Quote: judy troiano

No. No PP training anymore. I figured out I was trying to put a square peg in a round hole about 6 months ago. Not sure what you meant by the "I feel for you". I absolutely love that he's friendly but there is a point at which it becomes a problem.

Analogy - I want my kids to polite to who they come in contact with but there are times that being polite would have it's disadvantages - like being bullied by someone. Don't we all as parents teach them to be polite but if some stranger grabs them, scream, fight, etc.??

Well, this is the same thing I want with Gunnar in a sense. Be polite but....

I thought a GSD was aloof by nature. I want him to be friendly to people but aloof to strangers and want to know how to teach this since he obviously didn't inherent the aloof gene.

Judy just my 2 cents in your post you said that you wanted “Gunnar to be friendly to people but aloof to strangers” then train him in that direction but I think it can only be done by setting up actual scenarios like that. With the right trainer I think all this is done easily with lots of practice, if someone should grab you and you have worked on that many, many times with Gunnar to alert or send then he will. My dog a lot of times will read me it depends on how I greet someone if I greet aloof or friendly. Also keep him on a leash when greeting someone if you don’t want him to go to them don’t allow it , train him to a “word” when you approach strangers that means be alert be aloof be ready.IMHO

 Quote: alice oliver

i ask you about his interactions with harmless people, in your presence, and you go on and on and on and on about dogs, raccoons, cats, ferrets, etc. :roflmao:

you still didn't answer my question: since you know you are not going to turn him into a ppd, and he may never be people or poison proof (meaning you can't ever trust him alone in the yard or car, no matter how much training you do), what benefit do you see in teaching him to ignore harmless people when you are around?

we're not talking about him behaving himself on a walk. we're talking him about greeting the fed ex guy and the neighborhood teenager.

what benefit do you see in denying him their friendly attentions?

it can't be because he might get stolen, because you're right there. it can't be because he might bite, because you already see that he doesn't.

as for the kid at the gas station, it's the attendant you have to train in that situation, not your dog.

what are you so upset about? why should your dog only want to interact with you? my understanding is that that is the behavior required of working dogs, for good reason. it usually is not required of pets.

why do you want to require this of a pet?

Are you for real?????

Im not sure if its the way Judy's post are being read or if people are just not getting the gist of what she's trying to accomplish with her dog because she's getting frustrated and her words aren't coming out right.

She would like to obtain a certain level with her dog where he doesn't go running up to every living breathing thing with a wagging tail. She realizes she has a friendly dog but and she's not trying to make him Un-friendly and aggressive. She's trying to get him to not look at every single person or thing as a play toy. That, in my mind, is not safe for any dog. I've seen racoons do some pretty serious damage to a dog if they're cornered, and if someone is afraid of dogs, they won't appreciate one running up to them, even if its with good intentions on the dogs part. To me its the owners call who the dog can associate with.

Judy....I do think someone else mentioned that Gunnar is still quite young,so that may also be playing a part in this.

But I do believe that if you restrict the type of socialization he has now would be of benefit to the situation. Make sure that he thinks of you as the best damn thing in the world. I m not saying others can't touch him, just don't let them fuss too much over him and not too often. There's nothing wrong with doing that.
*edit* Rick..it show's i quoted your post, but my post is not directed at you...i agree with what your post is saying.

Alice, I think the idea is that while it's okay that he gets friendly contact with UPS guys and the like, Judy is concerned that his "greet-any-and-all-living-things" attitude might get him stolen or hurt someday.

Yes, most of the time she's present, but what happens if she's not? Even the most cautious people can have unexpected things happen with their dogs.

To say don't teach him to be so overly friendly is the same thing as saying don't bother to teach him the recall command since he'll never be off a leash. Sometimes $hit happens, you know?

She doesn't want to change his temperament. She wants to change his behavior. Submissive urination comes with a dog's temperament. So does aggression. Does that mean steps shouldn't be taken to change the behavior?

Rick,

Here's an example what I want to do which is similar to what you are saying...

1) I'm walking w/him on leash and a stranger walking toward us wants to stop and ask me directions, talk to me about GSDs, whatever. I want to train my dog to not be interested in that person. I want to train him to sit by my side and wait quietly while I have my conversation. I don't want him to stand up, bump the guy's hand with his nose and encourage an ear scratch. I want him to have no interest in the guy.

