Do you have friends in your local network that are legitimately dog savvy? Drop by a park or somewhere novel and let them watch how your puppy acts. Someone that understands German Shepherds, but isn't trying to sell you anything, or nurse a grudge against your breeder, will just give you their insight.

Try not to assign labels to this 8 week old puppy just yet. If you are looking for reactivity, all you'll see is reactivity. If you're looking for shyness, you'll see shyness in everything.

 

Speaking from a position of ignorance, I'm frankly blown away at the various recommendation to return an 8 week old puppy to the breeder simply because she wasn't overly confident in a massive big box store days after being ripped away from her mother and litter mates, accompanied by a new human who hasn't taken the time to establish a new relationship as partner and protector yet and plans to keep the dog as a simple companion pet. With an owner personality that as far as I've seen, would potentially be a disaster with an overly confident/pushy dog.

I get why David wouldn't want it preferably, but the OP sure wouldn't want David's dog either; she would have entirely different and more dangerous issues to bring here imo. I just don't get the idea that a dog a little over whelmed at 8 weeks suddenly is guaranteed to be a fearful adult.

Talk to the breeder sure, but take a breath and take a few days. There are tons of degrees of socialization and exposure this side of a big box store at 8 weeks....

 

I don't think this behavior guarantees anything, good or bad. It's just information. More information is better than less. I would talk to the breeder and see what she recommends.

I believe that the OP wouldn't do well with Valor. He's a bit much and takes the right kind of leadership.

This isn't behavior I would expect from any puppy though. I agree that once the dog showed avoidance, continuing on was just flooding and was not productive.

 

It’s ok for puppies to be scared of new experiences. It’s ok for puppies that get overwhelmed with stimulation they fear to shut down. It’s been said multiple times, the dog could be fine, or it could be something. I don’t have some expectation that an 8 week old puppy should go gaga over every person they see and be looking for pets. I will say however, that the last thing I want to see from any dog I buy at any age, 6 weeks the youngest I’ve gotten and 7 years being the oldest, is such fear of a person that they run and hide and shut down. That is not a dog I want to deal with. I believe it’s perfectly reasonable to expect a young puppy to be comfortable around new people. That is the worst possible reaction I want to see. If you love a dog and want to work through it that’s one thing. If bear developed fear issues with people tomorrow, I would absolutely do everything in my power to work through it. I’ve had him for over two years. He’s not a brand new dog I’m bringing into my home, especially for good money. There is a lot going on in Home Depot, and it involves more than just people, so that may not have been the issue. I would absolutely take her somewhere calmer where people could pass by her, within the bubble she set at Home Depot to see the reaction. It may very well change. I would also expect it to. I’m not going to spin having a dog that is fearful of people as a good thing. I don’t think it is. There’s a difference between aloof, not wanting to be pet, and flat out terrified. If I bought a puppy who was consistently reacting like that, I would send it back, before I became to attached.

 

I’m not going to spin having a dog that is fearful of people as a good thing. I don’t think it is. There’s a difference between aloof, not wanting to be pet, and flat out terrified. If I bought a puppy who was consistently reacting like that, I would send it back, before I became to attached.

100% agree with this. I'm just not sure this wasn't just a one of everyone's having a crap day response. I agree it wouldn't be my expectation from a well bred dog, but I would want to see it more then once before I gave up.

 

For me a pup should be able to handle this situation without fear or backing away and be able to recover quickly. Seems your pup still was fearful when you got home.
sounds like she needs lots of exposure in small increments and not so close to what she is afraid of.

 

Well - this post was from 3 months ago. IMO, this breeder was not for you. You needed a medium drive, social, prey based dog. If I remember correctly, another poster described the opposite when you asked about what this litter would produce.

As you may know... I just lost my boy. Neither of my first 2 gsd's came from a breeder so I have a lot to learn and am relying heavily on the experience of the members here.
Has anyone had experience with this breeder ?
I am looking for a sound working line boy or girl to train with and possibly go on to more organized events as I learn what he/she enjoys (and I learn more about that world). But above all else a solid companion to do everything with ie. hiking, swimming etc.
A dog I can take everywhere but who is happy to snuggle up in the evening a watch a movie with lots of hugs!
A dog who is smart as a whip and has an innate ability to discern appropriate reactions.
In all honesty I am middle age ish so I think a moderate/high ? drive would be appropriate.
I live alone, work from home and have time and energy to give. I have a home and large fenced yard.
Thank you all
Feel free to pm or make suggestions about other breeders near Ottawa,Ontario, Canada

So you have some choices.
1. Get a good trainer to help you navigate the puppyhood of this girl and see how things go with her.
2. Contact Christine and return her now.

