# A few questions re: our 7 months old pup's behavior



## Litz (Oct 8, 2010)

Hello, looking for a bit of advice, or perhaps reassurance that our 7 months old female GSD is on the right track with bahavior. 

Issue 1 is that when we take her to the dog park she has recently started being nasty with the other dogs, big or small. As they approach each other everything seems fine... a bit of sniffing and circling... and then the other dog goes about their business. As this happens, our dog Emma barks and jumps at them with teeth showing, sometimes just badgering them a bit, sometimes actually grabbing at the top of their neck area. When I yell out a "hey" she seems to immediatly stop and has no indication that she's upset about anything. 

She has seemed to be very balanced so far (we got her at 8 weeks). I'm unsure about her dominence as when she's at home, in our pack (no other dogs though), she is semi-submissive. She urinates a spot when we first come home and let her out of the crate, she cowars a bit when I pull out her training collar, but no tail between the legs or anything of that nature. We have pretty well solved the urination by just ignoring her when we first let her out of the crate until we get her outside. Then we ignore her until after she runs off to go potty, which solves the problem. 

She does bark whenever someone is walking near our house and we are working on teaching her the QUIET command. We recently bought a static remote training collar to help us with correcting this. 

My biggest concern is that she's not playing well with other dogs. When at the dog park should we try leashing her when other dogs are around so we can control the introduction? Is this something that is a fairly normal phase as she grows up? 

She has been to puppy classes, we crate her, she gets exercise several times a week, but not everyday. That will be changing now that it's summer, and I am also guessing she'll get more socializing at the park now that the weather is warmer since there will be more dogs around. 

Thanks for any advice.


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## MrLeadFoot (Jan 4, 2009)

Based on everything you've said, it sounds like you could benefit greatly by getting some professional help for you and your dog. A GOOD trainer can help you evaluate the situation, and because of your dog's age, the sooner the better. If you can get in touch with a good trainer (not a typical puppy class trainer), it will be worth every penny you pay, and more, to get yourself and your dog on the right track. Besides, you'll see more progress faster, and reduce the liability of having a GSD you can't rely on, if that make sense.


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## middleofnowhere (Dec 20, 2000)

Sounds like normal play behavior to me. They get rowdy and pushy.


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## Castlemaid (Jun 29, 2006)

The jumping on other dogs and grabbing them by the neck is normal GSD play - that is one reason GSDs don't make good dog-park dogs. I would avoid dog parks, or keep her on leash, or find some dogs that you know and she knows and like to play rough.

My two play very rough together, but it is play. I don't let them play with other dogs, because most other dogs would get overwhelmed/scared/on the defensive and would not enjoy that level of physical play. 

At seven months, your girl is still a baby - and not sure why you need a training collar at that age? Especially with a submissive dog? Training should be fun fun fun, and I'm concerned about the cowering? What kind of collar do you use, and what training methods do you use?

I use a prong on my mixed breed that I have trained for obedience, an e-collar for off-leash runs, and when the collars come out, she is jumping for joy and actually trying to push her head into the collar so exited she gets knowing that the collars means fun stuff, or walks in the woods. If your girl is cowering from the collar, then perhaps the collar is over-kill for her, her temperament, and her age. 

The submissive peeing is quite common, even more so with females - looks like you are handling it well, and I think she will outgrow it. But I would work on her confidence and on establishing a more positive relationship in your training. That would help a lot with her confidence and the submissive urination, so changing your training/collar use will do much to address some of the issues you are concerned about. 

How much exercise? Should be everyday, that can be what is bringing on the barking. I taught my barker girl the Quiet command by gently holding her muzzle shut while saying "Quiet" and praising and rewarding her when she was quiet. Then catching her BEFORE she got all barky at something and telling her quiet, and praising her for not barking really taught her to stop barking at everything. But your pup is still a baby - seven months . . . you might be expecting a lot. With her soft temperament, I'd wait until she matures and gains more self-confidence before using aversives in her training.


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## gsdraven (Jul 8, 2009)

Litz said:


> My biggest concern is that she's not playing well with other dogs. When at the dog park should we try leashing her when other dogs are around so we can control the introduction? Is this something that is a fairly normal phase as she grows up?


Leashing her when other dogs are off leash is something I would definitely not do. What that would do is make her feel vulnerable because you are taking away her option to get away and could make things worse.

Most GSDs are not dog park dogs once they start maturing and that's okay. You need to realize that while the dog park is fun for you, it may not be fun for her. Try taking her for a nice hike for exercise instead.

I also am concern that your dog cowers when your bring out her training collar. Training should be FUN, FUN, FUN not scary. What kind of collar are you using?

It sounds like you have a pretty sensitive girl and she is still so young. Look into positive reinforcement and clicker training and I think you will like the difference in enthusiasm that you get from her versus the compulsion methods it sounds like you are currently using.


