I have a 12 week old working line German Shepherd Dog puppy. I have a decent amount of experience with WL shepherds. I used to work at a schutzhund kennel and spent a lot of time handling and training them. My other dog is also a shepherd, although a bit easier to handle because he is a show-line x working-line cross.
Overall I’d say training and socialization is going well. From day 1 I’ve made a point to establish rules and boundaries. He is going to be a big, powerful dog and I’m trying to set him up for a lifetime of success by enforcing good manners and loose-leash walking skills from the beginning. He’s a fast learner and very handler-oriented so for the most part things have been going well. There are 2 behaviors he’s exhibited in the past week that concern me:
The first is that despite daily handling and grooming exposure, yesterday when I went to trim his nails he freaked out on me. He became very overstimulated and started biting me as hard as he could. I used to be a dog groomer and have handled many puppies and have never been bitten by a puppy as hard as he bit me. We are taking a step back and going to be reintroducing nail trims more slowly with a counter-conditoning protocol, but I’m worried this may turn into a bigger problem.
The second problematic behavior is that yesterday he also growled at another dog for the first time. Everyday I take him on a 5 minute outing to a store to expose him to different environments and people. For the most part he’s done beautifully and we’ve had no issues. Nothing has seemed to phase him, until now. He saw a medium-sized white terrier mix and growled at it when it came within 5 feet of him. I did not allow the dog to come any closer to him and ended the training session by letting him play with my other dog. As far as addressing this behavior goes, Im unsure of the best way to handle things. He has seen other dogs in close proximity before, usually while they pass us on hikes. This is the first time he’s growled at another dog before though, or anything for that matter.
I wouldn’t say he’s a very anxious puppy overall. Everyday I expose him to something new, whether it be the vacuum cleaner, an umbrella opening and closing, different surfaces to walk on such as grates, everything you’re supposed to get a puppy familiar with. He’s been confident other than these 2 incidents. So should I be worried? Should I be handling things differently? Am I on the right path? I really am afraid of ending up with a fearful, aggressive, or reactive 80+ lb dog. I want him to have a good life and if there’s something I can be doing differently now to set him up for success I’d appreciate guidance.
Thank you.
Overall I’d say training and socialization is going well. From day 1 I’ve made a point to establish rules and boundaries. He is going to be a big, powerful dog and I’m trying to set him up for a lifetime of success by enforcing good manners and loose-leash walking skills from the beginning. He’s a fast learner and very handler-oriented so for the most part things have been going well. There are 2 behaviors he’s exhibited in the past week that concern me:
The first is that despite daily handling and grooming exposure, yesterday when I went to trim his nails he freaked out on me. He became very overstimulated and started biting me as hard as he could. I used to be a dog groomer and have handled many puppies and have never been bitten by a puppy as hard as he bit me. We are taking a step back and going to be reintroducing nail trims more slowly with a counter-conditoning protocol, but I’m worried this may turn into a bigger problem.
The second problematic behavior is that yesterday he also growled at another dog for the first time. Everyday I take him on a 5 minute outing to a store to expose him to different environments and people. For the most part he’s done beautifully and we’ve had no issues. Nothing has seemed to phase him, until now. He saw a medium-sized white terrier mix and growled at it when it came within 5 feet of him. I did not allow the dog to come any closer to him and ended the training session by letting him play with my other dog. As far as addressing this behavior goes, Im unsure of the best way to handle things. He has seen other dogs in close proximity before, usually while they pass us on hikes. This is the first time he’s growled at another dog before though, or anything for that matter.
I wouldn’t say he’s a very anxious puppy overall. Everyday I expose him to something new, whether it be the vacuum cleaner, an umbrella opening and closing, different surfaces to walk on such as grates, everything you’re supposed to get a puppy familiar with. He’s been confident other than these 2 incidents. So should I be worried? Should I be handling things differently? Am I on the right path? I really am afraid of ending up with a fearful, aggressive, or reactive 80+ lb dog. I want him to have a good life and if there’s something I can be doing differently now to set him up for success I’d appreciate guidance.
Thank you.