[KZoppa]

Raiiju is a name I learned recently. Rayden was 7 in Aug. I love mythology names as well as those that connect me to something I like. Our first dog as a family was named Connor - hubby is a HUGE Highlander fan!

haha i'm a Twilight fan.... might go with the name Jacob! course jake for short. But i also like the name jake so either way!!! haha. i have time to figure it all out. Not allowed another pup for a few years.

 

[KileysCritters]

Do you guys have 'dramatic' dogs too or is this just an Adalwolf special?

We have 1 Kirschental GSD and 2 rescues. 1 of the rescues can be a bit dramatic but the Kirschental is extremely dramatic. She was well socialized and exposed to everything you could imagine. She walks confidently and proudly and doesn't show any signs of aggression at the vet, etc.

Should I try and help him get over it, or ignore it?

Well don't coddle him as that will just encourage it. Other than that, there's nothing you really need to do except keep exposing him to as much as you can and make the experiences positive.

Its pretty funny most of the time, like when I accidentally stepped on his foot and he limped over to me like he would never be able to walk again, until he saw I was about to open the door to go outside, and then he ran out that door and completely forgot about his foot, which just moments before was most definitely broken and needed instant attention and sympathy! lol.

Been there - the broken foot syndrome. lol We fell for it once and never again. Now we say "I'm sorry." and move along.

However, my sister (vet tech for a long time) said that dramatic puppies can sometimes become nippers later in life when they are stepped on/accidentally hurt , so should I be correcting his behavior somehow?

No disrespect to your sister but there's no correlation there at all. We incorporated 'bumping' into our training from the start and our GSD is fine with being bumped into and takes no offense at all. As you pointed out above, it's often just a play for attention so don't play into it.

 

[JazzNScout]

Look at him! How adorable! I have a "drama king" -- my aussie mix. I ignore him.

 

[Jelpy]

Allie is a drama queen. She particularly specialized in the guilt inducing, velvet eyeball look, the one that-along with the whimper-expresses the pain that my cruel actions are causing her. Mind you, it's alright if she keeps me up all night, but if I finally get tired of it and start to put her outside, the curtain goes up on an academy award caliber performance.

Jelpy and the mesquite mafia

 

[Jax's Mom]

Jax was a screamer from the day I picked him up which is weird because he was very well socialized even then... He even whines when he scratches his own ears! we just laugh and say "stop doing that then, dummy!"
I had to show him it was ok when I clipped his nails by hanging on to his paw until he stopped struggling and crying and it seemed to show him nothing bad was going to happen and that was the end of that... Not sure what you could do to alleviate his fear of being stepped on... other than not step on him...

 

[BlackGSD]

Look at him! How adorable! I have a "drama king" -- my aussie mix. I ignore him.

My Aussie mix is a MAJOR Drama Queen! Has been for 11 years, I don't see it changing any time soon!

I just ignore him. He will litterally scream if he THINKS you are going to step on him, of if you are standing still and he passes by and brushes YOU with HIS foot, he screams.

He HATES to go the the vet like a lot of dogs, but has NEVER so much as acted like he even though about biting anyone.

 

[AgileGSD]

My otherwise rather "tuff" GSD girl has always been a bit dramatic about handling related things - doing toenails, stepping on her, grabbing her. Yet the same dog shattered one of her toes and walked on it for hours? maybe half a day? and didn't limp or yelp at all until she stubbed it playing ball. Dogs are weird sometimes. My other two GSDs are/were very stoic.

Absolutely no dogs I have ever seen has been as dramatic as the Belgians I've gotten from a certain line. They shriek when you pick them up and they don't want to be picked up. They shriek when you clip their nails. They shriek when they are confined. They shriek when they are frustrated. They shriek when they are excited. Luckily they mostly seem to outgrow it by time they are adults.

IMO no, being dramatic does not mean they will be biters. It is a good idea to condition any puppy to accept handling, hugging and accidental bumping though.

 

[VChurch]

Minna is quite the drama queen!!
Although she's A LOT better then she used to be. When she was 2-4 months old if she got hurt she would definitely limp around and whine and cry and carry on -- and my mom would feel bad for her, which is probably why she continued doing it.

It's mostly when she and sobacca are playing, if he bites her too hard she'll yelp and then just step back and bark this "why'd you do that" high-pitch bark at him -- he'll just stare at her as if to say "get over it". Two seconds later the game will continue.

Actually a few days ago my dad was running on the treadmill and Minna put a paw on it and got stepped on. So she comes limping over and I got up and she sort of walked underneath me uncharacteristically -- sort of like a kid would want to be held when they're hurt. So I looked at her paw, grabbed it softly, pet her, and said 'you're fine, you obviously just hobbled over here on it so you'll survive'.....and by the time we reached the end of the hallway she was perfectly fine.

So she still is a drama queen, just not quite as bad as she was 3 months ago.

 

[Lorelei]

Wow, I am so happy someone brought this thread back up. It is very strange that when things change slowly, you don't notice that they've changed at all. Adal is so much less dramatic now. But, I actually haven't really noticed until I read this thread again! So strange, as the time frame is pretty short! (ha. maybe my brain isn't what it used to be!)

We actually recently took him back to the vet for his final shots and while he really didn't like having the light put in his ears, he didn't scream or anything! Also, he doesn't freak out about people almost stepping on him anymore. If something happens that bothers him, he usually looks at me very confused-like and then comes in for a quick snuggle and is fine. I guess I should be proud of my boy! Is it possible it was a puppy-thing all along? I suppose it makes sense for puppies to be a bit dramatic, as they are so wee and tiny and don't want to get trampled by the big guys!

Of course, I'm not saying I wouldn't still say he is a bit on the dramatic side, but wow, he has changed a lot over the last few weeks.

I think I'll kinda miss some of his sweeter dramatic moments though, now that I really think about it...lol.