# Scared ?



## Nicholas (Mar 25, 2009)

The first time I went to see Blaze he was scared to come close to me, after visiting him a while he get adapted to me - so we finally brought him home. He's been in his new home and surroundings and is very smart, he knows to ask to go outside to use the bathroom, plus he wouldn't go upstairs in our house he only stays by our doors, we listens when I tell him basic commands like sit, stay, paw, and is very good on leash and off leash. I notice he's scared of other people/dogs that he sees on our walks. We have two smaller dogs and he plays and gets along good with them, but when were walking and he sees other dogs or people he tends to hide behind my legs, he's a pretty big boy he weighed in at 37lbs on his last vet visit 3 days ago, is there any way of making him more protective instead of him hiding behind my legs?

Today we had a visitor that he never met before, and the guy was standing infront inside our door and Blaze started barking at him but would back away when he barks, like he wouldn't hold his ground...is there any training methods or anything I can try on him to make him more protective and not scared of humans or other dogs he sees....?


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## katieliz (Mar 29, 2007)

i am not a training expert (and i'll bet you'll get lots more good advice and opinions here from those with more training experience), but i don't think you can "train" this behavior out of him. how old is he, do you know his background, how long have you had him? i'm thinking this is all a matter of his feelings of insecurity and fear. please be patient with him.


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## allieg (Nov 4, 2008)

If he is young he is more in a scared mode than a protective mode that is why he is backing away.He will hold his ground when he get older.If he gets lots of positive encounters with humans he will outgrow being scared of them.


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## katieliz (Mar 29, 2007)

okay, i went and read about blaze in your prior posts...nicholas, blaze is still a PUPPY and should not be expected to protect you, as prior posters have said, it's your job to protect him (all of his whole life, actually). however, having said that, if you are good and patient and consistent with your training, and he knows you love him and you care for him well, he will defend you to his last breath (assuming his temperment is sound). you've had him a very short time actually, he is probably still acclimating to his new surroundings and, again, he's just a BABY still.

also, gsd's are "velcro" dogs and live to be with their person. they do not like to be left out of things or to be kept where they are not able to be with you.

good luck with your boy. again i will say, patience is the key here, he's just a baby. and a good looking one at that!


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## Timber1 (May 19, 2007)

Finally, someone said it again. German Shepherds are Velcro dogs and basically big babies. My dog, was much like yours as a pup, but believe me as Blaze matures, he may still remain a Velcro dog, but also become protective of you and family.

I went through this with my guy, Timber, and now we are working to get him to be less protective of me and my property.


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## [email protected] (Apr 8, 2009)

Rogan does this too. He will be 8 mths old tomorrow and we've taken him everywhere with us and he's met lots of people. But he still barks and backs up whenever people come near him. Even just people we're meeting on the sidewalk that have no intention of touching him. He is especially afraid of children, which really concerns me. But I've been reading everything I can find about this behavior on this board and it seems he'll probably outgrow it if I continue taking him out and have lots of positive experiences with people. I now know not to make him do anything he's uncomfortable with. He's funny that he does seem to like some people better than others. He'll sometimes sniff people's hands when they put them out, but other people can't get that far because he's barking and backing away. It's kind of embarrassing. I'm sure people think he's mean and vicous.


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## GSD07 (Feb 23, 2007)

I just want to clarify one thing because it's very important to realize that. Fearful dogs that are described above will NOT outgrow their behaviour. Their weak nerves are genetic. You need to continue the great job you are doing socializing your dogs and proving to them that you are worth their trust and would take care of any situation yourself so your dogs can be managed and desenticized to people around them. They will then be wonderful companions but I would never ever expect them to protect anyone. I just don't want to sugar coat it because dealing with fear aggression is not a piece of cake.


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## Timber1 (May 19, 2007)

I do not agree with the reply subsequent to your last one. The terms fearful and cautious are difficult to define, and with a pup in some cases impossible. Aside from that, if every stranger that approached you would want to visit, would you back happy, or try out go about your business.


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## RubyTuesday (Jan 20, 2008)

Nicholas, work on establishing trust & building confidence. Don't push for canine protection unless you're highly experienced in training & managing protective dogs. The risks & liabilities are simply too great & it's the 'protective' dogs that are at greatest risk.


