Why does my German Shepherd stand in front of me?

This post will show you why your German Shepherd stands in front of you and what you can do about it.

So, why does my German Shepherd stand in front of me? Possible reasons are that it wants attention, has separation anxiety, it’s being protective, you have been rewarding it or that it is nervous when it does it.

There are a number of things that you can consider when trying to understand why your German Shepherd stands in front of you. Depending on the cause, there are also a number of things that you can do about it.

Why your German Shepherd stands in front of you

Each of the different reasons that your German Shepherd stands in front of you will likely come with a number of clues in the way that it does it.

Below, I will mention a number of reasons that it might be doing it and the signs to look for with them.

It wants attention

It might stand in front of you because it is looking for attention. This would be more likely if your German Shepherd only does it when you have not given it attention for very long and if it stops doing it after you have given it attention for a while.

In this case, you could try avoiding giving it attention when it stands in front of you but to give it more attention and exercise throughout the day.

It has separation anxiety

The reason that stands in front of you could be that it has some separation anxiety. This is where your German Shepherd does not like being left alone and it gets anxious when it is alone.

This would be more likely to be the reason if your German Shepherd tends to get very anxious when you are going out. Ways that it might show being anxious could be pacing, crying or being destructive when you are gone.

If your German Shepherd does seem to have some separation anxiety then you can watch the video below to see a number of tips on what you can do about it.

Related post: Why is my German Shepherd so anxious?

It’s being protective

German Shepherds are naturally very protective of their owners and territory and they are used as guard dogs for this reason. Your German Shepherd might stand in front of you because it is being protective of you.

This would be more likely if it doesn’t do it when no one else is around and it does it more when other people and dogs are around.

Related post: How to tell if your German Shepherd loves you

You have inadvertently rewarded it

It could be the case that it has learned that standing in front of you gets it things that it wants. This would be more likely if you tend to give it things such as treats, attention or other things that it likes when it stands in front of you.

Instead, you could try ignoring it and rewarding it at other times when it is behaving how you want it to.

Nervousness

Your German Shepherd might stand in front of you because it gets nervous. This would be more likely if it only does it when things happen that would cause it to become nervous. Examples could be when there is lightning, sirens outside or someone being around that it doesn’t like.

Related post: Why is my German Shepherd afraid?

Things to consider

Before getting your German Shepherd to stop standing in front of you it would help to have a good idea of what is causing it to do it. Below, I’ll mention a couple of things that you can consider.

When it first started doing it

If your German Shepherd didn’t always stand in front of you then it would help to consider what happened at around the time that it did.

Some things that might have happened could include:

• You rewarded it one time when it did stand in front of you
• You moved home
• Your schedule changed

When it does it

It would also help to consider when your German Shepherd stands in front of you.

If only stands in front of you at certain times then the timing will likely give you a number of clues.

For example, if it only seems to stand in front of you when it is time to feed it then it is likely reminding you of that.

How to get your German Shepherd to stop standing in front of you

Below, I will mention some things that you can do to get your German Shepherd to stop standing in front of you.

Positive reinforcement training

Positive reinforcement training is where you reward your German Shepherd for doing the things that you want it to do getting it to learn to do them more.

To use positive reinforcement training to get it to stop standing in front of you, you would:

• Reward it before it stands in front of you
• Stop rewarding it when it stands in front of you
• Get it to stop standing in front of you and avoid giving it attention until it doesn’t try to get stand in front of you
• Reward it each time it does not try to stand in front of you

Avoid encouraging the behavior

If you tend to give it things that it wants in order to get it to stop standing in front of you, it could be the case that you have actually encouraged it to do it more.

Instead, you can reward it when it does not stand in front of you and avoid giving it things that it wants when it does.

Avoid punishing it

If you don’t want your German Shepherd to stand in front of you then it might be tempting for you to punish it for doing so.

But, you should avoid doing this since it can lead to other problems such as anxiety, stress, destruction, a lack of trust in you and it will be less willing to listen to your command in the future.

Punishment can also be a form of attention so it can be considered as a reward to your German Shepherd.