# Strong nerves = never afraid?



## Emoore (Oct 9, 2002)

If a dog has strong nerves, does that mean that dog doesn't show fear? Does it mean the dog recovers quickly from fear? What exactly does it mean?

I ask because Kopper has never shown fear (with the exception of the vet looking into his infected ears with her Evil Flashlight of Doom) until a few nights ago.

I took him down to my neighborhood's National Night Out. There was a firetruck with the lights going and they would occasionally turn on the siren. There was a firefighter walking around in full fire gear. There was another firefighter giving a demonstration with the hose. There were police officers, kids, neighbors, lights, and those "poppers" that you throw on the ground and they make a noise. 

He didn't flinch at any of this.

Then when it started getting on towards dark, I we started to walk home. Two young kids-- maybe 14 or 15 were walking towards us in the twilight, both wearing big baggy sweaters with hoods. They asked if they could pet him and I said sure. One kid came up to him with his hand outstretched and his hood on and Kopper hackled, growled, and backed up-- obviously a fear reaction. I had the kid take his hood off and Kopper looked at him a minute with his hackles up, growling, then decided he was ok and let him pet him. 

He's met people in hoods before so I'm not sure if it was the twilight, the accumulated stress from national night out, or all of it together.

Just wondering if this might be an indication of poor nerves on his part?


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## JakodaCD OA (May 14, 2000)

he sounds pretty bomb proof to me, and just that one incident wouldn't make me think he had poor nerves,,he's still pretty much a baby right? could very well have been not being able to really discern a face under that hood?? 

I dunno, this isn't something that would bother me since he recovered very nicely and otherwise he sounds like nothing much bothers him))

I think Masi is pretty bombproof, sounds, new things, whatever, nothing bothers her, she takes it ALL in stride,,BUT , she is petrified of my vet office is fine, techs are fine, the vet walks in and she's a bowl of quivering jello.. I don't equate that with poor nerves, I figure it is what is, and we deal with it..Worse things to deal with I quess, just a quirk for her..


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## Emoore (Oct 9, 2002)

JakodaCD OA said:


> he sounds pretty bomb proof to me, and just that one incident wouldn't make me think he had poor nerves,,he's still pretty much a baby right? could very well have been not being able to really discern a face under that hood??


9 months. And that's what I was thinking-- he couldn't tell if it was a person since he couldn't see their face?


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## Freestep (May 1, 2011)

I think it's unrealistic to expect our dogs to never experience fear. It's more about how they react to, and recover from, a scary experience. I would say that a strong-nerved dog is one that recovers quickly and learns what not to fear. 



Emoore said:


> 9 months. And that's what I was thinking-- he couldn't tell if it was a person since he couldn't see their face?


That would be my guess. Some dogs react that way to people with hats on, or helmets, or whatever--so it sounds like he was confused and a little afraid. That's okay--at 9 months of age, he's still a baby and the fact that he's never been afraid of anything until now (and the fact that he got over it quickly) tells me he has pretty good nerve. At his age, he's probably just now starting to recognize things that *could* be a threat; his defense drive is starting to come out. Keep socializing, he'll be just fine.


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## sharkey19 (Sep 25, 2011)

I don't mean to be stereotypical about teens, but were they trying to walk all "gangster" -like with a limp or swagger? Sometimes dogs will react to people walking with an abnormal gait.


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## Emoore (Oct 9, 2002)

sharkey19 said:


> I don't mean to be stereotypical about teens, but were they trying to walk all "gangster" -like with a limp or swagger? Sometimes dogs will react to people walking with an abnormal gait.


Nah, kinda nerdy skinny kids. I've seen them around the neighborhood before; they don't seem like bad kids. If they seemed like trouble I wouldn't have let them near my dogs.


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## PaddyD (Jul 22, 2010)

Your dog is still a 'child'. Give him a break. Especially if he couldn't see the kid's face at first meeting, it must have spooked him .... he is probably used to seeing faces on top of bodies. People expect too much of their dogs.


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## SitUbuSit (Aug 1, 2011)

It really could have been the hoodie. When you think about it, there's no parallel to hoodies in the animal world. It's not like dogs are used to seeing each other cover their heads and change forms willy-nilly, which is the effect that hats and coats have on humans. To animals, we may as well be shape-shifters! Even I would growl at a suspected shape-shifter. 

Kopper sounds like a good boy. I wouldn't let this incident worry you too much. Maybe practice with people wearing hoodies and big coats around him more.


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## LukasGSD (May 18, 2011)

So long as he recovered ok, I do not think it has to do with weak nerves.

I think Jaxon had a fear period for like 2 days last month. I took him for a walk when all the kids were out and about. One kid asked if he could pet him, I said sure. As soon as he approached, hand outstretched, Jaxon hackled up and barked. A second girl approached the same way, same reaction. A third person holding a younger child came up and just pet him - completely fine. No reaction. Second day we were in petco and he found a man he didn't like who was kneeling down. I asked if he would let me walk by and have him offer some treats and then he was fine again. Hasn't happened again since. And before that he had never shown any signs of fear. He just turned 8 months old.


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## JakodaCD OA (May 14, 2000)

freestep said it better than I,,you can't expect "nothing" to ever scare a dog, but it's about recovery


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## cliffson1 (Sep 2, 2006)

The type of issues that an owner would see to indicate weak nerves are ongoing issues. You will notice these things consistently. Now for a working dog(real application) you may uncover situations that indicate less than stellar nerves....but these are usually things of extreme stress or atypical. This situation is very explainable if it is not the norm.JMO


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## Holmeshx2 (Apr 25, 2010)

Not one of the experts but just have my experiance and opinions. Personally I notice Jinx is a bit more "on guard" when it gets dark out. She's about the same age as your boy and while I don't think it's a nerve thing I think it's a bit more training needing to desensitize she recovers quickly but does seem a bit jumpier in the dark and reacts to things that would never phase her in the light. A group of people walking behind us on a night time walk and she spins around and becomes pretty ridig staring at them and will not continue to walk forward and sometimes does a low growl. Generally after a minute she realizes whats going on and snaps out of it however on a few occassions I've grabbed the treats and give her a command and get her focus back on me and she keeps going like nothing happened. Of course we don't train in the dark so that may have something to do with it and now that I've started doing short walks and training sessions late night outside she has started getting better.


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## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

My GSDs never liked people in hoodies which was a little awkward when my teenage son started wearing them. A few times it was a hairy situation for a few moments before they realized my son was not an intruder barging in the door,, but the boy they grew up with!!


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## pets4life (Feb 22, 2011)

yeah they are animals they can startle the most powerful animals on earth startle they are a living creature not a plant but yeah its how they recover and deal with that startle

example a bear jumps out from behind a bush 


a cobra comes out underneath the leaves 

etc.. lol


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## Klamari (Aug 6, 2010)

I have not found anything that Rayne is really scared of so far. She's been boating, doggie festivals, parks, pet stores, etc. And then I have to desensitize her to all sorts of environmental things for PSA, and she hasn't blinked an eye at any of it.

But she did have 2 times when she was younger (she's almost 8 months now), when she got spooked and hackled. Both times, it was smaller kids who came up to us wanting to pet her. For some reason, in those two situations she didn't like something. I think it was how they acted as they approached us. 
But then she is around my cousins' small children and all their little friends often enough and has never been scared by them. So I just chalked it up to wierd moments, and a young dog. And then I went out and socialized her to any young kid I could find just to be on the safe side 

And then she didn't like my aunt's horses the first time she saw them but that was quickly fixed with a couple treats and a little patience. Now she wants to chase them, ugh.


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