 

"
And not just the dog, but the reaction of the owner to the situation which is so very important. I'm sure you and I would handle the situation differently than the OP based on our experiences."

Were an open book to a dog, we emit all kinds of odors and signals when we stress, I see Pepper watching the wife and I for our reactions to things, were calm and cool, she is calm and cool.

We were at the Golden Spike National historic site "Golden Spike National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service)" they have a couple of live steam engines the operate there, we were there with Pepper, the ranger warned us about the noise, I watched Pepper when the whistles and bells started, she turned and looked at us, turned back and chilled.

 

I would not get a dog with Anrebri dogs in the pedigree. People have different opinions on the kennel's dogs and one is they throw a lot of dogs with genetic nerve issues.

 

My working line girl has linebreeding on 2 Anrebri dogs and no nerve issues. Now that I know where the pup is from, and have seen the pedigree, I'm surprised that she has issues with meeting strangers. Neither my working line or my showline dogs had fear issues as puppies. Star was a bit freaked out by children at first, having never met any, but a few sessions with kids giving her treats and petting her solved that in a hurry. After 14 HOURS on an airplane, Eska didn't want to come out of her crate, but one she was out, she sniffed around, oblivious to the traffic going by on the nearby road, then wanted to play with her leash! She was totally fine with meeting strangers and going into stores with me, though I don't recall how long I waited before I took her into a store.

Now, I DID have a dog with nerve issues, and they were so bad I finally rehomed her. The issues were definitely genetic, as I knew the breeder, and saw how the pups were handled and raised before I took her home at 8 weeks. The issues did not disappear with repeated exposure to the things she was afraid of. Any improvement was very, very slow. To give an example: one day, she was fine with taking treats from a stranger while sitting at an outdoor cafe with me. The next day, we met the same woman walking towards us along the street, and she totally freaked out and tried to run away when the lady wanted to pet her.

As many people have said, this may be a one-off thing, but if it continues to be a problem, I'd consider returning the pup. A dog with sound nerves DOES NOT act this way!

 

If it was me, I would do two things. First talk to the breeder. Then get a very good trainer with a lot of GSD experience to observe your puppy in different situations, including going back to Home Depot. Then make a decision based on fact rather than what people here are telling you. The advice you’ve been given is excellent, coming from some of the best minds, but we can’t observe you and the puppy. The final decision is yours.

 

Honestly, I’m not even sure that people are the problem. They could be, or the people at HD could have just been the cherry on top of a bunch of stressors that ultimately sent the puppy over the edge.

It would be interesting to see if she reacts the same way to a friendly person visiting her home, after she’s has a couple days to settle in and is feeling safe and secure. If that’s a problem too, well then - there’s your answer. One situation that should not have happened isn’t enough for me to be making any assumptions.Take a step back, slow down, and reevaluate.

 

In some defense of the OP, assuming Wendelin Farms was her breeder, which earlier threads seemed to state, this was on their home page:

"Wendelin Farm is a breeder of high quality working [G]erman shepherd dogs from proven European blood lines. Our puppies are raised in a family oriented environment to produce socially stable, clear headed dogs with solid nerve and good overall health. We produce dogs with high drive who are versatile and can work in law enforcement, personal protection, SAR, top sport and of course dogs who can live with a family and be a loyal companion/protection dog. It all depends on each individual puppy/dog and their future training. We do observe and evaluate our puppies when raising and it is very important to us to match each puppy with the client's need."
(I added the bold-faced emphasis, but otherwise, direct cut-and-paste, and I didn't leave much out).

I would add they have some beautiful dogs, and more importantly the website shows many photos of children sledding with dogs, playing hockey around dogs, swimming with dogs, and generally growing up with working line GSDs. So their marketing--and it really is marketing, and pretty well-produced marketing at that--seems pitched as much to families seeking pets as to people with years of experience training military, LE, or civil protection dogs. Not attacking or blaming the breeder here, and it may be there is nothing wrong with the dog. But when they encourage or outright require that they match the dog to you, then it seems to me they have some accountability.

