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Sensitivity needed in raising a Bitch vrs a Dog?

3K views 12 replies 8 participants last post by  lone Ranger 
#1 ·
I am wondering if I need to watch out for more sensitivity is raising a female vrs a male GSD... I mean from a study of it, and my two older GSDs, it seems the Male is more territorial protective, where the female is more person protective if they bond with someone..

If this is true, you would expect more Bitches on Duty, but they are not preferred because they go into Season and are off duty for three-four weeks. Mind you the Alpha Bitch Tonka I raised and ruined out of ignorance having here nuetered, came from a Breeder that did guard dog response and She preferred the Bitches... So it is not always true..

Anyway, I am getting a Bitch, cute little female pup, from a 48 kg 110 lb Police Dog Mother. I am just wondering, if She bonds with me and she will, do I need to watch out and not "Hurt Her Feelings" as much as I would talk harsh and occassionally yell at a male dog when he was doing something wrong..

My 5 month old Dog, heels, sits, stays, even 50% out of sight stay, heels off leash, recalls, tries to herd cattle, responds correctly to commands in Spanish of "Leave it" and "Its OK all good" that sort of thing. It does not come this good without an occassional yell NO! Or an occassional scolding when he does wrong, which he seems to understand. But I most of the time I operate with all Positive Reinforcement training. Is it going to work with the Bitch? Or do I have to make sure I do not raise my voice or yell at her because it will hurt her feelings?

I get her in three weeks, now 5 weeks old.. Here She was bonding with me at three weeks with a pure look of joy getting her feet rubbed... :D

 
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#3 ·
Dead Serious,

I have had a Breeder tell me, and a Trainer tell me they thought the female pups got their feelings hurt a bit easier..

My Alpha Bitch Tonka, is a bit off the center line, either because in my stupidity I had her nuetered too early before I knew better. I had signed a document that I would not Breed Her, anyway I should have waited until She was about two. I don't know if that did it or: That somewhere She got into a rat block, I thought she was a hemophiliac, bleeding gums and a bit wonky for two days.. Either way, she is sensitive to me raising my voice and will duck for cover too quickly. She could just be thin skinned or

I am serious, getting my second female, now this one as my own and to maybe breed from... Look, very serious, only have owned two and the first one I made all the mistakes possible.. :wild:

This one is a very expensive little sweetie from a 110 lb Police Dog Mother of a good Working Dog line... I want to get it right... :help:
 
#4 · (Edited)
May I ask why you keep posting and are so happy that the dam is 110 pounds? That is so much over standard... I would be more worried about health problems than about hurting the dog's feelings.

In my opinion dogs don't have feelings like humans do. They are animals and they react. They either have weak nerves or they don't. If an animal cowers because of a human 's raised voice, then it's a nerve issue, not feelings.
 
#9 ·
May I ask why you keep posting and are so happy that the dam is 110 pounds? .
I appreciate your health concerns, but these are a different breed here than the normal Show Dog. These are a line of flat back big strong Working Dogs here, and for my purposes larger is better. The same with the Police and PPD people. For me, Dingos and Wild dogs coming in for calves will not challenge a larger dog. I may breed with two of the strongest WD lines I can find. That and on the road with horses, size matters, intimidation means they are not put to the test.

This is the "Last Frontier" more of the Wild West a hundred years ago, where size matters, these larger dog lines here are still graded before being allowed to breed, and have very good scores and I will do the same before breeding these two. My Show Dog Dakota, was selected because he was over standard, about 2" over the maximum Show Standard here. We have different needs here, and he has not been challenged in ten years, because of his size he has bluffed his way through.. :D Works for guarding cattle, looking after camp and horsefloat, size matters.

Sorry if it is not what you are used to.. We are sort of "Dancing with Wolves" here...
 
#6 ·
I think it's very individual depending on the dog. I will say that most of my females have been more serious .. so seemed more sensitive. I've had two males GSDs, one was more confident and chill, the other was more sensitive to correction. So I've had sensitive dogs in both sexes.
 
#7 ·
Dogs definitely feel emotions. Lone Ranger, I think your question is completely valid. In my experience, you really have to base your training on the individual dog. Using too harsh of corrections with any soft dog can seriously damage the relationship, especially in a pup.

When in doubt use positive reinforcement and teach the puppy, this will ensure that you have a strong bond with your puppy. With puppies under 6 months, I recommend exclusively positive reinforcement and negative punishment to train. There is no scolding, no yelling, no punishment at this age (other than the occasional 30-45 second time outs, or when they are really wild "cool down" time in the crate). Obviously, this means there also needs to be LOTS of management in place. I would recommend a crate or two, a babygate, and exercise pen, a fan or two (to put in front of the crates for white noise and in case she gets hot!), a waist leash (can make out of a 6 ft lead at home), tethers, 6 large KONGS (puppy to start, you will probably need to switch to red or black as she ages), other activity toys, 25 12-inch bullysticks to start (trust me, you'll go through them), sweet potato chews, and a solid housetraining (R+ based) and exercise plan.

As they get older, you can start introducing corrections. Starting with this strong foundation of positive reinforcement will boost your puppy's confidence and create a puppy/dog who is extremely bonded to you. As a bonus side effect, you will also get a much stronger come when called because your puppy will want to be with you. Once your dog has this foundation at 6 months (decent heel, loose leash walking, sit, down, stand, stay, etc), then you can start considering corrections as she ages depending on what you want to use her for.

