I want to thank everyone for their suggestions. My puppy is now 6 1/2 months. I've taken him out to socialize and am also training him with a couple other shepherds under 1year old.

He has stopped barking at most strangers. It is only on rare occasions.

I had strangers give him food if they asked to pet him, I brought him to work a few times and walk him weekly on a busier trail.

Keeping up the socialization routine should be great for him and me.

Sg

I have a 5 month old GSD from border-patrol lines.
He's been out plenty of times, Inner harbor area, where there are hundreds and hundreds of people
Pet-smart, where there are dogs, people, etc...
Whenever I walk him, if he sees a person he gets alert, and barks at them, but he pulls toward them. Any dog he sees he goes nuts, I guess he thinks he's a 'tough-she!t'. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
He does not care for being petted, he'll approach you, sniff you, and will ignore you, start sneefing around.
Does anyone feel that he is being scared, unsured, etc.....?

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he gets alert, and barks at them, but he pulls toward them. Any dog he sees he goes nuts, I guess he thinks he's a 'tough-she!t'.

Sounds like fear agression to me. Normal for our dogs until they are taught otherwise, and they need to be. But not 'normal' for a happy confident puppy. Our dogs go thru a bunch of different fear stages the first year or so, that's why it's so important to keep the intensive socialization up.

Here's a site that will prepare you for these fear stages:

http://www.doberman.org/articles/puppy.htm

http://www.nwk9.com/dehasse_pupdev.htm

Tips on socialization:

http://www.uwsp.edu/psych/dog/lib-Puppy.htm#soc

As far as wanting some 'protection' from your adult dog, I don't think deliberately failing to socialize your dog is the best way to get a good dog to protect your house. The best TRAINED protection dogs are not working from a 'fear' base that comes from a lack of socialization. They have been socialized and are confident and secure dogs that do their jobs well. They have good judgement and are better able to judge 'normal' from not and react appropriately (or not). I know I always want my dogs to be a true part of my life, and happy in that life. They can come with me when I go on vacation, not have to be kenneled or left at home because they won't act well. They stay well in hotels. They can go on hikes, camping, seminars, family reunions, etc. and have as good a time as I do.

Do I feel that makes them less protective if I was attacked? No. I know my GSD would do 'something'. Not correctly because she's not trained, but she would definitely get involved. If I wanted a 'real' protection dog, I would still socialize the bejeezers out of it, but I would add all the protection training necessary so she gets the skills she will need if a problem crops up.

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Sue, instead of having people walk up and pet him, I would have them hand him pieces of food. Then see his reaction.

Good advice from Mike Sanchez, if the treats come first, that should calm your dog and allow for the petting to come later.

http://www.dogstuff.info/inapprop_aggress_responses_puppies_macdonald.html

states that Aggressive displays are triggered by the presence of negative emotions such as fear; and you should probably read the entire article.

Fear does NOT always show itself with the 'tail between the legs, hide behind the handler' thing. It can show up also show up as flight OR fight.

More places you need to read up on are:

http://petplace.netscape.com/articles/artShow.asp?artID=1972

http://www.spokesdog.com/Agress.html

http://www.doggiedoor.com/aggressi.shtml

You'll love this article http://dogs.about.com/cs/disableddogs/a/dog_agression.htm When a dog is aggressive to other dogs, it is an indication that he was not properly socialized. A well-trained and socialized dog will want to play rather than maim another dog who approaches him.
And if you really want to be educated about this issue and it may not be from fear, there is http://www.uwsp.edu/psych/dog/lib-prob.htm#agg

hi! im a police officer in belgium. im training a young dog currently to become a patrol dog. i had my pup since he was eight weeks and this dog has really solid nerves. he is very self confident and there isnt one place where he showed any kind of fear whatsoever. water, bridges, concerts, balloon meetings, you name it and the dog has done it. when it comes to strangers wanting to pet him, he simply refuses. i believe your and my dog have a strong genetic pack drive. they simply do not like strangers petting them. And this has nothing to do with socializing him. my dog has been among people day and night but he will still bark when people raise their hand to pet him. you might think my dog is not self confident, but i believe otherwise, my helpers at the club praise me for having such self confident dog, he proves it on the sleeve(any location, any helper). my dog had a gun shot test at nine weeks and he didnt even look back. explain that to me.

Buy Ed's 8 weeks to 8 month video - he has good advice on people socialization. Of course he has a bunch of university students to pick on and get him to help....

Basically it involves getting strangers to give your dog treats while out walking your pup.

Buy the video.

Is it always necessary to "treat" your dog in all training and socialization situations? Does praise and touching have any merit?