Between 6-12 months is it common for a GSD puppy to have a defiant stage. Seems like recently the puppy is occasionally testing his boundaries or disobeying known commands.

Hi, my GSD is 7 months and doing this also. I think the simple fact is that I'm not spending enough time with him and not doing the best I can with his training.

This is about to change however and I'm determined to spend more time to get it right!

John

haha my dog's 19 months old and still in his defiant stage when it comes to sniffing pee in the grass <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> It's kind of amusing, his back legs will start to walk towards me when I call him but its like his nose is glued to the grass until he gets a verbal correction. His e-collar broke <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

But yes, the 6-10 month range has a clear period of chaos from the puppies I've seen, some people refer to this as their "teenage months", but I still consider an 18 month old dog a teenager so it's not an entirely accurate statement. This is the time when off leash obedience with my dog (and yes it was a huge mistake) meant "lets run away from dad, and everytime he gets within 10ft of me, i'll run away from him again, hey look he can't catch me, this is a fun game". Now that he's older I've defined some more rules to the game... "you can run away from dad when I chase you, but if I say stay, you better stay or the games over, you're getting corrected and we go back inside", so now we play tag in the back yard... he catches me in about 2 seconds flat, n it takes me 3 minutes to touch his tail. I found that after 10 months, training just got easier and easier.

Sounds perfectly normal he sounds like he has spirit,I love a dog like this, you will never be bored, he will keep you entertained, I have a 2 yr old female still like this, my family thinks, she is a pain in the butt, but she keeps me on my toes, I always have to find inventive ways to keep her attention,she was very independant, and curious, she did improve alot,once I started doing more than the sit <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> I do not believe in doing obedience to young,so we have had quite a few, happy looney tunes moments.
The young male pup, I have now seems to be no better, he is hell on any day. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> hence my earnest and studious relationship with Ed's web site <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />
Just bare it through, teaching a basic sit and lots of
food might help, and a long line to make sure he comes when
called this, Is really important, most other behaviours
like wild romping I let go.

I've heard 1 dog yr = 7 yrs for humans, that the first year is closer to 14, and seen another chart where it was graduated from more years earlier to fewer later in life at the vet.

So regardless of how old the dog translates to be, I have found that bratty exuberance is in direct proportion to pent up energy, and that playing with the dog, or letting more than one spend each other's energy, or walking,jogging, whatever...unless energy somehow gets burned up, it expresses itself by bursting thru the seams enthusuasm, excitedness, and generally, poor listening.
No matter the age! It just takes more mature dogs less time to calm down.
That said, it does slow down, and then you'll get nostalgic
about and miss it... they only stay pups for a short while
in the greater scheme of things, so try not to let the rambunctious comotion frustrate you, easier said than done
sometmes, but then again, frustration seldom produces great behaviors in people either, but take yourself too seriously,
and the fun goes away altogether. It's a balancing act.
Just my $.02

 Quote:

That said, it does slow down, and then you'll get nostalgic
about and miss it... they only stay pups for a short while
in the greater scheme of things, so try not to let the rambunctious comotion frustrate you

Absolutely agreed, you will miss the rambunctious behaviors when they're gone. Although, when my next puppy arrives, I'll miss going to bed when I want to <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> Cujo would bark in the crate for hours when he was 4 or 5 months old and wasn't done playing... it drove me crazy lol.

I honestly don't believe dogs can be 'defiant'. Yep, he may test the boundries, but he is still very much a puppy. Give the dog direction, show him what is, and is not acceptable, but remember the age of the dog. There is 'understanding' commands... and there is 'understanding' commands.. and at 6 mths old I would not expect a dog to obey the way I would a 2yr old.

There seems to be so much around of late where people are expecting WAY too much of pups. Pups are nuts, crazy, goofy.. it doesn't last long, don't make a pup grow up before its time.

I searched the archives for a scenario like mine and found none.My 5 month old male GSD and 3 year old female GSD had a confrontation yesterday. Until now they just played together without issues.They are always supervised.Yesterday I went outside,the dogs were just playing around. The little male came and put his head between my legs and started to bark really sharply at the female.She just looked at him until I moved. Then she knocked him down and walked away. End of story. Is this a dominance issue that I should be aware of? Or is he just being a pain?