Sudden behavior change. What happened/What to do?

[Volfan996]

My 1 year old German Shepherd has always been really playful with other dogs and everything has gone well as far as socialization goes. I took him home with me over Christmas break to my parents house and that is when problems started.

My parents have an older lab and a yorkie. Clyde has gotten along great with them in the past but all of the sudden he started acting like a wimp, tucking his tail, licking their lips, and just submitting to both of them who are much smaller than he is. So that went on for around 2 weeks and he improved some but was still submitting to my lab.

Clyde stayed in a dog kennel in Atlanta for a night (Atlanta Dog Spa, pretty nice place) and I noticed when I brought him in that he immediately tucked his tail when seeing other dogs and he was acting like a real wimp! Now we are back in Knoxville and his attitude hasnt really changed. A small toy dog sprinted at him while we were on our walk and he tucked his tail, hairs went up, and he basically whimpered and submitted.

Im trying to figure out what has happened to him and what I need to do next. I do not want an overly aggressive dog, but I didnt get a German shepherd to have a wimp either.

Any ideas/suggestions?

[Elaine]

I don't see having a dog friendly dog as a bad thing. Your dog is being submissive to other dogs and that's not a bad thing. Why do you think this makes your dog a wimp? What is it that you want from your dog? Just because he's submissive to other dogs isn't going to change what he's like the rest of the time and if you like your dog otherwise, I don't see the problem.

[Amaruq]

He is a submissive dog not an aggressive dog. Tucking the tail and licking the lips are both calming type signals, perhaps sent to other dogs who are not communicating with other dogs well.

[StGeorgeK9]

He is still pretty young, Ava would do this a lot at that age, not so mucch now.

[onyx'girl]

What are you doing with him as far as training?
Obedience training, or agility will help build his confidence around other dogs. He may be going thru a fear stage, too.
I'd rather he act like that if he were mine than react aggressively when he is around other dogs.

[Anja1Blue]

Sounds like a sweet guy to me. However, you state that he wasn't always like this, so I would say it's most likely just a phase he's going through. Dogs can go through these insecure or "fear periods" up until they are around two years of age...our fellow would get skittish out of the blue, around women, odd shaped bushes in the park, jumping out of the SUV, etc. etc., all behaviors which hadn't been a problem for him in the past. It probably went on until he was about 17 months (with ever longer periods between episodes.) The trick is to ignore what's going on and provide a distraction - do some OB (always good for building confidence), toss a ball.

I think you need to get the idea that he is a "wimp" out of your mind. Any disapproval on your part is likely to be picked up on by your dog, making the situation potentially worse. He isn't doing anything wrong! And having owned a dog aggressive GSD in the past, where I had to be looking over my shoulder every time we were out in public, I can tell you I would MUCH rather have a guy who was sweet and submissive to others. Not every wolf in a pack is at the top or even near it - that doesn't make the one at the bottom a wimp - I can assure you that in a real time situation that bottom of the heap guy will pitch in along with the rest.

_______________________________________
Susan

Anja GSD
Conor GSD - adopted from this Board
Blue GSD - waiting at the Bridge

[duramax]

I can only say, I wish my female GSD would have tucked her tail and tried to get along. Instead she would attack, for no reason. Wag her tail and play for about 2 minutes, then bam, try tearing them in two. You have a great dog, reward him for getting along. Get on the ground with them and play, let him know all is ok.

[codmaster]

Yea, he is still a baby - probably trying to learn how to get along with other dogs.

I think it would be a big help if you can arrange to have him play with older known friendly dogs so that he can learn the right dog communications signals.

And the folks here are right, i have a 2 yo male GSD who doesn't back down/submit to other dogs and hasn'r since he was about 10 weeks old - a very large pain in the neck sometimes.

Although MOST of the time he is very good with other dogs (and is always good with puppies and kids!), but once in a while he will react to other big dominant acting male dogs.

[3K9Mom]

Originally Posted By: onyx'girlWhat are you doing with him as far as training?
Obedience training, or agility will help build his confidence around other dogs. He may be going thru a fear stage, too.
I'd rather he act like that if he were mine than react aggressively when he is around other dogs.

How much have you socialized your dog in strange unfamiliar places?

I agree with the others that your dog is behaving appropriately with older dogs. But also, he's in strange places. Dogs in unfamiliar places are more likely to be less confident. If you want a dog that is going to be confident in all places, then he needs to get out A LOT.

Socialization doesn't mean taking your dog to the same pet store, park, or coffee shop frequently -- it means taking your dog to all sorts of new unfamiliar places where he'll encounter different sorts of people, dogs, noises, etc and working very hard to ensure that he has only positive experiences. And we need to do this at least several times a week. Your pup doesn't need to interact with the other dogs that he sees (since they'll mostly be on leash). He just needs to co-exist with them nearby.

And, as Jane suggests, getting your pup into classes will help his confidence a lot. This will be another opportunity to have up-close experiences with other dogs (and their humans), and success away from home (as he learns new skills.).

Finally, there is a secondary fear stage that can occur between approx 8-14 months (usually later for larger breed dogs). So it's possible that he's going through a fear stage, as Jane also says. The way to handle fear stages? Be positive (don't coddle him, but don't reprimand him) and work through it, but continue to expose your pup to new things.

A dog that acts submissive isn't necessarily a wimp, btw. My dog Meri is a tiny beagle, and she'll walk right up to intact male AND female Rottweilers and GSDs. She'll assume submissive posture and let them sniff her; once they've done that for about 20 seconds, she hops up, takes a quick play bow, and takes off running. And they chase her -- all of them. If you know anything about dog behavior, you know that the "lead" dog is the one that is chased and the "beta" dogs are the chasers.

She's smart. She knows that she can't force them to like her. But she can act submissive, and they accept her -- even the other females. Then she's the queen of the play yard. She does it EVERY time. And it works EVERY time. It's hysterical. After zooming around, she'll play rough and tumble with every dog because they LIKE her.

There's no reason that a dog has to walk in and announce that he's the biggest baddest dog in the park (or especially someone else's house). Like with humans, it's not a good way to make friends.

[LisaT]

Originally Posted By: 3K9Mom.....There's no reason that a dog has to walk in and announce that he's the biggest baddest dog in the park (or especially someone else's house). Like with humans, it's not a good way to make friends.