakness in the diaphragm and intercostal muscles.
While dog panting and shaking is a typical response in these scenarios, the combination of the two may still mean there is something wrong and could be a sign of a serious canine health condition. Allow this article to serve as a guide to help you better understand what it means if your dog is panting or shaking. Lets dive deeper into some of the causes of each.
What Does Normal Sleep Look Like For Healthy Dogs
Dogs sleep a lot, even when theyre healthy and young. How much time per day, exactly? While puppies may be down for the count for up to 20 hours per day, fully grown dogs often get as many as 12 to 14 hours of Zzzs in a 24-hour period or about half the day. On top of that, they may spend an additional 30 percent of the day resting, meaning they may only be active about 20 percent of the day.
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