Switching gears a bit, I don't disagree that a fearful GSD would be a bundle of problems, but many have counseled giving the pup at least another chance or two or three. At this stage, it still has milk teeth, yes? You can literally scoop it up? So right now, any red flags notwithstanding, what is the harm in seeing if this was an isolated incident before you check it in on this puppy?
I would agree you might not keep it if this proves to be a pattern rather than a young, fresh from the whelping box puppy moment. But my point is, they are not going to put an injurious fear bite on someone at this age. There is the danger that you get too attached to a dog you might be best off giving up, but the OP's comments sound like she is already a little attached.

I tried going back through some of my e-mails, schedules and just memories of what my two current pups did and where they went and how they reacted when I brought them home.
Rose, my profile pic girl went with me as a spectator to a large Thanksgiving day run last year, pre-COVID. Many hundreds of people lining the sidewalks. No fear reactions, BUT I held her a good bit of the time because I did not want her getting stepped on accidentally. She went in Lowes, same type big box as HD. She even went to work with me and hung out some. But she was also more like 3.5 months when I got her.

Our male, now 9 going on 10 months, came home during COVID. He did very well at Lowes, Bass Pro Shop, big box pet store. But although we brought him home at 7 1/2 weeks, that was right in the heart of the first wave of COVID. I think the socializing came after he had been at our house a little while at least. He started going to Schutzhund training sessions young-ish, but certainly not at 8 weeks.

What I do remember distinctly is that Rose threw a 1 or 2 on the Volhard test for the retrieving exercise (mostly 3s otherwise). Her breeder sent the results. Then when we went to pick her up, she would NOT retrieve. For. Squat. I found that perplexing. She much preferred to show how she could find the hole in the fence, go through it, find the other hole, and come back to us. The breeder let me play two ball fetch with the parents, to reassure me. When we got home hours later, I threw something, a ball, or balled up socks, pretty much resigned that Volhard test was wrong. She went bounding over and fetched it, as she has ever since. I know fear reactivity is a different, more serious concern, but my point is, sometimes a dog, especially a very young dog just has a moment where their mind is not wrapped around what you want them to do.

Maybe do some more bonding, then re-introduce her to HD or some other similar setting. If behavior persists and really seems to be a discernible pattern, then make the decision.

 

In some defense of the OP, assuming Wendelin Farms was her breeder, which earlier threads seemed to state, this was on their home page:

"Wendelin Farm is a breeder of high quality working [G]erman shepherd dogs from proven European blood lines. Our puppies are raised in a family oriented environment to produce socially stable, clear headed dogs with solid nerve and good overall health. We produce dogs with high drive who are versatile and can work in law enforcement, personal protection, SAR, top sport and of course dogs who can live with a family and be a loyal companion/protection dog. It all depends on each individual puppy/dog and their future training. We do observe and evaluate our puppies when raising and it is very important to us to match each puppy with the client's need."
(I added the bold-faced emphasis, but otherwise, direct cut-and-paste, and I didn't leave much out).

I would add they have some beautiful dogs, and more importantly the website shows many photos of children sledding with dogs, playing hockey around dogs, swimming with dogs, and generally growing up with working line GSDs. So their marketing--and it really is marketing, and pretty well-produced marketing at that--seems pitched as much to families seeking pets as to people with years of experience training military, LE, or civil protection dogs. Not attacking or blaming the breeder here, and it may be there is nothing wrong with the dog. But when they encourage or outright require that they match the dog to you, then it seems to me they have some accountability.

Oddly enough, I keyed in one what you DIDN'T bold:
"We produce dogs with high drive who are versatile and can work in law enforcement, personal protection, SAR, top sport"

Of course they CAN be good family pets and still not be right for many families.

I looked back at my advice to the OP when she first thought she wanted a "medium-high drive" dog:
Just a quick note to the OP EgansMom, maybe 1 in 100 owners are ready for a truly moderate/high drive GSD (emphasis on high drive). I'm not sure most even know what that looks like. Even a low ot moderate drive dog is more than enough for the average dog owner's "hiking and swimming"

It's weird because I would have bet the OP would get a "medium" drive GSD that would be too much to handle for her.

Bottom line remains. Call the breeder (although you already called her just to find out if an 8 week old puppy should cry in a remote crate....), take a breath, take a few days and give her some more reasonable exposure and I bet she starts to excel. Or not....and you'll know.

