A perfect example as to why backyard breeding needs to stop

[NewbieShepherdGirl]

Not sure if this is the right place, and if not I apologize.

Before I post this I'd like to say I love my baby very much. I wouldn't trade her for anything in the word. That being said, her temperament is such that she should have never been. She is fearful. She is fearful of people, of loud noises, of being alone, of not having food, etc. She is a dog that has to be managed. She is not a danger to others, but she is a huge danger to herself, and that makes her hard on me. I love her and I want her not only to be safe, but to feel safe. I don't think the best training could 100% make that happen.

So onto the story. Tonight I took Sasha out for her last potty of the night. I was sitting on my "porch" (a little cement slab right outside my sliding glass door). It was about 12:30 at night, so I just had my foot on her 20ft leed. She's pretty good about staying with me, and has been pretty good about coming when called, especially when tired (and at this late she's always pretty tired). So I was sitting there having a smoke and watching tv on my laptop when all the sudden I heard a few consistant loud noises. It sounded similar to gunfire, but I'm pretty sure it was just a car or something that was having issues. Regardless, she panicked and before I could even say anything she bolted. I stood up, started calling her and proceeded to trip, causing me to scrap my knee, hand, and lose one of my slippers (which consequently caused me to scrape my foot). As soon as I could get up I started running after her and screamed, "Sasha!". She paused for about half a second which enabled me to step on the end of her leash and bring her back.

Now I know some of the fault lies with me. I should have had a better hold on the leash. I was careless and if something had happened to her I would have never forgiven myself, but this is a dog that is so smart, and is usually highly obedient but her fear causes all else to leave her mind. I don't know her origins, as I adopted her, but I would be willing to bet everything I had that she didn't come from any place reputable. As I said, I wouldn't trade her for the world, and I would die for this girl, but the struggles we've had, and the fear that she lives with, I wouldn't wish on any owner or any dog. I guess this is a little rant because I thought I could have lost my girl tonight, but as someone who almost bought a puppy from the newspaper I just hope that someone who was in the position I was in would take this into consideration before the support a breeder that doesn't care about breeding. That has two pretty dogs and breeds them.

Sasha is gorgeous. If that were the only thing on was worried about then she would be one of the most breed worthy shepherds out there, but it's not, and I hate watching her on video pacing for 3+ hours when I leave, or hearing thunder or gunfire or a car backfiring or fireworks and go into a fear so deep that she can't stop shaking. It's not just about the people that are going to have to deal with these dogs, I'd deal with anything just so she could have a good life and never look back, but it's about the dogs too. She doesn't deserve to live like this, and I know her fear isn't even as bad as some. We have such great power when it comes to animals, and it's unfortunate to see what an abuse of our power can look like in such wonderful creatures. She will live a life of fear because someone decided they could make a buck, and then whoever had her before me decided they could beat the crap out of her and make it worse.

Don't buy from backyard breeders. The dogs deserve better.

[julie87]

Im sorry to hear you are so disappointed but how long have you had her and how long have you trainer her? Do you socialize her often and expose her to new things? Mine came from backyard breeder she is also fearful but im working very hard to make her better and she improved SO MUCH, she used to be afraid of palm tree when the wind was blowing, now she is not scared, and she was scared of my big jacket and now she isn't, point is not all dogs are permanently fearful all their life because of bad breeding. Trust me I don't support backyard breeding in any away but I am just trying to give you hope that it will get better with time and love for the dog.

[NewbieShepherdGirl]

Originally Posted by julie87

Im sorry to hear you are so disappointed but how long have you had her and how long have you trainer her? Do you socialize her often and expose her to new things? Mine came from backyard breeder she is also fearful but im working very hard to make her better and she improved SO MUCH, she used to be afraid of palm tree when the wind was blowing, now she is not scared, and she was scared of my big jacket and now she isn't, point is not all dogs are permanently fearful all their life because of bad breeding. Trust me I don't support backyard breeding in any away but I am just trying to give you hope that it will get better with time and love for the dog.

I'm not disappointed, as in I'm not disappointed in what I got in getting her, I love her and wouldn't trade her; in many ways she's perfect for me and I owe her more than I can express. She's my best girl. I have had her for two years, and trust me she is so, so, so much better than she was when I got her. I actually am constantly finding more and more moments where I'm just beaming with pride when I see her act so well adjusted to something that came so very hard for her. When I first got her she was so scared she couldn't even tell us she needed to go out. She'd shake whenever anyone tried to pet her. If a man came in she'd go nuts if he went near me. She'd hide under the table whenever anyone new came over. I have socialized and trained her, she's smart as a whip (way smarter than me lol) but not everything can be learned. You are right, some things can be trained out to a degree. However, so much is genetic and there is only so much you can do with genetics. I am sure that some things will get better with time, but the underlying factor most likely won't. She's fearful, and it's quite clear that by in large, for her, it's genetic. I can't change her genes. There is no reason to bring dogs into the world with genes like this. It's not fair to them.

