Do German Shepherds need a lot of attention?

If your thinking of getting a German Shepherd then you’re probably wondering whether or not they require a lot of attention.

So, do German Shepherds need a lot of attention?

Yes, German Shepherds need a lot of attention compared to other breeds.

They need a lot of exercise to be properly stimulated and vets will normally recommend that they get at least 1 hour of exercise per day.

You’ll likely find that your German Shepherd will still require your attention even after you have exercised it. 

German Shepherds are a breed that was bred to do energy-intensive tasks for hours on a daily basis. This means that they require a lot of exercise in order to be properly stimulated.

You’ll often find that the amount of exercise that a German Shepherd may require will be a lot more than you would have previously thought that it would be capable of.

If you are thinking of getting a German Shepherd then you should be prepared to spend a lot of time giving it attention and exercise. If you don’t then you’ll often find that they can become hyperactive and hard to manage.

There are actually a lot of ways that you can give your German Shepherd attention and exercise. A number of them are also very effective ways to wear them out very quickly.

Ways to give your German Shepherd attention

Walk it

If you’re thinking of getting a German Shepherd then be aware you will have to walk it on a daily basis. It’s important to give your German Shepherd constant aerobic activity that makes it use up a lot of its energy.

You should plan to have to walk your German Shepherd for an hour per day but you might find that it isn’t enough.

If it’s not enough then there are some things that you can do to wear it out more while you’re walking it.

You can teach it to come to you on command so that you can walk it without the lead around the dog park so that it will wear itself out more by running around. You can take it on a walk where there are more hills and you could even make it wear a dog weight vest that is more than 10% of its body weight.

Play fetch

Another good way to give your German Shepherd a lot of attention while also giving it a lot of exercise is to teach it to play fetch.

Teaching your German Shepherd to play fetch is good because it will wear your German Shepherd out quickly since it will get it to do a lot of sprinting without much rest causing it to lose a lot of energy quickly.

It will also improve your relationship with your German Shepherd since it will get it used to interacting with you in a positive way and it will associate listening to you with positive things.

Train it

Another way to give your German Shepherd lots of attention is to spend lots of time training it.

If you are thinking of getting a German Shepherd then you should be prepared to spend lots of time training it since you’ll need to be able to control all of their excess energy.

You can look at the book Training Your German Shepherd on Amazon to get tips about how you can train your GSD.

Teach it to swim

Teaching your German Shepherd to swim would be a good way to give it lots of attention. The act of swimming requires your German Shepherd to move its legs around quickly in order to stay afloat which can cause them to use up a lot of energy. It is also a good way to keep it cool in the summer.

German Shepherds are often fearful of water at first. If this is the case with your German Shepherd then there are ways to get it to like water that I talk about in this blog post about teaching your German Shepherd to swim.

Play tug of war

One way to give your German Shepherd attention and to wear it out a little bit at the same time is to play tug of war with it. Doing so will also help to prevent your German Shepherd from venting its excess energy out on things that you don’t want it to like a sofa.

Have it pull you

You could also get your German Shepherd to pull you around on something like a skateboard or bike. You’ll likely find that it will wear your German Shepherd out more than trying to run with it since it will probably be able to run faster and further than you can.

Things to consider

It might take a lot to properly wear it out

You’ll often find that your German Shepherd will require a lot more attention and exercise than you can give it in order to fully stimulate it. If this is the case then you can take measures to make the exercise you give it more efficient by doing things such as playing fetch with it or having it wear a weight vest.

You could also get a dog walker to help you out a bit as well. But, it’s very important not to get discouraged and to stop giving your German Shepherd any exercise. If you do that then it will likely become hyperactive and it will destroy your possessions it will also be unhealthy for the German Shepherd.

If it’s a puppy

When your German Shepherd is a puppy you shouldn’t give it as much exercise as you would when it is an adult. When it’s young its bones and joints are still developing and having it do lots of running could cause them to become damaged. It is generally recommended that puppies get walked for 5 minutes a day per month of age that it has. So, a four-month-old German Shepherd would need to be limited to about 20 minutes of walk time a day.

Related questions

What is the temperament of German Shepherds like? German Shepherds are generally very intelligent and friendly dogs but also very protective. Since they were bred to do lots of exercise they are also normally full of energy and require a lot of exercise and attention to be properly stimulated.

How much should I walk my German Shepherd per day? Vets normally recommend that you walk your German Shepherd for at least one hour per day.