Our Dog Only Likes Us...

[OurAdalai]

I'm hoping someone will be able to help us out here, we have a 8 month old female GSD, and she does not like anyone but my wife and I. She has been going to puppy socialization classes for about 3 months, and does fine with other dogs, but she does not like other people.

We recently brought in a roommate to our house, he is a close friend, and he's been living here about a month, and she still won't really let him pet her, except with a treat, and then she runs away. My mother was also here for about a week when Adalai was about 4 months and we had the same issue, she wouldn't ever really let her pet her. And she's that way when we have other friends over as well, she's not aggresive with them, she just doesn't want anything to do with them. When they first walk in she barks like crazy but then stops once she see's they're friends, but will not let them play with her. We want her to be able to be petted and loved by everyone who comes over, but she just wont have it. Please help us.

[Niya]

Originally Posted by OurAdalai

I'm hoping someone will be able to help us out here, we have a 8 month old female GSD, and she does not like anyone but my wife and I. She has been going to puppy socialization classes for about 3 months, and does fine with other dogs, but she does not like other people.

We recently brought in a roommate to our house, he is a close friend, and he's been living here about a month, and she still won't really let him pet her, except with a treat, and then she runs away. My mother was also here for about a week when Adalai was about 4 months and we had the same issue, she wouldn't ever really let her pet her. And she's that way when we have other friends over as well, she's not aggresive with them, she just doesn't want anything to do with them. When they first walk in she barks like crazy but then stops once she see's they're friends, but will not let them play with her. We want her to be able to be petted and loved by everyone who comes over, but she just wont have it. Please help us.

We have the same exact situation with my 5 month old but she is getting better each day. She has a fear issue and would bark at people (except if were at the dog park) When my friend came over Niya barked like theres no tomorrow and it was really annoying. The next time my friend came over she was getting better, she still barked but took about 5-10 minutes to get comfortable with my friend and she let him pet her. Socialization is very important here. Try taking her to dog parks 3-5 times a week at least that's what I've been doing. This is definitely a fear issue just like mine, take it slow though, if you haven't been to a dog park then this is the time you take your dog. Let your dog observe other dogs and people there before you come in or you could take her for walks instead or go to a park where there's a lot of people. Just sit on a bench and let your dog observe the people till he gets comfortable. Don't let people pet her if they ask, just tell them "were in training" Hope everything goes well for you!

[Wild Wolf]

You need to socialize her. She needs to go new places, meet new people, learn to sit for people to greet her, and continue to socialize her while she is still young. I liked taking Hunter to the farmer's market when he was young, because we couldn't walk five steps without having to stop for someone to pet him.

[gsd320]

Some dogs just aren't cuddle bunnies & they don't need to be cuddle bunnies. Since she's not aggressive, I don't see a problem.

Does she play rough with other dogs?

Does she amuse herself (sniffing, chewing etc)?

Dogs please themselves--you might try playing rough with her (tug) or playing ball or chase games.

Or interact with motivational training which is just structured play. Lots of young energetic pups aren't cuddle bunnies.

Don't force her to accept petting, especially from strangers, if that isn't her thing.

Hint about roommate--let her approach him & make sure she's hungry when he has food for her.

[PaddyD]

Originally Posted by gsd320

Some dogs just aren't cuddle bunnies & they don't need to be cuddle bunnies. Since she's not aggressive, I don't see a problem.

Does she play rough with other dogs?

Does she amuse herself (sniffing, chewing etc)?

Dogs please themselves--you might try playing rough with her (tug) or playing ball or chase games.

Or interact with motivational training which is just structured play. Lots of young energetic pups aren't cuddle bunnies.

Don't force her to accept petting, especially from strangers, if that isn't her thing.

Hint about roommate--let her approach him & make sure she's hungry when he has food for her.

I agree. GSDs aren't meant to be very friendly, although many are. Give her space and allow her to gain confidence with strangers at her own pace.

[OurAdalai]

Originally Posted by gsd320

Some dogs just aren't cuddle bunnies & they don't need to be cuddle bunnies. Since she's not aggressive, I don't see a problem.

Does she play rough with other dogs?

Does she amuse herself (sniffing, chewing etc)?

Dogs please themselves--you might try playing rough with her (tug) or playing ball or chase games.

Or interact with motivational training which is just structured play. Lots of young energetic pups aren't cuddle bunnies.

Don't force her to accept petting, especially from strangers, if that isn't her thing.

Hint about roommate--let her approach him & make sure she's hungry when he has food for her.

We are both(the roommate and I) firefighters, so on the 4 days a week that he's home, we talked to him about having him feed her her daily meals, so hopefully that will help the bond a little too.

I understand not all dogs like to be cuddily with everyone else, we were just hoping she would be. We will keep working with her on it though before we just give up. She is not aggressive towards anyone, and does enjoy rough housing with me.

Thanks for the help everyone.