Hello, everyone. I have a very tricky situation, and I need your expertise. I know that introducing a new dog to a existing dog on different thread and also Ed's article, but I have a slightly peculiar situation:

I have a 3 yr-old male German Shepherd. I bought him from one local back-door breeder in Chicago Suburb. He turned out to be very timid/shy dog. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> I did not know any better 3yrs ago. I did not know that the puppy test could have been done, and so on. Here are some timid and weak-nerve behavior examples he has:

1. He gets so scared and shake his body crazy when there is lightning and thunderstorm. He hides himself to the small room and wait until the thunderstorm is gone.

2. He plays at the shallow water, but he is scared to go deeper and swim.

3. He gets so scared whenever there is loud noise. Ex) I drop something onto the floor, I laugh outloud occasionally on TV....

4. The hardest correction he ever gets is my loud verbal correction!

5. He never lived in a crate. He never destroyed any furniture or items. He only plays softly with his toys.

However, he is very sweet in nature with me. He does lot of basic commands very well: sit, down, stay, heel off leash, bark, jump, and retrive his toys...etc.. He has been good with other female dogs and friendly male dogs. The funny thing is that he sometimes acts dominant over other dominant dogs in street. He would growl and bark at them sometimes. I can also see his back hair stand up toward the aggressive dogs. He has actually NEVER fought other dogs before.

I have tried giving him away to my neighbor, but it did not succeed. He is now back with me. I still love him and he loves me. I could not do it.

I am 31 yrs old, very active energetic guy and I love to exercise and play outdoor stuff...

Now I am very seriously considering about brining a new GSD puppy or an American put bull puppy . I would like a male pup who is very outgoing, active, fearless, athletic puppy. I would love to train this puppy properly all the way to the serious sports trial and protection training when he matures.

I desperately need your advice and suggestions. Are there any additonal precautions to take other than from those previous articles and discussion thread? Is this situation feasible: Introducing 8wks old outgoing, fearless, non-timid puppy to the 3-year-old very timid/weak nerve male GDS? I will be looking forward to hear from you all. Any input from your knowledge or experience would truly be helpful for me. Thanks a lot.

Truly,

Hi chokeout seems like you had to many "jimes" performed on you. To answer you questions, scared of thunder is pretty common among dogs.I know of dogs that hide in bath tubs, closets, under beds. There are methods to decensitize dogs do they won't be scared.He doesn't like deep water, big deal, give him time he might get used to it.He gets scared to loud noises, well he probaly has week nerves. He responds to verbal correction, thats great.He doesn't chew up the furniture or the rest of the house, that really sucks I can see why you gave him away.To me it sounds like you have a very nice dog. My girl is pretty simliar to your dog accept for the noise issues. The difference between you and me is that I think I have the best dog in the world. You say your active. I take my dog everywhere. We do at least 10 miles a day a combination walking and biking.
I hope you are getting my point you have a great companion and besides pp you could do just about anything with her. As far as another dog in the house I would forget about a apbt. I really like the breed but its not for you in your present situation.

To milt:
Thanks for your thorough suggestions. The reason why I tried to give him to the neighbor was that I thought it would be better for both him and I. I thought that I might be too aggressive or wild for him. I felt so bad to see him scared at loud noises. Oh, well...you are right. I could not even sleep well any more after I gave him away. Whenever I thought about him, my heart was pumping so hard that I am going to have a heart attack <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> . I was attached to him too much. One thing I did not post on the last message was that in fact, the neighbor told that my dog did not eat his food for 2 1/2 days after I gave him away.
You are definitely right in that I made a wrong decision.

I would like to ask you more questions about dealing with his problems at some other time if you don't mind <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

O.K. So brining a outgoing GSD male puppy home.... I thought it would be great for my old dog as well. They could be good family members to each other since I am a single and have no other family member in the states. I was also hoping that my current dog feel more comfortable by watching the new dog react or behave differently toward certain situations. Is this too much wrong "jimes" as well? Is new addition of puppy going to create unbalance in pack order and might have miserable time for both dogs? Thanks again...

