Im the boss

As some of you may know I have been wanting a GSD. This saturday I was talking with a family member who works at a vets office. One of her jobs is to put down the county animals that dont get adopted out so I told her to keep an eye out for a shepherd, shepherd mix. I asked her if she had come across anything when she was like 'OH YES! We have a purebred BGSD up there now. He is one of our clients and we keep calling the owner but he wont return our calls. We are going to hold him for a little longer to make sure then put him up for adoption. The only thing you will have to pay is $80 for nutering.' and thats fine considering I just want him for a family dog.
Hes 20 months old so not too young or old.
She brought her 3 year old daughter up there to play with him and they played great! He gets along with other dogs also.
This dog just sounds like he is what I have been looking for, and I know that she would never give me a dog that would cause problems in my home.

Ok but the point of this post is...
When I go to meet the dog (cross your fingers) I want him to know Im the boss. Mary Jane knows, but I want to start out on the right foot. I have watched the dog whisperer and he says when you initially meet the dog dont bother with it. Just walk in confidant, dont pet it and be all wishy washy 'Oh hey puppy! YOUR SO CUTE LALALALA' in its face.

How would yall say to go about it?

Don't listen to the dog whisperer

How are you going to know if the dog will fit in well with your family if you don't make any means to try and establish that connection. What I'm saying is that you should play with him, talk to him, pet him... etc etc...

The one thing I don't like about Cesar Millan's methods is I honestly believe he instills fear into dogs to make them listen to him. The rolling method is a perfect example. Why on earth would I want a perfect dog that listens to every command I ask, but does it out of fear? I would much rather have a dog that listened most of the time and enjoyed what I'm asking of him. I'm sure someone else on here will have something to add about Cesar. I was just talking about this with Nolu and Sweet the other day actually.

Anyways, good luck. Hope it all goes well.

Well of course Im going to play, but what Im asking is should I just let him sniff me out and just be in a room with him and let him get use to me before I get all in his face and Im like 'OH PUPPY!'

well ya don't just jump right into his face lol. that might scare him. Hold your hand out and let him sniff you. Then work your way up to petting etc... or try throwing a ball for him....

Will do..
I just dont want to go in there and look like an dumbo and overly excited..
lol

The great thing about dogs is that they don't care if you are acting like a fool. They'll be perfectly happy to act like one right along with you.

Don't know who said that, but it's true.

:hail:

Amen. If you do a search in the training forum on the Dog Whisperer, you'll see why so many professional trainers disdain his methods.

The whole dominance thing is way way WAY overused with him. If you listen to the Dog Whisperer, he'll have you thinking that every dog you meet is out to bring you down. Can there be dominant dogs? Sure, but truly dominant dogs are very few and far between. I've only met two in my entire life. And with dogs that are actually dominant, Cesar's methods are the absolute worst thing a person could do. If you ever try alpha rolling a dog like that, you will get bitten. You can find a ton of horror stories online about people who tried alpha rolling their dominant large breed dogs, and ended up in the emergency room.

EDIT: Oops. Sorry to digress, but thought I should give you a little info on the Dog Whisperer before you start trying out his methods on your new dog. Good luck on the meeting!

Yea, I like to spend a bit of time getting to know a dog before I get in his face...I kinda value my nose the way it is.

As for being the "boss", I think that terminology is way overused, but ~ Be fair, be consistent, be confident. Enjoy playing with the dog.

I second the advice not to listen to Cesar... bad place to get any advice.
I actually watched an episode the other day (no idea why) where there was a chi who bit everyone he came into contact with... Cesars advice was to walk the dog... thats all... just take it for a couple walks and the aggression will be gone.:yikes:
Anyway... back to the topic.

There is plenty of time to instill good behaviors in a dog once they come home. You want your first meeting to be fun and exciting for the dog... you want the dog to like you and want to come home with you. There is no need to show your dominance the very first time you come into contact with the dog.

:lol-sign: Well said, well said!

Great thank you guys!
Im sad because I have to wait till tom. to see if he can come home with us yet..
I hope I am not getting all excited to be shot down..
I mean why would it take a week for an owner to call back?

Because the owner sucks. Some don't want to pay the fee to get their dog back. I worked at the Manassas City Animal Adoptin Center (the city shelter) for about a month and a half, and while I was there a beautiful boxer mix was brought in as a stray. She was friendly, knew multiple commands, and was a great dog. But owner left her there, didn't want to pay the fee to get her out. I don't know if she was ever adopted, because I left while she was still there.

If you want to see a good trainer, watch "Its Me or the Dog" on Animal Planet. There's a a good training show. One great episode was this woman who owned a chihuahua who bit and attacked her every time she tried to do anything with him, and Victoria Stillwell (the trainer) saw that the dog was scared and overwhelmed of his owner, and started them at the beginning with training. Part of the problem was the owner had always owned cats and thought that a small dog would act like a cat, lol.

