I need serious opinions please..

[AgileGSD]

What he is doing with your niece in these vids really looks more like attention seeking barking than anything. How is he when he's loose with her?

[dgon27]

Originally Posted by AgileGSD

What he is doing with your niece in these vids really looks more like attention seeking barking than anything. How is he when he's loose with her?

He hasn't been loose with her. This was the first time they have met.

[Zoeys mom]

I think thats the problem- GSD's are dogs who seek companionship. When separated from humans they get antsy, bark, and whine because they want to join in and your not letting him. That is the calmest 5 month old pup I think I've ever seen honestly. Zoe would have hopped the pen and slammed her body against the back door at that age to get to us. Bodey wants to play, meet your niece, and be part of your family not outside looking in

[PaddyD]

Yikes! I haven't read all the replies so I will ask if he has been seen by a vet to rule out any pain he may be having. This dog needs a home where he can get lots of attention, love and patience. But most of all he has to respect and trust his owners. Fearful dogs (and mine started out timid) need to KNOW they can trust their owners and that they have a secure home. If you can't spend a LOT of time socializing him then you have a house dog that will need a (strong) crate for the safety of others. I can only speak from my limited experience with a dog that started out fearful who is now the delight of everyone and fully trustworthy with people and dogs. I took her to the park to meet both every day for the past year. I think if I had not done that she would still be timid and could have become dangerous. GSDs often have very strong personalities (but you know that) and it can be very challenging to come up with the resources to help them develop into welcome members of the family and community.

[dgon27]

Originally Posted by PaddyD

This dog needs a home where he can get lots of attention, love and patience. But most of all he has to respect and trust his owners. Fearful dogs (and mine started out timid) need to KNOW they can trust their owners and that they have a secure home.

He gets a lot of attention, love and patience. I do beleive he respects us. He is fearful though. At first I thought it was that he was aggressive, but I have come to realize that he just fearful. We will be sitting on the curb, nice and calm. Then 5 people come walking up the street. Bode jumps up, backs up into me, and barks.

[Mitchell255]

Ok... this person doesn't need to be corrected and that's not what the forum is about. This person needs help.... I'm "certainly" no expert but here's my two cents for what it's worth:

I keep reading time and again that these dogs NEED socialization. I have a 4 month old that just TODAY decided that people outside our family are to be feared. She would have nothing to do with my neighbor this morning and when I brought my grandchildren through the door and the 8 yr old grand-daughter chased her, it literally scared the crap out of her. This is brand new behavior.

For other dogs: I would kennel them side by side for awhile. Feed them at the end of the kennel that puts their faces nearest each other as they have the pleasant experience of eating. Also.. walk them together, as a pack to help instill the pack mentality.

For people: put this dog in front of more people, not less.
Take the dog to PetSmart. To the dog park... to a city park. Get your friends and family to help by visiting your home and letting your dog visit their home. Take her for walks. When anyone approaches and wants to interact with the dog, have a snack for them to hand to the dog. Each interaction needs to be very positive. Do you have a neighbor that would help by coming over occasionally and feeding the dog? 100 new experiences in 100 days.. spend twice as much time praising the dog as you do correcting the dog. The dog wants to be GOOD... show the dog what GOOD looks like.

Best of luck to you.

[Zoeys mom]

Thats because he is young and needs to be socialized more. You can work with him easily on socialization at this age....much harder as they age because it becomes a learned behavior. Let him meet people, bring treats with you everywhere so people can give them to him, and engage him more with new people and places. Especially your niece that poor little pup wants to lick her really bad

[selzer]

He could be going through a stage too.

I made the mistake of putting dogs in front of more people when they were in a fear stage. It could make things more difficult.

My house is about an hour away from the nearest dog park and pet stores, and there are three of them in close proximity where I can take the dogs in. But it being so far away, I would only go occasionally and then make the most of the situation by going to all three of them.

Getting the dog groomed, and walking them through store one, then walking them through and hanging out at store 2 and then driving through the drive through enroute to store 3 and hanging out there, well, that is not a good method of socializing.

More and more people mean some of them will do something really stupid, like the little kid that screamed in my puppy's face, jumped up and ran across the store -- then she barked. We had turned around the corner and I had no idea she was sitting down in front of the rodents. I would have been able to see her if she was standing. The puppy did nothing bad, just was suddenly there. But it was not a positive experience.

And the pup that I took from one store to another to another, by the third store, she was just completely done. She did not want to see another person, place, or thing that day. Overkill.

During this socialization stuff the best thing is to not overwhelm the puppy, and then to not over-react or give reassurance when the puppy is displaying fearful behavior. "Its Ok, she won't hurt you" is interpreted as "Good boy, bark, of course you are afraid, we need to scare it away." Remain calm. I usually just say, It's a person, you've seen people before, and move on.

If people come up asking to pet the dog, this is a question you can answer yes or no to. If there is a group of people, or if the the kids seem out of control, say no, sorry, she has not been socialized to kids yet. Be picky. Down the line, when the dog has more experiences to draw from, you can be a little more risky, but it is important at this point for positive experiences. If the parents are distracted with their own two small dogs, and a pasel of kids, then no.

When you do decide to let someone pet the dog, offer them a treat and explain how to offer it, palm up open hand. Tell your dog to take it nice, or gentle. Teach them how to pet the dog, starting under the chin and working up along the the side of the face up to the top of the head, and not just coming down from above like a ton of bricks. Dogs generally look up And if you suddenly look up, you lower jaw will generally drop open. This exposes our dogs rather large canines, and an inexperienced petter might take that as a sign of aggression pulling back the hand, which the dog sees as teasing or something to chase or realizes the fear and becomes alert or even fearful.