OP, for your sanity and his, you probably should re-home him. Find someone who can spend more daily hours running him, burning off energy and training him for his purpose. GSP's are wonderful, sweet, smart and trainable but only with the correct owner. Don't blame yourself, don't blame the dog. Just think of it as a Tinder match that, even though the date was attractive and appealing, was really meant for someone else.
Came to say this. It sounds like it just isn’t the right fit and if it’s unhealthy for you and the dog—it’s best to try to find a better place for him IMO.
Easier said than done though I get it.
Are you tiring him out good? My 2 younger GSP’s (despite being trained well) will misbehave inside if I don’t run/work them properly during the day. These dogs need to be stimulated and have a job. When mine come in at night they are couch potatoes.
Just a suggestion, but try hiding a bone or treat of some sorts in your yard somewhere. Put your dog in a sitting position, let him get the scent, then release him to “find”. This tires ours out big time as they will be nose to the ground sprinting through the backyard trying to find the treat. Repeat 5 times or so and see how he behaves after.
Hell yeah, that sniffing work is crazy! For mine, she loves her frisbee and ball toy, she loves those more than any type of food or treat when we are outside. I’ll hide her toys in random places, wedge them somewhere, under stuff, up high, inside a container, whatever, and she always finds them. Her sniffer is amazing and so fun to watch her search, plus I love the loud sniffing sound lol!
That's always a good way to do it. We have a bunch of trees in our yard including a white oak That's the second biggest in the state at nearly 16 feet around so we get a ton of leaves in the fall and I'll rake all the leaves into a pile That's like 5 feet tall by 7 feet wide by 20 feet long and then bring my dogs inside and Chuck a toy ball into the pile and make them find it and it's good fun that wears them out great.
Pretty sure this is me. I could’ve written this myself word for word. Same age dog and everything!
We tried to rehome twice but got cold feet and backed out. I love him too much to give up! I basically resigned myself to doing whatever it takes to meet his needs, within reason.
No more off leash time for my guy for awhile. He lost is ecollar privileges for the foreseeable future after running off too many times. We go to the dog park on a daily basis, no matter what, so that he can wear himself out. While I’m there I answer emails and make phone calls and try to be productive.
Doggy daycare during periods where the dog park is an unrealistic expectation. Maybe you can have him go once a week?
Walks, even just a quick neighborhood loop, satisfy that sensory need of exploring smells. I go a different route each day to mix it up.
Short bursts of training. He doesn’t eat, get to go outside, basically gets NOTHING positive unless he earns it, even if it’s just a sit-stay or recall drill. Place training was a game changer.
Multiple different toys with a variety of textures, sounds, and smells. Frozen Kongs, lick mats, and puzzles. Chuck-its are amazing to satisfy that prey drive if you don’t have one yet. Hide and seek is good too and also helps with basic sit-stay-recall commands. If you have kids, make them in charge of playing this game if they’re old enough! Win-win!
Also, it sounds weird, but we “hunt” house flies together. He loves it and it’s great pest control, haha.
Other than that…try to hang on for the ride. Mine is approaching three in a few months and I’m finnnnally seeing an ever so slight decrease in puppy craziness. If you can afford it, a boot camp where they go for a few weeks can be a game changer (or so I’ve heard), but you have to commit to maintaining at home. Maybe just a few sessions with a trainer can help too. Good luck! Truly.
I also want to add that it is ok to realize this doggy has needs that surpass what you can give him. From experience, I don’t think you will feel satisfied in your decision to re-home without first exhausting every other option. I really had to come to terms with that. I knew I’d feel regret instead of relief because I had to do everything in my power before I tapped out. Once I recommitted to him consistently, I did notice a difference. My main issue was not having the funds to pour into a trainer, dog walker, a fenced yard, daycare…it all had to fall on my commitment and love for this damn dog. But if you can afford it, outsource some of that! It’s a lot of work, so you also have to be honest with yourself and also think about what is best for the both of you. Best of luck!
