# Getting my GSD to accept people when I say it's OK



## resterline (Feb 12, 2012)

It's finally nice in Michigan (in the 50s), so Scout and I have spent a lot of time outside today (I wasn't feeling well this morning, so I stayed home from work). 

I've been trying to help her understand the boundaries of our yard by only letting her explore our property while on a leash (we have about an acre). I think she gets it because when our neighbor crossed that invisible line and approached us just a little bit ago, her fur raised and she began to bark.

At first it was her high pitched puppy bark, but then she barked even deeper and started sounding more aggressive. 

I pulled her back and made her sit. I stood in front of her and told her to pay attention to me. We slowly made it over to my neighbor when she calmed down and she sniffed her quietly. Then she started backing up like she was freaked out and started barking at her again, so I moved her away and made her sit and pay attention to me. (Could this be because my neighbor smells like the husky that she owns?)

She calmed down by the time my neighbor left, but I didn't let my neighbor approach her again. I just made Scout stay sitting and I stood partially in front of her. Whenever she would start to think of barking again, I'd get her attention by saying her name and getting her to look at me.

I know that Scout is good with other people and dogs in public places (we met her in two different public places before adopting...she loves new people and other dogs/cats). But, apparently she is possessive of me and her yard now. I see that as a good thing in a way, but I also need to get her to accept people when I say they are OK. Any advice on this?

I actually didn't want her to meet anyone else this soon (we've had her since Friday), but we were outside and my neighbor walked over. 

At least I don't have to worry about anyone kidnapping me on our walks now!!


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## Emoore (Oct 9, 2002)

You've had her for four days? 

I wouldn't do anything with this right now, honestly. The rug has been pulled out from under her feet and she does not, as yet, know which way is up. 

I know you said you didn't plan on this meeting happening, and I think you're wise for that. She needs more time to get used to her new home and family because she's feeling *very* insecure right now. 

Another thing is that she doesn't know she can trust you yet. When you met her at public places prior to adoption, was she in the presence of a foster person or volunteer that she trusted? 

You're not really seeing the true Scout yet. Give her some time and re-visit this issue in a month or two once you have enough credibility for her to trust and obey you. You haven't earned that yet.


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## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

This is why it is so important to do the two week shut down.
I hate to say "I told you so" but this dog has got to learn who is the leader.
She's showing fear and uncertainty because you're her buddy but you're not her leader yet.



> Give her some time and re-visit this issue in a month or two once you have enough credibility for her to trust and obey you. You haven't earned that yet.


:thumbup:

As far as the kidnapping comment, your dog is not protective, she's fearful. She's "freaking out" and backing away. That is not bravado nor protectiveness.


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## resterline (Feb 12, 2012)

I'm not planning to let anyone else meet her quite yet...part of me wanted to tell the neighbor to go away!!

I don't think she had enough time to gain trust with her foster...she wasn't there for very long. 

I think she definitely is starting to trust me, but you are right that we need more time. 



Emoore said:


> You've had her for four days?
> 
> I wouldn't do anything with this right now, honestly. The rug has been pulled out from under her feet and she does not, as yet, know which way is up.
> 
> ...


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## Emoore (Oct 9, 2002)

resterline said:


> I don't think she had enough time to gain trust with her foster...she wasn't there for very long.


More than 4 days I'd imagine?


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## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

Your yard is not fenced?


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## resterline (Feb 12, 2012)

Yeah. Well, I was following the shut down, for the most part. But, it is nice outside for once and she needed to burn some energy. 

So, even though I am not going to let it happen again anytime soon, I'd like to be prepared to handle it when she does meet someone else. Any advice on that?



msvette2u said:


> This is why it is so important to do the two week shut down.
> I hate to say "I told you so" but this dog has got to learn who is the leader.
> She's showing fear and uncertainty because you're her buddy but you're not her leader yet.
> 
> ...


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## resterline (Feb 12, 2012)

Not yet. 



msvette2u said:


> Your yard is not fenced?


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## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

rester, you have to build a foundation before you start on other things. 
You haven't laid a foundation yet. 
I know the urge is to rush the process but this type behavior you are seeing is only going to get worse at this point. 
My advice is to do the two weeks as it's written, and then start building other skills on top of that.
This dog has been bounced around, had a traumatic experience with her spay, had a foster home, but who knows what before that, and needs some stability.

