I'll re-post this here because it probably got lost in my other thread that was just introducing new family dogs, though I did get some good advice there. 
Sooo.... my uncle got himself a German Shepherd pup on Saturday. To be honest, I'm not totally happy about it. I tried to explain to him the importance of good breeding, how much work, exercise, socialization, etc, these dogs require, but he ended up going to Amish country in PA and picking a GSD puppy anyways. She had never been in a house before or around anyone except the mama and her littermates.
The first day she was home, my aunt brought her 8yr old Pittie over and the GSD pup, Bailey, barred her teeth at him (though I will say he CAN be a very in-your-face dog sometimes)... I have already dealt with a GSD we got when I was 10 from a terrible breeder in Baltimore City, she turned very aggressive due to lack of training and bad genetics, and was put down at 4yrs old after attacking someone. So anyways, I always vowed to never just get a GSD from any ole' place again and train and socialize them right. I told him this story and how difficult it was to live with her... I guess you can only try so much and people are going to do what they are going to do. He's a good guy and a dog lover but I'm just not sure he understands what he's gotten himself into.
However, I will say, he seems really into it this time around. Much more so than when he got a Husky while in college. She lived to be 14 and was pretty healthy all her life but definitely didn't get the proper exercise or training or anything.
Here she is! She is 4 months, so I feel like he already missed out on some crucial socialization time she could have had.
She sure is pretty, though, huh?
Doesn't seem too timid, actually, like he had initially told me she was. She was very friendly with me, had no reservation about me coming up and petting her, and she kept rubbing against me. But she wasn't like craving attention, either. But was cool with me approaching her. Super mellow, very smart. You can just tell she is wise. GAH, I love GSD's. She also did well with my 2 year old cousin yesterday according to my uncle.
Dogs... well, yeah, that's a work in progress. She barked very forwardly at Jackson. We kept them both on leash for intros out in the driveway. I don't really think it was a "I'm scared and barking" bark, it was a "Intruder! Intruder!" bark. lol. She did a bit of an air-snap at him three separate times, but not a full out bite. But enough to worry me a bit, since I've never seen that behavior in a puppy before, to be honest. But I know GSD's can be naturally territorial.
Good news is that within an hour of us being there, she showed great improvement. My uncle SEEMS really into it so I hope he sticks with it. He had her heeling, walking on a leash perfectly already, etc. Jackson is only the second dog she's ever met besides her own littermates/etc. Like I said, the day she came home, she met my aunt's Pit Bull.
Jackson is the perfect dog to help socialize another dog with though because he's very laid back and carefree. If a dog is lunging and/or barking at him, he just ignores and doesn't care. He's helped me "raise" a Rottweiler pup, a Boston Terrier/Beagle mix pup and a Lab puppy, so he knows what he's doing, lol (I am a dogwalker). Bailey, the GSD, wasn't like insanely aggressive or anything, I would never put Jackson into a situation where he would be in harms way... it's hard to explain, I think she had a mix of being fearful but then she'd get confident.
We took them for a walk together and they did fantastic. Bailey gently went up to him and sniffed, he was very accepting. Body language between the both of them was fine, whereas initially Jackson was very apprehensive after she had barked pretty loudly at him.
So really, for the first ten minutes, we let Bailey watch Jackson who was just exploring and walking around the yard. Keeping Bailey on the leash. We rewarded her every time she sniffed him calmly. Towards the end of our hour visit, she even showed signs of playing... she did one little play bow. It was like night and day between the first ten minutes we were there and the last ten minutes.
But, we're going to take it slow. I told my uncle every week I'll come over and we'll let them get acquainted. One day we're going to go to the dog park when it's dead with no other dogs and go to the small dog side (where nobody usually is) so they can meet on neutral ground as well. He says he's going to sign her up for training classes too.
So I REALLY really really hope it's going to work out. It seems she's perfect in every other way except the dog reactivity/possible aggression. I guess we'll just see how it plays out and my uncle seems to determined to keep working on it. I really did not want him to get a GSD for reasons such as this - I feel like he's not the type to continue working on things, but hopefully he proves me wrong.
Any other idea/suggestions? Maybe some links I could send him?