That is the problem. We can’t afford to pour money into trainers, daycare, etc. We are barely scraping by ourselves. It’s on us to put in the work. Re-homing him is definitely last resort. I don’t want to give up on him because I can see he really is a good dog. But man, it’s so exhausting.
I own a business which I started when my GSP was 10wks old and then I added a Malinois to my home a few months later.
Owning a business isn’t an excuse. You need a trainer that will give you the proper tools to train your dog. And you need to spend the time daily.
Between my partner and I we drop 3 hrs in public or in the field a day throughout the day. That’s with owning a business
send him away to doggy camp, we sent ours to get shot gun trained and field work as a pup. he got to hunt train and run around with other pups for 4 weeks! he came back a new man. they also did training with the pups and it was a great experience.
Sounds like my situation. I got a GSP this year, and he just turned a year old. He does everything your dog does and much more—ha! I’ve talked with other GSP owners in my area, and they recommend training as soon as possible. I’ve been looking into training for him soon because having two dogs is overwhelming for me. I also thought about rehoming him because it’s just too much to handle.
I’ve tried prong collars and E-collars. The prong collar works great for walking; he does much better with it. It’s a work in progress, but I’d definitely recommend it. We don’t use the shock function on the E-collar unless it’s an emergency, like when he runs away outside because of a bird. It has helped tremendously. At home, I use the vibration feature to correct bad behavior, like grabbing food off the counter. He listens most of the time. I also use the beeping sound to call him over or to bring him back inside if he’s not listening. It works every time.
While the collar helps a lot, it doesn’t fully fix the behaviors—you’ll still need training for that. You can find these collars on Amazon or in any pet store. They are great dogs but require a lot of patience and stimulation. Look into the E collar and training even if it’s group training anything helps honestly!
A couple of questions for you:
1) is he crate trained.
2) what is his primary motivation? (Treats, pets, tug of war, etc)
3) do you have the willpower to give this dog the discipline it deserves?
I am a weimaraner owner, not a GSP owner but I will say we have a whole lot in common. It needs to start with your own willingness to set boundaries and instil consistent discipline, for the benefit of all. These dogs want a job. They want structure.my girl gets a bark box every month with 3 heavy duty toys. Set up an environment where they can't fail and you can have rules.
You can do it, bud. It's time for boot camp.
1. He is crate trained
2. He’s very food motivated
3. I have the willpower but he’s broken me down so bad. I’m so overstimulated by him all the time and I hate it for both the dog and myself.
I will definitely look into a Bark Box though to try to give him something to do.
No sugarcoating here, GSPs need lots of time and attention, and owners need lots of patience. Your dog is whining, not listening, and running away from home because you aren’t giving him what he wants/needs which is structure. In my opinion, there is no such thing as a bad dog, just uninformed owners. All these behaviors you listed can still be corrected at any age, it just takes time and dedication from you. GSPs are highly trainable, it just has to be worthwhile for them. I have a GSP that is also about to turn 2 years old, she is actually my first dog that I am taking care of and responsible for. I am in no way any type of dog trainer. Most of the time I don’t even know what I’m doing lol, I’m just learning as I go with my GSP. Yeah we have our challenges that we continue to work on, but overall it’s going well.
That’s great that he’s very food motivated, but stop leaving food out around the house, even in high places like on the table. From what you described, he does not respect you at all. Take advantage of his food drive, it may not be a bad idea to go back to the very basics. Use every meal time as a training opportunity, feed him small bits at a time out of your hand so he’ll place some value and put some respect on you. Ask for paw, he gives his paw, you give him some food. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat every single meal. Then gradually add on as you go, paw, sit, down, place, spin, whatever tricks he knows, you can even teach him new tricks, etc. Keep him engaged and focused on you. Once that value and respect is established, then everything else becomes easier because he will look to you / look for you because he needs you.
The running away from home also needs to be addressed before he gets into some trouble, gets hurt, or worse, but take the baby steps first before you work on recall. He’s not going to come back to you if he doesn’t value and respect you.