IMO, corrections should always be implemented under the guidance of an experienced trainer. If the time comes where you need to introduce corrections and you are choosing your trainer, look at their dogs, do they cower from their owners, are there lots of ears back, lip licking, and whites of eyes showing. Does the dog's tail tuck, or do they pancake to the ground? These are often the marks of an inexperienced trainer using punishment and I would avoid those trainers at all costs. Look for trainers who rely predominately on motivational methods with dogs who seem eager to work but also know how to administer an appropriate correction when necessary - those trainers are often few and far between, but well worth the hunt! Good luck!
 
#10 ·
Dogs definitely feel emotions. Lone Ranger, I think your question is completely valid. In my experience, you really have to base your training on the individual dog. Using too harsh of corrections with any soft dog can seriously damage the relationship, especially in a pup.

When in doubt use positive reinforcement and teach the puppy, this will ensure that you have a strong bond with your puppy. With puppies under 6 months, I recommend exclusively positive reinforcement and negative punishment to train. There is no scolding, no yelling, no punishment at this age (other than the occasional 30-45 second time outs, or when they are really wild "cool down" time in the crate). Obviously, this means there also needs to be LOTS of management in place. I would recommend a crate or two, a babygate, and exercise pen, a fan or two (to put in front of the crates for white noise and in case she gets hot!), a waist leash (can make out of a 6 ft lead at home), tethers, 6 large KONGS (puppy to start, you will probably need to switch to red or black as she ages), other activity toys, 25 12-inch bullysticks to start (trust me, you'll go through them), sweet potato chews, and a solid housetraining (R+ based) and exercise plan.

As they get older, you can start introducing corrections. Starting with this strong foundation of positive reinforcement will boost your puppy's confidence and create a puppy/dog who is extremely bonded to you. As a bonus side effect, you will also get a much stronger come when called because your puppy will want to be with you. Once your dog has this foundation at 6 months (decent heel, loose leash walking, sit, down, stand, stay, etc), then you can start considering corrections as she ages depending on what you want to use her for.

QUOTE]

Wow, Michele, that was really great. It resonates with me, a chord of truth... It is what I thought as a basis. My problem is loosing my temper once in a while: Example Like my 5 month old pup Caesar jumping up and biting my hand holding the ball and bleeding me. Scars are part of the game, I know this. But I might shout at him. NO! In the strongest terms... Like when as a young puppy he comes in with muddy feet and in his enthusiasm jumps up on me, NO! I lose my temper and shout at him. I have to work on this over reaction I know that, and I am.

I have done no harm with him, he is robust and self confident. I really only lose it when I lose my Temper and yell a NO! command, or when I am scared. Once he got into a pen with a Steer I am fattening, and played at herding like we do on a leash. I was scared, my fault for having him off lead.. But I yelled at him.. It is my self control I need to work on, and so I put this O.P. up to see if the female GSDs were more sensitive. So far the responses are that it is up to the individual puppy, some will and some won't...

Kind regards, lone Ranger out on the Frontier.... 150 years too late, but still trying...
 
#8 ·
It has to do with the individual dog rather then sex. Sensitive dogs need sensitive owners who won't cater to them but work with them rather the force them. Hard dogs need harder trainers who are firm but not too heavy handed and understand stubborness

Start with positive reinforcement and see how she does
 
#11 · (Edited)
I think it is the individual dog.

One of the hardest dogs I had with a mind of her own was a little 48lb spitfire of a female. Nothing fazed her. I think you could hit her over the head with a two by four and she not notice it. [edit FWIW she was true working lines]

One of the softest dogs I ever had was an intact Czech male who always wanted to do my bidding. Several K9 officers told me that HE was the dog who would go through fire to protect me. I never required that and he never had ocassion to do so though when we encounterd a bear he was not aggressive but put himself right next to me AND between me AND it - he always put himself between me and anything he was uncomfortable with.

I am not sure what gets bred to what over there to make these monstorously big dogs-nor what is the temperament of the breeding stock - the normal working police dog (not show dog) in my neck of the woods is 70 -90lbs tops and a lot of the departments have much lighter Malinois. I have seen them do their work (we train with the police though we don't do bitework on the SAR team) and that size does not seem to prevent them from taking down some pretty large men. Typically the males are the patrol dogs but there are some females who do this as well and plenty of males nut cut out for it.

So to the original question - IMO each dog has its own temperament and it is not the sex of the dog.
 
#12 ·
It is the dog, not the gender. I have one male and several females...it is the dog.

However, I will note that during heat cycles, the females can get a little sensitive. I go at the female's pace at that time...if she wants to relax and veg during that time, I let her. If she can work through the heat, we proceed as normal. Read your dog, read the signals they give you, and proceed accordingly.
 
#13 ·
Well thank you, all of your for your valued opinions on this...

Only having experienced one female dog, I will proceed as if she is neither Bitch nor Dog, but puppy and see how she reacts... In my experience, the Dog is more perimeter territorial, and the Bitch wants to be Personal and protective of the person space of the Owner she bonds to..

I will proceed as if there is no difference, and we will see how we go..

Thank you for your opinions on the matter...
 
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