Reaction? - Page 1

I have a Czech/DDR W/L male, 14 weeks old, call-name Audi...and we had an interesting reaction to a situation today, that I'm a little worried about.

I live in an industrial area, and we have a few 'junk yard' dogs living in the yards of the shops around us. One of these shops currently has four 'huskies' (3 husky-mixes and one that's mostly lab). These dogs couldn't and wouldn't protect their property if their lives depended on it. Several workers from other shops often interact with them and toss them bones. They're unsupervised, wearing choke chains, but are obviously fed as two of the four are grossly over-weight. A couple of them got out of the fence and decided to visit mine. I broke out the treats and the leashes and went into the yard...see if they're friendly, if I could get a leash on them, and if I could walk them back to their own yard. I'm not interested in strange dogs wandering around my property. They came easily, mouths open, ears perked, tails low and wagging. Got the leashes on them and they walked easily with me back to their yard.

Today, on our last walk for the evening, I took my three dogs (Audi, a S/L american bitch, and a male cairn terrier) out with my boyfriend. Audi needs to meet more dogs. As the huskies were friendly with me, and didn't bother my dogs barking from the other side of the door, I thought it was safe enough to sniff noses through the fence.

Audi has always been very brave and fearless, not intimidated by anyting - people, dogs, noises, strange animals, strange objects, nothing - he's never backed down from anyone, and consistently dominates my bitch. Everything is "his" and he's not afraid to take chews or toys from any other dog, regardless of size or age, and will happily defend his winnings. He's never had a bad experience with another dog - no one has every snapped at him, bit him, pinned him (apart from his own siblings), frightened him, and the only other dog who managed to make him yelp was my bitch...and she got chased out of the living room with her tail between her legs as punishment. Audi just fights HARDER when he gets hurt.

So, I left my cairn terrier with my boyfriend, as he can be snarly with other male, and went ahead to the yard with my bitch and Audi at my heels. We approached the fence, no problem. Ritter (my bitch) sniffed around and Audi followed after her. Then the huskies started coming towards us, barking and yammering and making noise as huskies are wont to do.

As they got closer, Audi stopped, stood very still, then trotted off quickly toward my boyfriend. He didn't run or tuck his tail, and his ears were up, but he was obviously stressed out by the huskies coming up to him.

I wasn't happy with that reaction, obviously, so I broke out the liver treats and called him back. I encourage him, with a bright, bold tone ("Come on now, no worries. Nothing to be afraid of, it's all good!"), no babying or cooing, and he came back as soon as I asked without hesitation. I gave him his treat, a quick pat on the sides, and he waltzed up to the fence and sniffed noses with everyone. We were all friendly, no more barking while we sniffed, and no body tried to run off. One of the huskies gave Audi a growl, but Audi didn't back away or react. He kept sniffing. Even with the fence, I thought a growl was enough of a warning and took the dogs away. Audi and Ritter followed after me without a problem.

So...I'm just a little worried about his initial reaction. He was obviously intimidated. But he recovered very quickly and had no more issues after I called him back.

Normally HE intimidates other dogs. I've had several adults sniff noses with him, then try to stay away, ears back and tails tucked, while he barked at them and tried to initiate play. He's got s

Okay.... honestly, why would you just take your dogs to meet someone else's dogs, especially dogs you know little about?  I would NEVER let my dogs meet other dogs through a fence, or let them onto the property of another dog, it's just not smart.  You're worried about your dogs initial reaction? You want a 14 week old puppy to be the most fearless dog on the planet? "shakes head".........

I don't need him to be the most fearless dog on the planet. I just want to know if his reaction is NORMAL.

Judging by your reaction...I'm going to assume that (in some eyes, at least) it is. Nothing for me to worry about.

And I'm pretty sure my initial post states that I DON'T take my dogs up to strange dogs I've never met. I DON'T want Audi to have a poor experience. I did meet these dogs personally, in my yard, when they escaped their own fence, and I walked them back. My bitch used to go up to these dogs all the time, with no ill effect. Not something I was happy with, and it took us quite a while to get her to ignore them, on and off leash, when we walk past. Now she's fine, doesn't attempt to approach them, doesn't bark at them as we pass. But she's NEVER had any issues with them.

The other shops around us constantly interact with the dogs, throw them bones, stick their fingers through the fence. Not something I have done, or would be willing to do...but hey, the big manly men do it, and nobody has ever lost a finger. The dogs are certainly safe with people.

Do I take my dog up to yards and fences with dogs I've never met? No, absolutely not. But I did meet and interact with these dogs. I've seen them every day for the last two years. I've spoken with an owner (who see these dogs just long enough to throw food in the yard, and leave). I've had to walk them back to their own yard. These dogs have never showed any signs of aggression, to me, or my dogs when we walk passed them. I deemed the situation safe. And you know what? It was. Nobody got hurt. Nobody tried to snap or snarl or bite. We all sniffed noses and went on our merry way.

I never, ever, ever let my dogs meet another dog I'm unsure about or have never met before. Never. We go to the petstore, my dogs stay at my side, not at the end of their leashes. If I want them to meet another dog, I WATCH that dog, and then I ask the owner if they can meet. I've had several people just let their dogs run up to mine. I don't like it. My cairn can be aggressive toward other males. My cairn will snap at another male dog. I like people to ASK before they try to have us interact.

