I have a one yr old female GSD. Brief Background: 1st litter from her parents - quite a few went on to become police k-9. 2nd litter (she was part of)): all siblings died - first born was stillborn, she was born 2nd, remaining pups died in womb during emergency c-section which also killed mother. I raised my girl from 5 hours old. She was socialized as a pup, she grew up with another dog (rottie - 1 yr older), cats, birds. The last couple of months, she has been acting extremely timid around strangers. She actually hides behind my legs! I do not encourage this behavior nor do I punish her. I try to work her out from my legs or position myself up against something so she cannot get behind me. I don't want her going up to strangers, but wish she remained neutral while strangers were in the vicinity. She has a high strung personality. We signed her and our other dog up for agility but she experienced GDV before we could start. A gastropexy was performed and she has been given the ok to go back to her normal routine in another week. She was very young to suffer a GDV, but I am convinced it was more due to her personality than anything else. I am certainly going to speak with her new trainer regarding her timidness but was wondering if anyone else had this experience and how it was approached from a training perspective. I have never had such a nervous/high-strung dog like this.
Thank you.

Can you describe high strung a little bit? It's a broad term.

Is it fearful, energetic, reactive, is the dog ever outgoing? How does your dog act around other dogs and people it knows? Have you had her thyroid checked by a vet?

 Quote: Claudia Paluch

I have a one yr old female GSD. The last couple of months, she has been acting extremely timid around strangers. She actually hides behind my legs!

How was she with strangers before the last couple of months? If this was a sudden change in personality; I think a medical evaluation is warranted. If she has always been shy but it has become worse then I'd talk to the trainer about confidence building (agility by the way is a great option) , training for rock solid obedience and a consistant routine where she can learn what to expect.

By the way I think your goal of remaining neutral in the presence of strangers is realistic and attainable.

Welcome by the way!

Thank you for your response Melissa....
She is extremely energetic. Around other dogs/people she knows....she is happy in greeting them...meaning she will approach them with happiness (we obviously do not allow stampeding people/dogs or jumping).
She did suffer GDV in the beginning of Sept. - when she just turned 1 years old! I am convinced it was due to her excitement level upon us returning home from vacation (we had a known person stay at our home).

Thank you for your reply Sheila-
She was never warm toward strangers - even as a pup but certainly not considered aggressive nor fearful. I will speak to her trainer, as you suggest, about building confidence as I think this is the big problem. The rottie is opposite in personality. Both dogs come from good lines so I don't think it is so much in the breeding. I spoke to the owner of her parents - during our conversation & totally off the topic we were discussing, he asked me how she was around strangers - I told him the truth and he mentioned that was exactly how her mother was (the mom in puppy birth). I know both his dogs were highly trained so I didn't know what to make of that....