Why is my German Shepherd always crying?

If your German Shepherd is always crying then you are probably wondering why and what you can do about it.

This post will show you a number of reasons why your German Shepherd is always crying and what you can do to stop it.

So, why is my German Shepherd always crying? Common reasons can include that it is still young, being ill or injured, wanting attention, stress, fear, excitement and having learned that crying gets it things that it wants.

There are actually a number of reasons why your German Shepherd could be crying, there are a number of things that you can do about it and there are a number of things to consider as well.

Why your German Shepherd is always crying

Each of the different reasons why your German Shepherd is always crying will likely come with a number of clues in the way that it does it.

Below, I will mention a number of reasons why your German Shepherd might always be crying and the clues to look for with them.

It is ill or injured

The reason why your German Shepherd has been crying a lot could be that it is ill or injured.

This would be more likely if it has started to cry a lot suddenly and it didn’t use to cry so much in the past. It would also be more likely if something recently happened that might have caused it to become ill or injured.

It wants attention

It could be the case that your German Shepherd cries a lot because it wants to get attention from you.

This would be more likely if it only seems to start crying when you have not given it much attention for a while and it doesn’t cry when you are giving it attention.

In this case, it would be likely that it has learned that crying gets it the attention that it wants so it cries more. To stop it you could try giving it more attention throughout the day and to stop giving it attention when it starts crying and then to carry on giving it attention when it is not crying.

It has learned that crying gets it what it wants

As shown above, it could be the case that your German Shepherd has learned that, if it cries, it will get the things that it wants.

This would be more likely to be the case if your method of getting it to stop crying is to give it things that it wants such as treats, attention or exercise.

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

It is bored

Another reason why it cries a lot could be that it is bored.

This would be more likely if it tends to cry more when it is not doing anything and if it tends to cry at around the time that it usually gets to do something.

German Shepherds are meant to be very active dogs and it is generally recommended that they get at least an hour of exercise per day. If your German Shepherd is not getting an hour of exercise per day then making sure that it does would likely be a good start.

Stress

German Shepherds can become stressed like humans do and it could be the case that your German Shepherd has been crying due to becoming stressed.

This would be more likely if your German Shepherd has not always cried all the time but it only started recently. It would also be more likely if the crying started after something happened that might have caused it to become stressed.

Examples of things that might have caused it to become stressed could include:

• If it was mistreated by someone
• Someone moved away recently
• Another dog that you own passed away
• Moving homes

Related post: Why is my German Shepherd so anxious?

Fear

Something else that can cause German Shepherds to start crying is being frightened.

This would be more likely if it only seems to cry when something happens that might cause it to become fearful.

Examples could include:

• Someone being around that is mean to it
• Lightning
• Thunder
• Sirens

Related post: Why is my German Shepherd fearful?

Excitement

It could also be the case that it seems to cry when it becomes excited.

This would be more likely if it only seems to cry when things happen that would cause it to get excited.

Examples could be:

• When someone comes home
• When it is about to go out for a walk
• When you are playing with it

Ways to get your German Shepherd to stop crying

If you want to stop your German Shepherd’s crying then there are a number of things that you can do that I will mention below.

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

Exercise

German Shepherds are active dogs and they are meant to get a lot of exercise daily. If a German Shepherd does not get a lot of exercise then it can lead to behavioral issues including crying a lot.

Generally, it is recommended that your German Shepherd get at least an hour of exercise per day. You can make sure that it gets enough exercise by walking it, teaching it to play fetch, teaching it to swim or getting a dog walker to do it for you.

Positive reinforcement training

Positive reinforcement training, which is where you reward the behaviors that you want to see, can be very effective.

If you want to get your German Shepherd to stop crying then one option is to reward it when it does not cry when it normally would.

Additionally, when it does start crying you would stop giving it treats or attention and then give it treats or attention again when it stops crying. If it starts to cry again you would then stop giving it treats or attention again until it stops. Doing this will teach it that crying does not get it the things that it wants.

Avoiding reinforcing the behavior

While positive reinforcement training can be very effective in getting the behavior that you want, it can also work against you.

If you tend to give it things that it wants when it starts crying then it is likely that your German Shepherd has learned that crying will get it what it wants.

Instead, a better option would be to ignore it until it stops crying and then to reward it with what it wants when it is not crying and it is acting the way that you want it to.

Take it to a vet

If your German Shepherd has started crying a lot recently and there is not any apparent cause then the best option for you would be to take it to the vet.

Give it attention

If the reason why you think that your German Shepherd cries a lot is because it is not getting enough attention then it would help to give it attention throughout the day.

Things that you can do to give it more attention would be to walk it more, play tug of war with it, play fetch with it or spend more time training it.

If there are times where it is not possible for you to give your German Shepherd attention then one option would be to consider taking it to a doggy daycare.

Give it distractions

If you think that boredom could also be the reason why your German Shepherd cries a lot then it would be an option to give it things to keep it distracted.

Things that you could do could include giving it toys to play with, puzzles for dogs to complete or chews to chew on.

You can watch the video below to see more tips on what you can do to get your German Shepherd to cry less.

Things to consider about your German Shepherd crying

When trying to get your German Shepherd to cry less it would help to figure out the exact reason before doing so.

There are a number of things that you can consider when trying to understand why your German Shepherd cries. Below, I will mention three useful things that you can think about.

When it started

Considering when your German Shepherd started to cry more would likely help in understanding why it is happening.

If your German Shepherd started to cry more, suddenly, then it would make it more likely that it has started to cry more due to things such as stress, fear, being mistreated, illness or injury or a change in its lifestyle.

It would help to consider what happened at around the time that your German Shepherd started to cry more.

Things that you could think about would include:

• If someone left home
• If another pet passed away
• If something happened that might have caused it to get injured
• If someone was mean to it
• If you moved home

When and where it does it

Another useful thing to consider would be when and where your German Shepherd tends to cry. If it tends to only cry in certain situations then it would be very likely that it has something to do with the crying.

Possible things to consider would be:

• If it only cries when certain people are around
• If it cries when you’re not giving it attention
• If it cries when it is about to do something it likes such as a walk
• If it only cries when things such as thunder, sirens or lightening occur

How old it is

Considering the age of your German Shepherd could also help

If your German Shepherd is still young then it is likely that it will cry less as it gets older. With that being said, if it is young, now would be a good time to start training it to behave the way that you would like it to.