Hi, it's me again, this time it has to do with the temperment of our dog.

We have had our GSD pup who is 4 mths old, about 2-3 weeks now. We have no children at home and found the pup to be pretty good with us. However, this weekend our daughter and her four kids are visting us for the weekend......They have been here now for two days and the dog is frightened to death of them. She won't come close to them, she will either stay in her crate or lie down besides my wife or I.....If they try to approach her she will run away.....We have tried treats and her favorite toy....

We are afraid she may do something to our grand kids due to her fear and God forbid we would probably end up losing her....

Would appreciate your guidance again.....



Thands

How old are the kids, first of all?
Little kids can be... strange to a dog used to adults.
They're much quicker, hectic and noisy. More like strange creatures, than people, really.

Shepherds are naturally aloof, so to a certain extent, you have to respect their desire not to "make friends" with every new person. Pushing the issue to far only confirms their internal belief that new people aren't all that great.

I would keep her seperate from the kids completely. I know its frustrating, but its probably best for all involved right now.

After the visit, you can begin working on her being more calm around strangers. A friend can sit calmly on the couch, or the floor, and completely ignore the pup.
If the pup voluntarily approaches, even the slightest bit, you can mark and reward her.

If she actually comes close enough, the friend can offer a nice tasty peice of steak or hotdog to her, without making eye contact, noise or attempting to stroke her.

After several sessions of this, the dog will probably happily approach new people.

Be careful what you wish for.

The kids are from 9 month old up to 9 years...


I will most certainly heed your advise....

Thanks

ps What do you mean by "mark her", can you please explain

"Marker Training" uses either a clicker or a voice mark such as "YES!" and then a reward. If you were teaching the dog to sit, you would use a treat to lure the dog into the position, and the moment her butt touched the floor you would either click or say "YES" - pause a moment and then offer the food reward. There is a free e-book on this site which explains it in detail.

In the case of your pup and encouraging her to be comfortable around new people or kids - Alyssa was saying the minute your dog either edged closer to the person or perhaps in the beginning, just looked their way in a non-scared manner, you would mark, pause a moment and reward. Then as the dog gained confidence, you would wait until they got a bit closer or perhaps wagged their tail when looking at the person, etc... Little by little (actually, pretty quickly) the dog will realize good things happen when they are happy around kids and other folks.

Read the ebook (go to the category on the left of the page which says "Free Dog Training EBooks) and it will explain how to "charge the mark" - this is the process of teaching the dog that either the click or your word (which ever it is you decide to use) means a reward. It is a simple, simple process and you will find it very helpful in teaching almost anything!

 Quote: barbara schuler

"Marker Training" uses either a clicker or a voice mark such as "YES!" and then a reward. If you were teaching the dog to sit, you would use a treat to lure the dog into the position, and the moment her butt touched the floor you would either click or say "YES" - pause a moment and then offer the food reward. There is a free e-book on this site which explains it in detail.

In the case of your pup and encouraging her to be comfortable around new people or kids - Alyssa was saying the minute your dog either edged closer to the person or perhaps in the beginning, just looked their way in a non-scared manner, you would mark, pause a moment and reward. Then as the dog gained confidence, you would wait until they got a bit closer or perhaps wagged their tail when looking at the person, etc... Little by little (actually, pretty quickly) the dog will realize good things happen when they are happy around kids and other folks.

Read the ebook (go to the category on the left of the page which says "Free Dog Training EBooks) and it will explain how to "charge the mark" - this is the process of teaching the dog that either the click or your word (which ever it is you decide to use) means a reward. It is a simple, simple process and you will find it very helpful in teaching almost anything!

Many thanks, much appreciated...

Personally, I don't encourage my dogs to "make friends" with all my guests. I do expect obedience despite fears though. Make the grandkids leave the pup alone. It's just trouble to let kids annoy a dog. But work on obedience the pup already knows near where the kids are playing. If necessary, step between him and the grandkid if either one moves out of line. Face whichever was the instigator to make it clear who you are protecting, and who you are reprimanding. He can learn that you are still in charge when things are getting crazy and unexpected around you, and learn that you will protect him as well as guide him.

I don't allow my dogs to be around my grandkids at all. They are either in their crates or outside pens. It is really hard to explain to small children how to act around dogs. They tend to forget what you said two minutes later....it's just not worth it to me.

With strangers and kids my dog is good for a friendly hello, then he wants to be left alone. I insist that kids respect his space because I want him to stay friendly. The one time his limit was tested (my friend's toddler slapped him in the face) he ran to my room instead of biting. I'm glad he did that, but I'm not going to count on it or put him in a position to get slapped again.

I think it's great to get dogs used to children being around, but it doesn't necessarily mean they will be tolerant to the degree that they'll enjoy the chaos. Some dogs are naturally much more aloof and appreciate being separated from guests and children.

Not sure what to say here, but this goes against of how dogs reacted in our family when growing up......maybe dogs have changed over the years .....we had hunting dogs such as Irish Setters, Blue Belton Setters etc and they were great with family and friends alike....

One of my daughters has two smaller dogs and they are also great with strangers.....

 Quote: Debbie High

I don't allow my dogs to be around my grandkids at all. They are either in their crates or outside pens. It is really hard to explain to small children how to act around dogs. They tend to forget what you said two minutes later....it's just not worth it to me.

We have our grandkids coming for a week in Easter, I don't feel it is right for me to crate the dog because they are coming, there must me something I can do to diffuse the situation with our pup.....

Sam,
Not to discount your experiences but I kept and been around gun dogs most of my life, some of them generally known at face value as being good with children. I've only had one I could trust with minimum supervision with youngsters just learning about dogs.
I want you to note; I said limited, not no supervision, but limited supervision. Just one dog in a line of many.

Never have I had a GSD I would expect to sit still for the crap children can and do engage in to antagonize a dog.
A dog by nature will react to protect itself. It's not fair to expect anything less from them.

Give your dog a break, don't force him into a losing proposition.

If my dog isn't learning, I'm doing something wrong.
Randy