# 5 months old skittish with people.



## konathegsd (Dec 3, 2016)

Hey everyone I have been training my sdit prospect kona. She has been doing absolutely amazing! About a month ago she started getting pretty fearful of other dogs. Someone mentioned fear period. She now at 5 months no longer is as fearful and likes dogs and can completely ignore them in public. She absolutely loved people when younger.about a month ago she started not liking people petting her, she would back away and bark. Now she gets a little skittish with some people when they look at her and make noises at her or talk to her. She back away and gets skittish but does NOT bark. Any tips or ideas on how to get her more comfy with people ? I don't want her to be crazy about people, but I want her to remain calm and not get so afraid.


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## Moriah (May 20, 2014)

I have never let my GSD meet people out in public. (Well, the exception was the retired policeman who was the past director of the Seattle Police Canine Unit Assoc.--he had a love fest with my 6 month pup and my pup adored him.)

When my GSD pup went through a fear period, I threw treats on the ground when he saw people in the distance at the park. In this way, he did calming actions (sniffing the ground) and had a positive association with strange people. His fear period passed and he is neutral with strangers. He also knows not to go up to strangers as he was trained to ignore them.


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## konathegsd (Dec 3, 2016)

Moriah said:


> I have never let my GSD meet people out in public. (Well, the exception was the retired policeman who was the past director of the Seattle Police Canine Unit Assoc.--he had a love fest with my 6 month pup and my pup adored him.)
> 
> When my GSD pup went through a fear period, I threw treats on the ground when he saw people in the distance at the park. In this way, he did calming actions (sniffing the ground) and had a positive association with strange people. His fear period passed and he is neutral with strangers. He also knows not to go up to strangers as he was trained to ignore them.


She completely ignores stranger, which i want. I had her sit stay and watch all the people walk by and she had no problem at all. Mainly gets wierd when people "target" her. She will have a "do not pet" vest soon enought. We are working hard in having her focus on me and making great progress! She was not seperated from the litter untill 13 weeks. Since the first week home she has been in Walmart, Home Depot, petsmart,petco and never had any issues! Is 5 months typical for a fear stage? I was pretty worried she was going to bark in the store when she got afraid but she didn't and only backed away. Every time she got a little scared or didn't want to proceed I removed her from the situation. The store was pretty crowded and she did amazing for the most part but got spooked a couple times.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

All pups are going to be different. My two older ones loved everyone when younger and as they got older they became aloof. My younger one has never really been excited with strangers. He was aloof pretty young. At about a yr he would give a low growl if anyone came close, but I think that was because of me. He grew out of that with minimal training, but I still do not let any strangers pet him. If he knows you he loves you, otherwise he wants nothing to do with you. They had several obedience classes each which I think helped. I never have gone through any fear periods with mine.

What you don't want is for the pup to bite or snap at anyone as a defense. I would put her in a sit when you see people and give treats telling her to watch you as they walk by. Condition her to ignore people.


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## konathegsd (Dec 3, 2016)

llombardo said:


> All pups are going to be different. My two older ones loved everyone when younger and as they got older they became aloof. My younger one has never really been excited with strangers. He was aloof pretty young. At about a yr he would give a low growl if anyone came close, but I think that was because of me. He grew out of that with minimal training, but I still do not let any strangers pet him. If he knows you he loves you, otherwise he wants nothing to do with you. They had several obedience classes each which I think helped. I never have gone through any fear periods with mine.
> 
> What you don't want is for the pup to bite or snap at anyone as a defense. I would put her in a sit when you see people and give treats telling her to watch you as they walk by. Condition her to ignore people.


I have been focusing really hard on "watch me " when people are passing. This is a fairly new behavior. Just last week we were training in a dark ally and a man walked straight at us and she continued to walk right past him with no fear lol


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

konathegsd said:


> I have been focusing really hard on "watch me " when people are passing. This is a fairly new behavior. Just last week we were training in a dark ally and a man walked straight at us and she continued to walk right past him with no fear lol


She's young, just keep moving forward. Lots of people do all this training and think they aren't getting anywhere. They really are, the dogs are absorbing all of it. One day they might look at you like your an alien when you tell them to sit, they know sit but they are testing those boundaries. Then the day comes and you realize that everything you taught them clicked. It's a great feeling when that day comes.


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## cliffson1 (Sep 2, 2006)

Let her grow up. She is puppy. You as owner have to learn to discern between behaviors they will grow out of and behaviors that are genetic and there for life. She sounds pretty normal to me for a 5 month old puppy.


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## konathegsd (Dec 3, 2016)

cliffson1 said:


> Let her grow up. She is puppy. You as owner have to learn to discern between behaviors they will grow out of and behaviors that are genetic and there for life. She sounds pretty normal to me for a 5 month old puppy.





llombardo said:


> konathegsd said:
> 
> 
> > I have been focusing really hard on "watch me " when people are passing. This is a fairly new behavior. Just last week we were training in a dark ally and a man walked straight at us and she continued to walk right past him with no fear lol
> ...


