# 10 month old barking @ strangers who stare



## Thecowboysgirl (Nov 30, 2006)

We've had a couple of incidents where my boy has barked at people in public. The 1st was a guy standing in line behind us in Petco. I was checking out and didn't notice anything going on until my boy barked and somehwat growled at the guy behind me. I grabbed him and told him no as sternly as I could. He stopped, and I hung around while that guy checked out, rewarding him for quiet/calm.

Twice it was women staring with hand on hip. One had an attitude and the other was admiring his looks.

Always have body blocked him, corrected him until he lets it go then reward whatever good thing happens next. Some of these were in quick succession (2 weeks), and right after my old dog died. The old man was a super confident, social, unflappable dog and the pup worshipped him. I don't know if it is possible the pup felt more insecure after our canine patriarch so to speak passed.

So, what I have been doing is taking him out with his ball on a rope. When I have it, he is totally ON me. People are just scenery. I did this because it was starting to feel like he was just looking for something to booger at.

I have had him doing obedience drills at the supermarket door, lots of people, he will glance at them but doesn't care. Even had a lady stop to comment on him and stare at him. I put the toy away and cued him to look at her, he did but then immediately went back to offering me eye contact and other behaviors to get his toy back.

Now, to a certain extent I feel I am distracting him from the problem, but for now I don't care. He is much more confident and relaxed this way. He is thinking about being engaged with me to get his toy. 

My plan is to phase out the toy and ease him into being a little more natural and a little less constantly engaged for the toy. I feel at some point I should set him up with people staring and do some behavior mod there, but I did not want to fool with that until it seems like he has had a chance to stop thinking about it all the time.

History of this: when he was younger I did notice a few times he would engage in eye contact with people a little too long/ or with an energy that wasn't relaxed, if I said his name he would stop immediately, so maybe this is his adolescent version of that same issue.

Right before this came to a head I also noticed that he stopped caring for being petted by strangers. He would tolerate it but no tail wag or any sign of enjoyment.
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I have recruited some techs at my vet and some friends to the house to kind of give him a chance to warm up, and if he has a little time he does become social, waggy, leaning, sideways tongue boy. I think this is good for him because he is remembering strangers can become friends who make him happy.

So: my burning questions are: what do you think of my plan and how we are working on it so far? Does this sound like a dog with weak nerves? I do 't recall my female ever barking at a person who didn't do something suspicious. If people stare at her, she assumes they think she is pretty. Well, she did chase a truck off when a creeper leered at me and my daughters on a desolate dirt road. 

Sorry so long!!! Any thoughts appreciated


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## Rosy831 (Feb 27, 2016)

It sounds like you have a good plan in place. Is it only people who are staring that he reacts too? My 3 yr old went through a period something like this, but he didn't bark. Instead he postured, got real tall, leaned forward, ears and tail up. He was about a year old at the time. He has always been very confident, not a thing in the world bothered him, but he didn't like to be "challenged".

I did pretty much what you are doing with yours, but mine was tug crazy. Exposure, interrupting his posturing, and asking for his attention was all I needed to do to move him on. The only time I had an issue was with some older teenagers who thought it was funny. I removed us from the situation. 

Now he's 3, and thinks he's a rock star and everyone is lining up for his autograph. 

He could still be a little unbalanced from the loss of a pack member. Have you considered a new activity to increase his confidence? Nose work, tracking, or agility?

I'm sure you will be able to work through this with him! Seeing and admitting there is an issue is the biggest step to fixing it! Not many people would have figured out what he was reacting too.


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## dogma13 (Mar 8, 2014)

You're doing exactly the right thing by getting him to focus on you and not dwell on whatever disturbs him.Eventually he may forget about it altogether.It's a good thing to have him turn to you when he's feeling unsure.He can tell by your actions and voice that it's nothing to be concerned about.


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## Thecowboysgirl (Nov 30, 2006)

Okay well I am glad you guys think the plan is good.

We start another group class in a week (?) @ Petco. Not because I am looking forward to the wisdom of the trainer. But it is a good environment to train. We live on a mountain, very isolated. I like it that way but it is a struggle to get him into society enough. Then CGC class. I am hoping to be able to recruit people to help me work on this, I don't have a huge network of people to call upon to help me set stuff up for him. Hopefully even taking the class in a busy store will be useful. He ALWAYS behaved better at class and enjoyed going so we will see.

