I have a 13 month old GSD bitch who is very confident. She lives with 6 shelties all older than her. She is stronger than they are and knows it. They have a game in which they all chase the GSD, pull her down and bite at her. She actually falls down before they pull her down, and they are all snarling and barking. They are ALL having a wonderful time. When they stop "attacking" her, she gets up and runs around with them all chasing her again. They do this over and over again. When they are all tired, they flop down together all madly panting. When I stop them playing, they all stand there with their sides heaving, looking to see who will start it again. The hackles over the GSD's shoulders are up but it's not fear or aggression.
At dog club, she doesn't display any agression. If another dog snarls or lunges at her, she will respond with a snarl and hackles up on the shoulders only, but I get the feeling that she enjoys it. She never follows it up and she turns away quite cheerfully. I'd suggest you get a few people who are familiar with her breeding to have a look at her because it sounds pretty normal to me.
I think the biting is a separate issue, and as you weren't there, you are having to rely on the report of a "non-doggie" person whose interpretation might be "right off". Personally I don't allow my dogs to bite or mouth me and I don't transfer it to sticks or toys. I just don't allow it at all.

ok, I was re-reading the prev posts and I think it it is the term "weak nerves" that I am not clear on. Could some one provide a definition?

As I have described my dog, she doesn't seem weak to me in the way I am perceiving weak to be, so I may not truly understand how the term is applied.

I think of timid, spooky,fearful,etc.These adjectives are not my dog at all.She has even growled and/ snapped at me for correcting her in the past( not too often, because I then started to hang her up and shake her front feet off the ground if she displayed that behavior again ! )I was very upset by her over that, but anyway, I never would think that she has weak nerves, so could someone help me understand what that really means??? thank you !!!!

Strong and confident dogs do not hackle. By its very nature, hackling in a defensive posture. What do you guys think of the likelihood of a fear bite in the future?

I understand your question, Scott, as I share it! Are folks here saying that a dog is either weak-nerved or it's not? That there are no shades of grey?

My definition of weak nerves would be a dog whose threshold for stimulation into defense is very low (in other words, easily stimulated) and thus she sees/perceives a threat where there is none.

All those situations where she hackles up are ones where a more stable, confident dog wouldn't perceive a potential threat, but she does. The hackling when she comes outside in the morning and when playing with the pup aren't big issues - she's just putting on a show to back down any possible threats (bluffing). But the hackling when the neighbors walked up is more serious. She's telling you she views them as a potential threat; if she felt sufficiently threatened (i.e., the kid breaks into a run, coming right at her, maybe just to hug her) she might step up her display to actual biting.

Jeanette, your dog growling/snapping at you for correcting her does not necesarily indicate that she has strong nerves. Dogs often (most often IMO) snap out of fear. The same reason they raise their hackles. Obviously you are the only one who can know if she bit you out of fear or not since you were the one who was there.

It is better to have a dog, in my opinion, who is timid and shows avoidance when fearful than one who shows aggression that comes strictly from fear. Neither dog is suitable for sport but the timid one makes a good pet at least.

I do think that dogs sometimes raise their hackles in play, but it is very different from serious hackle-raising. Just like play-snarling is different from real snarling.

Scott and L Swanson, confident dogs don't raise their hackles unless there is a reason to. Of course there are shades of grey in how confident different dogs are but abnormally fearful behavior is a pretty good indicator of weak nerves.

Here's my 2centsm on this topic.
First lets put the dog to rest and use the Human as the dog.

I consider myself confidant with very strong nerves. But certain stimuli has caused me to have goose bumps, butterfly's in stomach and sweating(During a firefight/rescue of injured person/death of close friend/listening to the Star Spangled Banner/seeing love ones when you thought you would not ever again/the list goes on and on)

So what about or K-9's, this is where the grey comes in. Different stimuli in my opinion can cause our dogs to react differently. This by no means they are weak-nerved or strong nerved.

It's how they handle the event that matters. Dogs who IMHO that have never been exposed to different stimuli outside of a Trial Event will not act the same as one that works the streets.

A dog who is always hackled up and showing signs of a defensive posture for everyday stimuli is a weak-nerved dog. Ocasional reaction to a stimuli that can provoke a defensive posture does not mean the dog is weak nerved.

It has to be how they react after the stimuli has been understood by them!!

I may be full of it, but I have seen my two dogs both act differently to the same stimuli at first and then react same to it. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Sorry to ramble on,

I find this discussion quite interesting. But what about the mental changes that go on when the dog stops acting like a puppy and wants to "try on" adult reactions, like trying to take control of the situation? Because this is a new approach to a "familiar" enviornment, maybe this is the cause of the slight uncertainty, hence hackles. I've noticed in my dogs, when entering that crucial one year to two year age, they all try on "big dog" attitudes in their old environment. Instead of waiting for someone else to set the stage, they want to become interactive, the first one, but being slightly inexperienced, some conflicting body language is observed. I liken it to teenage hormones <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> I may be way off base here, but I think it's a stage of development, and with some direction, correction, and reward, things will approach normalcy. Like others have said, some correction is needed. She's making her own mind up as to what is a problem and what isn't. She needs to accept your direction as to what is okay and what isn't. Opps, hope I'm not over my head on this one! Susan

Susan,
Like you mentioned, she maybe trying to decide what's a problem and what's not.
She has to allow you the ALPHA to make the decision what is a threat and what's not. (when you are present)

Like I said in earlier post: Both my dogs reacted to same stimuli differently at first, reason both then reacted same to stimuli was a direct result of me being the ALPHA,in their presence I decided what course of action they would both take.(this took any decision making from either one of them)
This is what I feel allows the dog to feel confident, knowing that he has been told what is expected of him. (I say, you do.) If the dog does not obey then a correction is warranted. Do this with no hesitation.
If I start letting my GSD react to the stimuli in my presense not through my direction, I'm giving him the option to challange my ALPHA status. :rolleyes:

These are my thoughts, I'm sure others will differ. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />