hi,
i have a question about my 4 month old german shepherd pup. he is a very protective pup of his family and growls at strange people and when they (neighbors, friends) approach him in a gental way, he acts scared and tries to hide from them and tucks his tail between his legs. what could be wrong with him? we show him a lot of love and he is fine with the family, but just has anxiety attacks almost when he meets someone new and since he is only a puppy this worries me that he will be this way when he is older and might bite someone. he is not viscious now though, but i dont want his behavior to escalate to that point. if any one has any experience with this situation, please write me back, i love my pup so much and hate to see him so scared of other people. i also raised him since he was a month old. can i do something to help him? please help.
from,
Sarge's mommy

Get him to socialising classes NOW, this must not be allowed to continue. Nervous aggression is common in GSD's and can make your life a nightmare. At 4mths he is still young, do not reassure him when he is barking because you are praising that behaviour, try to ignore it and act as if his barking is doing nothing. Do go training , it's imperitive he learns while he is young. Good luck.
Dawn.

As Dawn rightly says, start him at training classes asap. Don't speak to him when he acts nervous, he will take this as praise for his behaviour and it will be reinforced. Try not to let people approach him, even in a gentle way - this will make him worse; let him approach them when he is ready. Often having you talking to people, ignoring the dog completely, and the stranger dropping a treat on the ground, again without looking at the dog, can start the connection in the dog's mind that people aren't always scary. He needs to be convinced that people are no big deal - that you aren't scared of them and can ignore them, and so can he. It may take some time, so get to socialisation/training classes. Ask your vet if they know of any good ones in your area.

Hope this helps :)

I was wondering if you are in the UK or in the US? It's just that I had a friend visit the US a short while back and she was very concerned at some of the training classes she saw, check chains jerking delicate Italain Greyhounds, that sort of thing :(

So I would suggest just going along to watch any class first, partly to make sure you feel happy with the methods, but also to make sure you "gel" yourself with the trainer :)

Socialisation is very important for GSD's esp. if they are inclined to be nervous, as others have said it is normal behaviour but just not desirable and needs to be addressed asap for both your sakes ;)

Best wishes
Lindsay

Some trainers will even visit you at your home . Ours did . She met Gus (and he met her) .
She asked all his details , age , temperament , what we wanted or expected from the classes etc . She also answered any questions we had at the time and ways in which we could deal with them.
We felt at ease when we started the classes because we had already spoken to her in this way and had an idea of the sort of things we would be learning and Gus was fine because he had met Erica beforehand .
He is now nearly 5 months old and he loves going there .
Before we started the classes we had heard various stories about "horrible" trainers who yanked the dogs around , and were too bossy etc etc .
Maybe this would be a good way to find your trainer :)
Lel

Hi Sorry you are having problems, I wonder, since you say you have raised your pup from one month whether he was taken from its mother too early as you did not not say you raised the litter. As you have had the pup from 4 weeks there has been plenty of time for early socialization which should have begun as early as six weeks with normal household noises.
Promtly followed by everything gradually and slowly in the big wide world, carried first in you arms walking then by car public transport. If this is carried out then normally puppies adapt very quickly to various situations and people. However if in the first 16 weeks of the puppies life it has had a very bad experience one that has frightened it and made it fearful then it will have to be a gradual progress of confidence building, that means not making a big fuss of him/her with masses of stroking and cuddles. It means that you have to be confident, happy and softly spoken to build on the puppies own confidence with masses of patience. The puppies fear must not be built upon. I think that socialization and training classes are useful to give guidence but the training is a day by day activity that is carried out from day one as a gradual process. It is no good leaving it and relying upon training given one day a week at classes because no one but yourself can train your puppy. At the end of the day it is how the owner treats a puppy from day one will generally determine how the puppy reacts, that is of course also relient upon how well the puppy has been bred and raised by the breeder and comes from good sound stock.
Pat

Pat
i couldnt agree more with what you say .
This is how we are presently teaching Gus and he is doing brilliantly .
We took the time to find a good breeder whom we were happy with and Gus just has the lovliest temperant and also the time to find the right training for him etc
:)
Lel