Playtime Hyper Excitement In German Shepherds

Playtime Hyper Excitement has got nothing to do with aggression or any other behavioral problem.

Playtime excitement is quite common in the German Shepherd Dog breed. Hyper excitement during the playtime is also not very uncommon in these dogs. The roots to the creation of the GSD as a breed is directly from the sturdy working sheep dogs and hence the natural energy level is higher than most of the other dog breeds. GSDs are powerful dogs too. They require exercises a lot more than many other dogs to attain a content and balanced playtime.

For German Shepherds that exhibit hyper activeness or over excitement during the playtime needs to be handled in a little different ways during the time of exercise. Firstly, being the alpha member of the team (team composed of you, as the leader and your German Shepherd as your follower), you need to establish a set of rule and ceilings in order to prevent him from taking the advantages of the playtime. The ceiling here denotes a particular type of play that is correct and is desired and your German Shepherd should follow you as the pack leader. All you need to do is to show him how to fetch the ball or how to catch the frisbee. But how to?


Well, this is not a rocket science! And this is highly possible. Make sure that you will not skim the frisbee in the air or throw the ball until he comes to you and calms down to a comparatively cooler state and sits, waits for the throw. Throw the ball after he waits for it and gives you an eye contact, which is a sense of respect towards you – his leader. This way you can frame boundaries or rules of play. But prior to that there are certain steps to be taken, else you will not be able to set up the rules and put him into that.


There is nothing like playing frisbee or fetching a ball with your GSD in order to get his energy drained out. But before you start playing with your hyper active dog, it is recommended that you get a part of his energy exhausted to a little extent. This is important for the process of putting him into your established rule. A long walk accompanied by occasional trotting for few minutes in between the walks can be a great option of drive out some amount of his energy prior to the play. After the walk get into an fenced yard and allow him rest for a while. Then let him play with the ball by himself – rather not involving yourself into the play. Finally give a twist to this entire exercise regime by throwing the frisbee or the ball for him to fetch. Throw it as far away as possible and allow him to fetch.

Also allow him to play with the ball or the frisbee alone when at his room or in the garden. This will gradually degrade his sensitivity to the toys and make the toys less attractive to him eventually.


Most often this kind of overly excited playtime behavior – especially towards the toys are misrepresented as aggression. That's NOT aggression. Many dog owners confuse between play-time over excitement  and aggression. This playtime hyper excitement is nothing to be worried about and there’s no reason for it to be associated aggression. It is just the extra level of excitement and energy that he exhibits through exhibiting hyper sensitivity towards certain toys or certain place (for example a large open lawn or many be your yard) during the playtime – especially the toys that he loves the most.


Remember this entire process is just a package and you need to repeat the whole process as explained over and over until your German Shepherd start behaving in a desensitized way during the play time. However, in such situations it is required to put him into good volume of exercises as explained above throughout the dog's life, until the time he can play well. Volume of exercise must be optimized based on his age and health.