The Solution To German Shepherd Problem Behaviors
Sep 9th, 2008 | By Jan Ryan | Category: PetsGerman Shepherds can turn into one of two kinds of dogs. They can either be the best dogs you ever owned or they can be an owner’s worst nightmare. German Shepherd problem behaviors will usually arise from human interaction or a lack of it. A German Shepherd has natural instincts but it will gladly put aside those instincts to make its human family happy. A German Shepherd can get very attached and protective of it’s human family and if you do not follow the proper training procedures when the German Shepherd is a pup then you will get German Shepherd problem behaviors.
German Shepherds have a herding instinct that makes them very protective of their human family and also potentially very aggressive to anyone that comes near it. To offset that you need to make your German Shepherd a social animal and allow it to socialize with as many other animals and people as possible. A German Shepherd that is taught to socialize will be better adapted and much less likely to be a problem.
You need to play with your German Shepherd constantly and show it a lot of attention because German Shepherds can get really bored really fast and a bored German Shepherd will start to display problem behaviors almost instantly. That is the thing about German Shepherds, they can make behavioral adjustments almost instantly and when they do they usually revert back to their instincts. A bored German Shepherd will start to hunt and, as you can imagine, that is bad. So show your dog a lot of attention and avoid this German Shepherd problem behavior.
A German Shepherd has a natural instinct to work. It needs to feel like it has a job to do at all times because they were bred to work all day in the fields with herding and other activities. Even if that activity is being the family dog the German Shepherd needs to feel like it has an important task to do or else it will resort to its herding instincts and that can get very ugly if it progresses to aggressive behavior.
For some reason some people take the Shepherd’s loyalty and ability to function with a variety of animals and people as a sign that it makes a good babysitter for a few minutes. No matter how well behaved your German Shepherd is never leave your children alone with your dog.
If your kids are unsupervised with your German Shepherd and that herding instinct kicks in then there could be trouble. So be a smart owner, and a responsible parent, and never leave your German Shepherd alone with your children no matter how well behaved you believe your Shepherd to be.
All a German Shepherd wants to do is be part of your family and if you treat it like a part of the family then you can avoid a lot of the German Shepherd problem behaviors that can occur with this breed.
Just be ready to show your dog a lot of love and attention and you should have a happy life with your pet.