She's not a complete basket case, in fact, if you met her you wouldn't know much is wrong with her. That's due to training, because if you had seen her when I got her....you would have known much was not right in Sasha's world. I have worked with this girl, done research, received help from more knowledgeable individuals, and it has payed off. However, if you live with her you see it. I feel blessed that she isn't so bad she's a liability. I feel blessed I won't have to put her down because of her genes, her background, etc. However, her fear manifests in an avoidance manner. So many are not this lucky. We can't just say training will fix it. It won't. Your examples just prove it, by the way I'm reading it. You have a dog that is fearful of new situations. You are blessed enough to have one that you can desensitize to them, so far. That's great, but it would be better if you didn't have to. I get what you're saying. Sasha is scared whenever there is something new in our yard: a hose, a law chair, etc., and that we overcome. However, every time something is new we have have to work on overcoming it. She's fearful. It's just how it is. I don't mind dealing with it, because I love her, but I wish she could just go outside and enjoy, no overcoming just stability. That's what we should advocate for, stability. (not saying you don't, just saying. It's great to help those with a fearful dog try their best to manage the fear, but the ultimate goal should be educating people about getting dogs from responsible breeders who breed for stability. I will probably rescue most of my dogs because I am not a suitable candidate for a puppy, at least not at the moment, and I would adopt 10k dogs just like my girl. I'm just saying I wish there weren't 10k dogs like my girl to adopt.)

[julie87]

Thas very sad sounds like maybe she was abused?I never heard of dog beings so scared before, I am a first time GSD owner though... I feel so bad for her being scared of every day things dogs should be happy and enjoy life...at least she ended up in good hands someone who doesn't give up on her. btw Mine was also very scared at men and its much much better, im doing what I can to make her more confident.

[NewbieShepherdGirl]

You're right, she was abused, but that doesn't explain much of it. Stick around longer and you'll see dogs with fear issues that make Sasha look like she's very very stable. As far as men goes, my only advise is what worked for us. I don't know if you live with a man, but for me living with my brother helped. He loved her (actually he picked her lol) and she was so very scared of him for about 6-9 months. However, he was patient with her. He never pushed her, he just showed her on a daily basis that he wasn't going to hurt her, me, or anyone else. His friends also were great about this. They didn't force themselves on her they just existed in her presence. They were great with her. Additionally, I don't know if you pup is worse if you're there or if you're not (Sasha does not react that way nearly as strongly when I'm not there, now. She doesn't trust men around me, and it became a somewhat resource guarding thing. Think of it as once you finally find someone you can trust you're not going to let anyone take it away from you.) the advise I got from those more experienced than me was when that happened to remove her from the situation. The reason they recommended this is because what she wanted was me to herself. What she got by behaving badly was not getting me at all. I actually had a friend (brave soul she was because at the time we didn't know 100% if Sasha would bite or not) work on it with me. If she acted up toward the friend I would warn her, and if she didn't stop then she went in the crate. She'd be let out a short while later and if she was good then she got heavily praised. If not, then back in the crate. She's now to the point where I can tell her, "knock it off" and she'll stop. Big progress. Hang in there. Your pup may never trust men 100% (my girl sure doesn't) but you may be able to get to a point where you can trust he won't bite.

Thank you, by the way, for the kind words. I do care about her more than anything else, and I hope you didn't take anything I wrote as an attack. I'm rather....black and white...and sometimes other people perceive it poorly. My intention was not to attack, but merely to discuss.

[NewbieShepherdGirl]

On a hilarious note, since it's late and I should go to bed but I'm feeling exhaustedly funny lol, she's not afraid of some very common things such as vacuums or hair dryers. She thinks the vacuum is part of some game, chasing it around and scratching wherever I've just vacuumed. I was blow drying my hair (head flipped upside down) and she kept coming over and bugging me, so I flipped it to cool and blew it at her, thinking that would annoy her and she'd leave me be, nope the ding-bat thinks that's the greatest thing since sliced bread. She'll just stand there, jowls blowing in the "wind" lol!

[julie87]

I didn't think it was an attack lol I know you are so frustrated after so much time and patience spent on her I know what it feels like to have a dog with unpredictable behavior. It's a risk for me every day trying to socialize her, if I don't she is only gonna get worse and what kind of life is that being isolated from the world. And it's all on my shoulders my husband works so the dog is my responsibility, it can be hard when she is lunging at someone...All we can do is try our best and then try some more until the day they went to the rainbow bridge. I'm not giving up she is my dog my sweetie and my pride.


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[julie87]

Haha lol when mine sees the vacuum she looks at it with shy eyes and tries to look away while she is in her crate. I always crate her when I clean cuz apperantly nothing is more exciting than the broom! It's like I sweep and she is all over it spreading her fur that she sheded all over the floor it's like she wants it to stay there haha have a good night


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[cliffson1]

I am sorry your dog has these issues, I often hear these dogs were abused, but I really think its more of a genetic issue in conjunction with poor breeding and social deprivation. I often see people who have great dogs or new pups that want people to look at their pedigrees. I really think that people who have dogs with these severe temperament issues should seek information and research on the pedigrees of these dogs so that people can be informed of where some of these pitfalls are. That would help these owners and others make better decisions when they get the next dog.jmo

[JakodaCD OA]

I would say Sasha is lucky to have you While she may have issues (as most dogs do have some type of issue), you've stuck with her, manage her and love her..so again, she's lucky YOU have her and not someone who would have given up on her a long time ago and she sounds like you've done a great job with her,,she is what she is