# obsession!!!! Help!!!



## Luna_baby (Aug 14, 2013)

hi all.

my 5 month old dog is great in the house and on walks. 

our only problem is she seems slightly obsessed with my 5 year old daughter. as soon as my daughter comes down in the morning she so excited to see her i have to push her with my foot to stop the circling and constantly correct her behaviour. shes not aggressive at all just so excited to see her and wants to constantly br by her side. apart from the mornings, round the house she is fine.

The main problem is when we all go on a walk....
Luna (my pup) will pull the entire time if my daughter gets even a step away. she tries to wrap my daughter in the lead by going beside her and going to her otherside almost as if shes herding her. 
if my daughter runs off in front its like luna goes into full stress mode, pulling and doing this whining, yelping, barking, choking type noise. off the lead she is less stressed but will not let my daughter stray off. 

if my daughter goes on the kids park where dogs have to stay out even if im stood next go her she is absolutely inconsolable.

i have tried corrections on the leash, dropping my voice to a low almost growl like voice and am definitely pack leader..not sure what to do

any ideas would be gratefully received!!!

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## Baillif (Jun 26, 2013)

If your daughter had the leash and you walked off would she react the same way?


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

do you have to take your daughter on walks with the dog?
i'm thinking once you have more control of your dog take your
daughter along. your dog is only 5 months old. there's lots of
room for training and socializing. do some training in the house,
in the yard with your daughter close by. when you go on walks
go without your daughter. as the pup learns and gets older
take your daughter on a short walk with the dog. train with
your daughter there. keep the walks with your daughter short
in the begining. slowly increase the length of walk with your daughter
there.


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

i don't think testing that is a good idea at this point. a 5 yr old
holding a 5 month old pup, the pup could easily get away from
her or pull her down if's she's not holding the correctly. when a child
holds a leash i suggest folding the leash down (ribbon style) and let
the child place their hand around the leash. if the dog takes off
it pulls the leash out of their hand. if they're holding the leash by
the loop (handle) or their hand is through the handle and holding the l
leash they could easily be pulled down and if they try to hold on that
could be worst.



Baillif said:


> If your daughter had the leash and you walked off would she react the same way?


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## Baillif (Jun 26, 2013)

Wouldn't even need to do that you could just tie the dog to a pole and have her hold the leash and stand next to it.


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## Neko (Dec 13, 2012)

We had the issue of our pup being very excited and also having a hard time if me or my husband walk away outside of the house. It's not obsession it's herding... "A sheep can get lost or hurt or eaten, if it gets far away from the pack". It will get better as the pup grows, but it's a normal behavior for shepherds.


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## Baillif (Jun 26, 2013)

That's pretty much what we were looking to test, but I suspect the same thing.


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## Neko (Dec 13, 2012)

This is the only reason my puppy failed CGC, because mom getting far away in an unknown place was NOT ok with him. I am proud of my good boy  it's easier to have a dog that does not try to run from you.


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## Luna_baby (Aug 14, 2013)

thanks for the reassurance guys. 

i only bring my daughter on walks at weekends as i normally walk luna while my daughter is at school. the last time my daughter came on a walk it was a fifteen minute walk and it was a nightmare. i was constantly correcting and made the walk extremely stressful. 

my daughter has held the lead but she pulls my daughter too yet when i am on my own she is a great walker. 

when off the lead she is alot calmer but still herds my daughter back to me if she goes too far :-/

like i said everything else is fine just this one issue.

is this quite a common issue with shepherds??


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## LoveSea (Aug 21, 2011)

It is very normal for a German Shepherd to pick one person as their favorite. In 2009 we adopted an 8 year old dog. The moment he walked into the house, he attached to my 8 year old son. They were inseparable. He did not want to leave his side. When my son got up he would follow from wherever he was. When my son went to school, he did not want me to take him for a walk or play ball or anything. He slept all day, until my son walked in the door. It was truly "a boy & his dog". All he did was stare at my son. We often joked that all day, all Rocky had in his mind was the image of a ball & my son's face. He only lived 2 more years & we were devastated. 

Last year we were ready to adopt another German Shepherd, hoping to have what we had with Rocky & my son, but our new dog picked me as his favorite. I still cannot walk through the house without a German Shepherd attached to me. If I stop, his nose bumps into my rear end - it drives me crazy!! They pick favorites. Your dog is still young & will calm down, but enjoy that bond your dog has with your daughter, because it is very special. She is your daughter's guardian angel. They are such loyal dogs. I don't know what kind of advice I can give you to stop the crying when she can't be with your daughter because Rocky did the same thing when he saw my son outside playing without him & the one & only time we all walked to drop my son off at school, Rocky cried, whined like he was being tortured as he watch my son walk into the building.


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