So I rescued Duke after I saw an ad for an AKC registered 2 year old male GSD. That was all the info listed. It turned out that a woman was trying to set up a puppy mill and her neighbors shot the other dogs for wandering on to their property so she was dumping the last one.
He has a great temperament with people and dogs alike. Not aggressive or fearful of either. He is really just a giant 2 year old puppy who I'm guessing was never taught anything and never lived in a house. He was hesitant to even enter my house, and once inside was pacing around quite a bit like he wasn't supposed to be in there.
So here is the Good:
1. Like I said he has been very good with everyone he has met so far, which has only been the two roommates and our landlord. No barking/lunging/growling or anything just wagging tail and new person excitement.
2. Not reactive to the dogs in the yards next to us. His demeanor is all play. Even with the other dog going crazy at first, his hair went down fairly quickly and he was just wagging his tail and looking back at me like "dude when do I get to go play?"
3. Very quick learner, it only took him a little while hanging outside to realize that jumping like a crazy person gets you ignored, and sitting in front of someone gets you pets and praise.
The not so good:
1. He is still jumping, although not nearly as much as before. Now they are more excited jumps I guess? Usually when going outside he won't jump on people just in the air. I still would like to train him out of this because he is so big. He weighs about 100 pounds
2. He is very mouthy, walking around the house if your hands are at your sides his mouth will almost always be on them. He never even closes his mouth, and it's only on the hands, but this definitely needs to stop.
3. He has absolutely zero interest in toys. I've tried squeeky tennis balls, tug ropes, the toys with a water bottle inside. Heck he barely had interest in a meat bone until I held onto it for him to chew. Do you think he never had toys and doesn't know how to play with them?
And the different:
1. He will only eat if I hand feed him now. He ate in his crate perfectly fine the first night. Didn't eat the following morning, and ate fine the next couple days eating parts of his meals out of a kong in the crate. But the past 2 days he just walks away from the bowl unless I hand feed him. Is there anything to this?
2. We're still in the "two week shutdown" period and during his inside, out of kennel time he will often go lay down at the end of the hall out of site. Is he trying to get away from me or am I reading in to it to much?
Overall I've only had him for 6 days so I'm not expecting rin tin tin obviously. I guess I just want reassurance that I'm not on the fast track to screwing up this boy. Right now we're doing NILIF, although not sure how diligent the roommates are on that. Currently in the middle of doing a shutdown with him, we go out every 2 hours or so and we run around since he has zero interest in toys, and I work on leash manners with him since he pulls like a t-rex. The only other thing I can think to mention is an incident with the landlord where he mouthed his ankles as he was walking around the house. Sorry for the long post, I haven't had a GSD since I was a kid and I really want the best for this guy!
He has a great temperament with people and dogs alike. Not aggressive or fearful of either. He is really just a giant 2 year old puppy who I'm guessing was never taught anything and never lived in a house. He was hesitant to even enter my house, and once inside was pacing around quite a bit like he wasn't supposed to be in there.
So here is the Good:
1. Like I said he has been very good with everyone he has met so far, which has only been the two roommates and our landlord. No barking/lunging/growling or anything just wagging tail and new person excitement.
2. Not reactive to the dogs in the yards next to us. His demeanor is all play. Even with the other dog going crazy at first, his hair went down fairly quickly and he was just wagging his tail and looking back at me like "dude when do I get to go play?"
3. Very quick learner, it only took him a little while hanging outside to realize that jumping like a crazy person gets you ignored, and sitting in front of someone gets you pets and praise.
The not so good:
1. He is still jumping, although not nearly as much as before. Now they are more excited jumps I guess? Usually when going outside he won't jump on people just in the air. I still would like to train him out of this because he is so big. He weighs about 100 pounds
2. He is very mouthy, walking around the house if your hands are at your sides his mouth will almost always be on them. He never even closes his mouth, and it's only on the hands, but this definitely needs to stop.
3. He has absolutely zero interest in toys. I've tried squeeky tennis balls, tug ropes, the toys with a water bottle inside. Heck he barely had interest in a meat bone until I held onto it for him to chew. Do you think he never had toys and doesn't know how to play with them?
And the different:
1. He will only eat if I hand feed him now. He ate in his crate perfectly fine the first night. Didn't eat the following morning, and ate fine the next couple days eating parts of his meals out of a kong in the crate. But the past 2 days he just walks away from the bowl unless I hand feed him. Is there anything to this?
2. We're still in the "two week shutdown" period and during his inside, out of kennel time he will often go lay down at the end of the hall out of site. Is he trying to get away from me or am I reading in to it to much?
Overall I've only had him for 6 days so I'm not expecting rin tin tin obviously. I guess I just want reassurance that I'm not on the fast track to screwing up this boy. Right now we're doing NILIF, although not sure how diligent the roommates are on that. Currently in the middle of doing a shutdown with him, we go out every 2 hours or so and we run around since he has zero interest in toys, and I work on leash manners with him since he pulls like a t-rex. The only other thing I can think to mention is an incident with the landlord where he mouthed his ankles as he was walking around the house. Sorry for the long post, I haven't had a GSD since I was a kid and I really want the best for this guy!