# My german shepherd has never been socialized



## evgeney96 (May 28, 2011)

He is now a little over a year old, we got him when he was 10 months old. His breeders failed to properly socialize him and now he is just terrible with strangers and other dogs or animals in general.
He Barks, Tears, Jumps, does whatever he can to get a grasp at them. This behavior makes taking him out and have guests over difficult.
Is there anything that can be done?

He is beautiful at home and is shocking what a change he undergoes when he steps outside.


argo at his finest
















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Krepke23's Channel - YouTube


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

If you list your general location, maybe someone can recommend a good trainer/behaviorist, who can assess the dog and give you a plan of action to improve the situation.


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

locate a great trainer to help you work with him. Its never too late to socialize but it will be more difficult and you wont ever be able to full trust him with strangers but he does need to be better with them and guests. 

What were his parents like? Did the breeder have him for that long or was he homed and then returned? 

When you have guests over, you need to lay out a clear set of rules not only for the safety of your guests but for the safety of your dog. If you have a friend or two who would be willing to help you...

Have your friend come over and hang out. Talking in normal tones, nothing exciting. Your dog HAS to be on a leash and kept away from the guest. 3 ft apart minimum. You'll want to have a lot of pea sized VERY yummy and tasty treats. Have your dog sit in front of you. When he focuses on you instead of your friend, treat him and praise. You will also want to feed him several treats in succession while the friend is in the room. Then ask your friend to leave the room for a couple minutes. When your friend leaves the room, you STOP giving treats. When the friend comes back in, you start giving the treats again. This will teach him that only good things happen when people are over ie, lots of tasty treats (as long as he behaves ie no barking, growling, lunging). 

If he barks, growls or lunges, you do NOT treat him immediately when he is quiet. You wait a minute to treat him for calm behavior. If you treat him the instant he is calm, he will associate the treat as a reward for his rude behavior. You dont want that because it will only encourage the unwanted behavior to continue. You reward the calm behavior. 

Again, please get in touch with a trainer who can help you with this. preferably one who is knowledgable about GSDs AND aggression issues. In order for the trainer to work with you effectively, they need to know EVERYTHING. Getting into an obedience class wouldnt hurt but remember to let the instructor know you have a dog who is slightly aggressive and need to be away from the group if in a group class. Private lessons would be a good start IMO on working with him before adding a bunch of distractions. 

I hope that helps you out some. Remember, NEVER let him get closer than 3ft to anyone but 4-5ft would probably be better. Again, PLEASE look into getting a trainer to help you with this.


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## PaddyD (Jul 22, 2010)

Sorry about that irresponsible breeder.
Very nice of you to take him and give him a proper home.
His actions seem like fear aggression but I am far from an expert.
Selzer and Kzoppa (always) give good advise.
Good luck !!


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## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

He's a great looking dog! Can you take him in the car to a busy parking lot or playground and just let him watch people coming and going- treat him when he is calm. That's the only thing I could think of that hasn't been suggested. Definitely get an in-home trainer to assess him and give you a plan


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## Castlemaid (Jun 29, 2006)

In the second picture, his hind foot looks funny. Is that a dew claw?


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## evgeney96 (May 28, 2011)

Castlemaid said:


> In the second picture, his hind foot looks funny. Is that a dew claw?


yes they were never removed



PaddyD said:


> Sorry about that irresponsible breeder.
> Very nice of you to take him and give him a proper home.
> His actions seem like fear aggression but I am far from an expert.
> Selzer and Kzoppa (always) give good advise.
> Good luck !!


Yes I also believe his is aggressive over fear



selzer said:


> If you list your general location, maybe someone can recommend a good trainer/behaviorist, who can assess the dog and give you a plan of action to improve the situation.


I'm located in Brooklyn, New York


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## Twyla (Sep 18, 2011)

Wow!! Our pups could almost be twins, about the same age, looks are similar, background a bit different but the results are the same.

Others have said it, I'll add to it. A trainer specializing in GSD and AGGRESSION. Be ready for 2 steps forward and a step backward. Practice NILIF Nothing in Life is Free . Be ready to hit walls. We are at one right now (this one seems to be made of granite, we'll break thru).

With guests, leash always, several feet away. Have treats to give each time he looks at you. I always have company practice not looking, talking or touching until they (the company) calms down. Having a shepherd barking, growling etc at you can be at minimum unsettling and with some people it ramps right up to fear. Our pups can sense and react to it as well. After all is calm, I have guests toss bits of treats to Woolf - he sees it as something good coming from this strange person.

Another good link Look at That! A Counterintuitive Approach to Dealing with Reactive Dogs Dog Training for Dog Lovers Blog

There are many more people on here with LOTS more experience and can give tons of good advice. I just wanted to relay some of what we do since the history is so similar.


