Terrified German Shepherd Puppy?

Question

Just today I adopted a German Shepherd Dog, 6 months old, female. She was in a good foster home for a few months. I am a dog trainer, and this is my third dog. I am being slow about introducing them. I was seeking a dog with solid nerves, good drive, and energetic. I left my apt. for about 2 hours, and I left the dog in the livingroom. When I came back, she was barking, but did not come to the door. I came in the room and she was cowering behind a table, when I reached for her, she peed and cowered. She is suspicious and barks a lot. She also screamed like she was being killed when my other dog played rough with her and kind of pinned her. I am very upset. For those who are experienced, do you think this dog could develop more confidence and solid nerves? At 6 moths, is her personality set? Do I have a GSD with bad nerves who will always be spooked?
http://img259.imageshack.us/img259/9439/miabg7.jpg
Here's a picture of her, shes sable, probably from working lines DDR.

I was not upset with her, just upset that she got so scared. I did not leave her alone with my other dog, they were walked, I walked her, and my brother walked the other dog, they were ok, then they were let offleash at the park and she bit at his face to play and he growled and she freaked out. I am a trainer who does obedience, schutzhund, and I work at a dog facility. I should not have left her alone in the living room, I should have put her in the crate.

Answer 1

I think your pup was just traumatized today. No, at six months she is very capable of recovering her 'nerve' and becoming your ideal dog. give her time, understanding and compassion. She appears to be from good breeding, and I believe you are correct about her being from good working stock.
Keep the faith, in her and in your self..

You got a doozie!
dogs, just as children go through stages of emotional growth..She is much as the child that is submissive, untrusting and unconfident at certain stages of childhood.


This dog was so submissive that Carolyn couldn't get him to accept any training. Carolyn had been a professional dog trainer for many years, but this pup would cower and pee at every command..She discovered the motivator for such a dog, and just look at them now> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJpemg5ZfR0

Carolyn discovered and applied this method> http://www.clickerlessons.com/
as it does the most to boost confidence.

Answer 2

She's beautiful. I'm very surprised you left her loose in your house for 2 hours. Ask the foster home if she's been crate trained. Many dogs are crated if they are left. Safer and more secure, esp. for new dogs.

I don't think she is ruined, but I do think she's off to a rough start.

I don't just throw dogs together. I would take her for a walk with the other dogs on leash. Let her bond gradually. Have a second person help if needed so they can start out with some distance between them, not face to face right off. Just walking briskly as a group with you in the lead.

Female GSDs can be sensitive. Since you say she's been in foster care, she probably will have some separation anxiety and need some stability and schedules for security.

No I don't think she will always be spooked, but partly that will depend on you. Right now, you left her alone in a strange place, cornered her, scared her and then let your other dog dominate her in front of you. She doesn't have a lot of reason to respect or trust you right now.

You'll have to earn that.

I get many good ideas from Cesar Millan, his book, DVDs and show....he does talk very new age-y but has some solid ideas. I've worked with many dogs with different temperaments. GSDs are highly intelligent, but take careful handling if they've been tossed from home to home. You may want to consult someone with more GSD experience, contact your local GSD club perhaps.

You say you are upset already with her, perhaps you should return her if you don't have patience. I tell people that most rescued dogs take 2 weeks to 2 months to settle....some take longer. I don't baby them, but I do offer calm leadership.

What kind of dog trainer are you?

Answer 3

I am an experienced dog groomer and trainer. I can tell you this dog is new in your house. It may do good to crate train her for a few weeks. That way your other dog can go around her without actual contact. The new dog was taken away from what she knew and brought to a new place with a dominant dog already there. Never leave a new dog with an old one lol. Not a good thing. I learned that the hard way and am still paying the credit card for my bill at the vets office.
You need to have play times each day, Supervised, between the new and old dogs. You also need to have alone time in a quiet peaceful setting with your new one. She needs to know she is as important as your old dog and is wanted by you not just the other dog's toy. She is other wise scared.
Her size won't change much but her personality will.

Answer 4

She looks to be from some good DDR/Czech lines to me -

At age 6 months old - another new invironment - probably used to being crated - perhaps mauled by an older dog as a younger puppy - this is her past and has nothing to do with having solid nerves once she gets accostomed to her new home.

The screaming sounds like a **Fero** thing to me. That line screams and I know cause I have a female that is doubled up on Fero and the high pitch screaming goes to the bone and drives me nuts... lol

My suggestion is to get her a crate- her own house - spend a lot of time bonding with her.. just the two of you playing ball or whatever. Then after you and she have developed a good relationship take her to a club and see how she does.
http://www.germanshepherddog.com

Keep in mind she is a 6 month old ***puppy*** and GSD's mature slower than most other breeds.

