Righty ho.

I have a GSD daughter from:

Agent vom Wolfsheim (GSH-S) x Daja von Metunaj (GSH-S)

This is my first adult GSD i've had at my home (for less than a week now.) - looking after her for a friend.

She's friendly, social with people etc.
Super motivated - not a problem - but

I wondered, should these dogs have some aggression? I mean, I have two little mutts from China that don't like strangers touching them, and they'll bark at strangers if they seem 'threatening' -

I tried a few friends to act 'threatening' to her in the park, but nothing...

should an ideal working line gsd have some kind of social aggression? e.g. not just let anyone come up and cuddle them?

or. am i missing something? Any insights/explanation would be much appreciated.

I think that you are missing an awful lot.

Looking after a friends dog (who they have probably tried hard to make social) and testing / encouraging her to show aggression is pretty dumb. If you were my friend and that was my dog - you'd see some aggression when I got home!

Barking at a 'threat' is generally a sign of nerves. A well-bred / trained / socialised GSD should not show aggression to random people in the park. I believe that the breed standard says something about being stand-offish but that the dog should be able to distinguish a real threat to their family.

Also, you aren't her family. Why should she care if someone threatens you?

agree 100% I work hard with my pup to just ignore dogs and people she is gun shy with new surrounding and people and this makes life easier for all of us and if I left my dog with a friend who tried to get her to act "aggressive" because of her breed I would no longer be their friend and very pissed off ! after all that hard work ruined within a heartbeat.

You didn't say how old she was, if she is a young dog that could make a difference.

Second if you were looking after my dog, had her less then a week, and tried that kind of crap at a park, you would first hand see some aggression.

It would be from me.

 Quote: Edmond Kan

Righty ho.




I wondered, should these dogs have some aggression? I mean, I have two little mutts from China that don't like strangers touching them, and they'll bark at strangers if they seem 'threatening' -

Probably barking out of fear aggression, not a stable behavior IMHO.

Like Betty, I am curious to know your GSD's age. My youngster (15 months) is just coming into his own with barking. I am being very careful to teach him when it's ok and when he needs to stop.

Thank you all for the replies.
The GSD is a couple months over 2 yrs old.

I think the first few replies misunderstood me a little, maybe I framed the question wrong - I don't want this dog acting aggressive - far from it. I'm wondering if an people with a working dog should tolerate people touching them?

(from original questions)
"should an ideal working line gsd have some kind of social aggression? e.g. not just let anyone come up and cuddle them?"

My questions comes from hearing Michael Ellis say that his dogs aren't exactly ones that people can touch when out and about, and he doesn't expect his dogs to tolerate it either...

I would say that having a confident dog with good nerves, and a social temperament is a benefit to her breed. Having a dog that knows when the switch is supposed to be "on" or "off", and the intelligence to tell the difference has alot going for her/him. I give high praises for this attribute. I would say that your GSD owner has a solid dog, and has communicated his/her training effectively.

Keep in mind however, he/she is a dog and any perceived real threat I'm sure would be dealt with post haste.

This is of course JMO.

As a puppy my dog hovered somewhere between indifferent and friendly to people who engaged with him in public. With training he became generally indifferent to people unless told otherwise. While he's always been the type to examine his surroundings and the people in them my dog would completely non-reactive people in public, I would permit people who asked nicely to pet my dog. Ryuk would just stand there and watch me at attention, he didn't like nor dislike people petting him.

In the last few months I taught him a greet command for people since he came across as "rude" ignoring them. He's now learned to enjoy petting but until that greet command is given he completely ignores people in a public setting even if they jump around and make noise around him. The few times I've encountered an aggressive person we have another few commands for that situation that mean things such as "ignore it but be on guard and stay with me", "ignore it completely and pretend the person isn't there, the person is harmess" and "act really scary and bark"

I don't think I'd want a dog that decides on its own accord how it reacts to people especially if that reaction is aggression. I also don't want a dog that mugs strangers for treats but if I had a breed who's public image was not always so great (like the GSD for example) I'd prefer a happy cuddlebug behavior over a fearful barking "aggressive" one. A dog can be taught to ignore it's surrounding, teaching a fearful dog to be brave is harder. I'd also be furious if the person I'd trusted to watch my dog was trying to get an aggressive reaction out of him by having friends "threaten" him....

"Teaching a fearful dog to be brave is harder...."
SO true.

Edmond,

Totally off topic but I'm dying to know...

What kind of dog is that?...the first in your signature pic?