What does this mean? - Page 1

Somewhat,but not totally unfamiliar person comes over and is invited in,in the yard. Some visiting occurs ,30 minutes maybe,when near the dog run puppy barking [ 9 months old bitch puppy ]. Without paying attention to that noise, after some time, I let her out to run about. She goes and does puppy stuff for a while then I play some frisbie with her. After a while visitor picks up the frisbie and throws it, she chases,sniffs and leaves it and comes to me and sits at my side. Then she moves about circling and barking at the "stranger". He picks up the kong, and she chases sniffs ,refuses it and comes to me sits in front of me and barks at him . She did the circling and barking and then sitting by me several times more. To me she seemed to be protecting me,or warning me. Could that be so? or what?

Your dog is trying to warn you that this is not a person that should be trusted! Always pay attention to your dogs natural instincts they know a lot more than we do. German Shepherds are one of the most intelligent of the breeds and their natural instincts go far beyond the average dog even when they are young dogs or puppies. I hope this helps.

Don't invite this visitor anymore.

That is not how it works. This intelligence is tuned into their owners discomfort or comfort. Either a dog is unstable doing that and/or not well socialized OR more likely, you, the owner, was uncomfortable (not in control of the situation to the dog) with this visitor and she picked up on it. [or they guy didn't wash his hands lol] Not all of mine read my mind equally, but those who do, I have to be ultra careful with not to let my feelings out of my head. (feelings towards dogs or people) Let your dog play with other strangers more and also ask yourself how you felt about this person.

Listen to ur dog.......reminds me of the story of the shepherd , out in the back yard with the Mom of the baby inside....shepherd runs through the screen door ,in a dead run, comes back out door with baby in mouth by the seat of the diaper, house explodes minutes later......the dog felt the rumble underground and sense danger......many stories like this, if only we would listen and watch ur dogs reactions in home and on ur premises, in ur vehicle, and by your side....

If the dog had normal GSD temperament then it sensed something was wrong with the person (questionable character, deception, smell of fear or sociopathy, or other smell associated with something bad or dysfunctional). I know of several incidentys similar to this where the GSD's "suspicions" turned out to be accurate. In addition, if someone comes near that one actually harcbors hidden anger or dislike for, their GSD can "mirror" that to as Kerschberger suggests. I have been impressed many times by the spiritial gifts and perceptions GSDs have.

as it was said, look at your own feelings of this individual/circumstance, and how you may have relayed it to your pup. However I would not be willing to completely dismiss my dogs feelings eighther. just my 2 cents.

I have learned the hard way many times in my life to trust my dogs' instincts when reading people. They are amazingly perceptive. If my dog does not trust someone then neither do I.

LISTEN TO YOUR DOG, LISTEN TO YOUR DOG, LISTEN TO YOUR DOG............ WE HAD A DANE SAVED ME FROM BEING SNATCHED OUT OF MY FRONT YARD. HE KNEW FROM IN THE HOUSE AND CAME THRU A CLOSED WINDOW. She is young and may not feel comfortable around a stranger playing with her and her toys. I have one dog that will not take treats from strangers, even if liver, can sit on the floor for days if handled by someone else. However, I do not care what the reasons are, nor will I try and figure it out. I just listen and take action now.

Stephanitz states in his book that dogs can sense (through several means) things about a person that can make them not trust an individual, such as: they can smell wether or not this person has pets, they can sense wether or not a person is afraid, deceitful, etc., they can smell if this person has been around dead dogs or other animals, and they can sense (smell) if this person is of those that eats dog flesh (such as they do in the Phillipines, China, etc.). He states that he is unsure of exactly how they can sense some things that they can sense, but there is too much evidence to dispute that they do. Not every dog of course is capable, just like not every person can sense when they are being lied to, but most people know when they are being lied to. I have three sons and my dogs do not like one of them, and just so happens, he doesn't care for dogs either. He has never mistreated them in any way and is rarely around them and has never been around a couple of them, but they all do not like him. How do they know? Perhaps because the few times they were around him, I was extra attentive. Perhaps, they "talk" to each other about him. But most likely, it is because of what Stephanitz states in his book, that man and dog go way, way back and have formed a special relationship that has allowed dogs to "know" are inner feelings much like we sometimes know the inner feelings of our dogs, even though they can not communicate to us through speech. It is a combination of smell, sight (body language), learned observances and a "sixth sense" perhaps, that we do not just yet understand.