Hello all,

I recently adopted a GSD from working lines. I have been working on socializing her to as many new environments as possible.. I've done alot of reading up on the 4 critical stages of puppy development.. From the sounds of it I have been able to follow the suggestions from others and mainly from a book by Clarence Pfaffenberger The New Knowledge of Dog Behavior. I find alot of good tid bits of info in there.. He goes into the 4 phases.. The breeder pretty much followed the plan for the first 7 weeks of my pups life. The breeder held her from day one and socialized her to some extent. She also said she exposed the pup to mild stress during first 3 days of her life.. I guess she got it from some study by the government called "the super dog program" anyone know anything about this? Also the Miera is in the third stage of development. I have been taking her around adults and children and limited exposure to other neutral dogs. Does anyone have any additional info or tips they used on their dog to see excellent social skills as the dog developed? Also I'm getting conflicting info on the "fear stage" Is this reliable info and if so what should I do? discontinue socialization during that time or what? Thanks in advance....

Hi David,

The mild stress during an early age is supposed to make the dog able to handle stress better. From what I can recall you hold the dog certain ways, expose it to different temperatures, etc. I'm not saying I believe in it either way, but I have heard of it before.

How old is your pup now?

My pup went through a bit of a fear stage, she just started to bark at strangers or people approaching her. I did nothing but ignore her and made her keep walking or just sit and let them pass. She freaked out at a AC compressor going on at our house, so I went over and touched the AC unit to show her it wasn't anything to be afraid of.

I think with the fear stage, some dogs get it and some don't. It is a case by case basis and the matter of how severe it can be depends on the dogs temperament and how well they are socialized at that point. JMO

Kimberly

Thanks for the input. I'm going to continue exposing her to different environments for now. I've taken her around kids,adults, other dogs, ball games with screaming children,around train tracks, small machinery, lawnmowers,and such. She has excepted those really well. Also I had her walk on different surfaces such as, carpet, lanolium, tile,grass, weeds, stones, some grates,over tree stumps, in sand, and on a playground bridge. Shes done well. Oh and I've also taken her to stip malls to see pane glass, maniquins, people and cars. She seems to accept them well. And I had an opened umbrella in the house and she was totally oblivious to it.. I'm not sure if I wanna pop it open on her.. Oh and I'm going to expose her to the ironing board and the vacuum sweeper... I did see her raise her hackles twice. that concerned me a bit, but she put them back down. Once was on the edge of a pond. and the other was actually at puppy kindergarden. She accepted the dogs well but there was a pushy one there and she didn't like him to much. to tell you the truth I didn't either. There was organized play time which i didnt care for because the dogs just ran around like crazy and I saw some dogs exibiting a bit of fear. I don't want my dog bullied..And I heard a dog can get too doggy.. I want to be the center of her universe so I'm still reluctant to have her particiipate.. I let her the first time under the advice of a trainer. She said she thinks it was good for dogs but I'm not so sure.There just seems to be soooo many different opinions its hard to say whats right.. One part of me says I want my dog to accept other dogs and to have good doggy social skills but the other side says I want her to be totally neutral to other dogs.. Im leaning toward that. And then theres theres the should I let people pet my dog!!!!! One says yes its good for them and the other says no.. I wonder what would happen if I didnt let kids and people pet her. Just let her be around them... Ahhh so many questions.. Oh and I also plan to introduce her to steps without backs.. I just have to find a set...On a side note the book by clarence phaffenberger said they get good results with exposing a pup to new things for one half hour once a week.. that just seems so limited.. But hey, he's the proffessional I'm not. I never raised a seeing eye dog and he has bred and tested for them specifically.. Are there any other environments other people would suggest for me to expose my pup to? Thanks in advance and I cant tell ya how much of a blessing this site is. I just hope I dont ramble on too much.. I'm just excited and enjoying my new baby!!!!

 Quote: david chase

I guess she got it from some study by the government called "the super dog program" anyone know anything about this?

This might be a link to what you are referring to, or what your breeder referenced....

http://www.breedingbetterdogs.com/achiever.html

I really liked this article, its information and findings, etc.

Oh, and I am glad to hear you are thoroughly enjoying your pup! I do the same with my pup as for environments/socializing.

My favorite so far (with BIG TASTY treat bag in hand) have been the playground downtown (crawling with children) and the grocery store and in the can recycle center. Oh, and elevators and a railroad bridge over the river too...keep it fun!!!

I got one for you David.

So far Starbuck has been nearly fearless. Any time I find something she doesn't like (like a big sheet of aluminum foil blowing in the wind), I am able to get her to "check it out" and calm down. She followed me around when I mowed the lawn last weekend, and she will approach the running vacuum.

With one exception.

We were at a park 2 weekends ago (she was 12 weeks) and there was a group of guys playing soccer. We were about 30 feet from one end of the field at a park picnic table. She was fine until 20 guys came running her way yelling. They didn’t even get within 40 feet, but she was not happy. She kept trying to run under the bench and away from the field. As soon as I would coax her back out and try to give her a treat she would pull away. After several minutes of that she would finally lay there and watch them. They didn’t make another charge on our goal, but I’m sure that she would have tried to run again.