Suggestions wanted for our weak nerved 8 month old GSD.

[onyx'girl]

Karlo has never barked reactively in his crate in the vehicle(only when he hears gunshot/whips during training or sees protection)
People can walk their dogs by no problem. But with maturity, he doesn't allow people to put their fingers in his crate, it shows in his eyes and he has nipped or low growled when someone has done so.
Bark collars are fine, I'd get one that stims up til the dog shuts up, then you know the level needed. I wouldn't put one on a dog younger than 8 months though.

[MaggieRoseLee]

I absolutely positively know that my pups all grow thru different developmental (fear? ) stages and the more I do EARLY on to prepare them, the easier it is to work thru when they 'suddenly' crop up.

http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum...socialization/

Vital to all of this is the socialization and instant feedback/assistance I get from dog classes. Going once a week forces me to deal with any/all situations weekly and gives me the tools to work thru them for the next session.

What are your classes doing to help with this? If it's only getting worse than I'd look into a different instructor with more experience in different breeds.

SOCIALIZATION with people and the world is so key for our dogs the first year and I'm also not clear on how many thousands (I'm not so much kidding) of people your pup has been exposed to so far. The more new people and new situations many of our puppies can be exposed to...... and that we guide them thru as calm confident leaders (giving and handing out treats) the less scary and more boring the real world will be. So over reacting in a totally inappropriate manner doesn't even come up when a pup is deeply in the 'we are going into town to walk down Main St AGAIN!' mode.

[Jo_in_TX]

Teddy (ten months tomorrow) definitely went through this phase, which did take me by surprise. My othewise laid-back, friendly pup barked frantically at people who approached the car, and even barked at a few folks in places like Petsmart.

She's already coming out of it. Petsmart was very crowded yesterday, and we stayed for a while, yet she behaved beautifully. No barking in the car and none in the parking lot. Let people pet her, when I was purposely avoiding people just a month ago.

She also just finished her first heat (a little on the late side, I think?). Frankly, I think she had a lot of pent-up, hormonal-type craziness for a couple of months.

[ChiliD]

We've socialized him since we brought him home at 8 weeks. He has been to parades, fairs, the beach, crowded downtown, etc, regularly. We just got home from the woods where we encountered a woman with a Lab, Chihuahua, and medium sized mutt, all off leash, and he did fine. Didn't even acknowledge the woman. Back to the car, berserk upon seeing a guy 50 feet away, then at every car on the short ride home. I've got to find a crate for my Jeep. The one we brought him in on Thanksgiving fits in my wife's car, not mine. I took him to Petsmart a few days ago to weigh him, and he did great. This is what confuses me a bit. To reiterate an earlier point, at my parents, he was fine when my sister and family got there. After awhile he began barking at my nephew. In the meantime the marker training continues, and we'll keep working with him.

[msvette2u]

You should work on some of these things. Can never hurt

Mind Games (version 1.0) by M. Shirley Chong