I would be pretty concerned with this kind of behavior in a dog over 6 months old. It's a pretty sharp regression.

Personally I'd opt for a exam to rule out any medical reason for this. I'd then follow up with at least two opinions from 3rd party trainers who have no interest factors in your pup.

I have a suspicion that perhaps something deeper is wrong than just a case of the training grungies.

She was a single pup, raised with another litter. I did own her full sister, know other siblings from that litter, and know a few half siblings on both sides, parents, aunts, uncles, etc. Not the breeder of her but am good friends with them.

Trainer is sticking with training works, as it looks as though we are doing great. When dog sees trainer, she knows it is work time so handles well there. Trainer has seen a very minor freak out but it didn't alarm to anything specifically and she recovered quickly. Says to keep up training for now. Understandable as he can't really see her do any of these episodes. Also, can't video it as I won't freak her out and on the other hand never have the camera handy for it.

-Lamarr

I think your trainer is right. I wouldn’t be too worried about this.

It sounds like you’ve trained quite intensively these last two years, not only on the field but with the home/family structure as well.

She’s learned to respect her leader and this may have gone a little too far down the intimidation road. You’re a strong presence to her and she’s decided that she can’t function independently without your permission. When you’re working, she knows the drill; with the social aspect, she’s having a harder time understanding you.

At some point, you’ve become a bit imposing. She looks up to you and certainly doesn’t want to get on the wrong side of you.

 Quote: Lamarr Couttien

very high strung and .... has a very short attention span... she will pester strangers for hours with just the possible notion that they have to move eventually. I don't let her do this, but she has had made an effort.

Some dogs just really like a lot of direction. When you’re not giving her direction, she’s trying to fill that time by interacting with others. You indicated that you won’t allow poking/nudging you but it sounds like she’s trying to initiate some sort of play.

I think this is something that may be lacking in your relationship. Down time with her just being a pup. Pestering isn’t an appropriate behavior but perhaps you can introduce a new playful behavior. Easier to train what you do want.

She’s showing you what she needs by trying to initiate it with others who won’t turn her away.

I know there’s a lot of emphasis put on the pack leader, alpha, whatever you want to call it but I think sometimes we can take it a little too far. And don’t get me wrong, NILIF is practiced exclusively in our home, and I’m in no way implying abusive or excessive submission; but watching dogs that naturally get along in a pack, there is an incredible amount of tolerance for the wants/needs of others. Even the more dominant ones are rarely bullies and will tolerate a certain amount of initiation from the more subordinate ones.

A couple of things that have put this into perspective for me was when I noticed one of my boys performing better for my husband than he was for me. It was like… wait a minute, I trained him to do that, why are you getting the better result?

I do all the training and hubby just follows my lead, reinforcing the behaviors once he knows them. But they had a different relationship. I started out way too serious, dealing with the issues and an exclusive focus on obedience whereas; he was simply playing with the dog.

I don’t train Schutzhund so I could be totally off the mark here, but I do train extensively in OB and dabble in tracking. But for every hour of training now, I have an equal amount of simple bonding/play time. Rolling on the ground, letting him win at whatever seems important at the time and just totally enjoying his companionship. Our relationship couldn’t be stronger, play and working. And... I do get the stonger performance now.

Just some long winded thoughts.

Y'know... while I understand being hesitant to freak her out for the sole purpose of filming the behavior, it might be worthwhile.

Freaking her out once, intentionally to film it, could lead to pinpointing the problem, and thus, fixing it.

Vs, her continuing to freak out for ages because you don't know what's going on.

Your training director especially, needs to see it.
He should have a good gauge on her personality and demeanor, and will be able to decipher the behavior far better than anyone else could.

You also need the videotape for your own benefit.
You need to be able to pinpoint the second the reaction occurs, and analyze exactly what you are doing in that moment, what is going on around the dog, etc.

So, yes. I'm making a case for intentionally provoking the reaction from your dog, for the purposes of filming it.
At these point, you've already provoked her once, to experiment with your friend. There's really no long-term harm in one more time, and the potential for a great deal of benefit.

Hold the phone...

You posted back in July, it looks like, that you were shopping for an ecollar.

 Quote: Lamarr Couttien

She has progressively been getting more afraid of me over the last few months.

