# Shy and standoffish with strangers



## TheNoob (Feb 3, 2012)

My dog, Sosa, is about 18 weeks old. I take him to the park nearly everyday, and he used to love being greeted by strangers. He would sometimes walk right up to them to be petted. Now I've noticed that during he's been sort of aloof with strangers. It started about a month ago. He's not aggressive. He shows interest in other people (he tries to sniff them), but he doesn't want to be petted by them. When they kneel down to pet him, he shies away and is hesitant to approach. Sometimes he barks at them. He just prefers to sniff them quickly and jump back before they can pet him. He is enrolled in obedience classes at the humane society that started recently. The trainer said that she sees this behavior in German Shepherds a lot, and suggested that we take bring him to play with other dogs in the class before it starts. Is this behavior something that I should worry about? Has this happened with any of your dogs? How should I work through this? Thank you for any advice.


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## cliffson1 (Sep 2, 2006)

Do you have any pics of your puppy?


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## Elaine (Sep 10, 2006)

Yes, this is a behavior you should be worried about. No problem with him being standoffish, but the jumping back and barking is fearful. Start carrying food with you everywhere and have people feed him while gently petting him.


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## lhczth (Apr 5, 2000)

Yes, it can be something to worry about. Don't force the issue. That will just make it worse. I, personally, would ask people to ignore him unless he makes the advances. This could be a stage that goes away if not forced. Could be he just isn't going to be a social butterfly. Could be a temperament issue.


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## justde (Oct 4, 2000)

Often the worst thing is to try to force socializing on a puppy. The best is to remain neutral and allow your puppy to remain neutral. Don't make a big deal about his aloofnes, try to engage him with yourself. Don't try to comfort the dog or force it forward to interact with others, and don't let him become fixated on things that make him feel apprehensive. If he wants to approach someone, as Lisa said, have them ignore him. That's one of the nice things about a good schutzhund club...you have experienced people who can let the dog become comfortable without being overwhelmed. The bad thing about many obedience classes and "socializing time" is that the pup is put in bad situations where he feels overwhelmed, making the problem worse.
Sue


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## TheNoob (Feb 3, 2012)

Thank you so much for all of your advice  I'm going to do everything I can to help him work through this  Here are a couple of recent photos. I think they were taken a couple of weeks ago.


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## cowgirlteach (Mar 17, 2012)

My puppy is younger, but I've been approaching people and just having them ignore him. At first he balks, and then when they make no move towards him he trots right up to them and smells them (I still have them ignore him). I've done this with adults and children. Good luck working on this!! BTW your puppy is ADORABLE!!!!


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## cliffson1 (Sep 2, 2006)

Nice looking puppy...he may just be very aloof. Aloof is part of the standard, social butterfly isn't having said, I think you keep doing the training and continue to expose him to the world. Doesn't sound like there are issues at this point except he is not a social butterfly to other dogs and people. Nothing wrong with that.


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## Muskeg (Jun 15, 2012)

Be careful about pre-puppy class socialization time. It can be fun for some puppies but it can be overwhelming and a bad experience for others. For example, I have a 1 yr old female who just didn't like in-your-face silly puppy play as a young pup. She played well with my two dogs, and I let her play with suitable dogs one on one (other herding breeds or huskies). But labs or the more goofy jump all over breeds just weren't good playmates for her.

Nuetral strangers with focus on you is the best approach to waryness around new people. I never want strangers to feed my dogs. There is no reason for my dogs to go around begging food off people. I also want them to look to me in situations, not go sniffing around for food from strangers. The exception is the schutzhund club people, who understand working dogs. Or family and close friends. But I would not go around handing treats to strangers to give to my dog.

Also, this could be a phase. I don't think you have a social butterfly of a pup, but this is not what a GSD is supposed to be, although some certainly are. I'd aim for neutrality and exposing him to as many people as possible in a neutral setting.


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## doggerel (Aug 3, 2011)

We adopted a very undersocialized 1-year-old female GSD about a month ago. As a result of her sheltered background, she is scared of most new things--strange people, objects, and especially unfamiliar dogs. 

We still have a way to go with her, but I second what many people here have mentioned: Try not to force Sosa into greeting people or dogs that he's obviously scared of.

We've seen the most progress with Pyrrha in letting her warm up to people (and dogs) on her own time frame. We have lots of house guests, and she was previously anxious whenever they would come over, but over time, she's become more and more comfortable with people coming over. We instruct our guests to ignore her, and then pet her slowly and gently when and if she does approach them to sniff. 

We still have a lot to work on with greeting dogs in a friendly/non-fearful way. A dog park or big socialization/puppy play-date event may be way too stressful and difficult to control for you--and for Sosa. For now, we're focusing on introducing her to calm, trustworthy dogs on a one-on-one supervised basis. 

Good luck, and I'm looking forward to hearing about his progress!


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## TheNoob (Feb 3, 2012)

Wow. Thank you everyone for all of the great advice  I've been thinking about joining a schutzhund club at GASA, however, I know that they will test Sosa's temperament to gain a guest membership. Will his shyness stop him from being accepted?


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## GSD07 (Feb 23, 2007)

What a nice looking puppy!! I would go and meet with SchH club people. Trust me, experienced people can tell a shy puppy from an aloof one.


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## TheNoob (Feb 3, 2012)

GSD07 said:


> What a nice looking puppy!! I would go and meet with SchH club people. Trust me, experienced people can tell a shy puppy from an aloof one.



Thanks! I guess it can't hurt to go and give it a try. My family thinks he's the cutest thing ever, lol. He gets a lot of hugs


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