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## cliffson1 (Sep 2, 2006)

I tend to agree with GSD27, in that this type of behavoir is either lack of socialization or genetic. It appears that the dog is well socialized by the info of the post. Cautious and fearful are not difficult to observe in a puppy or dog. There are all kind of body language to read. Eyes, ears, carriage of tail, raising of hackles, urination when meeting new people, and others. Some of these things they will grow out of like the urination, or maybe raised hackles, but some of these things remain whenever the dog is stressed. Plenty of socialization and obedience training will toward helping the behavoir that is currently being described.


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## debbiebrown (Apr 13, 2002)

i also agree that to some degree this is genetic, especially if a person has done the foundation work, socializing, etc. i have found in my experiences with my own gsd's, that if they are displaying those types of behaviors young it will stick, there will be issues to some degree. this type of dog needs ALOT of work, its a challenge for sure, consistancy is crucial. otherwise when they become adults you will most likely be dealing with unpredictable behavior, and fear aggression. and if it is weak nerves, fearish, etc, to some degree it can come out and probably will throughout the dogs life. but, the best you can do is have that dog extremely well trained, well socialized, well rounded, etc. showing leadership, etc. if a dog with this type of personality was not handled properly it will most likely be a potential biter, and a huge liability. its a huge commitment on the owners part in dealing with a dog that is genetically unpredictable, unsure etc. because a stable dog even at a puppy age will not hide or be fearful after being exposed to things, and won't percieve nonthreatening situations as threatening.

debbie


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## lcht2 (Jan 8, 2008)

i would have looked for a new breeder/pup


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## allieg (Nov 4, 2008)

> Originally Posted By: GSD07I just want to clarify one thing because it's very important to realize that. Fearful dogs that are described above will NOT outgrow their behaviour. Their weak nerves are genetic. You need to continue the great job you are doing socializing your dogs and proving to them that you are worth their trust and would take care of any situation yourself so your dogs can be managed and desenticized to people around them. They will then be wonderful companions but I would never ever expect them to protect anyone. I just don't want to sugar coat it because dealing with fear aggression is not a piece of cake.



I'm not sure I agree that the behavior will not be outgrown..I think since the pup is at a young age he needs lots of work to get through it.He will most likely not be Schutzhund material but you can't give up on him.You will need to start obedience training and get him socialized.I am dealing with fear aggression of dogs right now and no it isn't fun but I am determined to get her through it.You need to start now to gain trust.Get started in a good obedience class as soon as she is done with her shots.


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## pupresq (Dec 2, 2005)

I think to really know what we've got going on here we need more background on the dog. 

1. Is this the puppy from the kennel mentioned in the other thread? 2. How old was the puppy when he was purchased. I got the impression in one of these threads that the pup was actually a couple of months old. 
3. If that's the case, was the puppy previously returned or held back by the breeder for some reason? If so, why? 
4. What kind of socialization work did the breeder do with the puppies? 
5. Did you see any other puppies from the litter? What were they like? 
6. Did you meet the parents? What were they like?

If I'm putting the info from the various threads together correctly this is a showlines dog, obtained at a couple months of age. How much socialization the breeder did is going to be the major clue as to what we've got going on here. If a dog has had all appropriate socialization and good upbringing and is still extremely fearful, then yes, we're looking at bad nerves and while this can be managed it is unlikely to be outgrown. 

If, however, the breeder did NOT do a good job with socialization (and this is a lot more common than you might think even at supposedly good kennels - pups growing up in semi-isolation, never meeting new people, never seeing new things, then this could just be an exposure issue which will improve over time with good socialization work, positive experiences, etc. 

We see this all the time with dogs in our rescue program. Some come in terrified of everything because they've never left their yard before, or perhaps they've got good reasons to fear people because they've been seriously abused. My dog Grace is like this. She was profoundly fear aggressive when we got her because she'd been struck so many times. This behavior does not mean these dogs are genetically weak-nerved. How socialized would any of us be if we grew up in a basement? How flinchy in reactive if we came from a history of abuse? 

If dogs like these have good nerves, as Grace did, you can work with these problems and in many cases completely resolve them. And the more confident and well-adjusted your dog is the better. Defensiveness is not protectiveness and will never turn into protectiveness. They're completely different behaviors with a completely different underlying framework. A protective dog is calm and confident, she knows a real threat from a visiting child. And while it's a nice thing for peace of mind to walk a confident and protective dog at night or when you're sleeping home alone, a dog is still a dog, a family member but not a weapon. Its our job to keep the house safe, not the dog's.


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

find a trainer.


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