Temperament Help - Page 1

Hello All,

I just received a 21 month old male GSd from german showlines. I have a question on his temperament, he has been with us 1 week and enjoys playing rough and is ok with strangers and walking on road with traffic etc, I do notice though that sudden or loud noises startle him a bit for maybe a minute. He reacts by spinning around, backing away, wincing up etc, after about one minute he is ok and moves forward to the sound but the sudeen sounds make him nervous and he has this look of fear in his eyes. Firstly does this mean he has a bad temperament and secondly how can I break him out of this habit, thanks to all for any help !!!

Welcome Fidelita!
You might try "surprising" him when he is eating by dropping a heavy book or a pot on the floor.  I understand some breeders train their hunting dogs by shooting over them while they are eating.  Whatever you do, don't coddle him when he reacts negatively as that just reinforces the behavior.  If all he does is lift his head to look, then praise him.  It might help if you let him go without a meal or two prior to the "surprise" so that he is more interested in eating than in fleeing the source of the noise.  Good luck with him as this is very important that he overcomes this if at all possible.
Deb 

Poor fella has only been with you five minutes and he is feeling insecure and his nerves in a jangle.  Ignore the behaviour for now and let him settle.  Some vitamin B might help, but what he needs is more time and minimal stress until he has settled into his new environment.

Margaret N-J.

I agree with everyone about ignoring the behavior. Both correcting and coddling exacerbate the problem.
Best of Luck with him
Stacy

First give the dog time to settle into his new home!!!  He is still mentally an adolescent, most GSDs aren't fully mature until they are around 3 years of age. 
Everything is new to your dog.  He doesn't yet know what is normal and safe yet.  In a strange place, to an adolescent (which mentally is what your dog really is) any sudden noise may be a possible threat because he hasn't had time yet to figure out what can be safely tuned out and what means danger.
After your dog has had plenty of time to adjust to his new home and the normal scents, noises, etc in your environment, then if he hasn't calmed down, you might consider such things as exposing him to the sounds he's frightened of in a situation that's positive for him.  When I used to have a kennel, the younger dogs were at first afraid of the noisy rattling of my wagon....until I started using the wagon to carry the buckets full of food at feeding time.  Their attitude toward the noise of the wagon changed from being spooked by it to being gleeful to see and hear the wagon approach.