I have a nearly four year old GSD from Sch/Sport lines, I got her when she was three, she was raised as a working dog in a kennel to work and whelp. She's ready for her B and Bh. When I first got her I was worried that she never would adapt to a household family life. But what happened is she turned into a KlingOn, she will follow me were ever I go in the house and lie down quitely, I've tripped over her a few time already. My other two GSDs after they matured are a bit more aloof and independent and will settle into thier crates or "go on patrol" in the backyard to chase evil cats/squirrels when I'm not working/playing with them. I may have re enforced this klingon behavior when I was trying to fix her recall. Not only did I work on the recall on the training field but at home anytime day or night by calling her out of a dead sleep and rewarding her with a treat or her ball. I trained the others the same way but they don't stay underfoot. The question is, does this give me any indication of her nerves or confidence? Agian she's been tested with gunfire and is on the sleeve really good in prey.

I'm no dog behavior expert but I think she's afraid you'll leave her. Maybe she grateful for what you did for her and she wants to be with you all the time. I got a cat from the animal shelter and he does the same thing. I can't even go to the bathroom without him barging in. lol. Count yourself lucky you have such a dedicated animal.

Thats the thing I don't want her to be afraid of anything, GSDs are suppose to be "fearless" and confident. I'll start training her for the longdown while I remove myself from her sight to see her reaction

I think, if you think she's ready for the long down with you out of sight, go for it. That's part of the BH anyway, isn't it? I haven't looked at the BH requirements lately, but thought that's part of the routine...

Is your wonder creeping in because of her tendency to want to be close to you or does she have any other tendencies? Is she skittish about following you around or just confidently close to you? IMO, I'd quit tripping over her and be happy your dog wants to be close.

I doubt it has anything to do with your dogs confidence level, and has everything to do with the fact that your dog is bonded to you.
Pack leader moves, pack moves.
Again, I am not knowledgeable in the working dog personality and if that would be considered something negative. But I haven't heard anyone on this board say that is a negative quality in a dog, working or otherwise.

Dennis,
I have a Dutch that came to me with seperation anxiety issues and I used to trip over him ALL the time. We are working on it and he is getting better.
Although this probably is not the case with your girl (sounds like she is just attentive and wants to be with you) there are some things you could try.

I give the Rock a kong filled with peanut butter or cream cheese with some liver treats mixed in or a recreational bone and put him in his crate. The door to the crate stays open and he happily lays in there working on his goodie. Then, it seems he forgets he is a kling on and stays there for a long time.
This allows me to get my work done without tripping over him.

When I am outside working, cleaning kennels or working around the yard, he goes off and does his thing but is constantly watchful of where I am at but is not underfoot.

With this said, the dog is a working fool and if he is following me around it is 99% of the time with a toy in his mouth and he wants to play.

So this issue with him is something that I overlook and deal with because of his "work ethic" so to speak.

If your dog works great then I would try some things to keep her busy.
If she is nervous and following you submissively then that would be a different issue entirely. And this may be from how she was previoulsy raised. Dogs that come from a kennel environment without alot of social interaction can tend to be velcro dog when brought into a "home" atmosphere.
Hope this helps and try to ease up on the "She is a GSD and is not supposed to be afraid or nervous of anything", she actually may be "reading" your frustration and is trying to figure out what you want.
After all, you were calling her out of a dead sleep to work on the recall and that may be part of the issue, you have taught her to be there ALL the time.

Remember to praise her for being good and quietly laying down or staying where you put her.

I completely agree with Carol's comment about if you're feeling any frustration with your dog. A dog just isn't secure if their owner is frustrated with them, it just won't happen. Dogs may show it differently (some may avoid the owner and slink away to a quiet spot), but the effect of frustration with a dog is the same - insecurity in the dog.

Having said that, it doesn't sound that you (Dennis) are frustrated with her, you're just wondering about the diff between her and your two GSDs? It doesn't sound to me, from what you said about her, that she has any fear issues. What Carol said about you training her to be there all the time (even while she's sleeping) may have quite a bit to do with it. Or it could just be that she's different in that way from your other GSDs and loves hanging out with you. Which isn't a negative thing at all (unless like others have said, there are other insecurity issues).

I'm not frustrated with her by any means, just wanted a little more understanding of dog behavior so I can exploit it. I think she is a perfect example of the importance of good breeding. as I said before she had little to no socialization and raised in a kennel for sport work for her first three years. I slowly integrated her into our home IAW Ed's article http://www.leerburg.com/introducingdogs.htm She adapted to a household with kids extremly fast with no major issues. My other GSD, the one I got from under a trailer as a puppy, has bad nerve issues even tho I went out of my way to build him up. With the help of a trainer and help from the club he's made remarkable improvements but I still can't take him out in public with out continuosly watching for signs that he is starting to stress.

Hi Dennis,

Are there any other things she does that might point to a fearful dog? I didn't see anything that you wrote that makes her sound that way. It just sounds like she's well bonded to you, and that's going to be a HUGE advantage in training her.

Are there any other reasons you think she lacks confidence?

Anything "new" she would slink away from until she is taught it isn't anything to worry about. bodys of water until she seen my other dogs go in after the ball now shes a swimming fool, bicycles, wheelchairs stairs etc. I'd put her ball on them and let the other dogs get it and she figures out the bike is nothing, shiney floors, took her ball and threw it across the kitchen floor, she saw the other dogs go after her ball and she went, followed up by feeding her on the kitchen floor a few times. Children and adults wasn't a problem, they are ignored and she tolerates petting by solicits pets from me. It was like I was dealing with a three year old puppy. Like I said she sees the other dogs do it and get rewarded, she'll try it