# When will my german shepherd stop being to friendly?



## USMCvet (Aug 14, 2014)

This is my first GSD and while I don't want a mean dog, I also don't want my dog to allow every single person to approach us and also be so welcoming to strangers. A big reason for getting her was for protection..which i know is in their instincts even if you don't put them in protection training..about the only place she is protective or alert is in my home..even then if someone broke in I feel like she'd just bounce from wall to wall with excitement..

she's 8.5 months so I'm hoping it's cuz of her age so is their a certain point where people have to earn a shepherds trust or something? I dedicated months to soley socializing and exposing her which now I'm thinking I did to much to where NOTHING is thought of as a potential threat... Any advice would help thanks

Sorry for the rant lol


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## Ace GSD (May 30, 2014)

He will be more aloof as he get older. Im also on my first GSD and he is more aloof now that he is 14 months old. Especially at night he is more suspicious of people that passes by. No more wagging tail, ear go back anymore unless i actually said something or bring him over to the person. I believe at 8.5 months old your GSD is very much a puppy. Mine is 14 months old and still a puppy. Yours will mature much faster though cause its a female. I think female mature around 1.5 years old and male is much more later lol


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## Ziemba73 (Nov 14, 2014)

I have an attached male at 10 months...he is friendly to strangers when I am home and let him know everything is fine although he barks at everything at first. Im not an expert but I think that bc our dogs think of us as parents, that they feel comfortable when we are around and strangers come near. When we are away and aren't watching, I'm sure it's a different story. That's what my neighbors say at least


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## gsdsar (May 21, 2002)

You still have a puppy. At this age, if you have done things right. There is no threat. 

With protective dogs like GSD. It's super important to teach them what "normal" and "good" are so that as she matures she will recognize "bad" and "threatening". 

I would not expect true and stable protective instinct to kick in until 18 months. 

But now she is at an age where you can direct her not to interact with everyone she sees. Get her attention. Praise her attention, while still being out and about.


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## USMCvet (Aug 14, 2014)

Thank you all for the responses...I was informed over and over again the importance of socialization so I did I socialized her at an extreme amount..so yes there is no threat to her...I don't want ppl to be able to just walk up to me and her get excited....lol


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## MineAreWorkingline (May 2, 2015)

gsdsar said:


> You still have a puppy. At this age, if you have done things right. There is no threat.
> 
> With protective dogs like GSD. It's super important to teach them what "normal" and "good" are so that as she matures she will recognize "bad" and "threatening".
> 
> ...


This.


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## USMCvet (Aug 14, 2014)

Everyone that goes to the same dog park pretty much knows her as the friendliest dog they know....which believe it or not pisses me off......


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## zyppi (Jun 2, 2006)

Sounds like you have a pup with a good sense of self.

Be glad.

Whatever you're doing, keep it up.

She will grow into herself and a sense of place but don't expect her to be more than a pup until she's at least 14 months - some later than that.


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## Stonevintage (Aug 26, 2014)

Mine is just stopping and "observing" at this point. She is too young to make decisions because she has not had the experience 10 mos) as a pet dog. But, she is not running up to everyone anymore wanting pets right away, she seems to want my ok first. Plus, I taught her how to bark to "who's that" and she goes off on my command. 

It was funny the other day, because winter tends to isolate the neighborhood somewhat. A couple of the "always in trouble" kids walked by (19-22 yrs old the one's that used to pet her over the fence last fall) - she came up on them in the corner right when they got to our fence line and scared the heck out of them barking. One hoodie cussed and the other, when he got down to where I was in the door just said "**** - your dog got big". I just laughed and said yep!

Give it time and manage it carefully - you may find yourself needing to tone it down, so watch out for how much you encourage it.


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## LoveEcho (Mar 4, 2011)

USMCvet said:


> Everyone that goes to the same dog park pretty much knows her as the friendliest dog they know....which believe it or not pisses me off......


