# My GSD is too soft :(



## Kelvin1305 (Apr 27, 2015)

My 14 month old female German Shepherd dog is too soft. He doesn't bark at strangers, instead lets them pet him. How do I make him serious about security?

She is very thin and yet to have her 1st heat too.

Am really worried and appreciate your help with these problems.


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## Anubis_Star (Jul 25, 2012)

Temperament is genetic. The only way to make him "serious" is to have a good foundation dog and then do proper training. Most dogs will NOT protect their owners, especially without any true personal protection training


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## ILoveBella478 (Mar 13, 2015)

Some people will tell you get a trainer but honestly I did it without one 

1. I taught my puppy to speak on command 

2. Every time my pup looks at something with curiosity I say "who is it speak !!" I really work her up and when she makes the slightest noise I reward her.

3. I get a bag of treats I knock on my door and repeat speak and continue knocking until she barks then I reward her then I do the door bell I ring it and tell her to speak until she do then soon as she do I give her treats and repeats these steps 

4. I put a shirt around my face and I take her to the backyard and then I leave her and I go around to the side of my house I make the slightest noise and peak around and then she start barking because she's a little curious and then I reward her 


Now you also to teach your dog the stop command when you want them to stop my stop commas works very well so it's possible without a trainer 

As of her first heat idk you should ask the vet about that sorry


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## Kelvin1305 (Apr 27, 2015)

Thanks Anubis.. I have given her basic training and she mostly obeys me. But the really issue is she welcomes everyone with a wag and never ever tries to bark at them. She infact cries if they dont pat her


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## Kelvin1305 (Apr 27, 2015)

Thanks ILoveBella478.. that helps. Aren't they natural barkers?


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## JakodaCD OA (May 14, 2000)

I would rather you have a dog that welcomes everyone than one who bites them when they walk thru the door  Be happy with what you have


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## ILoveBella478 (Mar 13, 2015)

Kelvin1305 said:


> Thanks ILoveBella478.. that helps. Aren't they natural barkers?


I think every dog is different when it comes to barking bella didn't start barking until I taught her to speak and that wasn't until she was 4 months I was worried something was wrong but then I taught her in a couple days to speak and she started barking


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## MadLab (Jan 7, 2013)

Is it a male dog or a female?

What role do you want from the dog, pet or security?

Did you research the use of the dogs parents?, Were they guard dogs? Did you select the dog for any specific traits?


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## Kelvin1305 (Apr 27, 2015)

JakodaCD OA said:


> I would rather you have a dog that welcomes everyone than one who bites them when they walk thru the door  Be happy with what you have


@ JakodaCD OA- Yes I would love to have a soft dog.. but there are few robbery issues in my area and got to have a brave dog


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## Kelvin1305 (Apr 27, 2015)

ILoveBella478 said:


> I think every dog is different when it comes to barking bella didn't start barking until I taught her to speak and that wasn't until she was 4 months I was worried something was wrong but then I taught her in a couple days to speak and she started barking


She loves tennis ball and she barked when I was tempting her by playing with my kid and not to her. So she knows to bark but only when she is need of something.


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## Kelvin1305 (Apr 27, 2015)

MadLab said:


> Is it a male dog or a female?
> 
> What role do you want from the dog, pet or security?
> 
> Did you research the use of the dogs parents?, Were they guard dogs? Did you select the dog for any specific traits?


Its a female dog. I did not select her for any specific traits. Infact she is queen of our family. but recently we have few buglars issues, hence would want her to be little aggresive and warn us on strangers.


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## Kelvin1305 (Apr 27, 2015)

Sorry guys, am new to this site and dont have any clue on how to reply to your messages. Am trying to learn and correct me if am wrong.


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## ILoveBella478 (Mar 13, 2015)

Kelvin1305 said:


> ILoveBella478 said:
> 
> 
> > I think every dog is different when it comes to barking bella didn't start barking until I taught her to speak and that wasn't until she was 4 months I was worried something was wrong but then I taught her in a couple days to speak and she started barking
> ...