But I'm glad you've posted - we have a young GSD for adoption and an adoptive home to meet her later this week and I'm going to impress upon them the importance of the shut-down to hopefully avoid instances such as this.


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## Emoore (Oct 9, 2002)

resterline said:


> Yeah. Well, I was following the shut down, for the most part. But, it is nice outside for once and she needed to burn some energy.
> 
> So, even though I am not going to let it happen again anytime soon, I'd like to be prepared to handle it when she does meet someone else. Any advice on that?


Yeah, if it's unavoidable, have the person ignore her. It would be nice if people wouldn't even look at her because people are morons and do that challenging stare-down-directly-into-the-eyes because they think they're "bonding" or something, but I know that's too much to ask. 

I like what you did with having her lay down behind you and putting yourself between them and her.


Again, this is all *short-term* until you get trust and bond and structure established between you and her and anyone else in your household. Later on people can pet her and give her snacks or whatever.


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## resterline (Feb 12, 2012)

Emoore said:


> More than 4 days I'd imagine?


Actually, when we first met Scout, the rescue had been taking care of her for maybe 4 or 5 days. The second time we met Scout, she'd had her for about a week and a half. 

So, in the end, she'd had her for not even a month before we brought her home. 

Scout actually is way calmer now in terms of hyperactivity with us, at least. The rescue had 8 dogs in her home, so I think it was a bit chaotic. When I sent a picture of her laying down on the floor, they were surprised to see her just chilling versus running around.


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## martemchik (Nov 23, 2010)

I would be very careful right now, and when you do start meeting people make it on neutral territory. Go out with her and see how she reacts to people. Any bad sign in that situation could mean disaster when she is on her territory. Females are known to get more defensive of their territory, but I doubt she knows her area yet. Just because she started barking at your neighbor doesn't mean she sees the property line, its just that he got too close for her comfort. Its all fear based at this point, she isn't being protective. You also don't want her to be alright with people once you say its ok, you want her to be alright with people no matter what and if you say something is wrong, then she should react.

Think of it this way, if she reacts to a kid coming into your yard and you're not there to say "he's ok" what is she going to do to him?

The smell of the husky shouldn't require any kind of reaction from your dog. What does it matter what a person smells like if they are completely friendly? It seems like you are kind of enjoying the fact that your dog is acting like this, but she's acting like this towards a friendly person, not someone that is a threat, which means she will react like this to anyone that comes. Unless you are really worried about an intruder, I'd be more worried about her reaction to a friendly person, as there are a lot more of those than there are true intruders.


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## resterline (Feb 12, 2012)

I agree and I plan to avoid the situation until we get to know her better. Unfortunately it was unavoidable this time...



msvette2u said:


> rester, you have to build a foundation before you start on other things.
> You haven't laid a foundation yet.
> I know the urge is to rush the process but this type behavior you are seeing is only going to get worse at this point.
> My advice is to do the two weeks as it's written, and then start building other skills on top of that.
> ...


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## resterline (Feb 12, 2012)

OK....I guess my comment was read wrong. 

I'm not enjoying it. Just asking for advice. 



martemchik said:


> It seems like you are kind of enjoying the fact that your dog is acting like this, but she's acting like this towards a friendly person, not someone that is a threat, which means she will react like this to anyone that comes. Unless you are really worried about an intruder, I'd be more worried about her reaction to a friendly person, as there are a lot more of those than there are true intruders.


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## martemchik (Nov 23, 2010)

Then just let her relax and get to know you. Make her understand that you will protect her no matter what and that you will deal with whoever comes on your property. Once she realizes that you're in charge and that you will deal with "threats" then she will calm down a little bit. She still needs to learn your energy and understand how to react in different situations.


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## resterline (Feb 12, 2012)

Gah! The other neighbor just stopped by. I sent her away and explained why she can't meet her yet...

They didn't understand, so I said to just look at my Facebook page to see pics.


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## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

Well I gave you all the advice I have for now.
Because she's already acting schitzy and afraid on day 4, that tells me all I need to know, and things you're going to try to remedy this situation with will likely not work.

They are right. The neighbor meant no harm so your dog freaking out and being afraid is a red flag.



> She still needs to learn your energy and understand how to react in different situations.


