Just not interested?!??

[Jax08]

I took Jax to a fun event today with Rally, Obedience and Agility just to get her around other dogs. So after barking like a loon at all the dogs, in front of the ladies who will do the TDI testing, she settled down and watched, sniffed a few dogs and seem to be content.

Whenever anyone would come up to pet her she would allow it but she never went to them first and she turned her head while they were petting her. She seemed to just tolerate the attention.

So, my question is...because not all dogs are cut out for therapy...is there a point to testing her for therapy when she doesn't seem to want attention from strangers?

[mastercabman]

I don't know what to answer your question.but my Annie is always a little shy with people and she does not like other dogs but She is good with people.
I was told by many dog trainer that female gsd are usually very dominant and it is common for them to be somewhat aggressive with other.She sticks by me very close.

[Lauri & The Gang]

German Shepherds are NOT Labs. Nor are they Goldens. As a general rule the breed does not seek attention or affection from strangers.

They ALLOW strangers to pet them. "Yes, you common human, I will ALLOW you the honor of petting me."

How old is she? The fact that she turned her head away may indicate that she wasn't comfortable with strangers petting her.

[Todd]

Originally Posted By: Lauri & The Gang
They ALLOW strangers to pet them. "Yes, you common human, I will ALLOW you the honor of petting me."

That's pretty much how Heidi is...at least with adults. There are a few adults that she knows well and will let pet her, but she does not seek attention from others. She's slightly more enthusiastic with children.

[ken k]

not all therapy dogs are the "please pet me" and "wag there tail silly" types you`ll have to find Jax "nitch", when I take Max the to hospital for a visit, he could care less about being petted, until we go into the physc ward thats where he does his best work, he know`s the difference between being in there and the rest of the hospital, in there he will go to everybody and he`ll sit and pester the most serious ones until they pay attention to him, as far as the rest of the hospital he`ll let people pet him but you can see he`s really not interested, so when he is in that mode we do some hand signal commands and that gets the people smiling and thats what its all about, "Sharing smiles and joy" the event you were at is not really a good place to make a decision if Jax is going to make a good therapy dog

[AbbyK9]

Michelle - it sounds like she was in a very busy venue with a lot of other dogs and probably a lot of people who wanted to come and meet her. It's absolutely possible that she was either stressed or uncomfortable in that situation, or that she was simply overwhelmed with all that was going on.

That doesn't necessarily mean she wouldn't make a good therapy dog. How does she do when people meet her in less overwhelming venues, like on your walks, for example?

[Jax08]

Lauri - That seemed to be her attitude. She would watch the person until they came over to pet her and then just tolerated them. I'm not sure if she was uncomfortable. It did seem like she was trying to avoid their hand to some extent but I'm not if it was a comfort level or if the hand was blocking her view of everything else. I'll watch for that in the future.

Chris - It was <u>very busy</u> and the entire reason I went was just to socialize her. She tends to carry on with other dogs and by the end of the day I had her on her flat collar so she did really well.

We live in timbuktu right next to bufu. There aren't any strangers on our road, it's all family. She did jump thru the screen a couple weeks ago to go say hi to some family out with a walk with their dogs.

As far as the other places we go, she is a bit aloof with ppl at the stables. Especially this one guy that likes to come up to her and say SIT...hey buddy..it's a german shepherd and I'm standing right here! She isn't going to listen to you!!!...but even with the kids. Tonight I was washing a horse so a little girl took her to keep her out from under hooves and she didn't really warm up to the little girl until she started playing with her. In tractor supply, lowes, etc, she is always more interested in the action than the ppl.

She loves agility, frisbee, ball, anything active so I don't really expect her to be the lean and pet me kind of dog for therapy but I would love to be able to do the reading program for kids with her if it suits her.

But hey!!! She learned to swim today!!! First she wouldn't go in...now she won't come out. If I only knew it would take another dog to teach her I would have done it a year ago...duhhhh..

Thanks everyone for all your viewpoints and tips!! I really appreciate it.

[Jax08]

oh...she's 1 1/2 y.

[Jax08]

After my trainer had her in a store with me we decided she really doesn't care about people all that much. Or maybe I should say adults....I had her in the bank the other day and a little girl, maybe 4 years and nose high to Jax, came over to pet her. I put her in a sit, so she didn't accidently knock the pixie over, and the little girl came over. Jax ever so gently stretched out her neck and licked the little girls hand and then gave her a big sloppy kiss.

Maybe adults just aren't as much fun!! *L* So the plan is to test her and find something with children. Which I would prefer anyways. :-)