My 1 1/2 year old GSD refuses to listen...WHAT DO I DO???

[Nellie]

You are totaly out of your depth with this dog, follow the advice given and get some 1 on 1 professional help, do a google search and find a good trainer
you need help now

[led08zeppelin]

I totatally dont take any of that personally....i firmly believe that he is peeing like this because of the ear situation. And i shouted at him when he pees because that is what i was told to do by a friend of mine who has a happy and heathy 9 year old GSD. Otherwise we have a great relationship. It just hurts me when he doesnt let me pet him or scratch his back because he automatically thinks im gonna mess with his ears or something. There is no way i am gonna give him a new home....he is my heart and soul and i do not think he his mis treated. People glue ears up every day. I just need some advice on how to gain his trust back. Im gonna try giving him a treat or a piece of lunchmeat everytime i go near him or try to pet him. Maybe then he will associate me coming with getting a treat and he wont be scared. Any more advice would be great.

[GSDOWNER]

Originally Posted by led08zeppelin

We had a big problem getting his ears to stand up and we did alot of work on them gluing etc. and he HATED it!! Now every time we come at him he gets down to the ground and starts peeing....i think that is why he pees

omg you did what, and you are wondering why your dog is sh@t scared of you, I am going to answer this post further...........but not tonight.

[Ailsa]

I have totally lost the will to live now I think this must be a wind up. I am so so sorry for this poor pup and have absolutely nothing more to say which is printable. Not helpful I know but............................

[led08zeppelin]

I think alot of you would be a bit upset if your german shepherds ears never stood up. And i think alot would try taping/gluing etc. Dont ridicule me for something people do every day. I treat my dog with love and caring every day and am just wondering how i can gain his trust back. This situation could be alot worse. Everybody is talking like i severly abuse him and leave him out in the rain. sorry to be such a horrible person.

[LOVEGSD]

Originally Posted by led08zeppelin

I think alot of you would be a bit upset if your german shepherds ears never stood up. And i think alot would try taping/gluing etc. Dont ridicule me for something people do every day. I treat my dog with love and caring every day and am just wondering how i can gain his trust back. This situation could be alot worse. Everybody is talking like i severly abuse him and leave him out in the rain. sorry to be such a horrible person.

I firmly believe that everyone on here would rather a happy balanced dog with floppy ears than a scared wreck with erect ears....there are people on here with GSD's with soft ear.

I think if a dog pees himself when you reach out to stroke him it's a clear sign he's terrified of you-this imo is abuse!

[GSDOWNER]

He is a very good dog (most of the time) but the excessive barking is very nerve racking! He barks at the mailman viciously every day without fail, and whoever else walks down our driveway. I take him over to my boyfriends house and everytime he hears somebody coming in the door he barks VICIOUSLY.

Yelling at your dog is very seldom going to do anything. In particular, if a dog is barking at a stranger going by, he will often assume you are "barking" at them too, and just bark more. If the dog is barking out of stress, yelling will make him more stressful. If you're dog barks all the time, it may be because he is trying to get your attention, and has discovered whenever he barks, you yell at him and give him attention. To a dog, negative attention is often better than none at all. This type of barking is somewhat similar to the dog that barks to get you to drop whatever activity you are doing, such as talking on the phone, watching tv, or even chatting with friends.

You need to make sure that your dog gets enough time with you everyday. Barking is often a result of frustration and loneliness! Dogs are pack animals and they need to be with their pack, you, for a good portion of their day. This doesn't mean just in the house with you...your dog should receive individualized attention and play every day...and a few minutes is not all it takes. If you can't spend at least an hour a day with your dog, you might need to think about whether you really can handle this type of pet...something like a cat might be better for you.

When i take him for walks he is soooooo bad i want to scream! He drags me all the way and doesnt listen when i tell him to stop. Im a 21 year old girl and he almost weighs what i do. (hes about 110lbs.) I purchased a choke chain to try and control him but i dont see it helping. He completly controls me, and i dont know how to reverse this. He was my first dog that me and my ex bought. We obviously went wrong training him. He knows how to give his paw, sit, lay down, and stay but they are the basics.