I have watched that show! She did go about it in another way..
But the dog is at a vets office..do they charge a fee? I guess they would.
Im sure they paid a pretty pinny for him, but some people I guess just dont care

Dogs are social animals. You need to spend time becoming a part of your new dog's social group before you make corrections of any kind. Corrections from someone considered a stranger will create fear which will create avoidance or aggression, neither of which are useful. When you first get the dog, keep him on a leash at all times to prevent any misbehaviors, then you won't have anything to correct. If he tries to jump, use the leash to gently pull him to the side, knocking him off balance. If he sees food or toys he wants to steal, use the leash to stop him from getting there.

When you are not directly supervising him, crate him or keep him in a safely fenced yard or dog kennel. Practice training exercises every day, preferably several times per day in short sessions. An adult GSD should take his time bonding with you- these are reserved dogs, not retrievers who love everyone. Take him on long walks to satisfy his exercise needs and show him that you like to do the same things he does. Play non-competitive games with him like fetch or find-it. It doesn't really matter what you do with him as long as it is stress free and you both enjoy it.

After several weeks of getting to know each other you can add corrections for any inappropriate behaviors and begin incorporating them into your obedience training. But use your leash and correct him as if you are a human. Don't pretend to be a dog (like Cesar)- he knows you are not one. GSDs in particular have many years of intense breeding to respond well to traditional obedience training methods. Find a trainer that uses primarily positive methods and start a class or private lessons after a few weeks of bonding and trust building.

You should probably also search this forum for NILIF- nothing in life is free. And, do some research on raw diets. GSDs in particular need a really healthy diet. They tend to have a lot of allergies and digestive problems, so get him on an excellent diet right away. I would include probiotics, digestive enzymes and green tripe for all GSDs.

Good Luck with your new dog.

When you meet him, just be confident. A GSD isn't a lab and isn't supposed to be overly friendly to strangers. If he's a good GSD he'll greet you and then be aloof. Project confidence and he'll accept you. It might take a few minutes, it might take a few days to gain his trust.

I don't agree with everything that CM does, but his way of introducing yourself to a strange adult dog is pretty good. When people around here hear CM's name, all they think of is him alpha rolling dogs. That isn't something you do when you are meeting a new dog and I agree, not the best way to handle an aggressive dog. I guarantee you my mild mannered GSD would bite you if you tried rolling him, or putting him in any position he didn't want to be in. Even I don't try and roll him over to examine him, I take my time and pet and praise him, and he'll give up is belly, and then I can check him out. You don't have to be bending down over the dog and being all in it's face either, that's a good way to get bit by a dog that might have fear issues.

Good luck, I hope everything goes well with him. GSDs are great dogs, very intelligent, but require a lot of work to get a good end result.

Haha I wasnt going to 'alpha roll' him the min I met him! lol

Confidence, got it.
I guess what I am trying to ask is..
How do I go in there, act confident but without looking like I dont have any interest in the dog.
I think alot of people look at it like 'why isnt she being all lovey dovey with him? It must not be a good fit...'
Thats what Im afraid of

The protection breeds are specifically bred to resist this sort of excessively dominant handling, at least from strangers. But, they don't like it from their owners either. As Dan says, teach your dog to lay on his back when you need to examine him. Most dogs are very agreeable when they know what you want from them.

And, FYI, dogs do not "alpha roll" one another- neither do wolves. The dominant animals gives a threat display and the submissive animal rolls himself as a sign of appeasement. The whole alpha roll idea is a really poor interpretation of that process. If you want to copy a dominant wolf well, growl, snarl and stand over your dog til he rolls himself over and pees. I'm not sure what you will get out of it though. Certainly not a recall or a down stay- other things that wolves and dogs do not demand of one another.

Some people might not agree, but this is how I'd approach a strange dog whose background I was not familiar with. Stand straight and tall and ignore him at first. Don't look him directly the eyes, that is a challenge. Allow him to approach you and sniff. After a few minutes when he's comfortable with you, offer him a treat and pet him. Don't pet him on top of the head, show him the back of your hand from in front of him, let him sniff, and then pet him under the chin and on the front of his chest. If he's got any kind of hand fear (from being hit) you don't want to have your open palm over the top of him. If he sits and lets you pet him, great.

You are recieving some great advice, I would only add that when I greet a strange dog that I never reach for them. I keep my arms and hands hanging relaxed at my sides, usually it only takes a moment or two (or less) for that dog to tell me that they accept me and want to be petted/stroked etc. I also never get in their face. I haven't been bitten yet and plan on keeping it that why lol.

Ok the eye thing! I am so glad you brought that up! I have heard this and am not certain what 'look in the eye' really means. When I look at something I usually look at the eyes. Not staring but looking. What is a challenging look and what is just looking?