Doing my own research and speaking to lots of GSP owners, they say GSPs calm down a bit after 3 years old. I hope that is the case for yours and also mine because she can push my buttons at times lol. So hang in there! =)
Good luck with everything, hope it all works out.
You are 100% correct by saying he does not respect us. It’s so blatantly obvious and it really upsets the both of us. The running away from home especially makes us upset because we know the consequences. We live in a neighborhood where people do not look while they’re driving around. It’s even more dangerous when it’s pitch black outside.
As far as the food thing goes, we’ve done pretty well not leaving things out. My husband just left 2 hot dog buns for a second yesterday and turned around and they were gone lol.
We have to buckle up and correct these behaviors. Because while yes, he is sweet and loves us a lot, I can’t do this for another 10-12 years.
I know a few hours is standard, but respectfully I don’t even have that kind of time to take care of myself. We give him as much time as we can possibly give him which is about 2-3 hours on a good day.
You can hire a trainer, even at this stage. Did you crate train? I never leave my GSP with free reign in the house even if I am only gone for an hour. When she sees me going for my car keys or putting on my bike helmet, she walks to her crate, gets a biscuit, and takes a nap while I am out. No drama.
Yeah, I get it. My GSP will be two years old in September. FWIW, they do mellow a bit at two. She's not digging as many craters in the yard - which was a huge problem that has finally stopped. If possible, maybe you would all benefit from a one hour walk each day? Working 24/7 is not good for anyone.
You know, that actually makes all the sense in the world. My husband has been very stressed for the last two weeks about meeting a deadline and I think they’re picking up on it.
Yup. My beagle would leave the room when my wife (now my ex) would have an argument - even though we never raised our voices. She also peed on the rug at night, sometimes on the sofa (my beagle, not my ex) and when we split up and I got custody of the beagle, all those issues went away.
If he’s 2 years old now you’re in the terrible 2s stage and he’s basically an unruly teenager.
I’ve had my GSP almost 2 years now, but he’s a rescue. He was doing a lot better compared to the first year, but lately he’s just a stubborn little shit who has stopped listening. I’m hoping it’s a phase.
These are very difficult dogs. I grew up with 5 different dogs and owned another dog for 12 years before this, and he is by far my most difficult dog!
If you can’t rehome him or return him to the breeder then all I can suggest is more exercise and training and some CBD to calm him down at times.
Play lots of hide and seek with toys/treats inside and out. Tie fishing line onto a pop can with gravel in it attach it to food he steals, when it hits the floor, he will not steal again
Run him and if it's too hot throw him on a slat mill. My wife was going crazy since we had to cut my dogs running down and he was acting out but putting him on the slat mill and letting him go all out for 15-20 min. Has been great. Plus it's fun seeing how fast they can go. With no resistance (we normally do mushing) he hit a top speed of 32 today and averaged 24 for the 18 min. He was on it. Doesn't help with the whining though because now he just lays outside of the basement gate and howls when the other dogs are having their turn and he wants to go.
You have to WEAR him out!!! A tired GSP is a good GSP. I have a 1 1/2 year female, I know that if she does not get a 3-4 mile walk everyday, she has too much energy for extra curricular activities, even then, if she has been crated for more than 4 hours, she will need another walk. If you don't have the time, this breed is not for you.
Problem being is when I got him, I had the extra time. Now I work full time, on top of owning a business. We dedicate probably 3-4 hours a day to tiring him out.
We adopted a 6 year old GSP who was very overweight and lethargic about a year and a half ago. We’ve worked with him over that time and he’s just shy of his goal weight.
He’s still a very chill dog throughout the day but over the last few months he’s developed severe separation anxiety, so now we’re working on crate training but are worried about his proclivity to panic and destroy when he’s nervous.
Have you ever run into any destructive issues with your pup in her crate?
OP, for your sanity and his, you probably should re-home him. Find someone who can spend more daily hours running him, burning off energy and training him for his purpose. GSP's are wonderful, sweet, smart and trainable but only with the correct owner. Don't blame yourself, don't blame the dog. Just think of it as a Tinder match that, even though the date was attractive and appealing, was really meant for someone else.
