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Sequoyah German Shepherds

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Question: German Shepherd still mouthing and play biting.... 

Hi there, my name is Racheal and my family just adopted a loving beautiful one year old GSD.  She is great and we love her so much.  She still is mouthing.  I am using the growling and grabbing her mouth route to correct it.  She seems to do this in the morning, and when she is excited.  How long can I expect her to continue?  Also, she seems to get really anxious when cars leave.  Thanks

Answer: 

As far as the mouthing goes, a lot of that depends on you.  My shepherds still mouth but then I allow it.  Shepherds are naturally mouthy.  They greet the world with their mouths.  I don't know if how much mouthing you are allowing but just remember, if what you are doing is not showing any results, then you need to try something different - whether your corrections become harder / louder, or you use a totally different technique all together.  They don't "grow out of it" necessarily - you teach them to stop doing whatever it is that you don't want.  They may get tired of it but you should be seeing improvement in your training or your training isn't working.

Question:  German Shepherd chasing cars....  

I am having problems with my German Shepherd and cars.  She is fine for the most part when people pull in, but when they pull out, if she is outside, she will bark and jump and about go crazy to get away to go to the car.  Then if the car stops, she just trys to get in to go.  She loves to be in the car more than any dog I have ever seen.  I am wondering the best way to fix this.  I take her with me often, to play with her cousin dog, she just loves to be in the car.  So much so, when we are just outside playing, she will go to the car and jump on it.  We have really been working hard to correct this, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.  Thank You so much

Answer: 

As far as the cars go, you don't want to teach her not to like cars - you teach her to be obedient in the face of her desire.  If you have her outside and someone is leaving, make sure that you have her on lead and tell her to sit or wait or down or whatever.  When she breaks the command, let her administer her own correction.  I like to use pinch collars for this training.  I will put her on a pinch, give her a command to sit.  Then stand on the 6 foot lead, giving her enough slack that she could "take off" but will only get to go about 2 feet before she reaches the end of the slack.  If she takes off quick and "blows you off" then she will get a harder correction (self inflicted).  You job is to bring her back into position and put her back in a sit.  You continue the technique while the people are leaving.  Soon, she will be focused on you instead of her desire.

 

Sherle R. Thompson, DVM
Veterinarian and German Shepherd Breeder
Chattanooga, TN
 
Email: sequoyahgsd@aol.com
Phone:  (423)991-0979

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