BAD BEHAVIOR - Page 1

dear friends, I  first went for a walk with Fidu, 3 and half months, no one passes near us, although is obvious he is a puppy, people opted to cross the street before. Have you the same problem?
I mafraid I will not be able to take Fidu out for a walk any more very soon, he barked every dog he saw, and although he ignored people who were walking, he barked at people who were stood. The walk was a completely desaster.
The breder told me that he came from docile line, beacuse of his grandfather (imported), who give docil descendants, but Fidu has a strong hanting inctint he hunt insect, bird and my other pets at home he use to take them of their necks o head and drag them for all the garden, so that I put him a leash very often, then he bites the leash and take to me. However he is very  docile with me, I m very estrict  I have authority enough and he love me and respect me. But he is dominant and self confident with everybody and everywhere. I am afraid I could not take Fidu out for a wolk any more beacuse of his bad behavior. The vet warned me. What do you think about my problem?, What would you do if you had Fidu? He is my first GSD. Please I need advises.
Sorry for my english.

Well I am no professional trainer however, I think not taking him on a walk is pretty much the worst thing you could do for him. You need to consult a trainer familiar with GSDs in your area.

Hi, we just got a GSD puppy few days ago, he is also 3.5 months. He is very  suspicious  of  strangers too, people want to pet a puppy but if they  approach  too fast, he backs off and will have none of it. He is also not very fond of other dogs. We started working on it already and he  seems too be getting better already after couple of days. I am not a professional trainer, but here is what I would suggest -  try  to socialize him more - ask your friends to come over, and approach him  gently,  ask them to give him treats that he likes or just pieces of  his  food.  GSD are suspicious of strangers by nature, but you can ease  it  in  a  bit  if you start now. Also if people approach on the street,  ask  them  to  do it slowly and gently and let him smell them first.  People  tend  to jump with excitement when they see a puppy and it doesnt' help of course ;)
  -  when you are at home and he is at a normal level of behavior see if you  can  teach  him "no" command. I actually use a "shusshing" sound, which works wonders if he tries to pick something from the floor or to stop  any unwanted behavior.  Its better for fix this command at home, because  on  the  street  when  is  already  excited  it  will be more difficult to teach, better if he is familiar with it already. For  now, when I see a dog approaching I stop and sit him down and let another  dog  pass. Relax the leash, but observe him very carefully.  If  I  see  he  is just starting to get excited I "shush"  him  immediately. Sniffing the air is ok, but growling is no. By now is already ok and letting the other dog pass without getting worried or growling  or charging.    Then just pet him very gently and go on your way. Yesterday  at the vet since we had to be in the room with other dogs I just distracted him with the bone and then he just relaxed totally and actually slept on the floor with other dogs sitting around.   Hope this helps, maybe someone can suggest something else.  

Start serious obedience and socializing, no nonsense.
Sent you a PM.

 Sorry but I have never in my born days had one of my gsd pups ever be afraid or skiddish of any strangers or react in any manner you describe


That is a  bad  myth...gsd are not just naturally suspicious of strangers...That is the description of a nerve  bag or a pup with a genetic problem


Or some breed I know nothing about..sorry but you should have investigated your pup before you purchased it..There are tests for buying a pup and what the pup should do .

Many breedings of lines not compatible can produce pups that have the skiddish trait. I am not familiar with them.

Go back to your breeder, or you have days of hard work and may never get it out of the pup. What does your pedigree look like?
Maybe the tv trainer can help you . There is  dog accupuncture and there is a nerve muscle treatment that makes a dog forget bad stimulation which is done by a dog chirophracter..That removes the remembrance from the nerves and muscles that make a dog skiddish or reluctant to approach someone strange or unknown..
Babying or softly petting him and waltzing around his behaviour is not how to train a german shepherd pup of 3. 5 mos.  BUild up his interest with prey and use toys to excite him into commands and no is used for something that is dangerous or not wanted.
He needs a focus and he needs his play drive built up not stopped.
Reward him when he performs correctly without using no. USe his drive to change his ways of thinking and his mind set.  Negative no is not a positive reinforcement.

What ever his name is...he is advertised on this  page. Ceasar Milan  has videos and books


Schutzhund training would not do good for a pup who is suspicious of approach so a trainer of just obedience for home could help. Socializing daily with kids and off of your property will help to some degree..


YR

"Sorry but I have never in my born days had one of my gsd pups ever be afraid or skiddish of any strangers or react in any manner you describe


That is a  bad  myth...gsd are not just naturally suspicious of strangers...That is the description of a nerve  bag or a pup with a genetic problem"



Serious YR? 

It is in the standard, wary of strangers.  EVERY PUP I've had has  been nervous of strangers at some point and time.  Some more than others, and yes, some were sharp, but honestly I don't mind it.

My LSC was VERY friendly up until a year old, and is actually now the one I have to watch the most as she has taken a hate on to men, not totally unprovoked,  but is definitely more aggressive than my others.