Should I remove her from the situation and turn around or try to continue forward ? When she backs away I turn and walk the other way because I don't want to force her forward and make her more fearful


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## Bramble (Oct 23, 2011)

More Harm than Good: 3 Reasons Why I Never Socialize my Puppies | The Collared Scholar


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## konathegsd (Dec 3, 2016)

Good read. I never let her meet dogs, I make her ignore them. And when she was younger I let people pet her but mainly teach her to JUST focus on me. Even when she is comfy with people she has no interest in going up and saying hi, which I don't mind


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## dogma13 (Mar 8, 2014)

When she gets uncomfortable with attention from strangers just keep right on going ahead without giving her a chance to dwell on it.You can add a "look at me,good!"in a calm voice.No reward until she's relaxed and completely recovered.She'll learn to ignore them and trust that you're not going to force her to interact.
My dog did the same at about the same age.He learned to ignore and when the occasional well meaning stranger reaches for him he dodges behind me long enough to avoid and then back again at heel.Not 100% ideal but I never want him to feel the need to defend himself and possibly snap at someone.


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## konathegsd (Dec 3, 2016)

dogma13 said:


> When she gets uncomfortable with attention from strangers just keep right on going ahead without giving her a chance to dwell on it.You can add a "look at me,good!"in a calm voice.No reward until she's relaxed and completely recovered.She'll learn to ignore them and trust that you're not going to force her to interact.
> My dog did the same at about the same age.He learned to ignore and when the occasional well meaning stranger reaches for him he dodges behind me long enough to avoid and then back again at heel.Not 100% ideal but I never want him to feel the need to defend himself and possibly snap at someone.


Okay I will try that. Took her on a adventure today and she was doing great. Went right up to my friend and was allowing him to pet and was licking his hand. She darted forward at something she saw in the distance and I had my back turned so my buddy recalled her and she started trotting back but was kinda barking at him and had a Mohawk lol.


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## konathegsd (Dec 3, 2016)

Update: she is doing much better! Allowed people to approach and did not react or get scared at all. Only thing that scared her was a giant stuffed elephant, we worked through it though and she was ok with it by the time we left.


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## dogma13 (Mar 8, 2014)

Giant stuffed elephants are terrifying!Good job you two


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## konathegsd (Dec 3, 2016)

dogma13 said:


> Giant stuffed elephants are terrifying!Good job you two


Thanks! She still gets kinda wierd when people are close and are staring at her and talking to her. I certainly hope she grows out of this soon cause it's getting old! Haha


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## konathegsd (Dec 3, 2016)

Just wanted to update! Kona is doing AMAZING with her training ! And she is certainly growing too ! She's getting tall and long.


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## konathegsd (Dec 3, 2016)

Here's her at the playground


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## SnowShepherdJ (Feb 6, 2017)

konathegsd said:


> Thanks! She still gets kinda wierd when people are close and are staring at her and talking to her. I certainly hope she grows out of this soon cause it's getting old! Haha


My pup reacts in this situation as well, except she is going to bark and lunge and show her teeth at them, and judging from her encounter with the vet, I am pretty sure she is going to bite if those people try to pet her. Could you please share how did your pup turn out now?


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## giebel (Jul 28, 2016)

My dog was never great at the vet( I'm not great at the doc or dentist so I feel like we got each other). First and foremost find a vet who gets that. I always muzzled my dog at the vet ( it was only for a short time and it was worth the worry to do it). Also, I always recommend bringing a cloth muzzle on a walk or in the car( if your dog is injured it will provide you with a safety backup). I think you are doing great working on your dog remaining neutral in public places. I never had people touch my dog out in public. Friends and dogs we got to know over time in public were gradually introduced. I also worked really really hard on the look at me during stages when he would get hyped up in public places. When he was sititng in public places it was always me in front and my dog slightly back( Im in charge). Also I preferred for him to be laying down and sitting when he got better if I was in a public place and watching and observing. I was better able to pick up on his cues and how he would react.


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## SamsontheGSD (Dec 23, 2016)

Our 4 mo old pup doesn't particularly care for strange adults petting him. I try not to make a big deal about it. I'll sit beside him and allow people to pet him while explaining that shepherds typically don't come up to people they don't know. I make it as pleasent for him as possible and he will accept the attention. Thats the breed standard. They don't make overtures to strangers but will accept them.


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## Nurse Bishop (Nov 20, 2016)

Young Inga here has recently become aloof without any special training


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## konathegsd (Dec 3, 2016)

SnowShepherdJ said:


> konathegsd said:
> 
> 
> > Thanks! She still gets kinda wierd when people are close and are staring at her and talking to her. I certainly hope she grows out of this soon cause it's getting old! Haha
> ...


 she is doing amazing! She never reacts anymore and completely ignores people. We are still working on confidence with strangers when she is off duty.


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