Socializing a pup from Germany - Page 1

Hi Everyone,

I imported a male working line GSD pup from Germany. He is 12 weeks old today, and I have had him for 3 weeks. The problem is, he was not socialized with people at all. He backs from them when they go to pet him. IMO I think a puppy should be happy go lucky, and friendly. At home, he is a nightmare, chases everything, great prey drive, dominant character, but when I bring him to new places he is not the same at all. I have been bringing him to my schutzhund club, downtown, almost anywhere I can so he can get use to people. I don't care if he doesn\t love people, but I don't want him to be afraid of them. I do see some improvement, because I am getting strangers to give him treats. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Has anyone else had this experience before??

Thanks

 The pup does not have confidence. It is CRITICAL that you help him with this or there will be problems later that can be insurmountable. Making sure he is very hungry and taking him out is a good idea. Then, have someone sit or kneel at his level and offer him a treat. Start slowly, and don't force him or allow anyone or another dog to intimidate him. Another thing you can try is to get a rag or a ball and have someone sit on the floor with him (on a leash with you nearby) and try to elicit his prey drive. He must always win and then receive a lot of praise. You can also sit on the floor and the two of you humans do this with him, and every once in a while, offer him a treat also in this position. Do this with people who will, at first, speak softly to him and be gentle. As he gains confidence, hopefully he will not back up. Whatever you do, do NOT buy into his backing up by babying him or telling him it is ok. If he begins to back up, walk briskly away from the person who should stay still and then come back by the person. If he will not take the treat at first, your doing this several times, going quickly and praising him as he walks by, giving him a treat or playing with a toy will take his thoughts off of the person. You just have to use some care not to press too hard, too soon. Do whatever works, as often in a day as possible. If you need more suggestions, PM me. I would be happy to make additional suggestions. Good luck.

 


I just wrote an entire page that didn't go through, so I hope I can recreate it......

I had a puppy returned to me at 7 months old, he was scared to death of men, I didn't know that till I had him back acouple of weeks.
  I was going to keep his sister,but after taking his pictures, I noticed how handsome he was, so I rehomed his sister, and decided to keep him.

  I brought him to a fair, and we stayed for about 5 hours, there was wall to wall people there so he just got used to them, I kept handing people treats, and saying.....here........feed my dog... worked like a charm!!!

At one year old he began sheep herding, and then on to his Companion Dog Title and then his Herding Instinct title,
we are now going for a ScH Title, who knows. maybe we'll do it, I thought I had a broken dog, but now, I know, he can do it all, just like a German Shepherd is supposed to!

 Here he is...................................................................



Introducing.......................Mr. Fancy Pants!!!!!












 

 

wow, thats a beautiful dog. It just amazes me that you buy from really great schH lines, and the pup comes like that. Dissapointing. I will try to do more of taking my pup to places where there are tons of people. He NEEDs to get use to them.

Good luck with your schh title. It is hard work, but I am sure you guys can do it!

Thank you very much Jen,

 When you do take your little one out to socialize, remember to be in an outgoing state yourself as well,

and move along at a forward pace, never hesitate or feel unsure, the pup will pick right up on things like that.

   Good luck with your new little one, and the great adventures you two will have!

                     Paula

    

mirasmom...  what's his pedigree, is it in the database?  He's handsome... 

Heather

You must quickly get him motivated by treats doing basic sit,down,come and then have the treats when you go out ,You need to have commonality in different enviroments the treats give you that.,Use chicken at first if you have to  The term  ''petting'' is too subjective I am super specific about how I let people interact with my puppies Find friends who are dog savvy and have them come over and sit on the floor and give him treats and tell them not to reach out to him or ''pet'' him or the worst one tossle the ears!!!  better yet have them curl up in a ball on the floor and let him climb all over them You can turn him around if he has food drive, by associating  the new people with somethng ''good'' he will gain confidence

Good advice Lief. I brought him to my sch club today and some guy went out to pet his body and he backed, although now he can be next to people, and sniff them without being scared, now the issue is when others try to touch him. So there is an improvement. I hope he comes out of this behavior....

Take the treats with you and ask people to ''will you give him one of his treats? '' find the type of treats that they just tear out of your hands We use the natural balance roll cut into small pieces, We do that with all the puppies any new people especially kids are given treats to give them,  When dogs are in some form of drive they are far  less sensitive to the enviroment  that is what he heeds to be, get a treat pouch and take them everywhere he goes.

Good morning Jen,just want to say that you have been given some solid advice.You have to remember that not all puppies and lines are the same.What I mean by that is that some lines mature more slowly than others.They also go through these stages of uncertainty,fear etc.Most of the time the pup will grow out of this BUT you must do your end ..Be patient and consistent.It will take some time but you should see results if  you continue to work it right.Keep taking him to different places,let him meet people ,all kinds of people,black,white ,oriental,uniforms,beards,no beards,young,old men, females ,wheelchairs etc.People for now should look like a treat machine.Also try to be selective of the people you choose to do the exercizes with.What I mean is DONT have someone who is terrified of dogs participate in this cause he will sense it immedietly and may not know what to make of it.Remember,PATIENCE IS THE KEY .Good luck with this little guy.