I have been walking my 5 month old GSD around my home for at least a half mile 2x's a day and we were sticking to a fairly predictable routine. I had not noticed until recently but the two routes we walked were free of all adult dogs on any of the properties. The result was no dogs ever barked at him. The occasional dog we would pass on our walks was well behaved and cordial and they might even play a little once introduced.

Well, in the past few weeks I have been taking him on longer walkes and on different routes away from our normal routine and several homes on these new routes have full grown dogs in the yards. The slightest bark from a tiny chihuahua will send him clawing for the nearest beeline home. LITERALLY CLAWING. Some homes have bigger dogs, GSD, APBT, Mastiffs, Akita's & all other kinds of dogs on these routes.

He is so stressed out from these walks I think he has become more dog agressive lately too. Nothing major but I am keen to subtle changes in his attitude.

So I have this 11 year old little white spitz lap dog who is absoulutely indifferent to other dogs behind fences. He will even pee through the fence while the dog is going ape sh!t just inches away. The only thing about the spitz dog is he is lazy as they come and loses his wind after maybe 1/4 mile walk. My GSD also likes to harass the dog while walking so I have been walking him seperately until he mellows out a little.

Well I thought maybe if the GSD could watch the spitz dog's behavior around these neighborhood bullies maybe he might come around. So this morning we tied on two dogs and went outside for the obligatory chaos around the front of my house. Once I let them pee & poo the GSD mellowed out and we were able to get the walk on. The two of them walked like brothers and it was a pleasure to watch.

We neared the first home with a pissed off little terrier of some sort and once he started barking my GSD freaked a bit but the spitz dog just kept walking, then marked the nearest tree. It seemed to be working, I even caught the GSD paying attention to the spitz and before too long the spitz was tired and we turned around and headed back for the house.

I think this is going to work for the GSD's stability, it will probably do wonders for my spitz dogs health & weight gain as well. Does anybody else have any other ideas to take my puppy to the next level of stability around these other dogs behind fences? THANKS!!!

Hi,

In general, I do not like to use other dogs to teach my puppies. Why? Because I am the center of their universe, not whatever other dog(s) I may own, and I personally feel that using an older dog in this way goes a long way towards setting your pup up to become quite "doggy" (which may or may not bother you in the long term). JMO.

In this case, I'd simply keep walking. Perhaps say, "it's okay" in a calm, neutral tone (very matter of fact do NOT think soothing) and just keep walking. Don't speed up. Don't slow down. Don't try to get your dog to interact with the other dog because then if the other dog DOES bite/scare him, then he'll think "see I TOLD YOU we cannot trust other dogs!" Just walk as if the other dog was not even there. You will see, this behaviour will stop.

On a slightly different note, since your dog was not exposed to other dogs because they didn't fall along your typical route, I'd be concerned that he wasn't getting a lot of other needed socialization (neutralization as I prefer) that wasn't along that route. He should be going out to MANY more places and doing MANY more things than a walk along the same predictible path, or else you're setting yourself up for problems that can so easily be prevented.

As a general rule, the first two weeks of a new pup's life are spent with me, bonding to me, being hand-fed by me. He doesn't meet ANYONE in ANY WAY for two weeks (I pick my pups up at about 6 or 7 weeks) then after that once the bond is set, we visit at least 3 new places each and every evening, until I cannot think of any new places to go. Then we repeat the list again. The pup is exposed to 3 new environments daily, 7 days per week, until 6 months of age then it sorta calms down a bit and I try for at least one new place and one away-from-home training session per week. My dogs, being working dogs, are not pet by people under any circumstance ever. But if your dog is a pet, you may want to include having him meet at least 10 new people per day as well for a while. I don't care if he's great with you and your family, he will almost CERTAINLY have problems if he is never exposed to people until he is an adult.

Good luck, have fun, and have a great day!

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We neared the first home with a pissed off little terrier of some sort and once he started barking my GSD freaked a bit but the spitz dog just kept walking, then marked the nearest tree. It seemed to be working, I even caught the GSD paying attention to the spitz and before too long the spitz was tired and we turned around and headed back for the house.

See? Basically the spitz did what I told YOU to do... And it seemed to work! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> I just prefer my puppies to learn from me as their wonderful pack leader, not the other dog. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

good points, all of them, thanks. he was meeting many people around the neighborhood, local parks, beach, SchH club, etc I figured he was all good already but he must need more socialization. He is also getting territorial of the areas around my house and since we are in townhomes these are all common areas. I think he is in seriuous adolescence mode trying to figure out who he is these days.

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We neared the first home with a pissed off little terrier of some sort and once he started barking my GSD freaked a bit but the spitz dog just kept walking, then marked the nearest tree. It seemed to be working, I even caught the GSD paying attention to the spitz and before too long the spitz was tired and we turned around and headed back for the house.

See? Basically the spitz did what I told YOU to do... And it seemed to work! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> I just prefer my puppies to learn from me as their wonderful pack leader, not the other dog. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

I think you are right, it would probably have worked soon enough by myself, but he would literally claw away from me with all his strength no matter how mellow I acted. The spitz really seemed to help save at least a few toenails.

I think what you are doing with both dogs is good because it is working. You may want to try walking both dogs, then immediately put away the Spitz & walk the same route with just the pup. I agree with the other poster who mentioned you want to be careful & not let the GSD become too dependant on the Spitz. I also have a 5 month old GSD Sch prospect & at this age I pretty much ignore bad behaviour & reward good (but then again, I don't have a problem with my basically scarred up arms either, so def take my advise with a big old grain of salt!!!)

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I pretty much ignore bad behaviour & reward good (but then again, I don't have a problem with my basically scarred up arms either, so def take my advise with a big old grain of salt!!!)

yes, i also have scars on my back, chest, arms and legs, as well as a fresh puncture wound on left hand middle finger when I tried to grab a coconut from him underwater three days ago that still hurts like hell.