Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello

I'm new to the forum as you can see!
I have a funny little issue i thought some one out there may be able to help me with.

I rescued a European German Shepherd whom I love dearly. He's a male just over a year. He's was a runt I think...his body is a medium size, but his neck and shoulders are just huuuuge! He's a real sweety! All in all I'm very impressed with him as it is infact my first German Shepherd.

Every morning I take him for a long walk. (Here's where the issue is, and its not even that bad.) When I walk him some times he's fine and walks perfectly. Other times he likes to hold the leash in his mouth and walk. I've tried sooo many times to get him to not do it, but as soon as I hook him up, he turns his head and carries part of the leash in his mouth. He doesn't chew it or anything, he just likes having it in his mouth. Any ideas on why he does that? or what it means?

I was going to go buy a head halte for him and maybe try that but the funny thing is even with that i think he will just grab the leash as he always does and just keep walking like nothings wrong.

I even got a small 2 foot leash thinking maybe by walking him with that it would be better, but if I let it go, he just grabs it in his mouth and is just content in following me like that.

He has a solo walk with me every morning for about an hour. Then later in the afternoon I take him and a little border collie (whom happens to be his best friend!) for an hour of unleashed playtime in the hay fields. Then another solo walk with him on leash in the evenings for about another hour.

Any ideas on why he does that? Do you think the Head Halte will help? If not do you have any suggestions?

I also saw in another post another person has a Shepherd that ate her blankets. I have that same problem as well, He loves to destroy any little stuffed animal I get him. He tried to tear apart his blanket as well, just like the stuffed animals, and eat the fluffy stuff, but I've since then taken it all away from him. He doesn't seem to mind, but boy oh boy if he finds a new stuffed animal he instantly goes to work on it.

OOOOh....Also when he and the Collie are out playing, the Collie will run and run and run sometimes really far away from me. My Shepherd will only chase him so far and then stop and just stand there. Why is that? Why doesn't he keep chasing? He won't ever chase the collie very far. If he does run a little ways away (like in the woods) and I can no longer see him, he ALWAYS comes walking back to me within a few minutes. Meanwhile the Collie will just keep running around. Any ideas on why? is that like a bonding thing?

Very beautiful, very loving and very loyal!

Thank you in advance for any help

>>Hello
>>
>>I'm new to the forum as you can see!
>>I have a funny little issue i thought some one out there may be able to help me with.
>>
>>I rescued a European German Shepherd whom I love dearly. He's a male just over a year. He's was a runt I think...his body is a medium size, but his neck and shoulders are just huuuuge! He's a real sweety! All in all I'm very impressed with him as it is infact my first German Shepherd.
>>
>>Every morning I take him for a long walk. (Here's where the issue is, and its not even that bad.) When I walk him some times he's fine and walks perfectly. Other times he likes to hold the leash in his mouth and walk. I've tried sooo many times to get him to not do it, but as soon as I hook him up, he turns his head and carries part of the leash in his mouth. He doesn't chew it or anything, he just likes having it in his mouth. Any ideas on why he does that? or what it means?
>>
>>I was going to go buy a head halte for him and maybe try that but the funny thing is even with that i think he will just grab the leash as he always does and just keep walking like nothings wrong.
>>
>>I even got a small 2 foot leash thinking maybe by walking him with that it would be better, but if I let it go, he just grabs it in his mouth and is just content in following me like that.
>>
>>He has a solo walk with me every morning for about an hour. Then later in the afternoon I take him and a little border collie (whom happens to be his best friend!) for an hour of unleashed playtime in the hay fields. Then another solo walk with him on leash in the evenings for about another hour.
>>
>>Any ideas on why he does that? Do you think the Head Halte will help? If not do you have any suggestions?
>>
>>I also saw in another post another person has a Shepherd that ate her blankets. I have that same problem as well, He loves to destroy any little stuffed animal I get him. He tried to tear apart his blanket as well, just like the stuffed animals, and eat the fluffy stuff, but I've since then taken it all away from him. He doesn't seem to mind, but boy oh boy if he finds a new stuffed animal he instantly goes to work on it.
>>
>>OOOOh....Also when he and the Collie are out playing, the Collie will run and run and run sometimes really far away from me. My Shepherd will only chase him so far and then stop and just stand there. Why is that? Why doesn't he keep chasing? He won't ever chase the collie very far. If he does run a little ways away (like in the woods) and I can no longer see him, he ALWAYS comes walking back to me within a few minutes. Meanwhile the Collie will just keep running around. Any ideas on why? is that like a bonding thing?
>>
>>Very beautiful, very loving and very loyal!
>>
>>Thank you in advance for any help

>>>>>>>>>>>>>

It's better to go ahead and use a head halter before the leash thing becomes such a solid habit that you have a real problem changing it. With a dog who is going to be large and strong with major guarding instincts, you want to aim the behavior in the right direction from the beginning, not let it go and plan to fix it later. Later he will be stronger and mature drives will kick in that make him more to manage. Fix now what you can fix now.

As far as the behavior with the Collie, I can't picture it well enough from a description to guess the reasons for it. If they're getting along, why worry?

With the Leonberger, perhaps he has been attacked by a dog she reminds him of, by size, color, or smell.

Tearing up stuff is normal when a dog is setting the permanent teeth in the jaw. He needs safe chew items and privacy from the other dogs with these as well as with food. I have an article on Destructive Chewing at the link below my signature that explains how to train him as he matures to the ability to choose his own things for chewing.

Do be careful about putting the multiple dogs in the position of having to compete with each other. You could get terrible fights. My article Same Sex Dogs in the Home at the same link explains that.
-----
Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series articles at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=SRC&S=1&SourceID=47

If he isn't pulling on the leash, I don't see the need for the Halti. If how ever that is the problem I would choose the gentle leader over the halti. The halti was pinching my 1yr old Shepherds lips so I got that and I saw a huge difference. She doesn't paw at her face as much as with the halti either.

Carrying his own leash is a great trick?
Why change that?