To me, it seems more like dog reactivity than full out aggression, but I'm just not entirely sure.
Sooo.... my uncle got himself a German Shepherd pup on Saturday. To be honest, I'm not totally happy about it. I tried to explain to him the importance of good breeding, how much work, exercise, socialization, etc, these dogs require, but he ended up going to Amish country in PA and picking a GSD puppy anyways. She had never been in a house before or around anyone except the mama and her littermates.
The first day she was home, my aunt brought her 8yr old Pittie over and the GSD pup, Bailey, barred her teeth at him (though I will say he CAN be a very in-your-face dog sometimes)... I have already dealt with a GSD we got when I was 10 from a terrible breeder in Baltimore City, she turned very aggressive due to lack of training and bad genetics, and was put down at 4yrs old after attacking someone. So anyways, I always vowed to never just get a GSD from any ole' place again and train and socialize them right. I told him this story and how difficult it was to live with her... I guess you can only try so much and people are going to do what they are going to do. He's a good guy and a dog lover but I'm just not sure he understands what he's gotten himself into.
However, I will say, he seems really into it this time around. Much more so than when he got a Husky while in college. She lived to be 14 and was pretty healthy all her life but definitely didn't get the proper exercise or training or anything.
Here she is! She is 4 months, so I feel like he already missed out on some crucial socialization time she could have had.
She sure is pretty, though, huh?
Doesn't seem too timid, actually, like he had initially told me she was. She was very friendly with me, had no reservation about me coming up and petting her, and she kept rubbing against me. But she wasn't like craving attention, either. But was cool with me approaching her. Super mellow, very smart. You can just tell she is wise. GAH, I love GSD's. She also did well with my 2 year old cousin yesterday according to my uncle.
Dogs... well, yeah, that's a work in progress. She barked very forwardly at Jackson. We kept them both on leash for intros out in the driveway. I don't really think it was a "I'm scared and barking" bark, it was a "Intruder! Intruder!" bark. lol. She did a bit of an air-snap at him three separate times, but not a full out bite. But enough to worry me a bit, since I've never seen that behavior in a puppy before, to be honest. But I know GSD's can be naturally territorial.
Good news is that within an hour of us being there, she showed great improvement. My uncle SEEMS really into it so I hope he sticks with it. He had her heeling, walking on a leash perfectly already, etc. Jackson is only the second dog she's ever met besides her own littermates/etc. Like I said, the day she came home, she met my aunt's Pit Bull.
Jackson is the perfect dog to help socialize another dog with though because he's very laid back and carefree. If a dog is lunging and/or barking at him, he just ignores and doesn't care. He's helped me "raise" a Rottweiler pup, a Boston Terrier/Beagle mix pup and a Lab puppy, so he knows what he's doing, lol (I am a dogwalker). Bailey, the GSD, wasn't like insanely aggressive or anything, I would never put Jackson into a situation where he would be in harms way... it's hard to explain, I think she had a mix of being fearful but then she'd get confident.
We took them for a walk together and they did fantastic. Bailey gently went up to him and sniffed, he was very accepting. Body language between the both of them was fine, whereas initially Jackson was very apprehensive after she had barked pretty loudly at him.
So really, for the first ten minutes, we let Bailey watch Jackson who was just exploring and walking around the yard. Keeping Bailey on the leash. We rewarded her every time she sniffed him calmly. Towards the end of our hour visit, she even showed signs of playing... she did one little play bow. It was like night and day between the first ten minutes we were there and the last ten minutes.
But, we're going to take it slow. I told my uncle every week I'll come over and we'll let them get acquainted. One day we're going to go to the dog park when it's dead with no other dogs and go to the small dog side (where nobody usually is) so they can meet on neutral ground as well. He says he's going to sign her up for training classes too.
So I REALLY really really hope it's going to work out. It seems she's perfect in every other way except the dog reactivity/possible aggression. I guess we'll just see how it plays out and my uncle seems to determined to keep working on it. I really did not want him to get a GSD for reasons such as this - I feel like he's not the type to continue working on things, but hopefully he proves me wrong.
Any other idea/suggestions? Maybe some links I could send him?
To me, it seems more like dog reactivity than full out aggression, but I'm just not entirely sure.