Good Luck
SEW
handler/trainer GSD's
http://360.yahoo.com/sewwoodyou

Answer 5

What a beautiful dog!! You can TOTALLY turn her around and build some confidence in her. I run a rescue so I deal with traumatized dogs all the time and it is almost never too late. She is just shy and unsure and needs a little tlc. As she starts to learn that she is safe she will come around. It sounds like this is the kind of dog that need positive re-inforcement training only. Some dogs need the aggressive type of trainer, but with her, be confident, but more gentle. Not to say I am rough with dogs, but you know what I mean. Some require a more dominant type of training, but she needs her confidence built, so really work on that and she'll come around.
6 months is still really young, so this won't be too hard at all!!
Good luck!

Answer 6

Since this was her first day with you, I can only think that she had separation anxiety. Normal! Try leaving her for 1 - 2 minutes and return to the apartment. Then for 5 minutes, and return. Then 10 minutes and return. She will get the idea that she has not been abandoned and she'll calm down. Also, until she has made the adjustment from foster home to yours, she probably does not need to meet the whole family. Perhaps using a kennel while you are gone, and at night will give her a feeling of safety. Be sure to include chew toys for her, but make sure the kennel is too small for her to pee and mess in one end and sleep in the other. They will not mess in their beds. When you open the kennel door when you return, use soft, reassuring tones in your voice. Let her approach you as opposed to you reaching into the kennel. She may not come out immediately until she's sure that you are home for good. She probably needs to set the pace with you - a couple of days should make a huge difference.

Answer 7

First, I want to tell you have an absolutely a beautiful animal. I believe that she will come around in time. Don't give up on her or yourself.. She can sense when something is wrong, they have that instinct that not only knows when a person has fear of them but other things too. I have a strong suspicion that she had been mis-treated or bullied by another dog when she was very little. She could be traumatized, but over time I believe she will come around. You have to bond with her so that she knows you are her master and friend. The Alpha Male syndrome theory applies here. My Sheppard did the same thing when she was that age also. She had three previous masters before me and it took a lot of work and time to turn her around. But it did happened once she learned to trust me. Good Luck with her I'm confident she will be fine.

Answer 8

First of all, that is a beautiful German Shepherd. I have been rescuing German Shepherds for 4 years. In November of 2005, I was called to a puppy mill, a lady that was being court ordered to surrender the dogs, or have them put down. I took 6 males from the lady, and they were in the worst shape I have ever seen a dog in my life. They had never seen another human other than the lady, and had never been around other dogs either. Each dog was around 18 months old. I worked with four of the 6, the other 2 came around by themselves. Three of them, the first thing I did was take them into my room with me. A lot of trainers will tell you not to this, but I feel that this was showing the dogs where the den was. I wasn't suprised when the dogs cowarded in my closet all three on top of each other. I spent that first night just earning their trust. I began my taking little training treats and tossing them to the dogs. After about an hour, I would still throw the treats to them, but not all the way to them. They would have to come out of their corner to get the treats. Since it was a 14 hr trip from where I had picked them up to my house, they were really hungrey. The third hr of bonding was much the same, just a little bit closer to me. Finally, about half way through the 6th hr, I actually had one of them take the treat out of my hand. Now, I love working with German Shepherds, training and rescuing, but I would say that moment, and the ones to follow were the best moments of my life. One dog, Bravo, became very attached to me, especially after his freind, Stephan, got adopted. bravo also found a home, but them was returned because he was scared of cats. I remember one morning, my room mate, opened my bed room door, and Bravo jumped up and started barking. Bravo later got adopted to the best home possible, with his brother or friend or what ever, stephan. The father of the family was a police officer, and the last I heard from them, both dogs would bark and charge the door even when he came home, of course he came home at 4 am. I then moved on to the final dog from the set, one I named Champ (I tried to give all the dogs tough names to help me get them through this). Champ took a lot longer, about 2 months time. He finally did get adopted to a fmaily that was willing to work with his special needs, unfortunatly, he died one the table while he was getting neutered. That was one of the hardest moments of my life. Bottom line, the puppy you are dealing with is only 6 months old. You haven't had her very long. She should be fine. However, i do not know that she will ever be good for SCHUTZHUND. Hope this helps

Answer 9

Any time you get a dog that has a past that you do not know alot about you are in for a surprise. This dog needs ALOT of socializing. And alot of patients. I breed and show Chi's and they too can tend to be funny at times. the trick is socializing .. maybe you should go to a basic obedience class. this would be the best socializing I can think of. Not that you don't know how to train.. But it would get her around other dogs and people and in an unfamilar environment.Also your obiedience intstructor could probably give you some tips for the behavior .

Answer 10

I think there is hope for your pup. Being taken to a new place is a big step. She was used to the people in her foster home..and now she has a new home..new people, new dogs, and new smells. that is a lot to take in. Do you know if she came from a bad home? that could have a lot to do with it as well. and also, were there other dogs in her foster home? you may need to keep them seperate until she warms up to your other dog.

i have recently gotten a new pup. he is 5 months old now ans we got him when he was 3 1/2 months. he was a rescue as well. and was quite skiddish at first. it just takes time. adopting a dog is a lot of work. and a lot of times it takes a while for them to warm up to you. move slowly..talk softly. just be gentle with her as you would with a baby. she will in time realize you will not hurt her. i would also be easy in training her. you dont want to push her. GS are very smart and very independent dogs.