This is the beauty of a two week period where all she has to do is lay around in a crate (which is a very neutral situation - perfect for *absorbing*), not interacting with her environment except in a controlled manner. 

I know I'm sounding like a broken record but when you see this method of introducing a dog to your home work over and over, it's hard to recommend anything but doing it that way.


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## resterline (Feb 12, 2012)

Thanks. I just wanted to start looking for advice now for in the future when people come over in a month or so. So, I'm not looking to start remedying this today. I just like to research and be prepared ahead of time. I guess I should have specified that here so that people didn't think otherwise. 

I'd rather be prepared to react in a good way next time, rather than make the problem worse if it became a problem. I knew not to pull/yank her back because it would make her more freaked out. But, for the most part, I wasn't sure what the best way was to introduce her to someone since I hadn't been planning on doing it this soon. 



msvette2u said:


> Well I gave you all the advice I have for now.
> Because she's already acting schitzy and afraid on day 4, that tells me all I need to know, and things you're going to try to remedy this situation with will likely not work.
> 
> They are right. The neighbor meant no harm so your dog freaking out and being afraid is a red flag.
> ...


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Another thing to think about is what has happened to Scout in the past month. 
Shelter, new foster, going to who knows how many meet n greets, 8 dogs living with foster so Scouts true personality wasn't even exposed. 
Then spay, difficulty with spay so more surgery, new home w/ you....wow, that would tire any human out, let alone a dog that can't communicate easily on how they are feeling!

I'm so glad you are on this site getting help, because many people who adopt only have their rescue/foster to rely on, and that isn't usually a whole lot of support.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

> I just wanted to start looking for advice now for in the future when people come over in a month or so. So, I'm not looking to start remedying this today. I just like to research and be prepared ahead of time. I guess I should have specified that here so that people didn't think otherwise.


You can teach Scout a 'place' command. When people come over tell her to go to her place, and that is where she stays until ok'd to get up. You can train this with a dog bed or crate pad. The book Control Unleashed by Leslie McDevitt has some great exercises.


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## chelle (Feb 1, 2009)

resterline, I really want to back up the two week plan. I know you said you're following it mostly. I'd follow it completely. I'm a believer after following it. Heck I went a couple days longer than the two weeks. I'm very grateful I did. I'm actually *still* doing it to an extent. Granted, my situation is different, with multiple dogs.. but I also see how easily stressed a new dog is, when over-exposed.


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## resterline (Feb 12, 2012)

Thanks for the advice, Onyx. I actually don't think she would be doing as well with us if I hadn't been on this forum. I spend a lot of time just reading other people's posts and that has helped me react better to anything she does and is preparing me for anything she might do in the future.

Chelle - thanks for the info. I plan on crating her a bit more than I have been. 

I appreciate everyone's responses today. And we are definitely seeing more and more of her true personality every day. I think she is going to grow into a great dog in time!


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## chelle (Feb 1, 2009)

resterline said:


> Thanks for the advice, Onyx. I actually don't think she would be doing as well with us if I hadn't been on this forum. I spend a lot of time just reading other people's posts and that has helped me react better to anything she does and is preparing me for anything she might do in the future.
> 
> Chelle - thanks for the info. I plan on crating her a bit more than I have been.
> 
> I appreciate everyone's responses today. And we are definitely seeing more and more of her true personality every day. I think she is going to grow into a great dog in time!


Rachel, I just wanted to add.. it isn't just about the crating. As in, shoving the dog away in the crate.  It's taking things in small doses. A good round of exercise, then to the crate to calm down. Allowing the dog to walk around the house and hang out, but back to the crate to process things. Look for signs of stress and when you see them, to the crate with a nice chewie. As I went thru the two weeks, I moved the crate closer and closer to the "action" of the house. Just take things slow. You're doing great! I am a novice at this, too, but I can just say it has seemed to work out pretty well for us.


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## TxRider (Apr 15, 2009)

resterline said:


> I'm not planning to let anyone else meet her quite yet...part of me wanted to tell the neighbor to go away!!
> 
> I don't think she had enough time to gain trust with her foster...she wasn't there for very long.
> 
> I think she definitely is starting to trust me, but you are right that we need more time.



Sounds like your doing ok by me.. It takes time for a dog to learn to look to you for guidance in such situations... And you have to show them that is what is expected so they will learn.


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