# 7 Month old Socialization Issues



## SeaJai (May 18, 2018)

As the title states my GSD puppy is 7 months old and when she hit about 6 months old is when she begun this protective/fearful stage. I used to take her inside Orschlens when she was a puppy and she would do great until about that 6th month where she would began to bark at other dogs and become uneasy with other people which occasionally barking would occur. 

She’s a loving dog at home and when I visit my parents house with her she is just fine with all my family and animals it’s just with foreign people or animals she becomes super anxious and I’m not too sure how to break her out of it 

When new friends come over she will bark at the guests for a couple of seconds and slowly get over her fear of these new people. The same thing can be said about going on walks she just becomes very paranoid now compared to when she was younger and I’m not too sure why

Sorry for the long paragraphs. I’d just like to know if anyone has had these sorts of issues and could help me out, Thank you!


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## car2ner (Apr 9, 2014)

sounds like what happened to my gal-dog. She was a great brave pup until right before her 2nd heat. I suggest going slow when exposing your pup to things. Let her get accustomed to things from a distance. Don't let strangers pet her at their request. I tell strangers to ignore her. If she gets curious and goes up to them then they can pet her. I also celebrate times when she gets past something that bugged her. If your dogs gets a little spooked at something new, it is not a problem if she recovers quickly. That is perfectly normal. 

I also started training my dogs in SARs scenarios. We are blessed with a good club nearby. At first my gal was not too sure about straying too far from the parking lot and my other dog. She took a lot of social ques from him. After a few months my gal figured out what the game / puzzle was. Find the person, get a treat, head back to the parking lot. Now she loves it and I was pleasantly surprised when she went straight up to a club member she didn't know before as if to say, "did you see that? I solved it!"

All that to say, see if you can find a sport or hobby that you can do as a team. It will probably help. I think some of the shyness comes from now knowing what to do in a situation and being part of a team helps with that.


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## DaBai (Aug 13, 2017)

This is right about the time when my girl puppy started to have problems with other dogs on leash too, before she was ok with them on leash in puppy class. The good news is that the problems you describe get better as she ages (at least in my dog's case), the bad news is that they may never go fully away. My girl can walk pass another calm dog now as long as they are not too close, but if the other dog is lunging/barking she would still react. She probably can never be bomb proof near dogs on leash.

Regarding protectiveness/fearfulness with people, something that helps us is spaying her when she was 1.5 years old. 2 months after spaying, she literally stops barking at delivery people anymore. But maybe it is just her and neutering/spaying won't work the same for every dog.


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## Malibu (Jul 27, 2017)

How was she socialized? Taking her to a store a few times is not going to work. I hope you take her on daily walks to see/hear everything in her surroundings and introducing her to well balanced dogs and yes well balanced people.

If this was done well then you just have a dog with week nerve and have to handle that the best you can.


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## Soldes (May 15, 2018)

Expose her to everything, without forcing the issue ( ie. rubbing his nose against something that she is not sure about). We try to get Red, since he was a pup, in front of the world; now at 10 months, he is not fearful of his surroundings.


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