My pups' pedigree, and her lack of nerve? - Page 4

Chaz,
You may be right, but my point is correct, a dog who has this kind of early tramatic experience even if it gets past it will never forget it, ever.
That's a fact you can dispute all you like, I don't care.

Have you ever raised real pit dogs?

Anyway,
We can disagree.

Moons.

 The fact that this young dog is leary of another gsd, just because another gsd pinned her and shook her is not making much sense to me other than genetic

I have had mother gsd grab their own pups and shake milk shake and the pup goes crying to the other side of the yard only to come back and ready for round 2.

I would not want a dog that could not be grabbed by even me and run off and have no bounce back into its normal self to meet the bull by its horn.


Sorry but I cannot buy , that it will recover, or should be coddled like all the suggestions have posted.
I would accept it, go on and be looking for a different bloodline.
No properly nerve structured dog would react that way no matter what got it cornered. I have had 3 month old pups in fights with a little older pup and the small one almost beat up the older pup..

Genetics make up the whole structure of what any pup can endure.

Pups on the club practice field see more incidents and get involved in all kinds of pressure and if they do not have nerves fit for any kind of battle of the sexes at a young age, then it is genetic .

The fact that this dog fears other gsd and not other breeds., the gsd has a warning aire about themselves and they send out a certain ALPHA  message when approached and this dog is keying off of it.

Good post YR.

After reading some of these responses, it becomes clear some have never had a really solid nerved dog.

Yellow rose,

I have to agree with you. I have seen other dogs "get it" from other dogs, and they just move on. My pup is super sensitive to her surroundings, and extrememly receptive, to a point of over sensitive. Things just don't bounce off her, she takes everything in.

For example... If 2 dogs  get into some rough play, and there's growling, I've witnessed her simply shy away, and just sit at a distance. Whereas, the other dogs' instinctive response, was to investigate the ruckus.
I've used her receptiveness to our advanatge. She's easily trained, and she's done well in all areas of obedience. Get's it real quick.

At home, or on leash, I don't see fear. She's neutral.  She's comfortable. She doesn't get spooked by loud noises, and she's basically unfazed by anything. I've never witnessed her cower to anything else.
I take her everywhere. People acan approach her, and people with a GSD can approach us too... As long as she's on lead, and there's no chance that the other GSD could engage with her, she's neutral. I've had GSD's come up to us (on lead), and bark inher face. She would simply look around as if the other GSD wasn't there. This is something I've worked in with her trainer. She's non-reactive to dogs 100%.... Except off lead. She feels safe next to me on lead. That's the only way I see it.

In response to those that have asked me to accept her as she is..... I have accepted her. We all love her, and wouldn't want her any other way. She has an expceptional temperament with people and children, and is brilliant. She's doing wonderfully in obediance, and is a perfect dog for my family. 

FWIW.... We visit Petco every saturday for an hour of "meet and greet". They have a rescue there on saturdays, and I'll take her there to socialize, and just sit with the other dogs. We could sit in the middle of a hundred dogs, and she's fine. People walk in the store, and greet her, and move on. This is something 've done with her since she's 4 months, and it's paid off in a big way.


The only time I see an issue, is if she's out in the open, and there a GSD looking to engage with her. Whether for play or aggression, she wants no part of a GSD off lead.

My original question was based on a comment that someone said to me.
They said if she's genetically programmed for lack of nerve, there's nothing I could do to get her past her bad experience.

I was just curious if that were the case.

Since we're on the subject of genetics, looking at her pedigree, would you expect her to have a lack of nerve?

http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/german_shepherd_dog/dog.html?id=737543

Anthony,

If I were you, I'd relax and stop trying to analyze why she reacted as she did; continue to do as you are doing as it seems to be working. The whys and wherefores only matter if you have no plans to keep the dog or if you want to try to get compensation from the breeder. Stop listening to the nay sayers and move on.

Enjoy your dog; she is beautiful and will give you years of unconditional love. She's a dog; dogs are not perfect. None are....... MM MMMMy guess is in another 6 months or less she won't even pay attention to other GSD's.

Anthony, If I were you, I'd relax and stop trying to analyze why she reacted as she did; continue to do as you are doing as it seems to be working. The whys and wherefores only matter if you have no plans to keep the dog or if you want to try to get compensation from the breeder. Stop listening to the nay sayers and move on. Enjoy your dog; she is beautiful and will give you years of unconditional love. She's a dog; dogs are not perfect. None are.......My guess is in another 6 months of less she won't even pay attention to other GSD's.

Oh, I agree 100%. I'm not really concerned or over analyzing. I was just wondering if there was any truth about the genetic issue and her ability to rebound.

She's a family dog, and my REAL concern is her safety. I was concerned that she seems to invite the aggression in other GSD's.
If I have to guess, it's "growing pains" :)

If your're considering breeding from him, then that would be entirely subjective.  Otherwise just continue to manage your dog when off leash especially with other dogs around.  Do you do any bitework training with your dog?  Just curious.

Apologies, he's a she :)

"I was concerned that she seems to invite the aggression in other GSD's."  Yes because she is sending out weakness disposition and some dogs do react to this.

That's not always true, Poseidon. I've owned some very tough dogs that would never back down from a good fight that were challenged by every other dog they got close to.  It's not necessarily a sign of a "weak disposition" when a dog triggers an aggression response from other dogs.

I would encourage everyone to watch the youtube videos and look for Kira 11 or Kira yelps. In this video a mature GSD stares down / stalks this pup while Anthony continues to film, doing nothing to stop what is going to happen. Another dog aproaches the adult GSD who quickly snaps at it sending it fleeing . At this point Kira aproaches ( not showing weak nerve ) and is pursued finally we hear Anthony say " this doesn't look good " and the camera stops. Even though the other GSD was playing, Anthony you let Kira down, you should have seen this coming a mile away. No matter the genetics I am not letting another dog dominate or attack my pup. This is not the breeder's fault you own this one all by yourself Anthony.