# Normal Puppy behavior??



## CaseysGSD (Oct 15, 2010)

Our puppy Blitz is just 4 months old yesterday, We got her at 12 weeks old from a very good breeder. When she came home she bonded to me and my two young daughters within the first 24 hours, she was a bit standoffish to my husband at first but within 1 weeks time fell in love with him too.
She has a beautiful personality, just happy to be with us, very very loving to us, learns new commands in 2-3 tries, pays unbelievable attencion to me when I'm working with her, loves to tug and play and go for walks but also loves to just hang out. 

Now for my question mark....for the people who come into my home or meet her on the leash, for most women she will sniff and may even lick their hand but then doesn't really want much to do with them, just keeps a close watch on them and backs away if they try to pet her head. Most men she wants nothing to do with, keeps close watch and jumps back if they try to pet her and sometimes even barks at them if they are presistant. NOt sure if I would call it scared cause once they turn their back to her she trys to sniff and check them out but just really does not want them to pet/touch her (she loves to be scratched and rubbed by us) Also she is not scared of ANY enviroment noises at all, very fearless in that departmant. I'll also note that the people who come to my house on a weekly basis (babysitter and personal trainer-both women) now that she knows them she gets excited to see them and loves to be pet by them and gives kisses.

So my question is do you GSD loves think this is normal puppy behavior orsomething that needs to be worked on...right now when we do incounter someone and she acts this way I have her sit and let them pet her head.

TIA
Casey


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## Montana Scout (Sep 27, 2010)

im a newbie but from what ive read, that seems better then the dog jumping on visitors... im sure a pro will chime in, but i usually give my guests, or someone who just wants to pet him, a cookie to give him, so he knows they nice... but then after about 3 minutes he ends up laying down between my legs


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## Stevensondrive (Jul 20, 2010)

sounds like a fairly normal condition. the nervousness is from lack of socialization. get her out often. I take my 6 month old Brutus to Petsmart to walk around and sniff and get petted several times a week. he has also spent some days at the kennel with our trainer. Most folks recommend puppy class too. get her around other dogs and people as much as possible.

sounds like you got a great dog with great potential.


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## CaseysGSD (Oct 15, 2010)

Thanks for the advise! I do take her into the pet stores a lot and try to take her pretty much everywhere with me as well as we have formal training starting in a few weeks when she turns 5 months.


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## Smartter (Feb 5, 2011)

I experience this same thing with my 7month old. I got her when she was 12 weeks. The first day she was introduced to my nieces (ages 2 & 3 yrs) and my nephew (age 8). She was very skiddish, but I assumed this was because she was brand new to all of us. Since then I bring her to my office where she interacts with my family daily and "new" people. She never greets new people. My boyfriend will take her to his shop which is located down town. He has several people in and out all day. She will not meet any of them. Occassionally if we tell her that a person is a "friend" she will sniff their hand for a second and then go hide, behind me or something. She has never had a day where she interacts with no one / no other dog. I constantly take her with me everywhere and let my nieces and nephews "kiss" and hug her... Is this a bad thing?!? It seems she is scared to death of everybody, even if she has met them a few times.


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## Emoore (Oct 9, 2002)

This is a fear/avoidance response. I'd expose her to lots of people and let her have good, positive experiences, but don't allow anyone to "force" their affection on her if she's afraid or skittish of them. Instead, they should sit or stand quietly and ignore her and let her come to them, sniff them, and maybe take a treat from their hand. Once she shows that she's more comfortable with them they can show her affection through petting or whatever.

To Smartter: I would NOT let your nieces and nephews kiss and hug her if she seems to feel threatened or nervous of them. Kissing and hugging are entirely unnatural behavior to dogs and they have to feel trusting of the person doing the hugging or kissing. A lot of children get bitten every year because they're trying to force affection on dogs who are afraid or don't like it.


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

I'd like my puppy a bit more confident and comfortable with strangers.

Much more out and abouts in the world. Puppy class would be the fastest and easiest way to help with this.

And you aren't using FOOD to help! Real treats cut up really small and handed out to everyone to give to the puppy during these meet and greets will help give the extra push so your pup gets it's confidence in these situations.

We want a more bold and confident puppy to make a calm and confident ADULT dog!


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## EJQ (May 13, 2003)

Sounds like you have a bit of a fear factor going on here. That can be helped by a lot of socialization. Whenever possible, take her with you - expose her to the outside world. I would not let people glom all over her. As a matter of fact, tell people that she is in training and you would rather that she approach them instead of the people trying to force their attention on her. This way it's done at her pace and she can sniff, kiss and all that good stuff - if the people don't follow your wishes; too bad pass them by.  Good Luck:gsdsit:


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