# A few proud moments



## telavivgsd (Jul 6, 2016)

So those of you who have seen my other thread know that the past week hasn't been rainbows and sunshine with Klaus, but I wanted to share a few proud moments I've had with him too in the past couple weeks, because I don't think anyone can appreciate how proud of his successes I am like other GSD owners. This si the Brag section, so brag I will  

1. We've been able to start ditching the prong on our walks for the flat collar and still do a great loose leash walk (99% of the time :grin2: ). He still needs the prong for things like heading to the park or beach because he gets SO excited, but just the fact that we've been able to make the switch for neighborhood walks has been great!

2. He's gotten so good at staying in "place" for things like us eating dinner. He stays right there for the whole time, so patiently. It's such an improvement. I think a big help is that we play a game every day where he stays in place while I hide treats all over the house and then he goes to find them. He LOVES this game, so I think he associates place with getting to play it. We're still working on holding it for things like my husband and I going in and out of the front door, but I'm feeling more confident that it will come.

3. Klaus handled a big mistake on our part like a pro a little over a week ago. We were playing fetch in the park late at night when there are few people there, and he was on the long lead so we could practice recall too. A lab came walking along off leash with his owner, an older lady. Klaus loves meeting dogs in the park, and we have a few regulars that he gets to run around with. As a rule, poorly behaved dogs usually aren't off leash on the path, since you need to be able to call them to you quickly if the park patrol comes along to avoid a fine. We yelled to ask if he was friendly and she said yes, and we thought, ok, great, Klaus is on the long line so we can practice recall from another dog. Well he went to meet the dog, it was fine until the other dog started growling in Klaus' face. No snapping or anything, but Klaus just backed off and came back to us. Of course the lady tells her dog, "no no be nice" and to us "honestly he's really friendly" and the dog approaches Klaus again and growls. The lady gets between them and leashes her dog, and I figure it's over and we'll part ways. 

Suddenly out of nowhere, this woman lunges forward, puts her hands on Klaus' cheeks, and sticks her face right in his face, telling him how cute he is. It was so unexpected, and so incredibly stupid on her part, that I never could have predicted it. My heart was in my throat, and I just yelled "no" and jumped in between them as soon as I saw it happen. Thankfully Klaus just looked at me like "mom, get this crazy woman away from me" and we walked away and I was left in awe of how anyone could think its a good idea to stick their face in a strange dog's face. Needless to say we will be vetting our training buddies and owners better in the future before an introduction, but I was so proud of him not reacting, especially immediately after a dog had growled at him.


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## Jenny720 (Nov 21, 2014)

Wishing you the best with Klaus. I really hope it works out for all of you.


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## MyHans-someBoy (Feb 23, 2013)

Overall, he's just a really good boy, isn't he? I sure hope you can get those periodic episodes figured out. It does now sound like it could be linked to a health problem.

I'll spare you the whole long story, but a drunk guy did almost the same thing to Hans and he just sat there with a doggie grin on his face and let him.  Once the guy let go of him and got out of his face, he remained sitting and glanced over at me, lol.
I am amazed at the number of people who do that! I would NEVER grab any dog and get in his face!! 

Best of luck with your pup!!


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## Daisy&Lucky's Mom (Apr 24, 2011)

Sounds like all your hard work is paying off. Good job Klaus.


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## lalabug (Oct 20, 2016)

Glad to hear your good update! Keep up the good work Klaus! <3


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## telavivgsd (Jul 6, 2016)

Thank you so much everyone! 

My Hans-someBoy, he is a really good boy! Well like 85% of the time  In the past I've always had well behaved dogs, but they weren't formally trained, they couldn't do any "tricks" or anything. It's so cool to watch Klaus' mind working when he's learning something new, and see how quickly he picks things up and remembers them (good or bad lol)


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## SnowShepherdJ (Feb 6, 2017)

telavivgsd said:


> I was left in awe of how anyone could think its a good idea to stick their face in a strange dog's face.


+++ this. It seems to me that people who have only had small breeds/very people friendly labs/etc. are the most at risks. People who have never had dogs are generally cautious, but not very experienced people with only genetically friendly dogs think all dogs are like theirs lol.


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## telavivgsd (Jul 6, 2016)

SnowShepherdJ said:


> +++ this. It seems to me that people who have only had small breeds/very people friendly labs/etc. are the most at risks. People who have never had dogs are generally cautious, but not very experienced people with only genetically friendly dogs think all dogs are like theirs lol.




It really just blows my mind! My parents instilled a healthy respect for dogs and their personal space from a young age, and even though ours were so friendly, I was never allowed to hang on them or approach a strange dog without asking permission. I feel like some kind of common sense should come into play but apparently that's not always the case lol.


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## Daisy&Lucky's Mom (Apr 24, 2011)

telavivgsd said:


> It really just blows my mind! My parents instilled a healthy respect for dogs and their personal space from a young age, and even though ours were so friendly, I was never allowed to hang on them or approach a strange dog without asking permission. I feel like some kind of common sense should come into play but apparently that's not always the case lol.



Common sense is highly uncommon.


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## dan&diesel (Jan 25, 2017)

Daisy&Lucky's Mom said:


> Common sense is highly uncommon.