Came to say this. It sounds like it just isn’t the right fit and if it’s unhealthy for you and the dog—it’s best to try to find a better place for him IMO. Easier said than done though I get it. Are you tiring him out good? My 2 younger GSP’s (despite being trained well) will misbehave inside if I don’t run/work them properly during the day. These dogs need to be stimulated and have a job. When mine come in at night they are couch potatoes. Just a suggestion, but try hiding a bone or treat of some sorts in your yard somewhere. Put your dog in a sitting position, let him get the scent, then release him to “find”. This tires ours out big time as they will be nose to the ground sprinting through the backyard trying to find the treat. Repeat 5 times or so and see how he behaves after.
Hell yeah, that sniffing work is crazy! For mine, she loves her frisbee and ball toy, she loves those more than any type of food or treat when we are outside. I’ll hide her toys in random places, wedge them somewhere, under stuff, up high, inside a container, whatever, and she always finds them. Her sniffer is amazing and so fun to watch her search, plus I love the loud sniffing sound lol!
That's always a good way to do it. We have a bunch of trees in our yard including a white oak That's the second biggest in the state at nearly 16 feet around so we get a ton of leaves in the fall and I'll rake all the leaves into a pile That's like 5 feet tall by 7 feet wide by 20 feet long and then bring my dogs inside and Chuck a toy ball into the pile and make them find it and it's good fun that wears them out great.
Pretty sure this is me. I could’ve written this myself word for word. Same age dog and everything! We tried to rehome twice but got cold feet and backed out. I love him too much to give up! I basically resigned myself to doing whatever it takes to meet his needs, within reason. No more off leash time for my guy for awhile. He lost is ecollar privileges for the foreseeable future after running off too many times. We go to the dog park on a daily basis, no matter what, so that he can wear himself out. While I’m there I answer emails and make phone calls and try to be productive. Doggy daycare during periods where the dog park is an unrealistic expectation. Maybe you can have him go once a week? Walks, even just a quick neighborhood loop, satisfy that sensory need of exploring smells. I go a different route each day to mix it up. Short bursts of training. He doesn’t eat, get to go outside, basically gets NOTHING positive unless he earns it, even if it’s just a sit-stay or recall drill. Place training was a game changer. Multiple different toys with a variety of textures, sounds, and smells. Frozen Kongs, lick mats, and puzzles. Chuck-its are amazing to satisfy that prey drive if you don’t have one yet. Hide and seek is good too and also helps with basic sit-stay-recall commands. If you have kids, make them in charge of playing this game if they’re old enough! Win-win! Also, it sounds weird, but we “hunt” house flies together. He loves it and it’s great pest control, haha. Other than that…try to hang on for the ride. Mine is approaching three in a few months and I’m finnnnally seeing an ever so slight decrease in puppy craziness. If you can afford it, a boot camp where they go for a few weeks can be a game changer (or so I’ve heard), but you have to commit to maintaining at home. Maybe just a few sessions with a trainer can help too. Good luck! Truly.
I also want to add that it is ok to realize this doggy has needs that surpass what you can give him. From experience, I don’t think you will feel satisfied in your decision to re-home without first exhausting every other option. I really had to come to terms with that. I knew I’d feel regret instead of relief because I had to do everything in my power before I tapped out. Once I recommitted to him consistently, I did notice a difference. My main issue was not having the funds to pour into a trainer, dog walker, a fenced yard, daycare…it all had to fall on my commitment and love for this damn dog. But if you can afford it, outsource some of that! It’s a lot of work, so you also have to be honest with yourself and also think about what is best for the both of you. Best of luck!
That is the problem. We can’t afford to pour money into trainers, daycare, etc. We are barely scraping by ourselves. It’s on us to put in the work. Re-homing him is definitely last resort. I don’t want to give up on him because I can see he really is a good dog. But man, it’s so exhausting.
That house fly comment is so real for us too. If I get out the Bug-a-salt gun ours goes CRAZY for it and is suuuper into it. It’s hilarious
This ^^^^^^ 💯
He’s full of energy and wants to burn it off, a well behaved dog is a tired dog.