So maybe training him to a word under this type of scenario would in a sense explain to the dog that some people are to be ignored. If I use this command (always with a stranger) he should ultimately get it that the fun is with me, not the stranger and hopefully stop looking for their attention?!

2) Same scenario but the person walking toward me is a friend and someone he knows. This person can pet Gunnar. I tell him to sit (without the command in the above scenario) and I allow the person to pet him.

I think you are saying it just exactly right, Wendy.

Alice, a complete lack of caution on the part of a dog can be very dangerous to that dog. That's where the advantage comes in.

Judy needs some hints on food avoidance, too, I think.
Someone already posted the link to poison-prevention, so that ought to give some good info.

Judy, you say Gunnar has a very good "Leave It". Could you sort of expand that to include unknown animals and people? I can't really give a good answer here as I have never had a dog that was quite as friendly as you say Gunnar is. Even my friendly male minpin looks to me or my husband before going to anyone other than family for pats, etc. I do have a problem with him and food, though. He will "Leave It" if I tell him to, but I can't seem to get it through his head that things aren't fair game just because I don't happen to be there to tell him to "Leave It". Work in progress, I guess.

Amber..exactly!!!

You can change an aggressive dog to be a bit more docile, just stands to reason that you can change the attitude of an overly friendly dog. Note I said change his attitude, not change his obviously friendly nature.

Judy, if your dog already gets the concept of "leave it" do you think you can just apply it to people without labelling it anything else? Just to keep things simple for Gunnar?

"Leave it" for my dogs applies to anything they are heading for that I want them to stop heading for.

I think you should have good results with this. You're certainly dedicated. It will be harder to do it when you're inside and he's in the back yard...but one step at a time, right?

PS- You're over your PM limit again!

Sorry Janice...you beat me to it!

 Quote: amber morgan

Alice, I think the idea is that while it's okay that he gets friendly contact with UPS guys and the like, Judy is concerned that his "greet-any-and-all-living-things" attitude might get him stolen or hurt someday.

Yes, most of the time she's present, but what happens if she's not? Even the most cautious people can have unexpected things happen with their dogs.

To say don't teach him to be so overly friendly is the same thing as saying don't bother to teach him the recall command since he'll never be off a leash. Sometimes $hit happens, you know?

She doesn't want to change his temperament. She wants to change his behavior. Submissive urination comes with a dog's temperament. So does aggression. Does that mean steps shouldn't be taken to change the behavior?

well, thanks, amber, for taking a moment to explain. i've never met the dog, so i can't see the extremeness of how friendly he is. i too would be concerned if my dog slavered like a wiggly puppy over every single thing that lives.

i understand she wants to change his behavior, not his temperament. i'm asking why. i see friendliness in a pet as a positive thing.

that doesn't mean i think he should be allowed to approach raccoons or chase after every dog that crosses his path. and yes, of course he should be taught to focus on her when she's walking him or working with him.

but i definitely do want my dog to be appropriately friendly to children, neighbors, and service people like ups and the postman.

she said she was upset that he likes the neighbor kid and the fed ex guy. i'm honestly saying i don't see why that is a problem. it seems like it's a good thing.

throwing at me all the other situations in which it is a problem doesn't answer my question.

as for the risk of theft, as so many others have already said, she isn't going to be able to theft-proof this dog. she's going to have to not leave him outside unsupervised.

I think sometimes the problem with people is that even though we say "no" to our dog when he's trying to get their attention they usually end up saying "oh, its ok I don't mind" and end up petting him. And BINGO...the dogs rewarded for that behaivour.
If you're going to do the leave it command, make sure that the person you're talking to does NOT re-act to Gunnar at all. No looking, touching, petting nothing. Remember, sometimes just a look or a certain tone in a voice can be a reward for the dog.

It might be the root of the problem Judy, he's being rewarded for being exuberant and you don't even know it! lol

I would make Gunnar sit to your side, but also if you can manage it a bit behind you. That way the chance of the person touching him is minimized. Just keep at it. If it takes 10 times of you telling him leave it when your talking to someone until he gets it...so be it. Don't give in. And when you do praise him...keep it low key. Since Gunnar is exuberant being too excited when you praise him might just have the opposite effect.