All the dogs settle as soon as they hear me talk to the stranger in a friendly voice.

I know many want a friendly welcoming dog, not me so much as we have been robbed of tools twice and live in the country.

NOT dealing with this is the worse thing you can do.  Take him out more.  If you do not like the behavior, get between him and whatever he is barking and face YOUR dog and step into his space.. get him to back up a bit (one step).  Then keep yourself between him and whatever/whoever he is barking at to let him know it is YOU who are dealing with this and NOT him. 

Another thing you can do is to have treats on you and redirect your dog's attention to YOU when you see a person standing or other dogs.  This will help your dog to learn he needs to pay attention to you and that you are the source of good things and whatever is out there is not as important to pay attention to as you. 

If he is fearful (backs away) or siTTish around strangers, then you need to make interaction with strangers positive IF you want him to interact with people.  Typically this is done with food.. you feed your dog as the person he does not know approaches.  I would NOT let strangers feed him.

The other part of this is that if you are successful you may end up with a dog that rarely barks at people or anything else.  That may not be what you want either. 

I would get a toy.. a tug or other toy.. and get him interested in that.  Do not let him play with this particular toy alone.  He only gets to play with it if you are involved in the game.  If you can build interest and drive for the toy you can often redirect the dog to the toy when he is paying attention to things you do not what him to pay attention to or chase. 

Red Sable:

What he described is not  Wary of strangers..
His description is way off of any kind of proper behaviour for a 3.5 mos old shepherd of proper behaviour

Backing up "  and wanting nothing to do with people or other dogs etc.,..
is  not a good trait at all..

Has nothing to do with wary...wary is a  Trait to determine good or bad in approaching item or persons coming toward a dog...

If just approaching a gsd pup makes him back up and hide behind his owner...that is not what the standard of any working dog has in it.

The weaker of pups in a litter may run or hide behind their owner or handler but not any pup I have ever evalutated.

I am sure that there are many out there. Proper way for any pup to approach is with ears up, make a good stand firmly in dirt , look directly at the approaching and either wag tail or alert even at 3.6 mos old..

If it runs....naughty naughty...deal with it.

and someone above me did ..

Not even a one yr old will run...yes as your pup gets to 1 yrs old, they do go thru a period of  "do I or DO I NOT, when approaching, but you do not want any pup to turn tail and back up . No reason for them too. A young gsd pup will usually rely on his master to say  GOOD BOY , all is ok or  friend or some key word , if owner sees his pup is alerting to a problem and believe me , the gsd is first on the block to tell you ,,,we have a problem here DAD>, but this is where confidence of the breed comes in and the owner immediately REASSURES the pup or gsd,,by firm patting on side, signalling :ALL IS OK , and give the command to sitz or Blib, as the article or person approaches.

Part of the B is how your dog reacts to Opening an Umbrella..and approching by strangers in a circle..

Confidence in the pup and what he feels and how he acts to any stranger or any new territory should be inquisitive not shy nor with fear..

That is where  FEAR BITING comes from

just what the op describes is exactly where Fear BITING comes from

YR

I agree with what you are describing, just not the statement :gsd are not just naturally suspicious of strangers...

The OP said: "But he is dominant and self confident with everybody and everywhere"  that to me does not describe a skittish dog ( I have had one).  He is barking at strangers, but he is only 3 months old AND it was his first walk!  Personally, I think more socialization will solve this.  The worst thing the OP could do, would be to quit taking him for walks.

My last posting sentence above was:

Socializing daily with kids and off of your property will help to some degree..

I re- read his post and I see nothing that says he loves everybody and is confident to anyone. He took him to vet and used a bone to distract him (good) but dont forget the bone...and he laid on floor ....peacefully...) good)but no one approached him ??

He describes two different situations and  I certainly would hope he barks at strangers...but hiding behind and backing up is not good sign. Dogs that back up usually bark furiously at everything that moves...not good either...he has a problem or he would not have posted.  I guess????
I am addressing the second poster not the first one:  as he gave advice to first poster, I think. Here is the poster I am addressing as he ask for advice too after he gave the first poster his advice??????

BAD BEHAVIOR by miperry on 04 January 2012 - 07:01	miperry Posts: 1 Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2011 08:18 am
Hi, we just got a GSD puppy few days ago, he is also 3.5 months. He is very  suspicious  of  strangers too, people want to pet a puppy but if they  approach  too fast, he backs off and will have none of it. He is also not very fond of other dogs. We started working on it already and

I see a pup who is not handling things well...so he needs to handle it correctly or it will revert itself.


no matter first , second or 300 walks ..pups do not hide behind or back up as a first meeting.
If yours did it , then I am surprised, not saying any dog cannot do it a few times, but I surmised by posting it here , he has a real problem ,,IF he is all healed good deal..I won't waste time worrying about fear biting..



YR