Dominant? or Submissive? - Page 2

Hodie I had no intention to work with those dogs because.....why would you want to take those dogs through Schutzhund? That is not a dog I would want doing bite work.  I can tell you how good I am at rehabilitating, the numbers of success don't lie.  I also let people meet and greet my puppy. There are times we just walk though. We go to parks and meet children, they play with him.....I don't let him socialize but.....how was he meeting and playing with children as talked about before when I said he licks them.  Also you of anyone should know as you do more and more training you gain more and more experience...and get better...the same with working on rehabilitating dogs....

I will gladly take him off your hands for you when you are ready! 

He's a baby!

he sounds like a very sound, stable, confident, balanced boy.  everything he should be.  you want him to be social and easy with children.  you want to socialize him as much as possible, if you don't, you are gonna regret it when he is an adult.

GSDguy, you must have a short memory. Some of the dogs you have had you were going to breed, or if I recall did breed. Unfortunately, your posts don't show up past a few months ago or I would point them out to you.

You wrote: "I would sure hope none of your guys dogs want to play with every single person they see on a walk. In fact I'm pretty certain a lot on this board make their puppies ignore other people on walks and a lot don't allow others to pet them period." Do you not even know what you just wrote? I absolutely want a social puppy, greeting everyone he sees.

And yes, the more one works with dogs with someone who knows what the hell they are doing, the better the possibility that one can learn. Get some help.

Hodie I never bred those dogs. I changed my mind and for good reason....I didn't want that type of dog being reproduced and possibly having dogs that are like that in the future from them.  Maybe I look at it the wrong way then.....should all of my walks with him just be about greeting everyone?  Not everyone wants to pet him anyhow.  Every outing we meet many people, and I always get numerous people to pet him, sometimes even in groups when it's children.  Sometimes my mind thinks to dog adultish....bad wording, but with my adults we go for walks......just walks....we also have walks where it isn't just a walk and we meet people and talk, ect ect,  but not all of the walks.....with the adults that is.  There are just sometimes when I like to just walk, sometimes when it's cold there aren't many people out so there is no one to meet.....and we just walk, not forceful making him do everything I want, not expecting a lot out of him either, but it's more of a walk than a socialization time sometimes.   A lot of times though we'll see people sitting down on benches or sitting at the creek, or wherever it may be, Anubis wants to meet them......so far I have not refused one person who wanted to pet him.....and I have asked many if they would pet him.......all did, all played with him except for a few who just kind of pet him. They weren't really dog people, they kind of pet, he stood tall and didn't pay much attention to those.  Wouldn't you also say that dogs can tell who like dogs.....They can sense fear, frustration, ect ect.

And Hodie.....you can respond to that if you want.......we're off to the SchH club for his first trip. Now for some learning.

Hodie, you come across like you know everything, but there are other great dog trainers who would flat out disagree with your definition of socialization in a working dog.

Red Sable, no, I certainly do not know everything. But I know that some people want a dog who is essentially a loaded gun and many who do are not capable of training or handling such a dog. For what it is worth, I have seen many an outstanding, tough and hard working dog who can take a helper to the ground who can still be social. The two are not mutually exclusive. If you disagree, fine. I know nothing about you or your background. But I know a fair amount about this OP being all over the map. For someone like him, yes, initially, I do hope he will socialize his pup. He says he does not want to, and does. So who knows what he really does or does not do.

Since I do not know you Red Sable, I looked up some of your posts, to find this (below) that you recently posted. It tells me that the pup is poorly socialized for one thing. It has nothing to do with the dog being long-coated. It has everything to do with genetic temperament and how that is recognized and worked and how the pup is given opportunities when very young to explore and successfully navigate. It has everything to do with a dog learning to be confident at a young age. A pup should not be acting like this, especially at 8 months old.

