# Leery of strangers and fear of small children



## Mjzaniewski (Jan 12, 2015)

Hi, I'm new so if this topic has been covered please don't hesitate to redirect me. I have a male gsd that is coming two in April. He's a wonderful dog, however he's not comfortable around strangers and he's fearful of children. I've taken him to parks and he's watched children, but I haven't allowed them pet him because he barks and makes odd wining noises. He's also a big boy, and very intimidating. At home he's a baby and gets along well with our families and with familiar dogs and cats, and even our 8 chickens. I would describe him around people he knows as a big baby that wants love and someone to throw the ball. Recently his behavior has worsened and it worries me. We went away for 2.5 weeks and he stayed with my parents who he loves, but when he returned I noticed he was barking more indiscriminately at noises in the house ie the ice machine, that he never reacted to before. He barked at the gas station attendant and at the teller's voice at the bank drive through, he's never done this before. He's always been leery of strangers, but when I took him for a walk at a bike path a woman approached us while I sitting on a bench and he barked so fierce that she quickly walked away apologizing. How am I suppose get him meet people when his bark is so scary that they run in fear and I can't blame them. His training is spot on at home, and pretty good away from home. He gets very distracted in situations with a lot of people or dogs. He's never been aggressive with other dogs, but he barks and bounces and puts his hair up so the other dogs owners run in fear. 

I'm pretty sure all of this is a fear issue but I'm not sure why. Yes he wasn't around children when he was young except for the breeders child before we got him. I don't have any children or friends that did at the time, but my sister in law had a baby recently and I don't want to have to worry, but even a 3 mos old freaks him out a bit. I've had him since he was 8 weeks and he never had any incidents and i met his parents who were lovely. My husband and I aren't people people ourselves, so that doesn't help, but I've tried to socialize him and I fear it's too late. I was contemplating getting an e collar to stop the barking thinking if I could keep him from barking at people then he wouldn't be so scary, but I'm afraid he'd react poorly to it and I'd regret it. I took him to a trainer last year, he did well, but he was even suspicious of the trainer and was never comfortable with him. His never shown aggression in the sense of growling or biting but I don't want his current behavior to escalate. Frankly I don't care if he likes strangers to pet etc, but I should be able to have him sit next to me while I have a conversation with a stranger without him getting upset. Sorry this was so long, please help!
Thank you


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## JoanMcM (Dec 5, 2013)

Fearful in what way? Are you afraid when children come by him? Is he afraid he will knock them over or step on them? or is he trying to run away or defensive display (hairup, growling, barking)?


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## dogma13 (Mar 8, 2014)

It would be best to find a trainer experienced with GSDs.It's difficult to help online without actually seeing your dog and you together.It does sound like a fear reaction,he's barking to keep the scary people away and it's workingA trainer can help you read his body language(and yours) and show you the point when he becomes uncomfortable and how to redirect him to focus on you.IMO an e-collar will make things worse.In his mind the scary people are causing the discomfort.There are a lot of threads on this forum about fearful dogs and redirecting that will help.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

A trainer could help. I think its more frustration then fear, especially with the whining noises.


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## Mjzaniewski (Jan 12, 2015)

What do you mean by frustration? It's deeper pitched wining, but not growling and not whimpering.


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## Mjzaniewski (Jan 12, 2015)

The trainer I had bred gsds but was basically like that's how some dogs are. But I feel like if he's trained enough he could focus on me in a scary situation and not worry about everything else. I guess I need to find someone new
As for strangers, some he is ok with approaching. For instance, an older man and wife walked by us, the man was like does he bite, I said no, but...Patton barked once, and the man was like come here boy and I walked Patton over and he pet him and rubbed him and Patton was totally in to it. But the man had no fear. I feel like when people are scared of him it makes him fearful and he barks and I get nervous. it's a viscous circle.
With kids, I'm not sure what he thinks. Our neighbor's grandson is 5, orange haired, and totally irreverent when it comes to gsds because his uncle is a k9 cop and he's used to being around him. Patton does not like him: barks, never relaxes even if we have him throw the ball, he will not bring it back to him. If the kid moves suddenly, he barks at him, but stays about 5 ft from him. As for strange children, I'll give you the example of the incident two days ago. I had him on the bike path near a park, a kid about 8/9 made a b line for us, running, and yelling can I pet your dog? I couldn't believe it, what did the parents teach this kid, but that's beside the point. Anyway, Patton got in front of me a little, barked, hair up, tail wagging? Almost the same way he acts when he sees dogs. Does he think kids are dogs? I grabbed him closer to me and told the kid no he's scared and moved on. Patton has many dog friends, but I rarely let him meet strange dogs on the beach or something because I don't want an issue. Like I said before, he's big and if some little dog with a Neapolitan complex wants to pick a fight, and Patton defends himself the other dog is gonna get hurt, and probably get blamed since I feel like people assume gsds are mean etc. Anyway, again sorry about the length. Thank again!


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## JoanMcM (Dec 5, 2013)

All dogs should be able to handle a kid yelling, even a kid running up and throwing their arms around their neck. THAT should be a given. And people will say kids should be trained, controlled, etc and we could have all kinds of discussions on that but the truth of the matter is if your dog so much as knocks a kid over when the kid is jumping up and down on him and the kid gets hurt, then the dog and owner will be found at fault.

I have a feeling there is a lot more going on here then we can see online. You may want to get a 2nd opinion and perhaps folks on this blog that are the MOST experienced can recommend trainers in your area.

If you get nervous around kids, or are uncomfortable in a situation, which you may be at the moment that feeds into it as well.

In the meantime, tell the dog to shut up and sit down. Make him sit and stay BEFORE he reacts. And tell the kids that he is learning to behave and cannot be petted etc yet.


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