Is there a treat she absolutely love or even water does she go crazy over water or her food that you feed her how is she about that ? 

You want something she goes absolutely crazy about that's how you get them to speak im about to find the link that taught me and send it to you


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## MadLab (Jan 7, 2013)

> Its a female dog. I did not select her for any specific traits. Infact she is queen of our family. but recently we have few buglars issues, hence would want her to be little aggresive and warn us on strangers.


If the dog is queen of the house then everybody comes in and rubs her with excitement and joy and this is the energy the dog associates with people. So with strangers she may expect to be loved and love all people.

But I think a dog will learn to recognize negative energy and most dogs will have a potential to protect the property or the contents or people within. 

At the same time the dog is young. 

Look into other security techniques rather than expecting the dog to step it up. The dog may be stolen too as it is probably worth a bit. That would be worse for you if you love the dog.

With one of my dogs, he is very happy go lucky. When I leave the house though, he clicks into protective mode and more so when he got older. My female is extremely over protective and was a danger as a pup to everybody but over time developed into a stable protective dog but with good observation of treats and not over zealous.

So to me a lot of the dogs instincts are given genetically. But confidence and happy go lucky dogs can easily be taught new skills. They can be taught to protect but you need to begin to understand the nature of dogs and all the many possibilities and go and train the dog and develop the skills and instincts it has.


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## Anubis_Star (Jul 25, 2012)

Kelvin1305 said:


> Thanks Anubis.. I have given her basic training and she mostly obeys me. But the really issue is she welcomes everyone with a wag and never ever tries to bark at them. She infact cries if they dont pat her


My dog is the same exact way. You have a very social dog. 

Again, without proper training, very unlikely anything will change


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## Kelvin1305 (Apr 27, 2015)

ILoveBella478 said:


> Is there a treat she absolutely love or even water does she go crazy over water or her food that you feed her how is she about that ?
> 
> You want something she goes absolutely crazy about that's how you get them to speak im about to find the link that taught me and send it to you


Thanks.. She loves Choostix, may be I can use it as trump card to make her speak


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## Kelvin1305 (Apr 27, 2015)

Anubis_Star said:


> My dog is the same exact way. You have a very social dog.
> 
> Again, without proper training, very unlikely anything will change


Should I keep her isolated for few days/week?


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## Kelvin1305 (Apr 27, 2015)

MadLab said:


> If the dog is queen of the house then everybody comes in and rubs her with excitement and joy and this is the energy the dog associates with people. So with strangers she may expect to be loved and love all people.
> 
> But I think a dog will learn to recognize negative energy and most dogs will have a potential to protect the property or the contents or people within.
> 
> ...


Thanks, she is my first GSD and am still learning on this beautiful breed.


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## Baillif (Jun 26, 2013)

If you want a dog serious about security you buy a dog meant for that purpose. Not all GSD are created equal.


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## newlie (Feb 12, 2013)

My neighborhood is good, my dog is soft as well, but he suits me just fine. Newlie does bark if someone knocks or if he sees or hears something he doesn't like and it sounds very fierce. Just because he is big and looks intimidating, I think he is enough of a deterrent to make any ordinary run of the mill intruder change his mind. For some crazy on drugs, though, I am hoping he will buy me enough time to get to my other weapon.


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## Chai (Dec 11, 2014)

Are there any trainers in your area that specialise in protection? Professional training would probably be the only way to get the results you want, I don't think she would naturally become "aggressive" or defensive with some causal training from you...but even then, a lot of protection trainers (at least in my part of the world) won't train your dog unless it passes a temperament test. Maybe your dog just isn't cut out for this particular type of work? Genetics plays a big part in this.

She sounds like a lovely, friendly girl  I would just enjoy her for what she is and invest in another type of security system. Usually the sight of a GSD is enough to scare most people off anyway. However, perhaps you could try stop introducing/socialising her with guests so much so she becomes less interested in them and eager for their attention?


