Puppy help

[Floramac]

Hi, had our GSD puppy 3 weeks, 11 weeks old now. Had Gsds before but not had a puppy for 13 years. We knew it would be hard just forgot how hard. The worst thing is the biting and the manic zoomies. We seem to have one day when we think she is calming and then wham back to the crazies. Tried everything, carrying antlers, chew toys, frozen carrots, leaving the room for 30 seconds but when she is being hyper nothing will work. She did have a bad episode with 36 hours of the runs 10 days ago which took a while to sort via the vets so this must have stressed her. I am starting to wonder if the food may be causing problems. It's the same food the breeder used, grain free and good quality but it is duck and she refuses to eat duck treats which seems strange, she will eat the kibble. Sorry for the long post, just looking for words of wisdom from other pup (land shark) owners !

Have you tried a training session followed by a nap before the predicted zoomies set in , just to try to change the routine so the pattern changes ?
That's if there is a regular routine and you can predict , like they happen at the same time of day .

How do you get them to nap. I feel she is definitely not sleeping enough but she won't settle.

Put them to bed after the training session , do you have a crate ?

It's definitely overtired!

I cant remember where, but when we were having 'nipping at the ankle zoomies' issues (the ones that dont just stop!) with our labrador pup, I read to put him in his own space away from everyone and ignore. No special phrases, he was just plonked so to speak. We didn't have a crate but had a gate on the kitchen, which is where his bed was, which worked really well for us (he could see us, i dont know if that matters). Eventually he would give in and lay down and after a few minutes of calm, we would casually open the gate, no fuss, and he was a different dog. Eventually he grew out of the nipping but he still likes a good zoom from time to time!
I would add though, the more mental stimulation he had throughout the day , the less of a problem it was. We found hiding treats and training sessionsavery helpful.

We used to put ours on a lead to stop him running off!! ... and put his blanket next to us, taught him to lie down on the bed then gave him a nice ear rub when he settled. Good luck OP, its an awful stage of puppyness 🤣

She is beautiful. We also had a land shark, he is now 6. He was a bugger for biting and also regularly got the trots. The biting was appalling, there is no magic answer, just the usual when the biting starts the fun stops and he got put in his crate for 10 minutes to calm down. We did that for 18 months, it gradually got less, and stopped altogether by 18 months. I don't think it was anything we did, he just grew out of it.

As to the tummy, he can only eat turkey, eggs or fish as his protein source. Everything else gives him the runs. We now feed Millies Wolfheart food, it seems to be the best one for our boy. GSDs are very prone to digestive trouble, as you probably know, and our Vets don't seem to have much idea of what to suggest other than very expensive fake food. I got on to Millies via the GSD owners forum, who are very helpful.

Crate training is a great way of enforcing naps, basically once you are done training/exercising/eating etc you put them in their crate for a bit and it totally gets them to calm and nap, and is a good routine for them to get into for life really....which then means no crazy overtired behaviors!

Have a pen which she bounces off the sides of when hyper. We do 3 training sessions a day along with short plays and calm walks around the garden on her lead ( large garden). Lots of mental stimulation, Bob ball, sniffle mat, search and find kibble etc. We are trying to do everything suggested. Main problem getting her to relax settle and sleep.

Our last GSD had Epi and Millies was the only food that worked. Reckon we will be moving her onto that soonest !

In that case maybe reducing (if you can do that) the size of the pen so she gets the message that the pen is for chilling out and having a chew on your toy until you fall asleep .

Are you potentially doing too much and over stimulating her? We have a energetic breed dog but we found she was more land shark like when she's over tired and over stimulated.

Puppies need 18 hours of sleep a day; so y they do need to learn to settle. We have taught ours that "settle" means to go to her sofa, and then she's given a bed time chew and her chew toy and left quietly.

Ours gets one 20 minute morning walk and an hour run with other dogs each day. She's then given enrichment activities at home in the evening for 15 mins or so. If she's had the trainer in, she doesn't have a big walk as it's all too much and the trainer advises to give her a quieter day. Sometimes we can be doing too much with them.

I think you're doing too much and she's overstimulated.

At eleven weeks old, she really doesn't need multiple walks around the garden, multiple training sessions and multiple types of enrichment everyday.

She needs calm - lots of sleep and chilled time so she can grow. Yes, she needs play and training and walking but nowhere near as much as you think!

I would get her out in a sling and socialise her, so a couple of very short training sessions and get her to sleep as much as you possibly can - good luck!

Can she go out for walks yet. Once they can go out and run they settle down a lot better in my experience they need wearing out !

Cannot go out till next Tuesday. We are carrying her to socialise.

I have no advice but feel your pain, my 10 week old gets the zoomies and just turns into a flying ball of fluff and teeth, but he definitely benefits from early intervention and being put in his crate for a sleep but sometimes I miss his cues and just have to let him zoom and then put him in his crate.

She sounds knackered. None of my puppies ever had the zoomies or biting episodes as they got loads of sleep.