I feel like I'm full of questions, so bear with me ?
Cash turned 1 in Feb. I got him at 8/9 months, the breeder picked him for me because he was always the laid back docile dog in the group and I was looking for an older puppy. I brought him home with some concerns about no real socialization aside from his 'pack' but he settled in beautifully, I consulted with a trainer before bringing him home on some things to help me decide if he would or wouldn't be a good fit.
He's not a dog park dog, which is fine, he's actually very standoffish and I'd just as soon avoid a scuffle that could result in dog aggression . I've always leash walked him and never had issues considering he had never been on a leash.
Right around the time he hit a year, he was much more sensitive to his environment if out of a familiar place. I've taken him everywhere with me and he never had an issue with new things. Now, he seems squirrelly when I walk him outside of my subdivision (to be fair, there is heavy traffic when we're walking) or at my parent's place, which is also familiar to him. We have a local river side walking trail which I would like to take him down for walks and to work on his training but there are two issues with it. If I take him alone, he seems nervous of other dogs, and kids on bikes, etc., all things he has had very limited exposure to. If I take my other dog, he is more relaxed but much more reactive to other dogs. He doesn't like when other dogs approach him on a leash, it's a total 180 from his passive dog park attitude. It's worse when I have my female dog (9 year old, fixed).
So I guess the questions all boil down to...what would you do if it was your dog? I feel like having positive exposures to the things that make him nervous will fix his nerves, but that comes at the risk of having negative experiences and I'm afraid of doing long term damage. Is this normal shepherd behavior for his age? He is not fixed. In addition to that, he has become much more insistent about chasing the cat and all around more pushy and stubborn.
We have him in obedience classes and will be attending a week long training seminar at the end of next month. I fully admit my anxiety about doing the wrong thing is probably a handicap for him at this point. Just hoping that if we can continue with training, he will settle with time.
Cash turned 1 in Feb. I got him at 8/9 months, the breeder picked him for me because he was always the laid back docile dog in the group and I was looking for an older puppy. I brought him home with some concerns about no real socialization aside from his 'pack' but he settled in beautifully, I consulted with a trainer before bringing him home on some things to help me decide if he would or wouldn't be a good fit.
He's not a dog park dog, which is fine, he's actually very standoffish and I'd just as soon avoid a scuffle that could result in dog aggression . I've always leash walked him and never had issues considering he had never been on a leash.
Right around the time he hit a year, he was much more sensitive to his environment if out of a familiar place. I've taken him everywhere with me and he never had an issue with new things. Now, he seems squirrelly when I walk him outside of my subdivision (to be fair, there is heavy traffic when we're walking) or at my parent's place, which is also familiar to him. We have a local river side walking trail which I would like to take him down for walks and to work on his training but there are two issues with it. If I take him alone, he seems nervous of other dogs, and kids on bikes, etc., all things he has had very limited exposure to. If I take my other dog, he is more relaxed but much more reactive to other dogs. He doesn't like when other dogs approach him on a leash, it's a total 180 from his passive dog park attitude. It's worse when I have my female dog (9 year old, fixed).
So I guess the questions all boil down to...what would you do if it was your dog? I feel like having positive exposures to the things that make him nervous will fix his nerves, but that comes at the risk of having negative experiences and I'm afraid of doing long term damage. Is this normal shepherd behavior for his age? He is not fixed. In addition to that, he has become much more insistent about chasing the cat and all around more pushy and stubborn.
We have him in obedience classes and will be attending a week long training seminar at the end of next month. I fully admit my anxiety about doing the wrong thing is probably a handicap for him at this point. Just hoping that if we can continue with training, he will settle with time.