Did you ever get an ecollar? Has this dog ever worn an ecollar, and/or received a correction from an ecollar?

Correct, I did get an E-Collar. It was only used in training a handful of times w/ my trainer. And she never had any reactions to its use that could be seen directly. It has been collecting dust for a while now as I wanted to do more reinforcement/groundwork before I took it to that level, but also, when it was used, we did a lot of build up before even the vibrate function. She never shut down with it and even now for training can wear the collar no problem(not being used though).

I see the video concept, but I actually think I might go the route of taking her to a separate trainer(s) which whom she will probably exhibit this behavior I am mentioning first hand. Also, maybe get someone else to help me show the trainer the behavior, but that will be harder as she goes there with a different type of mind set.

I'm sorry if I made it seem as though I don't allow any real interaction between my dog and myself, poking/nudging, but I do. We still do a lot of confidence building play and one on one interaction. I can get this dog to work and do obedience no problem, it is just when it is time to relax a bit. She will come to me for attention, but it is not a pestering presence. Yes it still controlled by me, but I do enjoy her company for her and I want her to know she can relax with me.

The corrections(verbal + leash) I mainly talk about now are mainly when she doesn't stop obsessing. I won't let her get into trash, hover on someone for attention past when the visitor is done, etc. but I still try to encourage natural curiosity and inquisitiveness. She has no adverse reaction to me pulling a leash out and still bounds everywhere she goes. She is definitely a great direction dog, but she is also still a puppy. I can't let her get away with everything, but I do understand that she is a late bloomer and will mature in at least another years time. It is just a nagging feeling of failure due to the fear in her eyes. She will still work better for me than anyone else, but that isn't my type of relationship I want to only have with my dogs.

And as for not focusing on what could have got me to this point and where it could have gone wrong, I am not. But on the other hand, I can't act as if it never happened either. It is one of those where i am starting over, and while doing so, think of a situation that happened or could have gotten me to this point.

Loving these responses everyone and I appreciate the questions. Yes she is cleared of anything medical, both internal and external. It is such a sharp regression like Melissa says that I am forced to question this. It could be something simple or it could be something as drastic as she needs to be a single dog, but either way, I am here for her best interest. We have come a long way, and I'm not gonna quit now. Thanks again for the help.

- Lamarr

Have you become a little afraid of her?
I ask this ( I am a super no-nothing novice) only because where I worked there was a man who did protection work with rottweilers and at some point there was a shift in the relationship between he and his stud dog and it turned on him in a super scary way in the exam room when I was there. It jumped at his throat. There was blood. He had been shouting German words for "down" or "sit", before we had done any exam, I was just drawing up vaccine. The tech and I got him out of the room and the dog became a pussy cat. When we asked him about it he said he had become frightened of the dog. I feel shakey just thinking about that scene, 20 yrs later.
A few months later we put it to sleep.

I can completely understand that point but no I am not afraid of my dog. Traditionally, the relatives in my dogs family are one person dogs. Her sister was that way, mom, half sister, dad, etc. are that way as well. I know exactly how frightening that scene can be as I saw a similar situation happen as well. All those aforementioned dogs are very much so emotionally reactive. They had a bigger aggressive response towards strangers who showed emotional extremes like fear or overly happy. This girl, I feel might have that same tendency where she reacts to emotional ties but in the opposite way.

I haven't thought about this concept but frankly I think this could definitely be a factor. Either way though, I need to figure this out. I usually give off great energy towards dogs but maybe she is reacting to something even I am unaware of.

-Lamarr

this is a kinda uncommon story, A friend of mine had two shepherd pups 1 day out of the blue the mother of the pup tore into it. My friend ran over to the puppy so fast to grab the mother off and the puppy in its fear and confusion thought that my friend had something to do with the pain it was in. After wards the dog would scream in fear every time my friend would come close to it or make a action around it. She had to start all over with that puppy to try to not make it not fear her. The dog has gotten better but the relationship that was betrween them is gone. I can see where this kinda thing could happen as odd as it seems.

Its tough sometimes, the minute little details that can stress and pressure some dogs. I know I'm not a good match with a sensitive dog. Its not because I get angry or anything, more that I'm just not much of a cheerleader like they seem to need. Its like its one of those thiings you can't fake.