I feel for these dog with weak nerve and temperament because it's not their fault.
Yep, you and a whole lot of other people who are now encouraged, and in many cases shamed, into adopting these kinds of dogs. Breeders are now considered "evil" in the eyes of many. We have a rather huge Animal Rights movement in this country. If I thought they knew anything about animals, I might give them credit for managing a rather clever plot to end pet ownership by encouraging people to adopt the ones who really are not capable of being "pets".
As for the rest of what is said here...... First of all, no "savvy dog trainer" would be "petting an aggressive dog to calm it down". Second, it was inferred that all dogs who have good genetics are well behaved, no matter who is handling him. I am sorry but as a dog trainer for the last ...well, lifetime , I can assure you, people can make a huge mess of very good dogs.
People seem to be leaving out the natural protective instinct the GSD was intended to possess. THIS is where so many people screw things up and BADLY. It is also something huge numbers of people, including SchH trainers, and many people on this board, have no idea about. They immediately label a protective dog, "fear aggressive" or "defensive". Or, they do what so many people here just did with their idea of what a description " really means". This kind of cynical thinking and ignorance is having a major impact on the breed.
I think people nowadays are more nervous, neurotic and unqualified to handle protective breeds. They think showing a dog a cookie and asking him stare at it, is the solution to any of the problems they encounter. They also think they can behave any way they want and the dog should not be affected. This is an intuitive breed that feels what we feel. To think they can't, is ignorance about the breed and even dogs in general. The point about how dogs were kept years ago plays into this. People didn't freak out about every little thing and were not trying to ban breeds right and left. We didn't have a media and politicians who had figured out that scaring the bejesus out of people, makes them easy to control.
When we train protection here, the handler is instructed to play the role just as much as the bad guy does. That means they alert their dog to a problem, ( the bad guy), with how they behave and handle their dog. I can't tell you how MANY people I watch who do the same thing, ( without realizing it of course), with their GSD in public settings. They tell their dog "something is wrong" with their nervous, fearful behavior and the "good dogs" will start looking for ways to help the handler. The nervous dogs will react as well but there is simply a huge difference in the behavior of both kinds of dogs. It is quite clear to anyone who knows DOGS ...and that is the problem. People know more about computers than they do animals and when they decide to get a dog, most of the time, what they really want, is a machine. Also, we now have herds of unqualified "behaviorlists ", who really have NO idea about protective breeds. They rely on a vocabulary of terms to label dogs without much, if any, real experience with those same kinds of dogs. What they are doing, is simply a huge disservice to the people and the dogs. We also have Vets who will not hesitate to put a dog on Prozac as a solution to what is many times, behaviors created by the handler.
The dogs without socialization are many times better off because of one simple fact. No training is better than bad training. As a general rule, people have NO idea how to provide direction and how to introduce their young dogs to new places and situations. They leave it up to the dog to decide how to deal with people, (who are many times uncomfortable and look like they are), and they give no direction to those same people who do things that are simply inappropriate.
The breed needs a level of suspicion and certainly social aggression. These dogs do require handlers who will take the time to understand them and most of all, are people who handle them in a confident manner. I have owned many of these kinds of dogs . They have never bitten anyone but they know I don't need their help. If I do, I will ask for it and I have no doubt they will protect me. I am very clear and I am not there confusing them with my behavior, when people who mean no harm are in the vicinity. Also, I can assure you, the Germans realized that GSDs needed a certain kind of handler. I have not known one who would say what is being said here. I am talking about the ones I met years ago, the ones who REALLY understood dogs and training and the GSD.
Last, you cannot change a dog's basic temperament with "savvy training". It will always show thru but I have seen dogs simply transform completely, once I helped the people get a grip on themselves. I used to tell myself I was a dog trainer but really, most of what I do is counseling and training people about behavior....theirs.