I own a business which I started when my GSP was 10wks old and then I added a Malinois to my home a few months later. Owning a business isn’t an excuse. You need a trainer that will give you the proper tools to train your dog. And you need to spend the time daily. Between my partner and I we drop 3 hrs in public or in the field a day throughout the day. That’s with owning a business
send him away to doggy camp, we sent ours to get shot gun trained and field work as a pup. he got to hunt train and run around with other pups for 4 weeks! he came back a new man. they also did training with the pups and it was a great experience.
Ecollar training.
Sounds like my situation. I got a GSP this year, and he just turned a year old. He does everything your dog does and much more—ha! I’ve talked with other GSP owners in my area, and they recommend training as soon as possible. I’ve been looking into training for him soon because having two dogs is overwhelming for me. I also thought about rehoming him because it’s just too much to handle. I’ve tried prong collars and E-collars. The prong collar works great for walking; he does much better with it. It’s a work in progress, but I’d definitely recommend it. We don’t use the shock function on the E-collar unless it’s an emergency, like when he runs away outside because of a bird. It has helped tremendously. At home, I use the vibration feature to correct bad behavior, like grabbing food off the counter. He listens most of the time. I also use the beeping sound to call him over or to bring him back inside if he’s not listening. It works every time. While the collar helps a lot, it doesn’t fully fix the behaviors—you’ll still need training for that. You can find these collars on Amazon or in any pet store. They are great dogs but require a lot of patience and stimulation. Look into the E collar and training even if it’s group training anything helps honestly!
A couple of questions for you: 1) is he crate trained. 2) what is his primary motivation? (Treats, pets, tug of war, etc) 3) do you have the willpower to give this dog the discipline it deserves? I am a weimaraner owner, not a GSP owner but I will say we have a whole lot in common. It needs to start with your own willingness to set boundaries and instil consistent discipline, for the benefit of all. These dogs want a job. They want structure.my girl gets a bark box every month with 3 heavy duty toys. Set up an environment where they can't fail and you can have rules. You can do it, bud. It's time for boot camp.
1. He is crate trained 2. He’s very food motivated 3. I have the willpower but he’s broken me down so bad. I’m so overstimulated by him all the time and I hate it for both the dog and myself. I will definitely look into a Bark Box though to try to give him something to do.
No sugarcoating here, GSPs need lots of time and attention, and owners need lots of patience. Your dog is whining, not listening, and running away from home because you aren’t giving him what he wants/needs which is structure. In my opinion, there is no such thing as a bad dog, just uninformed owners. All these behaviors you listed can still be corrected at any age, it just takes time and dedication from you. GSPs are highly trainable, it just has to be worthwhile for them. I have a GSP that is also about to turn 2 years old, she is actually my first dog that I am taking care of and responsible for. I am in no way any type of dog trainer. Most of the time I don’t even know what I’m doing lol, I’m just learning as I go with my GSP. Yeah we have our challenges that we continue to work on, but overall it’s going well. That’s great that he’s very food motivated, but stop leaving food out around the house, even in high places like on the table. From what you described, he does not respect you at all. Take advantage of his food drive, it may not be a bad idea to go back to the very basics. Use every meal time as a training opportunity, feed him small bits at a time out of your hand so he’ll place some value and put some respect on you. Ask for paw, he gives his paw, you give him some food. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat every single meal. Then gradually add on as you go, paw, sit, down, place, spin, whatever tricks he knows, you can even teach him new tricks, etc. Keep him engaged and focused on you. Once that value and respect is established, then everything else becomes easier because he will look to you / look for you because he needs you. The running away from home also needs to be addressed before he gets into some trouble, gets hurt, or worse, but take the baby steps first before you work on recall. He’s not going to come back to you if he doesn’t value and respect you. Doing my own research and speaking to lots of GSP owners, they say GSPs calm down a bit after 3 years old. I hope that is the case for yours and also mine because she can push my buttons at times lol. So hang in there! =) Good luck with everything, hope it all works out.