 

@EgansMom I just want to share a quick story.
Sabi was the steadiest dog I have ever known, rock solid right out of the box. Never had normal puppy behavior, no whining or crazy puppy fits. In fact she was so good I kept making my vet examine her because I thought there was something wrong.
On two occasions that I can recall, for no apparent reason, between 2-6 months of age she completely lost her marbles over random things that she had dealt with before. While out with the kids she started growling and backing away from a snowman in spite of the fact that she had helped build said snowman the day before. That was at about 9 weeks. She flipped out and started growling and yelping at a barking dog behind a fence in spite of the fact that we walked past the same stupid dog every day with no issues. That was around 4-5 months.

 

Geez.

I just don’t see the issue. Pup has been home for two days. Two days.

To each their own, but my new pup isn’t seeing anything but my family, home, grounds and it’s new pack for two weeks - at least. Granted. I’m not big on socialization, but that’s immaterial here.

Egans Mom. I know you’re very experienced and all the best with her. But the Home Depot situation wouldn’t occupy ten seconds of my time.

I just think it’s farrrrr too early to be concerned.

Again, best of luck, though, in whatever transpires moving down the road .....

 

Update:
Just spoke to the breeder.
She said it was way too much too soon.
That she would give the bonding with just me a solid week.
Introduce people and new situations more slowly.
That the litter was socialized with her and her family.
That she was exposed to individuals coming and going to pick up other pups and did fine.
That she tested temperament.
That she is a sweet girl with sound nerves from what she assessed.
And that I am welcome to continue calling if there are any concerns.

 

Hate to sound all flaky but full moon. No kiddin'. Makes a big difference. You may have just picked the wrong night for your first home depot exposure. Try it again Dec. 7 (last quarter) and again Dec 14 (new moon). Also, be more of a leader/handler and less of an observer. Ignore the other shoppers and focus training to walk on lead.

as for the crate screaming, whatever you do, don't react to it. Don't look at it, don't talk to it, just ignore.

make it a point to let pup see that you just don't care. Get some headphones, park yourself right in front of that crate and binge watch a few seasons on netflix. LOL it may take 2 weeks, but pup will catch on eventually if you do your part.

 

OP, how are you doing? I mean this in a serious way.

 

We had a more quiet close to home day. Mostly because I get wicked weather headaches. Lots of play inside and out. Some some engagement & name stuff. Provided she gets exercise she is great at calming herself and relaxing.
Good news: she is not afraid of the sound of rain, being in rain, umbrellas, being near the car. Tried a little walk on street but she is distracted by everything (and we haven't really done leash pressure so it's a mess). Good news is she is distracted -interested in everything. It was just now so it was quiet-no dog/people but at least she wasn't scared about being a little further from home.
Also good is that she is getting a little more comfortable exploring further away from me in the house and vice versa.
But when we were playing in the yard just now the neighbor started dragging his garbage bins to the curb. She ran to the side door to come in. I made no notice of it and just got a stick and made playing motions and called and she came racing back to play. Would that be considered "able to recover" from a startle ?
Next on the to do list is bring her out and lots of treats while I rattle my bins.

How am I ? ... trying to take advantage of any quiet times to catch up on rest.

 

Glad to hear that today went well. Now for a restful night😴, or as much as you can with a new baby in the house! 😉

 

Ok .. I think she passed the rattle my bin test. It's in the front yard . She moved away at first but easily come back with upbeat fun voice from me. She checked out the metal bin. Sniffed. Took a walk around it. I dragged it a foot (enough to make noise)she moved away again but this time she came back a little more confident and curious. We also saw a neighbor across the street with his little dog just coming in from a walk. She gave them a cursory glance and moved towards them a few steps then came back to me (but she knew I had treats in my pocket).
I think she is doing fine. Maybe these accomplishments seem minor because some of the pups on here are scaling Mount Everest and they are pretty amazing, but I'm proud of her as a little girl away from her family with no pack here except this strange lady.
She also catches on super quick with training. She already goes to the door if she needs to pee (about half the time) and is responding to her name. And she learned VERY quickly how to jump on the couch (I'm ok with it) because she loves snuggling.

 

All good but don't overdo it. You have a lifetime ahead of her. There is a good sticky post about over-socializing but I can't find it. My pups were still in the litter at this age until 11 weeks. The 8 week age can also be a fear period.