I did just buy a tracking book, and we are enrolled in a tracking clinic beginning of June.

Yes, I believe it is only staring that gets him, although I can't say for certain what happened with the guy at Petco because my back was turned. But in other instances it is definitely when people stare at him or he meets eyes with someone and it's like he feels like he can't look away first...or something


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## dogma13 (Mar 8, 2014)

Samson doesn't like staring either.He's learned to deal with it.But if someone reaches toward him,forget it.He used to growl but I encouraged him to step behind me,which is how he deals with it now.
At class he is much more relaxed and will ask for pets from the people there.Out in public though,fuhgetaboutit.Has to be his idea and in his own time.
We're out in the boonies too,it does take some extra effort to get out there and socialize for sure


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

Staring is a challenge to a dog. You have to understand that. He's not doing anything wrong. He's not being reactive. I know a Rottie that is you were to stare at him, it would be game on. 

I think you are handling it well. Redirect to you. Focus on you. But also pay attention to his instincts. Just make sure YOU are in charge of the situation, not him.


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## Rosy831 (Feb 27, 2016)

About the CGC class, will this be a group class? If so, maybe some of the others taking the class would be interested in getting together at a park or something to work on homework in between classes.


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## Thecowboysgirl (Nov 30, 2006)

I do get that it is a challenge to him, although I will say that the one lady in particular who was admiring him, she was talking to me in a friendly way, she was probably 10 feet away...I felt he was out of line on that one. Although it was only a couple days after the other woman had kind of glared at him with her hand on her hip, and the 2nd woman had her hand on her hip too so he may have just focused on that and assumed she was no good.

I don't want or need him to be a super social dog who enjoys schmoozing people. But I do want him to be a dog who doesn't care if a friendly stranger stops to admire him.

I was raising him to be a service dog (medical)....I have stopped taking him in anywhere that doesn't allow pets or taking him anywhere with his training vest on. I haven't officially washed him out because he would stay with me regardless and I feel the treatment for it is the same whether I wash him out or not. I take public accommodation seriously and would not allow my dog to scare someone. I have had people do some pretty unbelievably ignorant things to my other SD. And the # 1 thing people do is stare lol!! I mean EVERYWHERE I go with my SD people just shamelessly stare at us or her specifically. The naughtiest thing she ever does in response is to wag her tail.

So I am just going trying to get him off the mountain as often as I can and work with him. Yes the CGC class is a group class and I would totally ask others if they would meet to practice. If some months go by and I really feel like he has grown up some and can conduct himself differently I might rethink the service work. Right now I think he is just not cut out for it. I know plenty of SD trainers who would never consider working with him again just based on what he has done so far. Since he is my dog and he isn't going anywhere anyway, I have the luxury of seeing how he grows up.


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## Jenny720 (Nov 21, 2014)

There are a few people out there that made max feel uncomfortable and he was unsure about. People like to stare. Especially if we ran across someone on a hiking trail that seemed to appear out of the blue. I can tell this if max would be watchful of someone a little to much. We would redirect and continue on. As they are maturing you are teaching them how to handle or what you expect from them when they under suspicion of someone.


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## Thecowboysgirl (Nov 30, 2006)

Speaking of hiking, we walk on our own 40 acres. The first time I take him to a public trail he will probably light up on the first person he sees because as far as he knows, the only person in the forest is me. I don't mind that though....I don't have to hike in public places and if there is someone up in my woods, they don't belong there and I would expect my dogs to make a show.

I am trying to take advantage of spring weather when I can leave him in the truck while I do errands and then take him out to train. It is a minimum of 30 minutes to any type of civilization so I prefer to do both things at once when possible. 

I am not sure what the tracking club does throughout the summer but we do plan to join. The kid definitely has a nose and enjoys using it. My female really never puts her nose down to the ground to follow a scent, she air scents, but he will follow footprinta snuffing each one as he goes. His sire had AKC TD and also TR1, dam does nosework. One of this breeder's dogs just got the UTDX, and I'm pretty sure a lot of her dogs having tracking titles. Considering the tracking club of my state is based in my county and does testing in my (very small) town (but we have lots of nice hay fields!!!) It seems a no brainer to get him involved.


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## Rosy831 (Feb 27, 2016)

Where you live sounds like heaven to me! All that space to myself? God, that would be the life lol! I live in a really small town and it's too crowded for me!