So true .... one of my favorite 2 quotes of all time is "the problem with common sense is that it's not very common". 

The other quote of course is Dean Martin - “I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day.” That's a whole other conversation though :wink2:


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## Deb (Nov 20, 2010)

That's awesome news about Klaus! Often on here we hear the bad things but not the good things! Thanks for posting this!


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## sebrench (Dec 2, 2014)

Yay Klaus! Good boy! Yes people are crazy. On our walk today someone petted Asher on both cheeks while sticking her nose in his face. Asher just gave her smooches. After it was over my mom turned to me and said "I don't know if I'd put my face that close to a dog I don't know." I said "I know I wouldn't." Anyway it sounds like Klaus made a really good choice in a potentially stressful situation!


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## telavivgsd (Jul 6, 2016)

sebrench said:


> Yay Klaus! Good boy! Yes people are crazy. On our walk today someone petted Asher on both cheeks while sticking her nose in his face. Asher just gave her smooches. After it was over my mom turned to me and said "I don't know if I'd put my face that close to a dog I don't know." I said "I know I wouldn't." Anyway it sounds like Klaus made a really good choice in a potentially stressful situation!




I agree, I never would! But particularly in this case, right after the other dog had growled at him, so he was a little tense. Sounds like Asher is a very good boy!


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## Thanos Stadium (Jan 24, 2017)

*Your vs Their dog*



sebrench said:


> Yay Klaus! Good boy! Yes people are crazy. On our walk today someone petted Asher on both cheeks while sticking her nose in his face. Asher just gave her smooches. After it was over my mom turned to me and said "I don't know if I'd put my face that close to a dog I don't know." I said "I know I wouldn't." Anyway it sounds like Klaus made a really good choice in a potentially stressful situation!


I fall victim to this as well but I tend to be overly affectionate to dogs that I probably shouldn't trust simply because I have owned or interacted with a similar dog and I assume the results should be the same. This is not the case and people should be more cautious when petting a strangers dog. I'm glad Klaus responded correctly but I could see how this would be an issue, especially since I do this more than I should.


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## telavivgsd (Jul 6, 2016)

Thanos Stadium said:


> I fall victim to this as well but I tend to be overly affectionate to dogs that I probably shouldn't trust simply because I have owned or interacted with a similar dog and I assume the results should be the same. This is not the case and people should be more cautious when petting a strangers dog. I'm glad Klaus responded correctly but I could see how this would be an issue, especially since I do this more than I should.




I definitely understand the appeal, because I LOVE dogs, but you as you noted you should be careful. I've seen more than one dog on these forums who doesn't like eye contact from strangers (Klaus sometimes too) much less getting in their face. Sometimes they are just so cute it's hard to resist.

I learned a lot from Patricia McConnell's book The Other End of the Leash about how different canine and primate body languages are and how the differences can lead to problems. Maybe you would find it an interesting read!


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## I~Luv~Maggie (Feb 20, 2017)

Great job to Kluas! Maggie is good around other dogs and people 50%of the the time (I am working on that.). She gets really jealous of anything that I interact with besides her lol. I love all dogs, but Maggs does not like to "share" me. still trying to think of when there is ever a good reason to put you face in a strange dog's, especially a German Shepherd's! Well good job to Klaus and Asher! I f Maggie were in that situation I may have been sewed as she is very protective, but either way she is my baby and I would not trade her for the world!:halogsd:


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## telavivgsd (Jul 6, 2016)

I~Luv~Maggie said:


> Great job to Kluas! Maggie is good around other dogs and people 50%of the the time (I am working on that.). She gets really jealous of anything that I interact with besides her lol. I love all dogs, but Maggs does not like to "share" me. still trying to think of when there is ever a good reason to put you face in a strange dog's, especially a German Shepherd's! Well good job to Klaus and Asher! I f Maggie were in that situation I may have been sewed as she is very protective, but either way she is my baby and I would not trade her for the world!:halogsd:




Thank you! Klaus can also be particular about people, usually if they're acting strangely or are purposely holding his eye contact. That's one reason my heart was so in my throat, since her behavior was definitely strange! Maggie sounds adorable - there's nothing like the devotion of a dog!


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## zetti (May 11, 2014)

And this one of the main reasons I opt for a more social dog. Years ago I had a sweet, but very defensive and civil GSD who gave me the reflexes of a military test pilot. Too much stress. Too much liability.

Since then, all of my dogs have been people friendly and well socialized. My newest family member, Raff has an outgoing, confident nature which I have reinforced. His father is a serious dog, former working K9 in the Czech Republic, mom is a social butterfly from Slovenia.

Raff is turning out to be super social at 14 weeks and very affectionate. I expect him to cool off a bit as he matures, but I won't have the stress of worrying about accidental bites.

The defensive aggression is in him, I've seen brief flickers of it when something startled him. I don't want to see much defense in a 14 week old.

In any case, congratulations on the excellent work with Klaus! I had a close encounter with my sharp male and an out of control toddler who flanked him. Luckily, he was on a long down at the time so the kid was ok. He never flinched. Kids parents did when I reamed them out.


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