 

Sorry just re read my post. By "we saw a neighbor" I meant she gave them a cursory glance from across the street in our front yard. Her reaction was kinda like "ya, whatever". Perfect !

She seems to think under the couch is something of a den. She's flaked out.
Yay. I get to watch a show then we are up to bed. Our schedule starts and ends later.
I had forgotten how exhausting puppyhood is and how you wonder if you both will survive it. lol

 

A crate Near your bed at night will not effect anything but Allow you to sleep better. I had one crated one near my bed and one downstairs in the kitchen. You can try a blanket covered partially with adequate ventilation to try to calm her down. I would only let her out of the crate when she is sleeping and not when she is crying - this is the biggest most important lesson in crate training. The pup must be calm and quiet before allowed to leave the crate. If you are letting her out of the crate as she is screaming you are rewarding her for screaming. And showing her wrongly how to behave in a crate. In regards to people it is interesting to compare to see if pups have changed and how. With that said though you should not judge a pup on one outing even a few with no time to bond ever. Just like kids there dots are connected with growth. It can be possible though it would give you a glimpse on how the pup responds to a particular pressure and what will be needed to work on in the future. There are all different kinds of pressure maybe it’s people he is unsure of. Or it can mean a new day can mean a new start and without cause of concern. It can mean all they need is direction to get over the hump and some time and patience. There is always something to work on with your growing pup they are living beings and not machines or fictional characters made of steel. Enjoy your outings with your pup it is important with any degree and kind of nerves. Bad experiences will shape the dogs outlook. You can not judge by one bad outing And not should judge a line but only what you have in front of you. It is important to relax. Nerves are not black and white as you often hear about.

Only going down memory land -The next day after bringing Max home from the breeders. I had brought him to my nephews bday party the day after we had him. it was the end of the party And was my moms house with only my family but yeah he took it in stride. A few days later we traveled out of state with Max to a aunts party xmas eve party where the house was jammed with people and he had no crate and he settled in automatically. iThe very first night I brought Max home (who is a asl line ) who was very quiet at the breeders when we picked him up seemed to know what was going on and also cried a lot on the way home in the car. He investigated the house as soon as we put him on the ground and was chasing all the leaves in the backyard and running around with my son who took to him instantly. There are woods in our backyard and it was at night and was so loud, windy and eerie -almost hurricane type of winds. The trees were blowing like mad. Max was off the leash. He had an option to run back in the house as the sliding glass doors were open but he walked over to me where I stood and middle of the back yard and sat down right next to me and quietly watched the trees dance in the madness with me it was a site to see. It told me a lot about him even back then that we will face any storm together and so we have. I remember going to the breeders and at 4 weeks of age is saw Max cry and whine as his dam left the whelping box through the doggy door to her kennel to eat a cookie. All the other 7 pups just played with each other without a care in the world to where their dam was. Max is still a mommas boy and by my side all the time without being anxious or clingy. I remember he could not get out of the whelping box as a 4 week old pup he just perched his paws on top of it. I remember for a brief moment thinking as I observed this pup at the breeders pining for his momma, I was concerned would this pup have separation anxiety issues and would he be unathletic. As it turned out he is the most athletic dog I ever owned and has no separation anxiety, extremely environmentally sound dog with strong pack drives ,food ball and prey drives and strong protective instincts with a really connection to me.

A 10 week old pup I hooked him up to a sled to as a young puppy and he was happy to pull it. He would check out any thing he was unsure. There were balloons blowing on a bench at the end of the trail he could not wait to put his head in the middle of it. Still to this day heis very forward in that regard right in the middle of what he is unsure of to investigate: We live near Atlantic Ocean - giant sized waves in Ny but more so strong waves and really strong tides much different then Florida. Max would chase a ball and dive through any sized wave or he will swim out to me to check on me without a ball investigate, crawl into sewer tunnels he is unnerved not by much. He Will scent work a room unleashed without noticing a room filled of dogs., He does not like smoke I would say smoke is the one thing that will rattle his cage And want to get away from heavy smoke.

