10 week old German Shepherd

Can someone tell if I'm doing the right thing? I have a 10 week GSD. About a week ago we had him in his crate one night and he started crying for about 3 hours and we tried everything from night lights to shirts and taking him to the bath room and that was the only time he would stop crying. Once we put him in his crate it would start back up to the point that he peeped in his crate 3 times. So I decide to take him out of his crate and put him in his dog house in the back yard and that was the first night I had not heard him cry. It has now been 1 week that I started having him sleep out with no problems (knock on wood) but am I doing the right thing for my puppy?

One other thing is it normal for him to bite everything including my wife and me? If so how long will this last?

 

Crate training is tough for dogs with separation anxiety. As long as your yard is secure, i don't forsee there being a problem.

As for the biting, always discourage it. He's a herding dog and doing what he thinks he's suposed to do. If he goes for something that he's not supposed to, be sure to give him something to replace it, and praise him for playing with the right things.

 

do not leave a 10 week old puppy, regardless of breed outside alone at night.
This puppy is training YOU - he cries you run to try to stop him. He's done a great job LOL
Give him a night or two, in his crate, without running to his every beck and call. You could always move the crate to an area of the house where you don't hear him whining then when he realizes whining won't get him what he wants put the crate where you want it.
GSDs aren't dogs that should be left w/out their "pack". This is such a loyal family-oriented dog making this pup sleep outside alone at night isn't doing him any service.
And he might be whining outside - you wouldn't be able to hear him if he was. Or being attacked by some animal, or tormented by some sick person (check abcnews.com for the horrible video about a puppy being beaten - I sent a complaint to abcnews for even putting that on their website).
Stop letting the puppy train you - if you let him be boss now you'll be in trouble later on.

 

Good advise Mary,

I'd just add that you may want to look up a local trainer who specializes in speparation anxiety if Mary's advice does not cure the problem. Because GSD's are pack oriented it wouldn't surprise me if the pup is suffering from SA...which needs to be taken care of now before the pup gets bigger and possibly destructive. A trainer will also help to show you how to stop the dog from biting in play etc...and put you and your family up at the top of the pack order.

Did you purchase the puppy from a reputable breeder? If so you may want to ask the breeder for advice as well. Many reputable breeders have so many training tricks up their sleeves they can help a ton. They may also be able to refer you to a trainer in the area.

Good luck and keep us posted.