Female GSD, guess she's pushing 4 months old now. We've had her in my household for 4 weeks now. She's in her crate when she's not being supervised and she's on leash in the house when she is out of the crate.

I've got 3 sons ages 11, 9 and 4 and initially she didn't care for the younger ones much, seemed somewhat frightened of them but over the past 4 weeks she has gotten better.

We had what my wife would call "an incident" when my 9 year old brought a friend into the house to show off the puppy who was in her crate at the time. The puppy got all sorts of upset seeing the stranger outside of her crate. I didn't think too much of it, figuring that her crate is HER SPACE where she should feel safe. By my son bringing in a stranger, the crate became a prison cell where she was cornered, I wasn't present...fairly understandable that she tweaked out. (puppy remained in crate during this time - fortunately my son didn't open the crate).

As I've mentioned in other threads, I bring her to work with me and last week a co-worker had a child with him and she barked at the child. I have been following the "no direct interaction with strangers" model...I had her on leash, no danger but she certainly didn't appear to like the child.

This morning I left Miss Puppy at home with wife. She took the puppy to the bus-stop with my 9 & 4 year old, there is also a young girl who goes to the bus stop and of course Miss Puppy started barking at her...I wasn't present, I don't have all of the details but my wife calls me and says:

"THIS PUPPY NEEDS SOCIALIZED WITH CHILDREN"

The Leerburg videos that I have says that "socialization" just means that the puppy is taken to different places around different people / different circumstances. It doesn't mean that the puppy actually INTERACTS with different people / children / dogs etc.

Sooooo, I'm not really sure how to handle this type of situation. I want to say that the puppy has short nerves but she's so sporadic in many cases with strangers that I can't say that with any certainty.

When she's in my office with me, people will knock on the door and then enter. Some people she plainly doesn't like and will bark and get agitated, other people she doesn't seem to mind. When I walk her through town on a short leash, there are people she will ignore, others she seems interested in and still others she seems to dislike / barks at...tries to act tough.

Any insight in this matter and how to address it would be greatly appreciated. =)

Respectfully
-Ken

The puppy experts will see this, but I have a question.

Do you know about the socialization before you got this pup?

I do recall your being concerned that she was "nervous." Did you gather any early info then, or is that not possible? Did you start to check out office visitors yourself first, upbeat, her in the background, as I think came up in that thread?

Hey Ken, sounds like some classic mistakes have been made introducing this pup to kids and yes, it only takes once.

Even though the crate door wasn't opened, fingers or anything could have been poked in at her, that direct eye contact can be really scary, probably high pitched oooo'ing and aww'ing. All have the potential to terrify a young pup.

My youngest, 3 now, didn't have any child interactions until he was a little over a year. It may sound difficult with a house full of kids but just like the gun case or a tool shed, the dogs are off limits and certainly not something the kids should be showing off to unknown guests.

All that uncontrolled or unsupervised poking and prodding has the potential to leave a bad impression on a pup. Like you say, you've heard the stories but are unfamiliar with the details. The devil is in those details.

It’s so much easier just to have the dog along, watching and learning. In her crate, getting desensitized to all the movement and noises. In your office, observing folks as they come and go but not being obligated to be fondled or have all that attention directed on her, when she's unsure of how she's supposed to be receiving it right now.

Along on a trip to the bus stop but just like mom wouldn't allow her child to be fondled by a stranger, nor should she be allowing it with this baby. Especially another excited child.

You've only had her 4 weeks. 28 days. Learning the household structure and the rules of two adults is a process for any dog let alone a pup this young. She's at a very impressionable age right now and above all, she needs to feel safe around and protected from strangers and children, yours and others.

My young one is not a breed that is traditionally great around children and he now does therapy work. I would consider him almost bomb proof where people are concerned and it's because he knows he has no obligation to be anything but his calm, comfortable self around people.

For the first year other people meant nothing. They were in his environment, they moved around and made noises but they didn't interact or affect him in any way. Once he started to mature in this world and trusted me as his leader he was slowly allowed to interact with the smells and feel of others. All controlled pleasant interactions. He has nothing to fear.

 Quote: Kenneth Friend

When she's in my office with me, people will knock on the door and then enter. Some people she plainly doesn't like and will bark and get agitated, other people she doesn't seem to mind. When I walk her through town on a short leash, there are people she will ignore, others she seems interested in and still others she seems to dislike / barks at...tries to act tough.

Taking her to work is great. She is feeding off you at this point though. Before you allow the people in I would be doing a quick mental check with her. Put her in a crate, behind your desk. There's no need for her to be out, way too much freedom to make her own decisions, which she's clearly not ready for.

Teach her that people coming and going are just that. Nothing to interact with, nothing to be feared. But there's also control on your part. No one goes near her and it's up to you to inform people of that. She's in training, please ignore her.

Out on a walk, bring her attention back to you when she gets agitated. No one goes near her and don't let her go up to people.

You are everything in her life right now. Other people are no different than cats or cars, just something moving around, not affecting her in any way.

Okay, this is way too long already but bottom line, protect her.

No need for any kind of connection with others at this point. She's not a conversation piece or a trophy to be shown off. She needs to learn that other people don't affect her and her reactions should start to follow.

Or it could just be a fear period, which is common for puppies. She may benefit from what you're doing now, and grow out of it. As C.J. said, do the best you can to not put her in trigger situations, and she may mature out of it. I'd lay off of the kids until you see some more self-assuredness and maturity.