Luna a wgsl was a happy loving exciting puppy to see us from the start she adapted immediately to the house she was naturally obedient even then . Her first outing was at the people park with the family the day after. A week after I had her in a shopping cart. I remember it was right after the election at home at home goods 4 years ago. I then had brought her to petco I remember there was some kind of event and it was a bit to busy to my liking but there were people in wheel chairs in crutches and she was just as happy to see them. Both dogs were always very comfortable and happy with attention as pups from people. Max maturing being more watchful of strangers outside the circle and Luna being more social accepting of large scale attention from strangers outside the circle. Max never liking strange dogs as he was never around any dogs but he does now mind his manners and all is needed is a leave it. I feel as if used this from the beginning it would go been never an issue. Luna is not as environmentally sound to certain objects in as comfortably walking in a tv sized box or searching in a swinging bucket filled with water but has strong environmental in regard to loud sounds she cares nothing about she will not want to search the house to find and eat a block buster firework that is set of on the house behind her but sleep through one and she would jump in on anything. Luna loves the bay but unsure of the giant powerful waves of the Atlantic Ocean In Ny. Some days the ocean is to powerful for me to go in myself: They are both really good sold strong nerved that make excellent family dogs that can was seen at a young age. My entire point is look for your pup strong points and focus on those. A dog with strong nerves will have weaknesses and the things that you consider a weaknesses will be hard to notice eventually as they mature because their strengths are greater.

 

Hey EgansMom,

I think that's normal behaviour because she's still a baby and unsure of the world! Don't be hard on yourself. Right now she's going "what is this?!?!" She'll bounce back once she knows it's safe. She's only 8 weeks, give her time.

 

She’s doing very well and so are you. I know that feeling of panic when something is not what we expect, but these dogs are a very resilient breed in general. She’s a beautiful dog, sounds like just what you wanted. So much can be fixed with early exposure.

 

So Jaimie has been home for a couple of days just spending tons of time with me. The only issue we were having...I thought..was screaming in the crate.
I took her out to home depot tonight to see her reactions. I thought "oh this is good" when the big automatic doors opened and she stopped but then followed me with no hesitation. She trotted along beside me no problem till the first person walked by her. In fact every person that walked by within about 10 feet she would freeze then avoid.... backing away as much as the leash would allow.
I really didn't expect that. I guess I got a little flustered. (Haven't had much sleep). I ended up kinda half sliding/half quick stepping her out of there. I didn't want to pick her up and reinforce her fear.
In hindsight I think I should have just stopped at a distance from people and given her treats as they passed ?
I walked her around the parking lot for a few minutes. She seemed a little nervous about the few moving cars in the parking lot.
When we got home of course she wouldn't come out of the car. I should say...she wouldn't come towards me and the open door so I could help her down. Finally I just reached in and got her out.
Overall a disaster.
Worried about her reactions and not sure how to proceed ?
She is clearly not as confident as I thought she would be. Am I just doing this all wrong ?

"What is a weak nerved dog? Simply put, a weak nerved dog shows avoidance or aggressive behaviors in response to non-threatening people, situations or objects. This includes the shy dogs and the fear biters. Nothing is more difficult for a breeder or dog owner to hear than that her dog has a nerve problem. People will go to great lengths to bend reality around and deny the problem. All the alarms should go off in your head when you hear a breeder attempting to blame the environment for a dog's behavior. For instance, the shy pup who cringes and skitters away from you when you crouch down to pet her. I'll bet the breeder told you not to worry, she's just a little shy and needs time to get to know you. And I'll bet the breeder told you that is perfectly normal for a puppy. Or the young adult dog who lunges and snaps at a neutral stranger you see walking down the street and you decide it's because the stranger was wearing a funny hat or that your dog is just incredibly perceptive and recognized some evil trait in the stranger from which she was bravely protecting you. (Actually, if your dog did this only once or twice in a lifetime, I'd be inclined to buy it). A dog's reaction to neutral strangers is always significant. By neutral, we mean the stranger walking down the street who pays no attention to you or your dog. Does the dog ignore the stranger? Fine. Some curiosity is well within normal range as well. Avoidance or aggression are signals of a serious nerve problem."

Probably not what you want to hear. It could pass. Has the breeder agreed to replace the pup? If you see this avoidance/freezing/nervousness much longer I would strongly suggest you replace the pup. I think you are getting some bad information here about the behavior you described as normal for a GSD or, she hasn't had time to adjust, or the situation was too much. As the writer above stated, people will go to great lengths to the deny the problem. JMO

 

Chip, read all 7 pages. There Is more information further down. It seems the OP has figured it out.