I understand what you want. There are many people with multiple dog households on this board and they can help you. It might have its advantages or disadvantages. In my thinking if you want to be active with your dogs for instance take them running on the lakefront or what ever. You can't do it effectively with two dogs. Send me a pm we might even be neighbors.
milt

Hi Chokeout, what you need to do is a bit of training with the dog. We have had a timid GSD in the past and brought her right out of it by teaching her tracking. She gained so much confidence from doing it well, and was so focussed that she forgot to be afraid. As for adding another dog - the only reason to do that is because YOU want another one, and it sounds to me as if you hardly have the time for this one. You could make this dog's life a misery if you choose the wrong companion for him.

Hi Chokeout - It sound as though you ahave a very nice companion dog. If you feel the need to get another dog I would choose a female as it usually has a better chance of working out than a same sex pairing. However, it sounds like your dog
isn't having any stress because of his single
status. He doesn't seem to be displaying any destuctive separation anxiety and seems very devoted to you. You say you like to active outdoor things? There are lots of things to do
with a well behaved dog like yours. Why not a pair of dog packs and take him hiking? Or cross country skis and a skijour belt and go skijoring?
Frisbee? Agility or obedience competition?
Lots of choices to enjoy your dog! Sometimes dogs
that seem a little timid are improved by exposure
to a lot of different things. Timid or submissive dogs are usually easier to train and
have a desire to please.

From your descriptions; it is not unusual for a dog to be afraid of storms. Many dogs are sensitive to weather conditions. My female border collies and male lab will begin shaking an hour before the storm actually hits and will refuse to eat until the storm has passed.

A timid, shy dog can benefit with a companion dog and actually "bring out" the shy dog to be more social. However; it is best to match opposite sex for sucessful companions.

Also; should you decide to add another dog to your household; keep in mind the added required time that you will have to squeeze out to devote individual attention to the second dog and not slight or compromise the attention you now can devote to your present dog.

Introducing another dog sucessfully (be it pup or adult)to your household is not an overnight nor couple of weeks process and is best acheived thru the safety of crates initially and slow supervised interactions of the dogs.

You state that your GSD is not a chewer and takes care of his toys..well..you're probably not going to have that situation duplicated so be prepared to have the availability of crates to not only protect your house and furnishing but the dog(s) as well.

Given the situation you've described, I would not recommend getting another dog now. This will not help. People should work out issues with the one dog they have first before they consider getting another one. Barbara B, welcome aboard.

Wow, you guys rock!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you, Chuck, Barbara, and Tiggy! These are the some of the most valuable advices that I have ever received. You guys answered my concerns and questions so clearly. I feel actually embarrased about myself. You made me realize how much I have underestimated my dog?

As Chuck and all of you suggested, what I need at this point seems to be not a new dog for my emotional satisfaction but to work out the problems with my existing dog. I will train him more positive things like tracking, frisbee, and so on. I just tried him to seek for his meat treats after I hid them all over in my APT, and he loves tracking for those!! Well, I'd better study how I teach him tracking more seriously <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Again, this discussion panel is just awesome!! Thank you guys and two thumbs up for Leerburg.com <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

BTW, here is the link for my dog's photos:

http://www.kneeonthebelly.com/gallery/sunny/sunny.htm

Truly yours,

chokeout,
Looks like you are enjoying your dog. He'not bad looking. Like all that posted before. Work with what you have. You will be amazed at how much
can be done with your dog.

Living in an apartment is hard with -2- dogs,
From reading your post it seems that your dog is devoted to you. He will do anything that you teach him. Whatever you do, always end any traing session in a positive manner.

Check your private messages.
good luck,remember,not everybody has a high caliber working dog!! Enjoy your k-9 companion.