German Shepherd Dogs, Multiple GSD Household, Are German Shepherd Dogs hyper? Zoomies and Snoozies
Many people ask if German Shepherds are hyper dogs. If you come to the farm at certain times you would certainly things so…
The first thing I do when I come home from work each day is bring our dogs into the house. The amount of energy that each dog exhibits from the time the truck pulls into the driveway and each dog’s dinner is placed before them could power a small city. While they are waiting to eat I clean kennels and by the time I come back into the house the zoomies are in full swing.
What are the zoomies? For our household it is defined as 5-20 minutes of uncontrolled energy, running, playing, jumping and pretending to ignore every human word spoken. This phenomenon is probably where the German Shepherd gets its “hyper” reputation. Their energy can be pert near impossible to control during the zoomies and an outsider might think our dogs have absolutely no manners what so ever. Maxx jumps between the floor and the top of the dog food bin, while Charlie walks across the furniture in a game of don’t-touch-the-floor. Meanwhile the girls race around the kitchen island like a day at Martinsville. Just when you think you can’t stand another minute of this it’s suddenly dead quiet. What trouble could they possibly be into now!? Then you go to investigate and every single one of them are in their crates or on their cots collar deep in the snoozies. On the weekends this is how they spend most of the day.
To be honest, while German Shepherds are high energy dogs that need exercise and mental stimulation, they really aren’t hyper all day every day. They have short periods of the zoomies up to a few times a day, but they are actually great in the house, spending their time in their spots or at our feet.
Shuffling to get a drink of water and go potty can get them going again, but they quickly settle down or may ask to play catch or tug for a few minutes. To keep the zoomies under control, letting them out on the trolly or for a walk or training session is very helpful. We like to find what each dog enjoys the most and give them breaks between training sessions to play. Another thing we do is make them “zero” during zoomie sessions to focus on an obedience task. You can get a lot of training in during commercials.
As always comments are welcome and if you have questions please don’t hesitate to ask.