This is down to your lack of training ; Whether you’re teaching a puppy or an older dog, the training process is much the same – it just takes longer to
teach a dog who’s already learned that pulling on the lead is a fun thing to do – even if they seem to be choking themselves. Start off in a quiet place in the house and simply lure your dog to your leg and give them a treat. Take a step, give another treat. Take two steps and another treat. Take several steps and give a treat. Do this around the house and garden before using the lead. Then repeat the process with the lead on, but without using it to pull your dog to you.

If they do try to pull on the lead, just stand still, holding the lead. Don’t play tug of war. Simply stand still. As soon as your dog stops pulling then say “good” and give them a treat.

When your dog no longer pulls on the lead around the house and garden, or when they at least understand the game a little, then go for a walk.

I know that german shepherds are hearding dogs but the excessive squirrel chasing when he comes out of my house is getting out of hand. He runs out of the house and chases them and doesnt even bother to look back when i am screaming for him to come back!!! The same goes with rabbits, groundhogs, whatever. He does it when i take him for walks also and it drives me nuts!!! He is sapposed to walk at my side and he totally doesnt!! He comes when i call him "sometimes"

If I was in your position I would not even let your dog of the lead until you have founded a solid recall

Chasing is an instinctive behavior in dogs. Dogs love chasing cats, joggers, bicycles, cars, other dogs and almost anything that moves. Moving objects stimulate dogs to chase. If your dog is a herding breed, then your dog's nature to herd the moving object is even greater. Often the dog's predatory nature is stimulated and causes the dog to chase. Sometimes it is just the dog's play response. Dogs love to chase and be chased.

Click to Read More @ Chasing Cars, Cats, Joggers, etc by Perfect Paws Dog and Puppy Training

He doesnt really like treats so i dont really know how to go about fixing this major problem.

Try using toys as a motivation to treats, you be surprised how quickly the GSD leans when play and praise is involved

he has developed a peeing problem when i am trying to put on his leash or take it off....he pees all over my boyfriends floor and it is sooooo embarrasing!! I tell him its ok and not to be scared but it doesnt matter....he does it every day. When i ask him if he wants to go for a ride/walk he flips his lid and runs around the house and jumps on me and doesnt let me put on the leash so we can go. I've tried the stern voice and the smack to his butt but he just keeps up doing these bad things and i am so frustrated i dont know what to do. Any advice would be greatly greatly appreciated!!

Every time you reprimand you are making it worse. The dog doesn't really feel confident about what's going to happen next so by peeing he is basically saying "I am just a puppy, please don’t hurt me" It's not something he thinks about doing, it's instinctual. dont make a deal out of it if she does pee at inappropriate times. Reward her when he does pee where you want him to. Be the calm one and your dog will learn from you.

We had a big problem getting his ears to stand up and we did alot of work on them gluing etc. and he HATED it!! Now every time we come at him he gets down to the ground and starts peeing....i think that is why he pees because he always thinks were gonna do something to him. We have left his ears alone now for about 2 weeks because we realized they just arent gonna stand up and he still wont get over the fact that were not gonna touch his ears.

I swear....some people don't know the meaning of torture In the great scheme of cruelty, ear gluing is way down on the scale, but it is still an unnecessary cruelty. It's a recognized 'cheat' in showing and a 'lie' when selling a pup. It should grow that way naturally! SO leave it alone! Pups often follow their parents, how will any of us know what our purchased pups ears are gonna turn out like, unless there is documented evidence of the parents natural ear formation?

I have another problem with him and i would say it is a major one. Ever since we started gluing his ears up he HATED IT, he always peed everywhere when we tried to do it to him. Now the last time we glued them was probably about two weeks ago and he just will not stop peeing everytime i come at him, like give him a backscrath, or rub his tummy, or brush him, or put a bandana on. I dont know what to do to comfort him and tell him its ok im not gonna do anything to him. I know he loves me he gets so excited when i come home and he whines and misses me when i leave. He just acts scared and pees when i try to scratch him or something.