" My longcoat female is very soft, and very nervous of people, barks once then runs, she is still young, 8 months, however, coincidence?  Anyone have tough LH's?   This is my first LC and first female, so it is my only experience.  "

GSDguy, I know you had at least one other puppy because I recall a thread in which you asked how to raise a schutzhund puppy. Many people gave you advice, much of it good. I recall that you had a couple of other dogs as well. Those threads seem to be among the disappeared. I'm sorry your other pup was poisoned. There's a way to poison proof dogs and it involves a deterrent to eating anything they find. But you still shouldn't be concerned at this age if your pup is dominant or submissive. Focus on raising a healthy puppy.

People disagree on how to raise a working puppy.  If and only if you know that you will never take your dog out in public other than to a training field or schutzhund field, and you kennel him and know for sure he will never get loose, and you know you will keep him for his entire life, then you could raise a pup to be wary of all strangers. GSDs tend to be regarded as dangerous dogs by the public, so I think it's best to socialize a pup if he will ever be out in public.
 

To the original poster.

You are reading into your puppy too much nitpicking every detail. If he is 13 weeks, he'll be a baby another 30 weeks, okay.

Again, stop worrying about stuff that will start to matter 5 or 6 months from now, okay. This is PARAMOUNTbelow (socialization, you only have 2 or 3 weeks left for that imprinting). Tons of other work left there for you, spelled out below.

All you need to do with him now is:

Get a rag on a string and play a tug of ware with him (gently). @ or 3 times a day for 2 minutes. Let him win every single time.

Take him to car rides everywhere, short car rides, int he neighborhood only. Praise the good behavior in the car.

Take him to grocery store parking lots, Home Depot,everywhere. Whoever wants to pet him and play with him - can. Provided you are right there at the end of the leash and they use common sense.

Any kid that wants to pet him can - again, common sense, pet him means say hi puppy, touch him gently, no rough housing of any kind with kids. Some kids are stupid, spoiled brats with dumbass parents, avoid those.

Do not let strange large dogs approach him. have treats or toys in your pocket, make him look at you and give him treats or make him interested in you until the dog passes. He hasplenty of time later on to tolerate other dogs, now is not the time.

If he seems unsure or insecure of something (my pup hated the loud lawn mower), do not force the issue.

Play throwing the ball and retrieving it for you (in the back yard, NOT too much running). 2  times a day 3 minutes.

Call him cheerfully and hide in the backyard, when he finds you give him a treat. Say, come. Every time he comes (which should be every time), something GREAT happens. He gets a treat, or a toy, or a pettign and hanging in yoru arms, or atug of war or anything else you can think of.

Walk in your backyard, let him see you walk and toss some hot dogsmall bits in your foot steps. Encourage him to sniff it out with his nose and find it.

Always praise him for everything that pleases you, you can never praise him too much.

Always take hiim to potty ont he same spot int he backyard, every time. Use praise and Go Poop or Go Pee or whatever you prefer. It won't be long and the dog will piss on command. Trust me, it comes handy when you are in a rush,or it's raining etc.. outside.

Basically, all this is: "imprinting" that world is a cool, fun place wirth exploring WITH YOU, you are one swell guy and he has loads of good times with you. You give him treats, you play with him, you let him nip, smell, touch, bite, eat, drink, walk around - YO ARE JUST GREAT! All that will pay later on in life when the going gets tough, and we get obedience, respect, willingness to please, tracking etc.. etc... 

Everything ties together into one coherent house, that you BUILT BRICK BY BRICK, by doing above. All you have now is a concrete slab of a foundation, don't ask about the roof and rooms on the second floor. There isn't any yet.

All that dominance, submission etc.. stuff you are concerned about - DO NOT be concerned about that now. He is a human equivalent of a less than a year old baby.

 I don't feel like typing no more,I hope I helped some,there is mroe to be said, but the gist of it, is he is a baby, treat him in a positive, fun manner, let him explore the world, everything isgreat, you a great,backyard is awesome, cweing the toys is FUN!

Now, go out and play with that puppy, you have loads of work to do. Do keepin mind, that GENERALLY eastern european dogs,from Slovakia etc.. do have a reputation to be maturing slowly, so he'll still be acting like a goof and a puppy for a while.<

It sure is easier to read posts like the one above - because of the separation of the paragraphs.

I find those long paragraphs difficult to read.