So proud of my girlie!!

[SnowPhony]

Went out for a walk this evening through the village before coming home along the fields. As we were coming past my grandad's house I heard yapping. Went round the corner and were faced with the Shitzus that are, quite frankly, a nightmare.

The owner has been in trouble with the dog warden for one of these dogs biting an elderly lady and it is supposed to wear a muzzle. He frequently walks it with the muzzle round its neck rather than on its nose, and one day it went for my girl and I have no doubt it would have hurt her quite nastily had I not got my foot on the end of the horrible little thing first!

That incident shook my girl up quite badly being an already pretty nervous German Shepherd. So when I realised who it was I was prepared for a bot of grief, both from his dogs and mine.

And she shocked me. She behaved fantastically!! She puffed herself up, hackles up the lot like she does in defence when she gets scared, but didn't pull at all and didn't bark, she just whined and yowled a little bit.

I was so proud of her! In the past she has been up on her hind legs, barking like a crazy thing, so I'm so impressed with how far she's, especially as this dog tried to attack her not so long ago and initially put her back quite a bit.

Apoligies as it is very self indulgent, but I love my girl!

 

[Spudlet]

What a brave girl!

This might be a numpty question, but are GSDs quite a nervous breed? It's not the impression I had before but it's just the impression I get from reading some of the threads?

 

[MurphysMinder]

Well done, she's obviously improving. It is so infuriating when other dogs have a go at yours, when you are trying to improve their confidence with others. And of course when a Shepherd is involved people always say its their fault, even if they are the innocent party. How old is your girl, have you tried taking her to training classes, it can really help with socialising and getting them used to other dogs, and although obviously the younger they start the better, it is never too late. Contrary to popular belief you CAN teach an old dog new tricks

 

[MurphysMinder]

At one time a lot of them were very nervous sadly. Over the years I think generally temperaments have greatly improved, have to admit haven't seen a nervous dog around for quite a few years. But no doubt there are still some lines that produce poor temperaments

 

[SnowPhony]

I think the problem with Ellie is that she wasn't socialised as a puppy right up until we got her at 16 months old. Around the house, with people, cat's...anything but dogs really, she is the most perfect dog you could wish for.

She is 3 and a half now and I'm so proud of how far she has come. She improved no end in terms of confidence last year when we had our GSDx Border Collie pup. She adored him and out walking he gave her bags of confidence, but since we lost him at 6 months old she started slipping again.

I'd quite like to take her to classes, although mum puts me off a she technically is mums dog, and says she'd get kicked out for making so much noise and looking agressive!

 

[soloabe]

I think you should defiantly take her to classes.
My mum runs dog training classes and noisy or aggressive dogs certainly dont get kicked out. Thats what the classes are for to help the dogs get over those things.

 

[CorvusCorax]

Aw, so pleased for you both! Glad to hear she is coming on well, and don't forget your attitude is as important as hers.

When I got that feeling of dread when a dog approached, B could feel it and started going on the defensive - his was a protective rather than a nervous reaction and I was unwittingly making him behave that way.

Most training classes will be used to big shouty dogs. I go to a breed-specific club so the trainers are well used to that sort of thing.
As I have mentioned before, this has really helped with B, he has come on in leaps and bounds in the last year, I know how good it feels to walk past another dog without WWIII kicking off