If she was anything but super friendly at this age, you would have a long road and a lot of concern ahead of you. Remember, she's a baby.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

l want a pup/dog with confidence. The dog that has confidence seldom needs to react and usually has higher thresholds. 
I love that my pup thinks everyone is his friend, because he is confident, forward....
The dog that isn't is the one that is sketchy and not trustworthy in the reactions....most often that type will not continue to be protective for real, it is all for show.
That said, l want my dog to decipher on their own, and then look to me for direction regardless.


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## Stonevintage (Aug 26, 2014)

I want a dog that barks, reacts and stops when I tell her it's ok. 

My last GSD never barked, he bit two people that (well, the first one was a bad guy, the 2nd one was not, but he put his hand thru the fence and that was a no-no).

I want my new girl to bark and leave the rest to me. There is no way, I can see until she is much older if there is a real threat or just a property intrusion. Big difference there..... for a pet.


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## Sarah~ (Apr 30, 2012)

Eko has always been overly friendly (for a GSD) with people and he is now 3. But he still barks to let me know someone is coming up to the house and it sounds scary so I'm good with that. He also chased off a guy who was acting pretty suspiciously around our fence one night so he seems to be able to tell when someone is acting out of the ordinary, like gsdsar was talking about so I'm okay with him being everyone's best friend. He still knows who mom is and comes back to me once he's done loving on the other person


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## Arlene/Archer (Mar 7, 2013)

OP, sounds to me like you have a pretty solid easy going pup, you have NO idea how lucky you are so don't be annoyed. Also, as your dog matures she will become less hail fellow well met with people and become more focused on you. Archer is 3, and I socialised him a huge amount, to this day he is an affable easy going dog who likes people. The same dog will also bark the house down should someone call. He's protective of the property and, I notice when we're hiking, keen that people we come across are 'aware' of his presence. He's a little aloof these days, but his solid character is far more important than a dog who growls or barks at everyone he meets.


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## pets4life (Feb 22, 2011)

what are your pups parents like? that should tell you how your dog will be some just aren't protective


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## Daisy&Lucky's Mom (Apr 24, 2011)

onyx'girl said:


> l want a pup/dog with confidence. The dog that has confidence seldom needs to react and usually has higher thresholds.
> I love that my pup thinks everyone is his friend, because he is confident, forward....
> The dog that isn't is the one that is sketchy and not trustworthy in the reactions....most often that type will not continue to be protective for real, it is all for show.
> That said, l want my dog to decipher on their own, and then look to me for direction regardless.


This :thumbup::thumbup:Although I do believe some of her openesss she is a puppy and a confident one.


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## Pretzels (Aug 11, 2014)

My pup is also known as the "friendliest dog ever". The main thing we work on in training is not flipping out and trying to I smother every stranger with kisses. Lol
This is not such a bad problem to have! Remember, you want a confident dog, most importantly. You don't want your dog thinking normal people are bad/suspicious, this is a stressful and potentially dangerous thing to deal with. 

The main form of protection dogs provide is a deterrent anyways, and as a deterrent, even if they are friendly, they work pretty darn well. It's been shown that in general a dog that has not been highly trained in protection is not likely to actually take down a threat anyways. I don't really want my dog to feel like he needs to protect me, I want my dog looking to me for guidance and safety, not the other way around. Imo when you have a dog, you are the leader and you should not be needy of protection from them.

Me and my pup (who is now 15 months old) don't come across concerning people often, but the times we have, he's actually picked up on it and is not his normal friendly self. He stands tall and serious and let's out a few barks. He knows a normal person when he sees one, which also means he can tell when something is off. He barks at suspicious noises in the night or people at the door and this is plenty good enough for me as far as protection. Both cases I direct his attention to me and let him know that "I got this" and I appreciate his warning barks and don't correct for them. 

Sounds like you have done great with your dog on socialization and he is in a really good place for his age! Now that you have a great foundation of confidence and socialization, you can start training your pup to start acting more indifferent to people. I would recommend maybe not going to dog parks anymore, since that is about as encouraging as it gets for running up to people and dogs and looking to them for fun... Instead, you can take him to other places and work on keeping his focus on you and looking to you for fun instead of everyone else in the world


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## MayzieGSD (Aug 28, 2006)

My female just turned 10 years old and she is still a goofy puppy when greeting people. She will bark and put on a great show if they are outside the home but would offer tail wags and kisses if given the opportunity to interact. I did socialize her a lot as a puppy too. 

My male is much more protective.


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## BrokenSailor (Oct 22, 2013)

Your dog will have plenty of time to become more serious. The others are right... you are lucky to have such a friendly pup. He will grow more protective as he ages. But you get to train that part how you want. Most of it with a GSD will be natural to them. Better to start out the way you are. 

A puppy is like a child... discovering things through playing as they grow. Even training is play to them... that is how they learn. A pup that is very playful is most likely a pup with a high drive. That is what you want. You got a good one!


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

BrokenSailor said:


> Your dog will have plenty of time to become more serious. The others are right... you are lucky to have such a friendly pup. He will grow more protective as he ages. But you get to train that part how you want. Most of it with a GSD will be natural to them. Better to start out the way you are.
> 
> A puppy is like a child... discovering things through playing as they grow. Even training is play to them... that is how they learn. A pup that is very playful is most likely a pup with a high drive. That is what you want. You got a good one!


:thumbup: 

Welcome to the site BrokenSailor, like the way you post!!! :wub:


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## Mikelia (Aug 29, 2012)

What everyone else has said. My friendliest, most solid, trustworthy with people dog is also the one dog out of the five that I own that would likely actually protect in a threatening situation. He is well socialized, confident, always looks to me for direction and has a good enough head on his shoulders to respond confidently in a scary situation. 
So many gsds are fearful. They bark at everything and everyone and people think they are protective. If you've raised your dog, exposed her to many situations/people/other animals and she's never lunged and barked the whole way through puppyhood then you have a great dog and have done a good job


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## Longfisher (Feb 28, 2013)

*Socializing*



USMCvet said:


> Thank you all for the responses...I was informed over and over again the importance of socialization so I did I socialized her at an extreme amount..so yes there is no threat to her...I don't want ppl to be able to just walk up to me and her get excited....lol


I too wanted a dog that would, at least, be suspicious of strangers but be totally unreactive to other dogs unless put on alert.

I didn't allow anyone near my dog but my wife. And, it took some doing as everyone wants to pet a GSD puppy. So, my dog's only persons in the world he wanted near us was me was my wife.

I also taught my GSD to alert early in the process. My trainer used a silly command of "watch 'em" said excitedly but in a loud whisper (if there is such a thing). I opted for a low pitched growl, instead, which no one but the dog and I can hear.

I also taught the dog to bark on command. So, if I'm on the street and there's someone I think is suspicious I give him the growl which raises his hackles and focuses his attention and then the bark command (either verbal or sign) and he seems to know that I'm concerned about a particular person and issues a very loud bark each time I command it.

Works like a charm.

But I didn't want him reacting towards other dogs. So, we taught him that "Easy" meant that he wasn't to react. Also, when we walked past barking dogs behind a fence I made him sit and be silent and just watch the other dogs.

Same with other dogs coming towards us on leashes no matter what fuss they made towards Zeus. He's completely unreactive towards dogs unless I issue the growl and then he stands and raises his hackles and stares the other dog down.

Once in a while, a dog won't be deterred and will approach us if he's off leash. We have a different strategy for that but that's for another thread.

I know I'll get a lot of flack about this, but, I'd stop the socializing with people and dogs immediately. And, teach the dog to come to alert on command and bark on command.

Else, the dog might become useless for even intimidation.

BTW, I'm an ex-Marine vet too.

LF


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## MineAreWorkingline (May 2, 2015)

Longfisher, you bring up a lot of good points. There are only a few public places where I allow people to interact with my dogs such as the veterinaria's office. Outside of that, it is hands off.

Like you, I also teach my dogs when to be suspicious and to what people. A loud drunk across the street is something to get past, not a threat. The passive, silent stranger lurking in the shadows is possible cause for suspicion.

BTW, my husband is an ex marine.


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