Good Luck!!
Twyla


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

Twyla thats a good idea as well having guests toss treats to him. I totally forgot that one. Good luck with your dog as well. 

OP, the same methods i mentioned above also work well with training him to be a little better with animals as well. He gets tasty treats when other animals are around so he learns to associate animals with good things. Also, make sure that your guests dont look at him or talk to him and make no moves towards him. They're only job in regards to your dog is to throw the occassional treat to him. NO EYE CONTACT WITH HIM AT ALL! That will be seen as threatening and since he's reacting fear aggressively, it will only amp him up further. NO eye contact with him from guests. That alone can set you back two or three steps and you'll have to start from square one all over again. 

Also take him to parks and places he can people watch but dont let anyone come in contact with him. If he starts showing signs of stress ie stiff body posture, focused on one person, drooling, whining, growling, barking, you need to move away from the problem and regain his focus on you. When he is calm again, he can resume his people watching. It can help him learn how people in general move and help him get used to just strangers being where he can see them.


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## Twyla (Sep 18, 2011)

KZoppa, guests tossing treats to him was the last little detail we realized he needed to know this stranger in the house was ok, getting something good from them.

We saw just how far he had come with strangers a few weeks ago when we had a large number of family over. None he had met before, all knew we had gotten a GSD and had been working with some issues with him. Of course all wanted to meet the gorgeous boy. The 'rules' were explained and we brought him out on leash. I think DH and I both broke our faces grinning so big.  He met, walked up to everyone, accepted treats, very relaxed, before the evening was over had even accepted some petting. All this was done while still leashed but it was such a huge step for him.

At least in the case of Woolf, this method works. It isn't overnight, you have to stay on it 100% for the safety of your pup and your guests. The emotional state of the guests plays a part as well. If we see any fear or hesitation on their part it's a no go from the beginning and Woolf is crated or plays in the backyard with our lab. Each visit is set up for him to succeed.

Woolf knowing and understanding the 'look at me' command is valuable. Being able to use that command before he ramped up helped make his progress to this point possible. Guests ignoring him and not looking at him filled in the rest of it.

Now if only cars and dogs could toss treats...... 

evgeney, I won't keep hijacking your thread  Just wanted to share what we have done so far in case something from it may help you. I know that feeling of frustration well.


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

Twyla said:


> KZoppa, guests tossing treats to him was the last little detail we realized he needed to know this stranger in the house was ok, getting something good from them.
> 
> We saw just how far he had come with strangers a few weeks ago when we had a large number of family over. None he had met before, all knew we had gotten a GSD and had been working with some issues with him. Of course all wanted to meet the gorgeous boy. The 'rules' were explained and we brought him out on leash. I think DH and I both broke our faces grinning so big.  He met, walked up to everyone, accepted treats, very relaxed, before the evening was over had even accepted some petting. All this was done while still leashed but it was such a huge step for him.
> 
> ...


 
its not a hijack if the information helps the OP! lol. 

Thats awesome. Thats another good point as well for the OP. You always want to set the dog up to succeed. 

Its great that all your hard work has been paying off with Woolf. I enjoy hearing success stories and i'm sure the knowledge that it can be done helps a lot when everything seems discouraging. Its the time and effort put in to learn the dog and the triggers that helps, then you add in the time and effort to retrain the dogs mind and how they handle things and you can see an almost magical change when handled correctly. 

That whole cars tossing treats thing.... can be done! have someone lay in the car with a window open where Woolf cant see them and toss treats! lol. Just an idea as i dont know the situation with Woolf and cars. 

OP, if you put in the effort and the hard work with your pup, i'm positive you'll see a change for the better.


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## Twyla (Sep 18, 2011)

The situation with Woolf and cars.... It isn't fear, he wants to KILL them. They are the enemy and he is determined he is going to win. Think the Cujo effect. I hadn't thought about having someone toss treats out the window as the vehicle rolls by. Yeah, it's only when they are moving he goes into this mode. Thanks for the tip, maybe this will be the crack in that particular wall.

With dogs it's clearly fear. The higher pitched bark, growl, lunging and backing up. I just keep repeating the mantra, 'we will win we will win'.


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

power of positive thinking and determination!


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

I was hoping that someone from NY would chime in. Well, there is an organization that blesses pet dog trainers. APDTs Something like that. Hope someone who knows this chimes in. Anyway it is a national organization, and they have some hoops trainers must go through to be endorsed by them. It should be better than just going with the first trainer you can find. 

Association of Pet Dog Trainers - Dog Training Resources

It looks like you can look up trainers on the site. 

Good luck.


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