Animals, including our companion animals lack the ability to understand our anger or other emotions to the level that would let them know that someone yelling is not yelling AT THEM. They do not comprehend the ways that we rationalize, justify, or think. Animals live in the exact moment they are IN. They act and react to the stimulus that they are presented with in terms of our behaviors.. When we are angry, yelling or violent it causes them stress, even if our actions are not being directed at the dog...they do not understand it and so it is stressful and frightening to them hence the peeing!

As you are very inexperienced with the GSD dog………..you have probably done the gluing of the ear technique wrong, if the glue has made contact with the skin – it will cause a huge amount of pain and it will also burn the dogs skin ! super glue your thumb and little finger together you will soon realise how much glue stings or hurts like hell when the skin pulls !

he peed again after i grabbed his collar to try and bring him over to show him what he did was bad. I am completely disgusted as we are tired of shampooing pee spots daily, and are just wondreing why he keeps doing this when we are never going to glue his ears up again?? Can someone please help if you do god bless you! we have a major and embarrasing problem that he also does at my boyfriends house and i am so upset with it

i firmly believe that he is peeing like this because of the ear situation. And i shouted at him when he pees because that is what i was told to do by a friend of mine who has a happy and heathy 9 year old GSD.

I am surprised the dog does not sh!t himself, never mind pee himself…………….I suggest you get some serious help with this poor defenseless dog ! this imo is animal cruelty............The reason this dog has not bitten you yet; is because he is scared of you...............but be warned there is only so much he will take !!!!

I am sorry that you never got the support that maybe you were hoping to get; maybe some one on the German shepherd Messageboard - page 1 would be able to assist you further as this is an Amercian GSD Forum

I could not believe what I was reading last night and if I had replied I probably would of been banned ! this may be a perfectly acceptable way to treat a dog in America (but I doubt it very much)...... but it is certainly not the way we would treat our dogs here in England. I have heard of owner being scared of the dog, but the dog scared of the owner

There are various articles on this forum to all aspects of training your dog ! living with your dog ! and coping with your dog when things get tough for the owner etc, I suggest that you take some time to read thro them.

[Nellie]

Done properly using charopidist(sp) felt, does not hurt the dog nor is it abuse, many breeders do tape soft ears up to help the dogs ear carrage,
The main problem you have is NO respect from the dog, and a dog weary of you, to gain trust will be a major hurdle for you, does he still have his ears taped,?
Does he know how to play and does he have a favorite toy? Buy your self a halti or head collar for your dog as this will give you more control, practice playing in the garden, in the house, as many times a day as you can ,you need to be fun for the dog, then start to use the ball to gain his attention, ask him to watch, as soon as his eyes meet yours say ok and play, keep repeting this and lengthen the time he is looking at you
here is a link to a site that will help you out , but i would still look for a trainer that you can work with

Dog Training at NorthWest K9 dog obedience school for puppy training, dog obedience and dog behavior training
Have a good read through , and follow the advice given,
good luck with your boy, you have got to do alot of hard work, but done right you should reap the rewards
Helan

[led08zeppelin]

I dont know what everybody is getting so upset about. I dont mistreat my dog in any way. I was told by many people that you have to let the dog know that what he did was bad so he never does it again. Ever since he was a puppy he always hated us doing things to him like, putting a bandana on, brushing, flea medicine, getting his ears cleaned. He always peed from them. Then when we taped his ears he peed then too. Im just trying to figure out how to get him to understand that its okay. I have not messed with his ears for 2 weeks now and i dont plan on it ever again. It was just something i tried to see if it would work. I dont abuse my dog in any way so i dont appreciate all the negativity. I have not yelled at my dog for anything lately and i am trying to gain his trust back. I belong to a group that supports animal cruelty and animal shelter help. I would never abuse my dog he is the light in my life.

[zaclucy]

Hi

All you are seeing here, is the negativity. If you read the posts properly, you will realise that people are trying to give you advise.

It is obvious that you are struggling, and that you are out of your depth. Both yourself, and your dog are unhappy, and the only person who can do something about this is you. You NEED to find someone who can help you sort out these issues. You NEED someone with the experience, who can teach you how to help your dog become well adjusted, so that you can both enjoy each other's company. You NEED PROFESSION help. You NEED a dog trainer who will teach you the skills you need.

Janet x