I do not have a gsd, so I dont know if all breeds are suppose to have the same nerve level, but perhaps someone can evaluate my situation and tell me if it is a hopeless genetic nerve issue or one that was created and can be fixed.

My dog is will be 2 yrs old in June. She did not have an issue will loud popping noises until the last 4th of July. We lived in town next to an empty lot where all the neighborhood children thought it was a blast to launch every kind of firework imaginable for about an entire week, night and day. My female did not have an issue with the noises, but started barking more and more at them. The ones she could see exploding became frightening to her. Since then we also made the mistake of having her around when we were sighting in our high powered rifles... I know dumb, but I did not think about it, and we had her in our vehicle so I thought the noise would not be as loud. She was visible shaking when we came back to the car. She is now frightened when we shoot at pheasants when we go hunting, when before she was curious to the noise, but not ever scared. Is this a problem that was created starting with the fireworks? Or is this a genetic issue with weak nerves? If it is a genetic issue involving nerves, should this dog not be bred? I have an aquaintance that works his dog in SCH. and he says it is a nerve problem. Thank you for your time.

I do not have a gsd, so I dont know if all breeds are suppose to have the same nerve level Nerves are not breed related. You can have both good and bad nerves within each and every breed.
If your dog is shaking after some loud gunfire, that would be a Genetic issue.

Thats too bad. I suppose I will get her altered.

I had the same problem with my 3 year old gsd bitch a week after I got her and used this technique to fix it. I found out one day while on the training field. I let her jump through the back window of my Crown Vic and when she was out running around I fired my starter pistol. To my surprise she immediately ran to the car and jumped back in through the window almost breaking her neck. That was actually funny. After this I took her to 4 different locations day and night for 3 days and had someone fire the pistol while on a short lead. After each shot (twice per session) I praised her and threw her favorite toy for her to retrieve. The following week I had the decoy agitate her and crack the whip and the first 2 times she stopped and looked around, after that I haven't had a problem and it's been 1 and a half years since I got her. Hope it helps some.

Thanks for the reply Brennan. I have been trying loud noises when she eats, like dropping pans on the floor, dropping trash can lids on the floor within 7 ft of her. She jumps a little but then goes back to eating. I suppose I could try the starter pistol treatment you recommend. I dont know if you were possibly planning on breeding your female, but has her initial reaction to the gunfire changed your mind and you are getting the dog altered? Or do you consider the fact that she recovered and can work around the noises a positive change and you still plan on breeding her though she had a negative initial reaction? Ive had a couple of folks tell me my dogs nerves are thin if she reacted the way she did, so if a dog has thin nerves does that constitute altering even if she does other things well? Do people that have k9 dogs take them to firing ranges to and make them sit through continuing firing sessions to see how they will react to the noise, or do they introduce the noise slowly and increase firing as the dog gets use to it... If it is suppose to be gradual, that is not what happened with my female. Perhaps this is why she reacted the way she did, unless dogs are not suppose to be worried at all by loud firing noises.

First off, take her away from the house. Don't train or test her at home. If she's on the field or away from home, 9 out of 10 times she'll react the same way at home. Yes I am gonna breed my female, she has excellent nerves and was never introduced to gunfire as a pup or young adult. I could slam a door (car or house) or drop a pan next to her while she wasn't looking and it didn't phase her. But with the gun it was a different story. To me this is like any other part of dog training. You can't take a puppy at 8 weeks old and expect it to automatically engage on someone, you have to train it. You can't take a dog that has never been exposed to loud noises or gunfire and expect it not to get spooked or look around as if saying "hey, what was that?" Don't let the dog anticipate the noise, it should come as a surprise. Remember to stay calm and praise her. She'll feed off of your body langauge and voice. Trainers around here for some reason don't use starter pistols or guns with blank ammo but use a whip. I personally prefer the starter pistol or gun and blanks. Start slow and don't overload her with a bunch of gunfire. It's not really complicated but with a dog that's afraid I would take my time. If necessary the firing range should be last but only if the dog shows absolutely no shyness or fear.

I think that too many times we're quicker to judge our dogs than we are our handling. We think we're bringing up & handling our dogs just fine and when a problem arrises, we blame the dog right away.

Because you said that beforehand she was curious rather than fearful, which means that this problem may have well been a result of her environment rather than her genes. Because it's not difficult to screw up a good dog, as I'm sure a lot of people here could agree. Just exposing her to to a few kids throwing firecrackers & what not can be enough to make a dog associate the noise with "danger", as kids are often unpredictable.

I think getting her into the swing of noises again is a good idea, but I would do it a little bit differently. I wouldn't start off with something as intense as gunfire right off the bat since you say she even jumps when you drop her food dish. What I would do is lightly bang her food dish, and then immediately following the noise, throw the ball for her. Keep doing that, and gradually work your way up to louder noises(eventually the pistol), but take it slow and step-by-step. She should soon learn to associate the noise with the reward, and evntually ignore it all together and focus on what follows. Do short sessions and always end them with a good response and lots of praise. Good luck!

Thanks Mike for the reply. I definitly thing poor decisions on my part are a big factor in this problem. I am going to work to try and remedy the problem that has been caused between the fireworks and my own stupidity. Thanks to all for the suggestions to try and solve this problem.