GSD Personality - Page 1

Hi,

In your opinion at what age a GSD starts showing his final temperament, as in aggression , prey drive and all of those things...
My 4 month old pup I think is showing a little bit of avoidance when I start to snick on him...he just backs away... I am thinking and hoping it is just because he is young and as he grows older testosterone will kick and his personality will start to change.

Your thoughts:.

Not sure what you mean by "snick on him"?

Please explain

There's no set age, and it can vary from bloodlines to individual dogs.  There might not be a "final" stage at all, in some regards, or regarding some dogs.  Throw out any expectations.  There can be significant changes in temperament at any point in their lives.

Aggression can be very manifest even at 5 weeks old, like so  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5uLKOtN1qQ  These two alpha personality females would still today kill each other, if given the opportunity.  Some don't get very aggressive until maturity, other's don't get very aggressive until old age.

I've seen incredible prey drive blossom in a dog at 8 months age, that wouldn't hardly glance at a ball or tug a month prior, and dogs which lose their prey drive with age also.

Think of your dog as a work in progress, or rather, focus on the journey, and not the destination.

Troublelinx

I actually wrote snick and it is sneak...sorry english is not my first language....

Darylehret

Thanks for the explanation, those two pups were pretty angry...   I guess I need to wait and see what happends with my pup..
I guess I am not wanting another pet, I have already a showline GSD for that purpose and paid good money for my workingline GSD.. I am aware that even Workinglines can turn out just pets too...