# GSD Adolescence Behavior Examples



## arctic (Jun 20, 2014)

I have 4 month old GSD female. She's fairly submissive and quiet, and I've been working to control her drive to chase cats & pigeons, and mouth furniture & running children. She is crate-trained, stays there for a few hours in the daytime and sleeps there all night long. She is also more or less house-trained, and comes to me whining when she wants to get let out. She has learned the basic commands (sit, stay, down, come, no biting, no chasing, etc.) although not reliably performing with huge distractions (e.g. another dog walking by).

I have to admit, my patience is frayed from 2+ months of lack of proper sleep (first due to housetraining, then due to work).

I'm starting to dread "adolescence" from what I've read online.

How bad will it get? What are some specific behaviors of an adolescent GSD?


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## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

It varies by dog. I don't have a lot experience with females though. Some males, no trouble at all, but currently D is a pain in the *** often. If they are, you have to be super consistent, plenty of exercise and training and not letting them get away with anything.


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## Axel13 (Jun 23, 2014)

I found that when my shepherd reached adolescence they calmed down somewhat, especially my female. When I say calmed down I mean they stopped running over to other dogs in the park unless i said they could and stopped chasing children and joggers. However this is when they became destructive in the house. My youngest, Axel, has ripped the wallpaper, ripped the lino floor twice and also opens the bin and rips things up. However he has grown out of that now at 16 months.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

I have been lucky with all my dogs. I haven't had any destructive behavior or anything that I would consider teenage behavior. All are out of crates without issue. I thought my golden that just turned a year would be an issue but he has turned out nicely, he was a crazy high energy and high drive pup. He is officially out of the crate to. All of mine have continuous obedience classes for the first year, I think that plays a big part in getting good behavior. After the first year I slow down with obedience, but it's still there every day.


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## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

In a large group like yours, they probably don't have time to get into anything else


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

wolfy dog said:


> In a large group like yours, they probably don't have time to get into anything else


I wouldn't even know who to blame if they did


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## Vida0612 (Jul 2, 2014)

Our 6 month old Female was a sweethearted puppy and now shes a barking fool. She meets people and dogs inside the pet store very well without any barking at all (we're working on the jumping) but if we're on a walk on the road or in a park or she is on her run in our yard she looses her marbles barking at anyone that passes by. We try to refocus her or catch her beforehand using high-value treats but it really hasn't been working for us...has anyone else experienced this...? Is it a phase she will outgrow or is it a sign of aggression?


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## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

Vida0612 said:


> Our 6 month old Female was a sweethearted puppy and now shes a barking fool. She meets people and dogs inside the pet store very well without any barking at all (we're working on the jumping) but if we're on a walk on the road or in a park or she is on her run in our yard she looses her marbles barking at anyone that passes by. We try to refocus her or catch her beforehand using high-value treats but it really hasn't been working for us...has anyone else experienced this...? Is it a phase she will outgrow or is it a sign of aggression?


You need to get her focus back on you. Not loose n the back yard where she can practice this behavior. Playing and treats as rewards n the presence of distractions. She will not just "outgrow" it if you don't take control. and it is not a sign of aggression...yet. She needs to learn that you decide what is worrisome and what isn't.
Example form this morning: I was waiting at the car dealership for my car and had D with me in a down stay. People coming and going. Some he didn't look at but some he was more focused on. Then I took a deep breath and looked over him, I saw that he looked at me and decided that everything was OK. Treats for being relaxed. But it takes a lot of training throughout the day to get him to accept this from me. He is quite the project and yours sounds like that as well.


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## Vida0612 (Jul 2, 2014)

wolfy dog said:


> You need to get her focus back on you. Not loose n the back yard where she can practice this behavior. Playing and treats as rewards n the presence of distractions. She will not just "outgrow" it if you don't take control. and it is not a sign of aggression...yet. She needs to learn that you decide what is worrisome and what isn't.
> Example form this morning: I was waiting at the car dealership for my car and had D with me in a down stay. People coming and going. Some he didn't look at but some he was more focused on. Then I took a deep breath and looked over him, I saw that he looked at me and decided that everything was OK. Treats for being relaxed. But it takes a lot of training throughout the day to get him to accept this from me. He is quite the project and yours sounds like that as well.


Hey thanks for the response! Do you have any suggestions on HOW to get her focus back? She will just pull on the leash and turn her head to bark minutes after the person is gone...she knows her sit and down commands but its like her brain turns off once she starts going. This is our first gsd and were already in our second obedience class were really trying to do everything we can to help us all be succesfull!