I haven't done anything formal with tracking, just taught my 3 yr old to burn some energy and give that mind something to do. Taught him myself with books and videos and some help from a SAR person local to me. What I did when the weather was warm, I'm in Tennessee and the summers are hot, was to track in the early morning or late in the evening. Bring plenty of water and read your dog. But I'm sure the tracking club will tell you all that  

It's great for the dogs, and I hope to be able to train my younger guy after I've recovered from surgery.


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## Thecowboysgirl (Nov 30, 2006)

It's IS heaven. What i have wanted all my life....I am a lucky woman and they are lucky dogs. We call it "Wolf Mountain". I really love it, although like I said, a pain when socializing a pup.

AND I just found a guy an hour north who does herding seminars and lessons. He is a border collie guy but says he works with all "stock dog breeds". I just emailed him to ask about GSDs. My pup has not had nearly enough exposure to livestock either. Herding lessons would be fun, good exercise, and familiarize him with some livestock even if he sucks at herding lol.

​


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## Jenny720 (Nov 21, 2014)

40 acres does sound like heaven we are surrounded by woods and trails just not mine. Tracking is a great thing to do especially when you know it's your dogs strong point. We signed up for tracking did not start yet but doing noseworks and is so much fun. Are last shepherd was trained in tracking - not by me but he helped find our cat who was in the wall behind our washing machine in the middle of getting ready to move.We looked for her for two days and thought our cat may have escaped outside -he tracked her in seconds with his big nose. After that I always wanted to have a tracker in the house.


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## Rosy831 (Feb 27, 2016)

The herding sounds like an awesome idea! You have a great plan in place and I'm sure you and your dogs will benefit from all the activities you are looking into. Socializing a dog means different things to different people. It's ok to me if my dogs aren't social butterflies, I'd rather they be neutral. I've always tried to expose them to as many different things as possible. My younger dog kinda got short changed because of all my back issues that popped up when he was about 6 months old, but I have made him a promise that I would make up for it soon!

It's funny how non dog people, or traditional pet people scratch their heads in wonder at folks who go a bit beyond for the health and happiness of our pets!


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## MichaelE (Dec 15, 2012)

Lisl does not like being stared at. It is considered a challenge to her. When in public I kindly ask strangers not to stare her in the eye.


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## Thecowboysgirl (Nov 30, 2006)

I am attaching a picture of our little piece of heaven from today's walk.

Also I just need to say I could not be more proud of the boy today. I took him to a busy plaza to practice. Lots of people talked to me. A respectful child asked to pet him, I gave him the option to go up if he wanted and he greeted her politely, very breifly, with a little tail wag, then immediately turned back to me like, "how about that toy?" Then a man came up and talked to me and asked to pet him and I said, if he wants. Dismissed him to go greet if he wanted and he did. Same thing, he went up, little tail wag, got a pet, then immediately returned to me and made pointed eye contact (toy?). 

He was focused, engaged, but fairly relaxed the whole time. Then a lady I know went by with her GSD who was quite out of control, there was another GSD still hanging out a truck window and those two were barking enthusiastically at each other. Quite a racket. My boy did not even look over. Then the woman I know came closer to say high to me, her GSD still out of control and barking at mine. My boy never looked, never responded at all. She walked away because she couldn't control her dog. I took my boy to a woodsy spot out back and threw his toy for awhile and made over him like he was a rockstar, because really, he was!!! Way to go, kid.

I really like how he is looking at people and then immediately returning to me of his own accord. I shaped that behavior but he is running with it. I am pretty sure his discomfort requires some duration with the staring and if he can stop engaging in the staring because he has learned to come back and get his reward, then I think that is big progress.


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## Rosy831 (Feb 27, 2016)

Yep, I'm jealous! Where you live is beautiful! 

Sounds like yal had a great day and I know you are proud! Keep it up!


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## Thecowboysgirl (Nov 30, 2006)

The only bad news is that the guy who teaches herding wrote back & said he isn't working with untrained dogs right now because all his ewes are pregnant. Totally understandible. Back to the drawing board on that one.


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## dogma13 (Mar 8, 2014)

Your woods are beautiful!Sounds like your pup is doing great and deserves that rock star treatment


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## Chai (Dec 11, 2014)

Wowwww your home is wonderful! A GSD's paradise.


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## Jenny720 (Nov 21, 2014)

Incredibly beautiful looks like gsd heaven!


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