Hi everyone. I'm relatively new to the GSD world; we have a 1-year old male (75% american line) and 6-month old female (Czech/DDR lines). Our male is what you'd expect from a more "pet variety" GSD; shadows us around, likes to be pet, etc. Our female is a bit of a mystery to me though.

She is very active and has a friendly demeanor. She loves all of us; when someone walks in the room, she crouches, ears go back and tail starts wagging. She'll then run up to greet the person, stay there for about 3 seconds, then run off. Sometimes she'll grab a toy then return, sometimes she'll just start doing something else. She's reluctant to come when called, and she'll often duck and back up to avoid being pet.

The way she relates to us is through playing, especially fetching her ball. We'll do this with her in the evening while watching TV for an entire show! She does warm up to us during the play times, and will let us pet her when she brings the ball back (a little).

So I'm confused about her liking us and wanting to be in our general vicinity, but not wanting much physical contact.

Any insights or experience with this?

Thanks.

How long have you had the female?

Did you see both parents?

She sounds very submissive to me.

Not all dogs are social butterflies so take it slow and don't force her to "want" physical attention.

Thanks Bob. Let me answer below.

1. We got her at 8 weeks.

2. I did see both her parents. They're both personal protection dogs, and were largely indifferent to me and my family when we were inspecting the pups.

She is submissive (thankfully!). She's doing well on her commands when she's close, she just thinks about the recall more than I want her too! That means, if she's got a better idea in mind (and she's not on lead and there's no treat in sight), she won't come.

I'll be satisfied to think of her as not being a social butterfly and go from there.

"She's doing well on her commands when she's close, she just thinks about the recall more than I want her too! That means, if she's got a better idea in mind (and she's not on lead and there's no treat in sight), she won't come."

If she's doing well up close you need to proof distance and not even try and recall her from a distance.

That means never off lead until she is solid on what you expect.

You can start with a 6ft lead and get those commands solid.

Get your self a 30ft line and GRADUALLY increase the distance.

If you aren't sure if she will come then don't call her.

If she's to distracted by something else then don't call her.

If she's doing something wrong like chewing on something she's not supposed to DON'T call her to you and then correct her for the chewing.

Dog relate reward and punishment to the very last thing they did.

In this instance what was the last thing you did? You caller her then punished her.

You just showed her that coming when called isn't always a good thing.

Marker training is the key to training any behaviors today but you have to learn how to wean them off the reward and reward only randomly once they truly understand the behavior.

Again, marker training is the absolute best thing I've learned in many yrs of dog training.

Bob, I love you! You're always so right, reasonable and absolutely attached to reality.
Yeah, marker training, this was the only help to train my biests, Though they are still far from where they should be, but wonderful girls, I assure you.

 Quote: Bob Scott

"She's doing well on her commands when she's close, she just thinks about the recall more than I want her too! That means, if she's got a better idea in mind (and she's not on lead and there's no treat in sight), she won't come."

If she's doing well up close you need to proof distance and not even try and recall her from a distance.

That means never off lead until she is solid on what you expect.

You can start with a 6ft lead and get those commands solid.

Get your self a 30ft line and GRADUALLY increase the distance.

If you aren't sure if she will come then don't call her.

If she's to distracted by something else then don't call her.

If she's doing something wrong like chewing on something she's not supposed to DON'T call her to you and then correct her for the chewing.

Dog relate reward and punishment to the very last thing they did.

In this instance what was the last thing you did? You caller her then punished her.

You just showed her that coming when called isn't always a good thing.

Marker training is the key to training any behaviors today but you have to learn how to wean them off the reward and reward only randomly once they truly understand the behavior.

Again, marker training is the absolute best thing I've learned in many yrs of dog training.

AGREE 100% with Everything Bob says above:

Keep a leash, tether, long-line on her at ALL times...

NEVER call her to Come unless you can Reel her In if she does not obey...

Do NOT punish your dog if you Reel her In -- Coming must be a HAPPY experience, no matter how she gets to you ... "GOOD Come!" (Mark & Treat)

I've learned all this in LB courses. But often I had problems, forgot, overlooked sthg, and guess who mostly told me where I was wrong and what I should do? ........... ?Great quiz!

I can't even begin to say how right on Bob's post is. One of the most important (in a very bad way) and also the most common recall mistakes I see is folks who call and call and call, no long line, so no way to enforce it, proving to the dog over and over that the recall is optional. Eventually it's nothing but background noise to the dog.

Or call and then chase! Turn it into the exact dangerous game you don't want! So many folks do that (daily!).

Or call the dog to be punished for being slow. As Bob says, to the dog, this is punishment for coming.

Or call the dog for medicine or to end a game before you have a rock-solid recall.

By the same token, though, don't forget to use your recall all the time after you have it solid (or when you are close to the dog, indoors) for all good stuff. Supper. Ride in car. Walks. Toy. All of these good things should have the recall associated with them.

There are many good recall threads here, but to be honest, Bob has pointed out all the highlights.

You will never regret all the time you put into a rock solid recall. Like desensitizing a reactive dog, it leads to lifelong benefits and safety, and it's fun training. :-)

Thanks everyone. Please note that I never mentioned punishing her for not coming; that was a hypothetical example Bob used. I am fully versed in the Leerburg system of marker training and use that with our dogs.

Just wanted to steer the thread back to the original topic of my dog's temperment.

Thanks again!

 Quote: Joel Smith

Hi everyone. I'm relatively new to the GSD world; we have a 1-year old male (75% american line) and 6-month old female (Czech/DDR lines). Our male is what you'd expect from a more "pet variety" GSD; shadows us around, likes to be pet, etc. Our female is a bit of a mystery to me though.

She is very active and has a friendly demeanor. She loves all of us; when someone walks in the room, she crouches, ears go back and tail starts wagging. She'll then run up to greet the person, stay there for about 3 seconds, then run off. Sometimes she'll grab a toy then return, sometimes she'll just start doing something else. She's reluctant to come when called, and she'll often duck and back up to avoid being pet.

The way she relates to us is through playing, especially fetching her ball. We'll do this with her in the evening while watching TV for an entire show! She does warm up to us during the play times, and will let us pet her when she brings the ball back (a little).

So I'm confused about her liking us and wanting to be in our general vicinity, but not wanting much physical contact.

Any insights or experience with this?

Thanks.

OK, returning to your OP, Joel:

All dogs have their own Personalities -- Some couldn't care less about being Petted ... A few actually prefer NOT to be petted (go figure)

My female Akita LOVED everyone, especially & particularly children (except for suspicious-acting adults) and she would KISS you Forever, if you put your face anywhere near hers !!!

But she was Decidedly Disinterested in being petted -- She would tolerate it, but would rather avoid it, if allowed...

My male Doberman LOVES being Petted, and actively seeks affection from me -- But my female Dobie shows NO desire to be Petted ... She voluntarily gets "up close & personal" when greeting me, but it's just a quick "drive-by" exchange, and I have learned NOT to take that personally (LOL).