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## Juliem24 (Jan 4, 2014)

llombardo said:


> I wouldn't even know who to blame if they did


We had a pack of huskies, who were devils. They always blamed Rusty for any misbehavior....even though Rusty died years earlier. That was 20 years ago, now my kids and grandson still blame poor Rusty. So, maybe Rusty lives in your home, too?


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## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

Vida0612 said:


> Hey thanks for the response! Do you have any suggestions on HOW to get her focus back? She will just pull on the leash and turn her head to bark minutes after the person is gone...she knows her sit and down commands but its like her brain turns off once she starts going. This is our first gsd and were already in our second obedience class were really trying to do everything we can to help us all be succesfull!


I finally gave in to the prong collar and that worked beautifully. There is plenty of info on it out here.


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## Mary Beth (Apr 17, 2010)

There are other options to get the focus back. With my Sting, when he barked and carried on - I got right in front of him - made him sit - put my hand over the top of his nose to quiet him - the second he was he got treat. Each time he did better. It is hard for a young dog but he can improve with consistent work. Also he needed a release for that pent up energy - I played tug with him and still do as a reward after obedience work and make sure he ends up winning and praise for winning when he gives up the tug for the treat.


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## Vida0612 (Jul 2, 2014)

We try to drain her energy as much as possible! Our walks have improved with the help of some high-value treats, she doesn't even care much if there is a person there b/c shes focused on doing what she needs to in order to get the treat ... work in progress!


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## Tratkins (Feb 15, 2014)

Vida0612 said:


> Hey thanks for the response! Do you have any suggestions on HOW to get her focus back? She will just pull on the leash and turn her head to bark minutes after the person is gone...she knows her sit and down commands but its like her brain turns off once she starts going. This is our first gsd and were already in our second obedience class were really trying to do everything we can to help us all be succesfull!


Our experience: Our male is almost 8 months old and has had a trainer since he was 12 weeks. We have a private trainer that comes to our house to work on new skills and we meet with a group on Tuesdays (FREE!  ) When he was younger, it was SO hard to train in the presence of other dogs and people. He wanted to play with them so bad, he couldn't focus on me. On the advice of the trainer, I took him just outside of the training area and had him look at me and treat...walk a few feet and treat and continue that in small spurts in other locations (ie - parking lots, street, park, etc). You are solely training for focus here so do not include sits, downs, stays, etc). keep them at 5 min or less and build them up over a period of several days to weeks. Include games like appropriate tug (because that game engages you and he is close). 

For person/dog reactivity, don't let her go over threshold. We had to do that for a while. I took my dog to large parks that I knew I could keep a good distance from others. I took him to trails with super wide trails that I could always see oncomers and avoid them. I never let anyone get close enough to be able to hear them ask to pet my dog. I would let the dog acknowledge them from a far below threshold, and kept moving in the opposite direction. Yes, that may limit where you can go with your dog for a while (it took about 2-3 weeks for us). Then we started passing people. I used LAT training ("look at that") and "leave it". There are some great LAT videos on youtube and this forum. Slowly, we increased distance and now at 8 months, he is focused on me on our walks and during group training. The only thing now that we are dealing with is when a new dog shows up to group training, he will focus on that dog until he has "met" them. I think he remembers every dog he has ever met! Then he is fine.


We are now working on sit and down/stays with distractions. I am realizing it something that has to be taken slowly. You can't ask a dog to sit/stay in a park with running children and dogs if they can't do it in the house or backyard. Patience and slow progression yields better long term results. Samson at 8 months now is getting better everyday, but it seems like a full-time job for the human! :wub:


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## Vida0612 (Jul 2, 2014)

Tratkins said:


> Our experience: Our male is almost 8 months old and has had a trainer since he was 12 weeks. We have a private trainer that comes to our house to work on new skills and we meet with a group on Tuesdays (FREE!  ) When he was younger, it was SO hard to train in the presence of other dogs and people. He wanted to...! :wub:


Wow there is so much good advice in here! We did a class with her at PetSmart but didn't think they'd be able to handle training questions as she got older so we have started taking class with a certified trainer and have scheduled some one on ones. I'll start taking her to parks and parking lots (she has lots of issues in those areas) and do that walk and treat far away from the distraction of others - thanks for that tip! I wish we had free classes/groups to go to in our area, that's such a great thing for your pup!


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## Harry and Lola (Oct 26, 2013)

Adolescence for many GSDs sees them developing likes and dislikes, whether people, other dogs, objects etc and many will challenge you to see how far they can go. I haven't had too many dramas at this age, however from my experience it is essential you have a strong bond with your GSD and you are consistent.


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