Puppy raises his hackles when sees other dogs? - Page 1

We just recently bought a German Shepherd puppy, and he is good in every aspect except for when he sees other dogs his hackles go up and he barks and growls, he is only 2.5 months old. When we let him play with other puppies he plays with them for a min and then tries to get dominant and bites and shows his teeth. ( His hackles go down after he smells the dog and starts trying to get at them) He is fine with people very confident around anything else that comes his way. This puppy has excellent bloodlines so im just wondering whats going on? I thought hackling was a sign of a nervous dog?

He needs lots of socializing, he will go through several stages as he grows,

He's a baby; don't read too much into it.

it's just a puppy meeting a new world and a little insecure.

you are off to a good start !! ... you are reading your dog !! .. the previous postesr are correct .. give your dog plenty of experience .. don't reinforce behaviors that you don't desire whether they be aggression , insecurity .. the hair up is a signal that the pup is stimulated .. what is more or equally important is how YOU make note & handle of the situation !![ stressed comment  !!].  if you get concearned and make a big deal out of the behavior then it becomes an issue .. you have a young pup who is taking direction from you even though it may not be outwardly showing it .. things i would do :  be light hearted , calm , confident, in my ATTITDE and projection .. if YOU get concearned .... now the pup will pick up on this concearn , your emotion ...and now you gave the pup the notion to be concearned. [ a very important concept !!]    
               now the domination .. that is within normalcy .. i have a 13 week pup who tries to take on her mom and grandmom ... that is what pups/dogs  do .. they don't have hands .. they have mouths .. they learn how , what , where , when in respects to using their mouths .. if things get a little rough then i step in slowly , calmly , without emotion just diffuse the situation and let the pup come out of being in overdrive .. it is nature in animals to set hierrarchy .. - if i had a pup that i saw an insewcurity .. i control the contexzt and poject myslef such that the pup realizes there is nothing to be concearned about --it is safe , i don't coddle the pup .. it gaind cinfidence in security and experience... understand play in a pup [ and children] is not play as you think it is .. play is multidimensional .. that is to say it is pleasurable , call it fun,  if you will .. but there is a very very serious component to it , a learning within the experience. [ that is why i chuckle when i see posters regArding  training the dog,  over use the words 'play with your dog'.. play is a lot more serious- again it is multidimensional and more of a a learning experience than one thinks !!]
      i went to class this week with my pup at my friends // adult dogs present .. it is normal for a 13 week pup at times to be , let's say , testing the waters .. she barked , hair went up .. i distracted her , playfully with my voice and hands .. in 5 minutes she just sat and observed - calmly /// in  the dog's mind i could see : " oh i'm ok . they are big , big dogs , different then the other 10 GSDS at home , very big .. but everything is AOK " .. again .. i did not make isssue of it , ' kept the pup secure and safe , laughed and was light hearted just simply softly talking to my dog -- i made no issue of the behavior .. how i presented / attitude/projected ... is what the pup picked up and became.. and soon enough there was no issue to the pup .. nor with plenty of experience such as this .. she will be fine .. very shortly she will be much bigger than the other dogs ... and then  .. there will be some pup looking at her in the same light ...

Thanks for your response, when he tends to do this he is usually on his lead and I have full control so when he does do it, I just keep walking and dont pay any attention to him, he tends to kinda drag and keeps turning around to look at the other dog but I completely ignore him other than call his name to come on. 

yes .. just the act of ' keep walking' [ and being neutral] is talking to your dog[ and a lot more than what one would think] .. the message  : " follow me , nothing to concearn yourself about pup  or for you to give your attention to , pay heed to where we are going puppy '!.... your  Projection , Attitude &  ACTIONS [ or non-action in some instances] ] ... one picture is worth a thousand words [ to your dog]!!
                      ok-  " what is reality " / and not everything is at it seems to be "!! meaning .. at times .. yes talk to your dog [ and i don't mean commands , just everyday normal talk]  ,that yields encouragement ,  reinforcement , motivation  etc ..At times that  is what is called for .....at other times ... keep quiet / silence is best  -this  puts the responsibility on the dog to pay heed to you !  - that is to say:  don't train the dog to pay heed to you 'only when you ask it to ' , [ your body language is more potent than words most often]... knowledge is knowing what your voice will communicate and accomplish . wisdom is the proper application of using  or not of using your voice ,  sort to speak !!

Your pup lacks confidence.

Keep socializing the heck out of him, and when you see another pup/dog that he wants to play
with and the other dog is OK (Not vicious), then that's when you cut the apron strings and drop the leash, and turn away from them, don't try to control his actions, let him take the big step out into the world on his own

mirasmom ? ??? .... i have a different take .... IMO ... it was written a 2.5 month pup , correct .. If one decides to let the pup play with another .. that's the owners choice .. BUT ...never never leave a pup unto itslef , especailly in the presence of another dog .. adult OR another pup !! Always Always Always be watchful of yopur pup , keep it safe and secure .. always control the situation .. i don't know about anyone else .. I would never turn my back on any pup .. i have 10 others , all would be kind with my prtersent 13 week GS pup .. even the mom and grandmom .. ifd the pup gets pout of line - i darn well will control my pup .. even at my friends classes , if i don't approve opf anything another pup does , even if it non-aggression , i will be there for my pup and interupt.. .. that's my personal take - especially if a pup is not secure .. need not have anything arise that makes it more insecure .. some dogs just take more time to become more confident.. a good experiences are good medicine , but one bad experience will set the pup way back !!

my dog hackel today at a 2 chipmunks running she wanted to eat them so bad she got aroused it can meat a lot of things


ive seen a lot of gsd do it when they come close to catching a prey animal but the animal is still out of reach not sure if i am the only one