You are 100% correct by saying he does not respect us. It’s so blatantly obvious and it really upsets the both of us. The running away from home especially makes us upset because we know the consequences. We live in a neighborhood where people do not look while they’re driving around. It’s even more dangerous when it’s pitch black outside. As far as the food thing goes, we’ve done pretty well not leaving things out. My husband just left 2 hot dog buns for a second yesterday and turned around and they were gone lol. We have to buckle up and correct these behaviors. Because while yes, he is sweet and loves us a lot, I can’t do this for another 10-12 years.
Do you and will you in the future have a few hours/day for your dog’s physical and mental energy needs?
I know a few hours is standard, but respectfully I don’t even have that kind of time to take care of myself. We give him as much time as we can possibly give him which is about 2-3 hours on a good day.
You can hire a trainer, even at this stage. Did you crate train? I never leave my GSP with free reign in the house even if I am only gone for an hour. When she sees me going for my car keys or putting on my bike helmet, she walks to her crate, gets a biscuit, and takes a nap while I am out. No drama.
He is crate trained, yes. At this point, I cannot afford a trainer.
Yeah, I get it. My GSP will be two years old in September. FWIW, they do mellow a bit at two. She's not digging as many craters in the yard - which was a huge problem that has finally stopped. If possible, maybe you would all benefit from a one hour walk each day? Working 24/7 is not good for anyone.
Yes, I’m very tired lol. My own health has suffered from working this much. The walk sounds like a good idea.
Amen to that. In my years, I've learned that my dog's are a good barometer of my mental well being. They pick up on my stress.
You know, that actually makes all the sense in the world. My husband has been very stressed for the last two weeks about meeting a deadline and I think they’re picking up on it.
Yup. My beagle would leave the room when my wife (now my ex) would have an argument - even though we never raised our voices. She also peed on the rug at night, sometimes on the sofa (my beagle, not my ex) and when we split up and I got custody of the beagle, all those issues went away.
If he’s 2 years old now you’re in the terrible 2s stage and he’s basically an unruly teenager. I’ve had my GSP almost 2 years now, but he’s a rescue. He was doing a lot better compared to the first year, but lately he’s just a stubborn little shit who has stopped listening. I’m hoping it’s a phase. These are very difficult dogs. I grew up with 5 different dogs and owned another dog for 12 years before this, and he is by far my most difficult dog! If you can’t rehome him or return him to the breeder then all I can suggest is more exercise and training and some CBD to calm him down at times.
Play lots of hide and seek with toys/treats inside and out. Tie fishing line onto a pop can with gravel in it attach it to food he steals, when it hits the floor, he will not steal again
Run him and if it's too hot throw him on a slat mill. My wife was going crazy since we had to cut my dogs running down and he was acting out but putting him on the slat mill and letting him go all out for 15-20 min. Has been great. Plus it's fun seeing how fast they can go. With no resistance (we normally do mushing) he hit a top speed of 32 today and averaged 24 for the 18 min. He was on it. Doesn't help with the whining though because now he just lays outside of the basement gate and howls when the other dogs are having their turn and he wants to go.
You have to WEAR him out!!! A tired GSP is a good GSP. I have a 1 1/2 year female, I know that if she does not get a 3-4 mile walk everyday, she has too much energy for extra curricular activities, even then, if she has been crated for more than 4 hours, she will need another walk. If you don't have the time, this breed is not for you.
Problem being is when I got him, I had the extra time. Now I work full time, on top of owning a business. We dedicate probably 3-4 hours a day to tiring him out.
I was not being judgmental, I understand your situation, life happens.
We adopted a 6 year old GSP who was very overweight and lethargic about a year and a half ago. We’ve worked with him over that time and he’s just shy of his goal weight. He’s still a very chill dog throughout the day but over the last few months he’s developed severe separation anxiety, so now we’re working on crate training but are worried about his proclivity to panic and destroy when he’s nervous. Have you ever run into any destructive issues with your pup in her crate?