But these are dogs I've been watching for years, that my bitch has interacted with, and that I've had to touch, and walk, and treat, and coax personally. Maybe the situation wasn't perfect, but it was an opportunity, I had quite a bit of knowledge with these dogs, and I wasn't worried. These aren't dogs I just saw and decided to run up to.

I get it, you don't let your dog do all of that..

Still, not something I would have done.  The way you talked about his dominance, and pushy behavior towards other dogs, and how you seeemed worried about his reaction....I don't know, to me it just sounds like you were upset because "fido" wasn't so courageous this time. 

He's my very first W/L puppy. :) I'm just not totally sure what to expect. I'm not at all unhappy or dissapointed in him...just a new mom who wants to make sure that a hiccup here or a growl there is totally normal behavior.

Yes. He's pushy and dominant and normally intimidates other dogs.  If he were any other pup, I would EXPECT him to turn tail in that situation. I've just never seen him do it before. I can't see any other dog, particularily at his age, acting differently than he did. Especially recovering so easily.

But he's surprised me so much already. He's done things my bitch STILL won't do. Giant tarps flapping in the wind? Yeah, running under them is fun! Noisy construction workers? Yup, I can walk right by them, Mum, no problem! Another Czech GSD four times my size and already 2 years old? BARK BARK BARK GROWL BARK! I'm not scared!

Totally, totally different animal from my S/L bitch.

Just wanted to make sure this was a normal reaction from a W/L pup, and not something I should be concerned about.

Sounds like you buy into the hype that all sl act like your female and all wl are a different dogs. Your pup is a pup and be it sl or wl, it is a gsd and they are all different. A good gsd is a good gsd. I think it was a bit unfair to test your pup on these dogs in this way and agree with GSDGuy.

             You cannot compare a terrier breed <carin> to a gsd in behavior or fight in the dog.

I've seen pups that age pee themselves in a situation like that. They turned out to be pretty fearless dogs in the end. Put yourself in that situation if you were a 14 week old pup. You might not have done nearly as well. I don't think you have anythiong to worry about at this point.

 I don't think I ever compared Audi to my cairn, in any response here. I've stated that I brought my cairn with me and that I did not allow my cairn to approach the huskies because he can be snarly toward other males. No comparison to Audi. Correct me if I missed something, though.

 I wasn't attempting to 'test' Audi's courage (or anything else), by bringing him up to the huskies either. My only intention was for him to meet other dogs. His reaction interested me, and I wanted to hear some opinions on it. So far that's the ONLY thing I haven't gotten an opinion about! I'm not dissapointed or mad at him, I don't think he's a 'bad dog', and I'm not at all unhappy with him. I love his recovery, and how he was more than willing to come up to them once I encouraged him - neither Ritter or I were afraid, and he approached boldly after his initial reaction.

 I didn't see anything wrong with taking my dogs up to the huskies. They've never acting aggressively toward person or dog before, and I've watched them, interacted with them, and had my bitch approach them (again, not something I was happy with, we've worked on her, and she will walk right past them without a sound, on or off-leash, now) for two years now.

 I can and do see why people would object. I would too, if I saw someone bring their dogs up to another set of dogs through a fence. Particularily if I new nothing about their history. Maybe it wasn't a great situation. Maybe I was taking an uneccessary risk. Perhaps this is something I shouldn't repeat. But, at the time, I was confident in my knowledge of the huskies and that nothing untoward was going to be happen between them and my dogs.

 Unclemick: At 14 weeks old, I would have peed myself too! And if these weren't dogs I knew, and there was no fence between us, I probably would have peed myself regardless! But, like I said, he's my first W/L pup and I haven't a clue what to expect as far as normal vs. abnormal behavior, what signs I ought to be looking for, and what actions/reactions mean we need some work in re confidence and socialization. Thank-you very much for your input.

 

 

 

Nothing wrong in taking a young impressionable puppy to a fenced area where the dogs you have said are untrained and neglected just because they did not act agressive to your housed dogs on your property? Why expose him in the fear stage age to gaurding dogs on their property? You come on ask a question and because you do not like the unanimous response we are the wrong ones to what you asked. Socializing is wonderful why dont you find a puppy class to take him to instead of you know um gaurd dogs?

 Not wrong. I absolutely do see your point of view. I totally understand where your opinion comes from. If the situation were reversed, I would no doubt be saying the exact same thing you are.

 I was just looking for opinions on his reaction. Not my actions (right, wrong, misguided, or stupid as they were). We can totally chalk it up to being a bad idea. Potentially a gross situation. But, at the time, I was not worried. I've said before, my bitch has approached these dogs. Not in our yard, but just as we were last night - doing our evening walk, and making our way passed the fence. No aggressive reaction from them, or from mine.

 We visit various pet stores one or twice a week, since he's had his second vaccinations, and he's enrolled in a class with a fellow whose been working with GSDs and competing in schutzhund for over 30 years. We start next monday. But he's only met about 20 dogs so far. I don't drive. We live in a small town. There's one teeny tiny pet store here, and we don't often see other dogs in it. We've met over 200 people since I brought him home, gone over every surface texture I could possibly think of, been exposed to all sorts of sounds, approached new objects, sat and watched motorcycles zoom by, passed through construction sites, gone through my boyfriend's autobody shop while the boys were working, sat and listened to practice range videos on youtube. Everything I could think off. 

 I'm just not happy with the amount of dogs he's been exposed to so far. So I made a stupid decision based on past observations. No one got hurt.