Hi guys. My boy is 8.5 months gsd. He is american showline. The thing is, he is very playful and loves everyone..everyone..When is he gonna be aloof with strangers.? Is this normal at this age? Or because he is american showline, I'm thinking maybe it is due to him being american showline. They are mellow tempered. And also I think because of this , he won't be able to protect me right?. When I read articles, it seemed american showlines almost totally different than working lines or west german showlines. So, our dogs are just beautiful, good lookin and COWARDS.????..What do u all think?. Thank you
your pup is young, so regardless of lines I think it is a great thing that he loves everyone...many dog owners would love to have a dog that loves everyone
As far as development and acting aloof, I personally think it depends on the dog. There isnt much that I have heard where it is a difference of lines that makes a dog more aloof than another, just the dog itself, or experiences in the life of the dog.
This is my experience: We have 2 german shepherds right now that are around the 1 1/2 yr old mark. One is a working line male, the other is a rescue female that in my best guess is german or a mix of lines. They love everyone, they seem to think life is their playground
. While it can be hard to teach them not to jump and kiss everyone, I still like it that they love to be with people.
My husband, and eventually myself, had an american line gsd since she was a pup (I met her when she was 4), and while she was more mellow she was much more aloof, from a younger age. I do not equate aloof with protective. She was still very much a love people dog, just more aloof.
So I would certaintly not think your dog is a coward, in fact he sounds well socialized.
I wouldnt worry about him protecting you...he is a pup have fun with him
I personally don't look to either of ours for protection, more comfort and a deterrent at best!!
If you have a dog who is friendly and social and stable - count your blessings!!!!!!!!!!! The protective instincts and territorialism should NOT be in high gear at 8.5 months - he is a puppy!
He may or may not develop these traits as he gets older - but DOGS - all breeds of dogs - can be protective of their homes, not just GSDs - so just wait on that...and yes, we all know about the dogs who will not only lead the burglers to the family silver, but serve tea on top of it LOL LOL LOL
Aloof has nothing to do with socialization, protectiveness or aggression. An aloof dog can and will interact fine with people, but does not seek attention and petting from everyone. An aloof dog should still be stable socially, and not fearful or actively sharp in aggression. I have a very aloof dog - he will never seek to be petted or physically interact for attention...but if you pick up a stick, he is right there bouncing and asking for it to be thrown and will retrieve and tug with anyone he can con into playing. He just does not want sit in their laps or be petted.
Wow. You should be counting your blessings. I would not consider him a coward. He would not be so outgoing if he were. Sounds like a good dog.
My boxer LOVES LOVES everyone but on several occasions she has protected our little dog and once she protected me from a vicious dog. She just knows how to asesses a situation.
My shepherd is aloof to strangers. He is almost 6 mnths old. At this age he coudn't protect himself against a paper bag.
My girl is sweet as can be, nice as pie, unless SHE feels a threat to me or herself. Believe me these dogs........... (and truly it doesn't have to be a GSD) know how to asses a situation. A COWARD...NO, a PUPPY..YES Thank heavens your pup is social, you want that, a social dog will still have instincts !!
You are very lucky to have what seems like a normal and happy PUPPY! It's what we strive to have when we get a dog from a good background and socialize it well.
Nothing to do with being a 'coward'.
Normal and happy PUPPY! My GSD's didn't really get the aloof until they matured, I'd say at 2 to 3 years. Until then I encouraged any and all the wonderful behaviors it appears your dog has (lucky lucky you and you are doing a great job).
Truthfully, just because you own a GSD the vast majority of 'bad guys' won't mess with you because of that. Why take a chance with your house/family when the people down the block don't even own a dog?
Additionally, a true protection dog that knows what they are doing and doesn't accidentally bite your mother-in-law OR your neighbor kid that is wrestling with your child, takes a TON of training, a ton of additional training, and is a huge responsiblity for many of us to have around the house.
What I know helped my pups get a little less joyous and excited (happy?) looking everytime they would see someone, is the continued socialization and bringing them out for car rides and meeting tons and tons of friendly or NEUTRAL/IGNORING people. Kind of desensatizes them so EVERYONE isn't so exciting. And they start getting better at recognizing that some people are more exciting than others. And alot of people are pretty darn boring and don't realize my loveliness and walk on by so I'm going to ignore them too!!!
My Gunner is a year old GSD and is from European working lines. He just loves people.
A couple of days ago while walking a mom and her 2 year old daughter asked if they could pet Gunner I said no problem had him sit they were nervous but first the mom petted him then the little girl while she was petting him Gunner licked the little girl. They went away really happy after petting the big bad GSD.
As stated above I count my blessings every day. Put Gunner on the training field and he is one aggressive dog.
Wait until he's around 12 months of age when all the silly male hormones kick in, then enjoy the ride through adulthood and pray that mental maturity comes soon! Sounds like you have a great pup. Loving everyone is AWESOME! Foster that as much as possible! A true GSD should not hate everyone nor fear everyone but it should be politely aloof as in, "Stranger... meh." A good GSD should NOT be, "Stranger.. EAT!!!!!"
I also have a West German working line male, about a year old. He loves people. Happily kisses and moves in for petting from strangers. He's working in Schutzhund and has no problems on the field. From what I understand this is not a bad thing. Usually I prefer a dog who sees no threat in regular everyday people, means when we're out and about I don't have to worry if a child sneaks up behind us to pet "the doggie".
"People are good" isn't a bad attitude to foster in a dog, but aloof like DianaM said "Stranger...meh" may just have to do with how your dog is rewarded by strangers. I know people who like their dogs to be around people, but no one but themselves pet the dog or play with the dog. This is usually done so strangers are like mobile furniture (neutral). Nothing to be concerned about, but nothing to be interested in either, Nothing good (pets, treats, attention) or bad comes from strangers so the dog thinks "meh"
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