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## Kelvin1305 (Apr 27, 2015)

Thanks everyone. That helps alot.. I'l try to find a professional trainer for her to become little aggressive.. even if she doesn't respond, am happy to have a such a cute and soft girl


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

I'm not sure where any of my GSDs are. They are all social but aloof. They all bark at the door, which is very rare. I've seen them react a couple times, but stopped as soon as they realized there wasn't an issue. 

I live in a pretty secluded area. The guy across the way has a camera which covers some of my house, which is good. I do know there was a problem with people coming and going down the road(probably drugs)and my neighbors asked me at that time to just sit out there with Midnite. Midnite does this crazy thing and runs around parked cars smelling the wheel wells, pretty much how a police dog would. Well they seen this a couple times and a couple times he stared down the people walking(you could see they were uncomfortable with his staring) there is no more traffic down the road. It all stopped within a couple months of me moving in. The neighbors were thrilled. 

The guy down the way thinks someone tried breaking into his house(fingerprints on the window looking like someone was trying to open it). Everyone thinks it's the one neighbor and I've made it a point not to introduce any of my GSDs to him. He attempted to stand on my fence one day and Midnite ran at him, he fell and said oh poop--never tried that again.

This past weekend I was touching up the paint and I noticed claw marks next to the window and the door. It's Midnites. About three weeks ago my front door was making awful noises and it looked like someone kicked the bottom of the door. My best guess is that someone might have attempted the window and the door and set Midnite off. From the damage he did it looks like he went from window to door or vice versa. Midnite was not playing. One would never expect that if they met him, he is a great dog with a great temperament.


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## Debanneball (Aug 28, 2014)

JakodaCD OA said:


> I would rather you have a dog that welcomes everyone than one who bites them when they walk thru the door  Be happy with what you have


 This :thumbup:

Just the sight of a shepherd should scare a person...hopefully.


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## Susan_GSD_mom (Jan 7, 2014)

I've had hard GSDs, and a couple softies. There are joys in having each. I loved them all for themselves, and miss them all for different reasons. The male I have now is naturally a hard dog, but abuse and neglect in his youth damaged some of those edges.

When I experienced my first GSD, I knew about them somewhat beforehand, and as the years went on I never wanted anything else (except the GSDxs). I expected the aloofness, and never needed any of them to be a social butterfly. The couple that I had who were, were still not like a golden, they had limits.

Susan


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## Stonevintage (Aug 26, 2014)

There was a post that I can't locate now - the suggestion was this and I thought it was pretty cool;

Teach your dog heel, teach your dog speak - Imagine yourself opening the door to a strange noise in the yard and you have your dog in a heel/speak. Looking good!


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## Kelvin1305 (Apr 27, 2015)

Debanneball said:


> This :thumbup:
> 
> Just the sight of a shepherd should scare a person...hopefully.


This site and you people are awesome. Thanks alot and the real good news is my queen is in heat now for the first time. 

I could see only one or two drops on the floor. Is that the way it happens to should they bleed more?


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## Nigel (Jul 10, 2012)

llombardo said:


> I'm not sure where any of my GSDs are. They are all social but aloof. They all bark at the door, which is very rare. I've seen them react a couple times, but stopped as soon as they realized there wasn't an issue.
> 
> I live in a pretty secluded area. The guy across the way has a camera which covers some of my house, which is good. I do know there was a problem with people coming and going down the road(probably drugs)and my neighbors asked me at that time to just sit out there with Midnite. Midnite does this crazy thing and runs around parked cars smelling the wheel wells, pretty much how a police dog would. Well they seen this a couple times and a couple times he stared down the people walking(you could see they were uncomfortable with his staring) there is no more traffic down the road. It all stopped within a couple months of me moving in. The neighbors were thrilled.
> 
> ...


Cats and sometimes other critters hide or seek warmth in car wheel wells, engine compartments, ect... that may be what Midnite is after when he does his search. Just be cautious as sometimes whatever animal it is may take exception to being routed out.


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