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## Rerun (Feb 27, 2006)

Also agree that training should be fun...mine love when the training collar and leash comes out. If not given the command to sit/stay, the bounce around the room in excitement when I pick it up.


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## Litz (Oct 8, 2010)

Thank you for the information. To answer some questions: We use a Petsafe "Big Dog" remote trainer collar. We just got this a couple days ago and have used it to give her a quick correction when she's on her outdoor lead, while teaching her the "quiet" command. This collar does not bother her at all. She also loves leashes. The collar that she is submissive to is a chain style choker. We only put this on when going on a walk aroudn the neighborhood. I will giver he a quick correction to the side when needed, but she seems to enjoy the walks very much. I'm not sure at all why this particular collar bothers her... I was wondering if it's the look, sound, metal, etc that she is actually not liking. Not sure. I introduce the collar to her, and have a treat which I stick through it, and when she nibbles the treat I slip it over. Doesn't bother her at all once it's on, it's only when she first sees it that she immediately submits. 

I would not say she is a "submissive" dog. She holds her head high, waves her tail like banner-flag and will do a chest-out stance when another dog is staring at her. 

For training we use positive rewards with treats, but we maintain pack-leader position. 

I would say that she is a very well-behaved and balanced girl but I wasn't sure about the rough-play and the anxiety/excitement urination.

Thanks again.


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## firfly (Mar 6, 2011)

I think you might want to check the setting on your collar, when a correction is administered the dog should only show slight, head turn there should be no yelp or signs of true pain. You really dont want to use a higher setting than needed for the correction. Being that your dog is cowering it makes me wonder if the setting was tested or adjusted correctly.


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## Litz (Oct 8, 2010)

firfly said:


> I think you might want to check the setting on your collar, when a correction is administered the dog should only show slight, head turn there should be no yelp or signs of true pain. You really dont want to use a higher setting than needed for the correction. Being that your dog is cowering it makes me wonder if the setting was tested or adjusted correctly.


 
Again, she is NOT cowering or afraid of the e-collar. She is submissive only to the chain choker. I have the e-collar adjusted to the lowest setting that gets her attention, which is a 5 out of 10 on this particular model.


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## CPH (Sep 8, 2010)

I definitely agree that keeping her on leash while around other dogs could make things worse. My guy does not like meeting other dogs while he is on leash, off leash he is amazing though. I wouldn't give up on dog parks, GSD's can play rough, and going for the neck is something my guy does as well. As long as you are there to monitor the play and can step in if she gets out of hand I would keeping working with her with other dogs. It may just be a case of her figuring out what play is appropriate vs. inappropriate. Definately agree with *Castlemaid *that it would be good to find someone that you know who has a dog that likes to play a bit rougher and get them to play together. We take our pup (11 months) to the dog park every Saturday and he does wonderfully with dogs of all sizes. It may just take some more socialization to get to that point.


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## gsdraven (Jul 8, 2009)

Litz said:


> We use a Petsafe "Big Dog" remote trainer collar. We just got this a couple days ago and have used it to give her a quick correction when she's on her outdoor lead, while teaching her the "quiet" command.


Do you have any training on using an e-collar? It isn't supposed to be a slap it on and start correcting collar. The collar should be introduced gradually and be a positive thing first and then used to correct behaviors that the dog knows.


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## firfly (Mar 6, 2011)

Litz said:


> Again, she is NOT cowering or afraid of the e-collar. She is submissive only to the chain choker. I have the e-collar adjusted to the lowest setting that gets her attention, which is a 5 out of 10 on this particular model.


Sorry Litz I have to learn to read more carefully...LOL


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## Litz (Oct 8, 2010)

CPH said:


> I definitely agree that keeping her on leash while around other dogs could make things worse. My guy does not like meeting other dogs while he is on leash, off leash he is amazing though. I wouldn't give up on dog parks, GSD's can play rough, and going for the neck is something my guy does as well. As long as you are there to monitor the play and can step in if she gets out of hand I would keeping working with her with other dogs. It may just be a case of her figuring out what play is appropriate vs. inappropriate. Definately agree with *Castlemaid *that it would be good to find someone that you know who has a dog that likes to play a bit rougher and get them to play together. We take our pup (11 months) to the dog park every Saturday and he does wonderfully with dogs of all sizes. It may just take some more socialization to get to that point.


I agree, this sounds like the plan I will take... essentially just continuing to work on socialization, and trying to find some friends with dogs who have a similar play style. I think she is just trying to learn what is appropriate since she does immediately stop when I intervene. No growling before or after and I don't need to even touch her. I just call he off and she trots away to do soemthing else.

One more question: She will chase a ball forever... should I limit her running as to not overstress her hips? I am talking about on grass at a park, not pavement. She trots along on pavement for a mile, but I am very careful to not run her very far. At the park though it takes a good 45 minutes of chuck-it throwing before she slows down. As soon as she's getting tired we quit. Is this fine for her age?


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