my 15 week old GSD dog gets very close to my legs when i take him out for a walk.

he practically walks in to me as i walk and on numerous occasions i have almost tripped over him. the other day i even accidently trod on his paw.

if i stop he sits on my feet and looks up at me and if i ask he to move off again he waits for me to start walkign then he goes back to walksing very close to me. its almost liek extream heeling.

the other day i met another dog walker in the park and my pup sat in frount of me on my feet and started at the other dog growling.  the fellow dog walker siad my pup was guarding me.

i have been sociliasing him as much as possible. i have onlky had him for a week and his previous home did nothign with him at all. so he has had a late start as far as seeing the big wide world goes. he is getting to be a bit more braver, but its hard to soicilisr him if he keeps wanting to sit on my feet all the time and keep watch over me.

any tips? just to add. he isnt liek this with my boyfriend when he walks him. if anythign he trys to walk away really fast.

Hi there,

Had he had another home before you other than just the breeder's? 

He's probably feeling quite insecure particularly as he's had little or no socialisation prior to you homing him and this can make some dogs overly clingy to the primary carer in the household.  Try to get anyone else living with you to take more of an active role in his day to day needs, such as feeding him, grooming him and taking him for pleasant walks.

It's important for him to learn that the big outside world is safe for him and it might be a good idea to take him somewhere like a wide pedestrian precinct where someone can sit on a bench and let him watch the world go by.  The fact that the weather is pretty good just now, garden centres (although not all allow dogs) and pubs with outside beer gardens are ideal situations too.  Puppies invariably attract a lot of interest but if you feel he is worried by strangers approaching, ask them not to touch him but just have a few words with you.  If he copes with people coming over and doesn't respond in a fearful or negative manner, praise and treat him.  When you feel that he's ready, ask them give him a treat (have a bag of tasty treats in your pocket at all times :) ) and if he's becoming more relaxed progress to asking them to tickle his chest or under his chin - always ask people NOT to pat his head - this can worry a sensitive youngster and make them feel threatened.  Try to ignore any anxious behaviour on his part as reassuring him can confuse the issue (backing away, growling etc may be read by him as being rewarded by you so become a circle difficult to break).

I'd also recommend that you try and find a local training class for him which will help with his socialisation as well as basic training and commands.  If you ask your vet, he/she may be able to advise you and may even know of a puppy class available. 

HTH meantime, Regards Teri :)

    

Teach him the correct way to heel without knocking over you , then teach him the release command. It's kind of odd that a puppy doesn't want to explore!

Unfortunately the puppy hasn't been socialised Manny prior to his new owners getting him only one week ago and he is already 14 weeks old - so it's typical behaviour in this instance, particularly in a sensitive breed

regards, Teri :)  

Well , i myself think that socialization starts 8 weeks at the latest but puppy kindergarden will work for most unsocialized puppys!

Totally agree with a bought in puppy :)  My home bred litter began going out with us in the car and being carried around in our arms at shopping mall entrances, garden centres etc at 5 weeks (thankfully warm weather :P ) so they had been exposed to just about everything (except other breeds of dog!) by the time they went to their new owners at 8 weeks.  No different from what any caring or experienced breeder would do - If only every litter was raised that way ....

Unfortunately none of this is much help to the OP who now has to cram as much socialisation as she can into a shorter time scale than most of us have AND, crucially, not over expose or pressurise the pup at the same time :( 

Another suggestion , if you work and leave him alone for hours at a time by himself maybe you could have him in puppy daycare? I wouldn't have him in for the whole week but maybe 1-2 days of the week he could be at puppy daycare ( i couldn't afford everyday! ). It would be great socialization!

im home with him 24/7 as i have a disabled daughter and i am her carer.
i have just come back from takin ghim out to town. as was to be expected he did drawn a lot of attention but he was very good.
i ask him to sit and then the people come a little way over to him and talk to him. i tell then not to touch him as he is scared.

we even ventured out onto our first bus today and he was able to see a lot of people sat down with out them moving if that makes sense and i think he liked that.

he was a lot better to walk out today. but today was the first time i have walked him with my daughter in her mobility buggy and so he could not walk too close to me this time as the wheels of the buggy were in the way.

i have taught him to sit at every road junction while i check for traffic and now he sits without me even asking. someone today sked if he was a guide dog in training lol as he did not move off intill i said walk.

a good thing is he is focused on his trainin gand is not easily distracted by outside stimuli. for example i had him sat today and a group of kids were trying to call him over . he did not even look at them.

today he jumped in the paddling pool with my little girl and they were having a right laugth together. he is slowely coming out of his shell.

i am his second owner since his breeder.

from what i understand he was bought from his breeder along with another pup from a diffrent litter. that was an alsation. finerboned than benji.

the new family could not cope with benji as he was apparently too boistrous. so they rehomed him to me.

so im his 3rd home and he is only 15 week sold so it is a lot.

also he had never been out on a lead before i had him. in fact the home i got him off said they had just taken him into the frout garden once. so he had not seen anythign of the outside world.

Hi Benjismum,

It sounds like you have your hands full but you're doing a great job already :)  This pup hasn't got off to a great start but sounds lucky to have landed in your care so huge congratulations for managing to come as far as you have in such a short time.

Keep up the taking him out little and often and introducing him to as many normal day to day sights, sounds, smells and of course people as you are able to do - always without putting him under additional pressure.  If you can get someone else to take him out and inter-act with him in a pleasant way it should also boost his confidence and stop him developing a dependency on you alone (such as help to break the growling habit for eg. ;) )

Best wishes, Teri

My cousin has 3 GSD's and they are all protective to her. When she walks them if anyone comes too near they get all defensive and circle around her yet if anyone else takes them out anybody can approach. One was neglected in its former home and treated badly and this is the most protective the other two have just followed what she does. Good luck I know if I was a stranger I wouldnt approach her.