My 10 month old pure breed german shepherd is more of a walmart greeter than protective or territorial. He will let anyone in our house, and acts more like a lab, than a shepherd. Comparitive to our 2 year old female who is very protective of our family and home. Is there a certain age when the puppies grow up, and become more protective? Both dogs are in correction based classes, submit easily, and display good obedience. Totally different temperment.
2007-02-05 06:52:53 · 10 answers · asked by Roger 1 in Pets ➔ Dogs
Thanks all. My intentions are not to have a dog trained in protection or bite work. I just want a good old family dog. I was just wondering when will they become more aware of strangers, etc.... We did not get our first dog as a puppy. Currently this dog doesn't bark, unless in play.
The correction classes are just the type we are going to. You are right, this dog submits well, and has no need for correction. Unlike our first dog that had aggression issues. I just did not want to sound like a push over that has never owned shepherds before. They are a strong breed. They need to be socialized and worked at an early age to nurture a sound temperament.
I truly believe all dogs need to be trained with a confident attitude, but a gentle hand.
2007-02-05 08:25:45 · update #1
It really depends on the specific dog. We've had 6 Shepherds (in increments of 1-2 at a time) throughout my life. Our current two include one female who started being protective after maybe a year. The other one, a male, is going on 4 and has nothing but "play" on the brain (a complete goofball). He's definitely the walmart greeter. The protective ones tend to be more of the alpha dogs.
2007-02-05 06:59:48 · answer #1 · answered by Joe 2 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Your 10 month old is exactly what you want them to be at 10 months old - sociable, well socialized, and friendly toward people.
Most German Shepherds do not start to be protective until they have matured, both physically and mentally. Many mature around 2 years old, although some of them take longer.
They also don't need to be in "correction based" classes in order for you to protection train them later on. Especially with a young dog that submits easily and is friendly, positive training goes a lot further than correction based training. And if you're serious about protection, find a local Schutzhund club and have your dog evaluated. Not all dogs are useful as protection dogs.
2007-02-05 07:01:49 · answer #2 · answered by Abby K9 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
When Do German Shepherds Mature
2016-11-14 21:52:59 · answer #3 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
He may never be protective-aggressive, but most likely he will develop it within the next 6 months or so, if not sooner. I have found with my German Shepherd Dogs that usually comes a few months after their first birthdays.
He is still a puppy, and if he were in a pack in the wild, he would be curiously watching the older dogs in the group protecting the pack. He is in the observing-learning phase now. It will come.
2007-02-05 07:02:59 · answer #4 · answered by GSDJunkie 3 · 3⤊ 0⤋
A dog should be trained on how to eat, walk with you, not to bark, potty training and sleep on its place etc. You can teach anything to your puppy, dogs get trained easily with some good instructions. If you want some good training tips visit https://tr.im/tHhdO
If properly trained, they should also understand whistle and gesture equivalents for all the relevant commands, e.g. short whistle or finger raised sit, long whistle or flat hand lay down, and so on.
It's important that they also get gestures and whistles as voice may not be sufficient over long distances and under certain circumstances.
2016-04-25 01:16:22 · answer #5 · answered by adella 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I LOVE that description of a WalMart greeter...that goes to show that you've socialized her VERY well! Good job! Well, he's just a pup also, you have to take that into consideration.
My GSD was only a pup and she was very much like a Wal-Mart greeter...but that was just with my immediate family (mom, dad and myself when I was 4) but when it came to strangers, she was a fierce little girl who growled and stood in between us if she didn't recognize anyone she knew...
Give it time...she'll fall into her protective traits and characteristics
2007-02-05 08:45:21 · answer #6 · answered by Lucy_Goosy 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
aw i have a german shepherd too! mine is like 3yrs now and she is really protective. she started getting territorial like around 1yr. she would always bark and try to be the leader of the house. but we got her trained very well so she isnt like that anymore (unless its with ppl she doesnt know and of course other dogs). but she still is very protective
2007-02-05 06:59:31 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Hi...I have a 16 month old male GSD and he just began showing his protectiveness in the past two months. I had to laugh when you described him as a walmart greeter...LOL it is a great trait to have, it shows that you have really socialized him...congrats! he will gain his protectiveness soon enough and you just might be yelling at him to shut-up as soon as he hits the yard...lol
2007-02-07 12:40:24 · answer #8 · answered by julie's_GSD_kirby 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No matter what breed each dog is an individual.. Not all Shepherds are suited to guard duty... only natural leaders or alpha dogs usually display instinctual guarding behaviour. Your dog sounds like he is a natural omega dog... and not an alpha. He wont "grow out" of his natural personality it just doesnt work that way. Besides I have a dominant protective male and he is a handful, be grateful your dog is so easy going..
2007-02-05 07:00:30 · answer #9 · answered by Kelly + Eternal Universal Energy 7 · 1⤊ 3⤋
I have a 12 y.o. male and a 3 yo male purebred GSD... their personalities are very different.. my 3 yo will greet ppl just like you said your pup does.. however, if anyone displays aggressive gestures to me or anyone in our family, he turns into "Cujo"... I think he was about 1 yo when he started being very protective.. if you have any other questions about raising GSD's, e-mail me.. I'll be happy to help
2007-02-05 07:05:35 · answer #10 · answered by trehugr4life 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