5 month fearful male puppy?

MARYLOU30 · #1 25-11-10, 03:02 PM

Hi, this is my first post but I have read quite a lot of post/ advice on this forum which I ahve found useful. I have a 5 month male puppy who has always been very vocal. He is very well behaved both in the home with family and while out on walks (he has been off lead in local park since he was around 13 weeks and his recall is excellent). Since around 14 weeks he has been wary of strangers speaking/ approaching him - people can talk to me no problem, he wil just sit/lie down while I talk, but if they talk to him he barks/ growls until they ignore him. When visitors come to my house, I put him behind the safety gate and ask people to ignore him until he has calmed down and then I let him in and give treats to visitors to give to him when he is ready to approach them. I have never had a problem with other dogs until this last week when he has on a couple of ocasions growled/snapped at dogs that approach him. I took him to his first puppy class last night and he was very nervous, just sat by my leg and wouldn't move. When a spaniel came over to say hello, he was ok for a couple of sniffs and then just snapped at it for no reason - that was it , he got really overwhelmed and every time an anxious BC at the side of us kicked off, he joined in barking. He also started growling at the instructors when they came over to him - he didn't do this at first, only after incident with spaniel. Do you think that puppy classes (indoor room with approx. 12 puppies) will do him more harm than good or good this just be a fear phase and things will get worse before they get better? Info: I have 3 other german shepherds who he gets along with and he also plays with my mother in laws (bossy) Jack Russell no probs. Any advice much appreciated.

Su-C · #2 25-11-10, 03:16 PM

Hi and welcome to the forum.

From what you have posted, it sounds like he may well be acting like this through fear. Is he ever taken out on his own, or is he normally with your other dogs? Did the instructors at puppy class not suggest anything?

I would be tempted to take him out, and if possible, ask people to feed him treats without speaking to him so that he learns that meeting people is a good experience. Pretty much like you are doing at home! It does sound like the barking /growling is a defence strategy to stop people making him feel uncomfortable.

With regards to other dogs, it may well be a case of trying to focus his attention on you until he learns that other dogs are not a threat. Has anything happened to make him suddenly wary of other dogs? Is he like this only when he is on his own? Pups normally become braver when they have the rest of their pack around them.

And before anyone else asks, piccies please!!

gsdlover4ever · #3 25-11-10, 03:28 PM

What was the temperment of his parents like?

MARYLOU30 · #4 25-11-10, 03:45 PM

I did used to get people to give him treats when he was younger but he wouldn't always accept and it felt like I was forcing him into something he didn't feel comfortable with so I decided to just back off a bit and give them to him when we pass other dogs/ people so that he associated them with treats.

I also walk him on his own.

His mum is aloof but confident and his Dad is a big softy who dislikes other dogs, again due to fear!

I own both Mum and Dad but this was not an intentional breeding. We took Dad in from people that weren't looking after him properly - he was underweight, never walked and used to guard and not like visitors when we first got him, its just the dog issue that we can't seem to cure but he is a lot better. Dad is a bit nervy of chavs etc when on walks but he isn't bothered by 'normal' people/ kids etc.

With regard to the mating, we asked our Vet to spay our female but as she was not in mid-cycle, he wouldn't do it. We did keep them apart but one of my kids let both dogs outside together!

kita · #5 25-11-10, 05:04 PM

To be honest I am not a fan of puppy classes, mainly because pups don't live in a world full of puppies! In the normal world they meet dogs of all ages/sizes and are not allowed to run up to everyone and throw themselves around like a litter/class of pups would. They have to learn how to respect adult dogs and how to behave in a more grown up manner.

That sounds like quite a large class to me. Do they let them all mix at the same time?

Sometimes the more bossy pups tend to take over the class and intimidate the others. As a result you could be doing more harm than good by continuing the classes.

Could you join a normal training class (for adult dogs)? That is where I would take a five month old dog.

Other than that it sounds like you are doing everything right, GSD's tend to be normally aloof and wary of strangers - after all it is what they are bred for (guarding).

How many pups were there in the litter by the way? When did the last one leave?

Sue

MARYLOU30 · #6 26-11-10, 08:55 AM

One of the ladies who run the puppy class suggested that it may be better for him and the anxious collie to be outside with the older dogs as it wasn't as artificial a surrounding as being indoors with all the other puppies. She said to see how it goes over the next couple of weeks, but it did seem more organised outside, even it will be freezing!! I think that we will probably end us doing this as he (Kirk) is polite with other dogs who don't mither him, a quick sniff to say hello is fine with him, but no playing.

The other puppies are all on leads at the moment, but I'm not sure whether further on in the course they will let them have off-lead play.

With regard to the litter, she had four puppies, 3 males and 1 female but one of the males (the last one) was a stillbirth. We tried to get him to breath but there was just no sign of life. We managed to find a home for the female (Summer) when she was about 15-16 weeks (through a rescue site) and I am still in touch with the lady that adopted her - she said that she is doing great and that everybody loves her. We still have the other male, who we are trying to rehome through a different rescue site - the pressure of making sure that the homes of interested owners were good enough was too much for me as they were like my babies ,that is why I contacted a rescue so that I knew that they would be going to the best possible homes.

I think that fact that we still have one of the other puppies may also be adding to the problem as Kirk knows that he doesn't need to play with any other dogs when out as he has a playmate at home. I'm just hoping that we can find a home for the other male (Malley) soon as it is impacting on the amount of time that we can do things with Kirk because we only have so much time and feel guilty about taking Kirk out and leaving Malley at home, so we don't take Kirk as many places as we would like. I think though that in view of his recent behaviour, this is what we are going to have to do as I certainly don't want another dog with fear issues - one is enough!