Forcing her to accept kids (which may be what your wife is calling "socializing") could backfire in the long run. If she can't handle a walk to the bus stop, don't take her.

http://leerburg.com/flix/searchResults.php?searchfor=fear period

it has been my experience that training dogs also involves training the people around you .

you are fortunate in that you can take your dog to work with you . unless all the people that come into your office are aware of your little project , you could post a note on your door : " dog in training , please ignore him " or words to that effect .

at my workplace , pretty much everyone knows the protocols with respect to ( not ) interacting with the dogs , but every once in a while we get someone " who just loves dogs " and despite our discreet requests to leave the dog alone , insists on getting into the dogs' space . it is difficult because these people are well meaning , but my usual response is " i'm training this dog for a job . you can either be a help or a hindrance . let me know now , so i can avoid you in the future ."

it can sound a bit harsh , but if you say it with a smile on your face , people take it a bit easier . in the end , i'm more concerned with training the dog than i am about hurting peoples' feelings .

@Connie,

My sister-in-law is where I got her from and the story goes that she allowed some children over to check out the puppies, something happened to one of the puppies--what exactly happened is unknown but it sqwacked and since then the puppies have been suspicious of little kids.

She had video of the puppies on halloween, penned off...and my puppy would bark at people coming to the door while the others didn't...also, when my SIL had her outside by her house, she would bark at strangers walking up the driveway. My SIl thought these were all good things, me having watched the Leerburg videos and read stuff on Leerburg and online years ago (and more frequently now) I remember the thing about defense drive not being present until like 18 months so a puppy barking at people isn't defense and is more than likely nerves...that's why I keep going back to saying that.

In any case, I do really appreciate the feedback on this. It's pretty much the approach that I have been taking and my wife has been a little resistant to it. I'm deferring to you fine folks as subject matter experts...wanted to make sure I was doing the right things and avoiding the wrong things.

I HAVE NOT been socializing her with ANYONE outside of my household. She has been getting along with the people in my house but I do limit that interaction, she's on leash in the house and does not have free reign...if she's not being pretty well supervised, she's back in her crate. At work, she's either in her crate or in my small office, door closed, on leash. When someone comes in my office she goes back into crate usually. When I take her for a walk, always on leash and never touched / fed / petted or whatever by other people. I have no problems telling strangers or people I know that I'm not socializing her with people (they automatically think that socializing = they get to pet and play with pup).

-I will do my best to avoid putting her in stressful situations (i.e. bus stop)...I would have never done that personally. oh well.
-Other people to include children will not interact with her, when she acts out, I will do what I can to capture her focus and attention.

We'll keep rolling with this and try to make people appear to be "background noise".

Thank you again (and please feel free to let me know if I am screwed up somewhere...I will re-read the posts to make sure I didn't miss anything).

Some reading....Although this problem is far more then a fear period.

The Critical Fear Periods in Puppies

By: Nancy Frensley, CPDT, CAP1
Berkeley-East Bay Humane Society Training Manager

The Critical Fear Periods in Puppies:
Seven to Nine Weeks
Four to Six Months
Approximately Eight to Nine Months
Approximately Twelve Months
Approximately Fourteen to Eighteen Months
During these periods, puppies may show fear of items, situations or people with whom they formerly felt safe. They may start barking at people entering a house or become fearful and startle at benign items like trash cans, drainpipes or even yard gnomes. They may crouch, shake and try to run away, submissively urinate or tell the scary thing/person to go away by showing an aggressive display (which could include piloerection, snarling, lunging or other unruly behavior.
You must be patient during these periods and keep to the familiar. These are not good times to introduce your puppy to new situations or people. Be very careful to avoid doling out punishment or reprimands. It’s vitally important that you understand that your dog is afraid and that you add to the fear when you reprimand or punish. This, in turn, can set the dog up for future aggression problems.
During these periods, introduce your puppy slowly to the situation, with good tasting treats, so that he or she does not experience fear. Control situations so that you can prevent a fearful response and show your puppy that you enjoy the situation. Use food treats and happy talk to lure your puppy up to scary objects. Teach the targeting exercise (touch your hand with his nose) and work on getting your puppy to “touch the goblin”.
When people visit your home during these periods, put your puppy in another room until visitors are settled in, then bring your puppy out on leash and praise for any show of confidence. Even have visitors toss good treats toward your puppy without approaching him or her.

 Quote: Kenneth Friend

I HAVE NOT been socializing her with ANYONE outside of my household.

What you mean by that word and what most of the people here mean by that word is probably different.

We would probably all say socialize her to everyone and everything all the time, but we (I, at least) would not mean meet-and-greet or direct interaction ..... I would mean "expose" so she can see everything and everyone and become used to it all but not be forced to have anyone looming, staring, touching .....

OTOH, calm and upbeat and casual is you .... I'm sure you don't act nervous, yank the pup behind you, and so on.

I'm letting the puppy pros take over again .... I just wanted to say that "I HAVE NOT been socializing her with ANYONE outside of my household" probably needs clarity.

Are you going to do Schutzhund with her Kenneth? Did your sister in law mention why she thought the barking was good? Does she have experience working dogs or training in anything?

I'm by no means an expert, which I probably should have clarified, but I think the bus stop trip could be absolutely perfect for socialization.

All the screaming kids, mom and pup standing back outside of her reaction zone while mom calmly watches and waves goodbye to your son as he board the bus.