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Hello!
We've had our little GSD lady for over a month now, having got her at six weeks old.It's a little young, I suppose, but the breeder is very experienced and the pups were absolutely well cared for. Shes now 11 weeks old as of this post, and has done very well learning commands and adjusting, she absolutely loves our mini Schnauzer and cats. Besides a few hiccups where she's developed a taste for whatever wild mushroom she can find (luckily she's only managed to find some Old Man of the Woods before we've corrected) we've only so far have two issues- she's an absolute Landshark (yelping/going limp does not work with her), and she's extremely wary of dogs and people outside the home.
To try to correct the biting issue, we've not only been yelping but have started ignoring her and refusing to touch her when she bites at us. This works for a short time, before she just doesn't care that we're not touching her.
As for the wariness, I'm not sure if that's something we won't be able to properly address until later this month when she's had an opportunity to advance in her vaccinations (we absolutely will not take her anywhere there could be unvaccinated dogs around), or if there is something we can do currently? She's an absolute dream around our second dog and my husbands' parents' dog, but if neighbors approach with our without dogs or if a dog that's a mile away even barks, she'll tuck tail and try to bolt, completely ignoring treats or pets. I don't want to force interaction with her for fear of creating a situation where she'll associate people coming up to her as something jarring; she's being trained to be a service dog and public interaction/ignoring public interaction is a must.
This isn't our first of the breed, previously our family had a GSD from the same breeder (different line) who was very wary (but very kind and well behaved) of anything outside the home, however this wasn't an issue as he was a watchdog, taught to sit back and judge everyone while staying on the property between my home and my in-laws.
Are these issues that are normal for her age, and will fade with time if we just keep working at them? Is there anything we can do short of forcing her to hold still while people touch her? She's an absolutely sweet, smart dog, if a little sassy, and unfortunately we're a bit anxious that we may mess up with something and have to wash her.
We've had our little GSD lady for over a month now, having got her at six weeks old.It's a little young, I suppose, but the breeder is very experienced and the pups were absolutely well cared for. Shes now 11 weeks old as of this post, and has done very well learning commands and adjusting, she absolutely loves our mini Schnauzer and cats. Besides a few hiccups where she's developed a taste for whatever wild mushroom she can find (luckily she's only managed to find some Old Man of the Woods before we've corrected) we've only so far have two issues- she's an absolute Landshark (yelping/going limp does not work with her), and she's extremely wary of dogs and people outside the home.
To try to correct the biting issue, we've not only been yelping but have started ignoring her and refusing to touch her when she bites at us. This works for a short time, before she just doesn't care that we're not touching her.
As for the wariness, I'm not sure if that's something we won't be able to properly address until later this month when she's had an opportunity to advance in her vaccinations (we absolutely will not take her anywhere there could be unvaccinated dogs around), or if there is something we can do currently? She's an absolute dream around our second dog and my husbands' parents' dog, but if neighbors approach with our without dogs or if a dog that's a mile away even barks, she'll tuck tail and try to bolt, completely ignoring treats or pets. I don't want to force interaction with her for fear of creating a situation where she'll associate people coming up to her as something jarring; she's being trained to be a service dog and public interaction/ignoring public interaction is a must.
This isn't our first of the breed, previously our family had a GSD from the same breeder (different line) who was very wary (but very kind and well behaved) of anything outside the home, however this wasn't an issue as he was a watchdog, taught to sit back and judge everyone while staying on the property between my home and my in-laws.
Are these issues that are normal for her age, and will fade with time if we just keep working at them? Is there anything we can do short of forcing her to hold still while people touch her? She's an absolutely sweet, smart dog, if a little sassy, and unfortunately we're a bit anxious that we may mess up with something and have to wash her.
