Are these "select few" the same sex,size, etc. Maby they remind the dog of someone from his early kennel days? their actions could be read as domance by the dog. Bending over the dog,stareing, etc. Trying to hard to make friends?

When these friends come over, they AND you should ignore any (safe for friends and dog) reactions and let the dog make first advancements. You then,friend still ignores dog, quietly praise dog. Work your way from this over time.

Me again already. I keep comming up with new thoughts.
Since the dog seems to be somewhat trained, I would put him on a sit stay, away from, but where he can see the friend. After a few minuites, he might be a little calmer, then give his release.
I'm going to bed. I had a layoff day at work and I have very tired eyes and back from sitting at this computer. I'm hooked! :rolleyes:

First of all when I say other dogs will try and fight my dog....i mean when i take my dog for a walk to the park and another dog come and investigates my dog, the other dog gets aggressive and sometimes attempts a dog fight. I have to call my dog away. Allowing my dog to partcipate in a dog fight is the last thing i want to happen. I am just pointing out my dog isnt aggressive towards anyone.

As far as the select few my dog is fearful of...I noticed if my friends get down to my dogs level, he isnt as fearful. For one of my friends I did what oldearthdog suggested and over time my dog is less fearful.

I was just wondering if its just a puppy phase he is going thru. I guess it looks like a lack of socialization. I noticed my gsd was even fearful of climbing stairs leading to my house I first got him. He is no longer fearful of going up/down flights of stairs anymore.

Is it true when my gsd matures at around 1 1/2 - 2 yrs, there will be a change in attitude and possibily a show of domance?

Is it true when my gsd matures at around 1 1/2 - 2 yrs, there will be a change in attitude and possibily a show of domance?

Maybe if you can keep bring his confidence up and structure his training to prepare for this change in attitude. He sound like a puppy with a lot of new things going on inside and around him, let him grow up and keep his conifdence up and you will have good GSD. Ob and socailization is the key, in my humble opinion.

Some dogs if tramatized early on will be shy/fearful dogs their entire existence. Make sure this does not happen by doing what you are doing and don't let people or friends handle him roughly unless it some form of training that he likes like tug of war.

Set up a play time with a friend with burlap bag and and you put your pup on lead, you tell him that he is a good dog as he tears the sack from your friends hand and the helper takes off running.

The domanance issue is not uncommon with intact, males, probably more so in certain breeds such as workind GSD's. It shouldn't be a problem if you establish you leadership through Ob training.

Explorer, was your dog raised in a kennel up until the point at which you purchased him? I'm wondering if it's possible that he never learned proper doggy social interaction. That would explain why other dogs want to fight him. If they come over, start sniffing/posturing/communicating, and he doesn't respond in the way that a dog normally would, then that might set some dogs off. How much do you know about canine body language? It might really pay off to do some research on that, and carefully watch him when he interacts with other dogs. However, ideally, other dogs shouldn't be just approaching without your consent anyway.

There are a couple of suggestions that you have recieved that I really like. Redirect fearful behavior through obedience, and keep greetings low key, ignoring him if neccessary. I'd be curious to know how he would respond to a person that he normally reacts fearfully to, if they were to crouch down with their body sideways to him, instead of approaching him head on, and bending over to pet him on the head and neck area. Would he still be fearful of that person, or would their less dominant body language be comfortable for him? I'm not suggesting that you have everyone who comes over do this from now on; you definitely need to get him over whatever is going on (which is best done through positive social interaction and good solid obedience training). I'd just be curious to see what he does, is all.

There I go, overthinking again!

L. Swanston said squat down "with body sideways".
That is a very important addition, because a frontal view,especially coupled with strong eye contact, can be VERY intimidating to the dog. Eye contact should be very casual, and no longer than a few seconds at a time. The fear of steps is very common for kennel raised dogs. It sounds like he got through that ok. Again, as everyone says, "positive" Ob and "positive" socialization are the keys to your dog comming out of this.

I tried having one of my friends who my dog is fearful of get down to the dogs level, pet him and feed him treats..... So far that has been working great. When my friend comes over, my dog barks at him for a few times then walks up to him and starts licking his face/arms/hand. (my dog used to run away from him upon sight)

On another friend, I had him slowly playing in the yard w/ my dog and now my dog likes him too. My friend would get down as he were an animal and my dog goes crazy. My dog starts barking and jumping from side to side in attempts to play w/ him. When my friend runs away from him, my dog chases him as if he were a prey item. Theres also alot of play biting involved too.

So i guess i need to expose him to as much as possible. Thanks for all the advice....keep it coming....I welcome all the help i can get.

As far as the domance and change of attitude issues when my dog matures, what are some of the things i might see changing?

explorer1046 writes
As far as the domance and change of attitude issues when my dog matures, what are some of the things i might see changing?
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Right now your puppy follows you in and out of the doors. When he gets older he may try to beat you out the door. Stop this by making him sit, or stand and wait until you exit then call him out. Its a pecking order thing.

Another thing is he may start barking at you when you pickup or try to take his toys away from him he may growl and bark at you. Walking toward you and then away, maybe even circling you, his/her head bobbing up and down, yet he's kinda serious.

Place him in a sit, stay (leave him there for a couple minutes), I use the sit because a down may make him buck ya. Take the toy and put it up for couple of days, let him know you control his access to the toys you bought him. The toy are his until you decided to take them.

And he'll start pissing on everything that he think is his, if he pisses on you, you know you are in trouble. Just kidding, but I've heard of t it happening. I'll let some others, tell you. Its like raising a teenager. Nah, maybe not that bad. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />