# Can a puppy be TOO well behaved?



## Muneraven (Sep 4, 2012)

I know this sounds like a nutty question, but bear with me. Jaeger isn't quite 9 weeks old and has been with us less than a week. I utterly adore him, but he is freaking me out just a little. He pretty much potty trained himself. He doesn't do any of the "bad" things every other puppy I have ever had does. He remembers when I tell him not to chew something and doesn't do it again. ONE correction! He learned to sit in about five minutes. He is respectful of the other dogs and the cats. Right now he is laying under my desk with his head on my foot. He could go anywhere in the house, but he tends to stay right with me.

His only fault is that he hates the crate. He screams bloody murder if we leave him in it. He is so young that we are keeping crate sessions short right now . . .it has to be scary to leave his whole family and come to a new place!

Jaeger is my first GSD. My other dogs are VERY smart, but they weren't like this little guy. He's so serious for a puppy and so determined to do the right thing. "Earnest" might be the right word. 

So is this a baby phase and he'll grow out of it and give me heck? Is this a sign of timidity (it doesn't seem like that)? Or is Jaeger just a great little GSD puppy? 

I sure love him already. He kills me when he looks up at me with those brown eyes!:wub:


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

you have a calm pup. enjoy it. my pup was calm.


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## warpwr (Jan 13, 2011)

Maybelline our non-GSD was just like you describe. Diane and I cannot remember her ever doing any puppy vandalism.

Miss Molly is our GSD and she's pretty good but... has pulled the entire back lawn out by the roots, occasionally digs holes, tears out my drip irrigation when she thinks about it, opened an ice chest on the back patio one day and helped herself to a couple of beers which she brought into the front room and sprayed everywhere, tore a hole in the down comforter and filled our bedroom with feathers, chewed the bark off the new lime tree and I'm sure there are a few other things that don't come to mind right now.

She'll be two years old in December and is still doing these things.
We love her dearly and know that this will soon be all over. Won't it?

9 weeks is pretty young to tell so all you can do is hope that your new Jaeger baby is like Maybelline and not Miss Molly.
And congrats on your first German Shepherd and good luck.

And, pictures please...


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## JakodaCD OA (May 14, 2000)

while the majority of my puppies were not low energy, I really have had no problems with housebreaking, teaching the basics, being nondestructive, 

Of course not all are like this, and at some point sometimes BOOM your perfect angel decides to revolt LOL..

Just keep doing what your doing and enjoy


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## Zeeva (Aug 10, 2010)

Sometimes its a calm before the storm. Maybe time will bring out the puppyish antics...


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## Jo Ellen (Aug 30, 2011)

Yeah, I'm thinking 9 weeks is much too soon to tell. But it's a nice thought. 

I remember when I would tell people that Spirit is the calmest, most laid back puppy I've ever known. HAH. 

His registered name is Crescent Moon's Indomitable Spirit -- he lives up to his name every day  He's not a high-drive dog, though I did question that possibility awhile back ... but he is a challenge. If I don't keep him occupied, he will get into trouble.


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## KatsMuse (Jun 5, 2012)

Zeeva said:


> Sometimes its a calm before the storm. Maybe time will bring out the puppyish antics...


Mine was a real sweetheart at that age...
then her real personality 'blossomed' ! :wild:

Yours could stay that way though.


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## gowen (Nov 4, 2011)

Sounds alot like my Dolly. I got her at 9 weeks, she cried for about 4 hours (on/off) the first night at our house. Slept till about 10am that morning. I took her everywhere the next week. I carried her outdoors to the bathroom every few hours and gave her a small treat everytime she went potty in the side area of our yard that is all mulch. I also carried her on all my walks and let her walk a little at a time. We gave her "chew" toys on day one, which she loved. We played with her multiple times a day for hours each (even to this day). She pretty much was fully potty trained within' the first week. She cried a few times in the crate the first few days, but after learning that you get a treat for going to the crate, she did so willfully and happily after a few days. She is ultra smart and learns within' minutes of teaching a new trick. Sometimes if feels like she doesn't get it, but once I sit back and wait a day, she acts like she has known that trick her whole life. Single corrections as the OP said. One correction for getting in the trashcan, one correction for biting the brand new, and very expensive, rug. She does not pull on the leash, she started pulling on the leash at about 6 weeks and after watching the monks of newskete, I got a nylon braided collar and she stopped immediately. I do not use it anymore because she does not pull at all from then to now. 

Knock of wood, she just started her "day one" in the diaper today, and has never laid her mouth on a piece of furniture, nor given me a single bit of trouble. I wouldn't say she is low key, just knows that she can relax until I'm ready to go play for a few hours (tracking, obedience, fetch, and tug is her favorite).

I know your feeling about the perfect puppy. I worried it wouldn't last, but she is a little past 8 months old, started her first peroid(?) today and, to date, has hasn't changed one bit.


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## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

Stosh was also the perfect puppy. I mean perfect- he never chewed or destroyed a thing, was very quiet, learned things really fast. He did go through the landshark phase but never chewed anything he wasn't supposed to and he's still that way. Maybe you just lucked out like I did!


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## paulag1955 (Jun 29, 2010)

We thought Shasta was very well behaved for the first week, too. Then we found out she had both giardia and coccidia. She was much naughtier after we treated for those. So you might want to rule out any health issues.


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## m1953 (May 7, 2012)

you maybe be just lucky with a calm pup or the honeymoon is not over yet.


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## Muneraven (Sep 4, 2012)

Thank you everyone for your reassurance, advice, and stories. Jaeger is still being VERY good. I'll be taking him to our vet this coming week, but I am just going to count my blessings at the moment.


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## paulag1955 (Jun 29, 2010)

Muneraven said:


> I am just going to count my blessings at the moment.


Sounds like a plan!


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