Guest Anonymous Posted August 7, 2002 Posted August 7, 2002 Hello Trainers and Experienced Dog Owners, I have a great and wonderful German Shepherd Dog, Star, who just turned a year old about a week ago. We had him since he was 8 weeks old and he is really nice and friendly to all other dogs. However, Star thinks as his private parts as really private :) and he does not like to be smelled there; he backs away, turns in circle, tries his best to get away. Muzzle to muzzle is his only acceptable form of greeting :) Star and I walk every day about 3.5 miles at a park nearby. For the last 2 days I had to stop the other dogs (Rot & Lab) from getting under Star, since Star was trying desperately to escape the sniffing dog and in the same time he was trying hard not to pull me; since he is attached to my belt on a 4 ft leash. Today, a Yellow Lab about 85lb (same size as Star) who was unattended, got under Star and almost pushed Star down. So, I had to grab the Yellow Lab by his neck, since he did not have a collar, and calm him down. Now, I was lucky, the Yellow Lab was not aggressive and he did not mind me getting my arms around his neck, but I would like to know if there is any other way around this situation... Can anybody tell me if I need some kind of training to toughen up Star? Is this a normal behavior for Star, should he growl, bark... stand up for himself? Can you predict what might happen if I do not intervene? Any advice would be greatly appreciated, Star is my first dog and I'm not sure what to do in this situation.... Thank You! Quote
Guest Anonymous Posted August 8, 2002 Posted August 8, 2002 [quote name='Star GSD']Hello Trainers and Experienced Dog Owners, I have a great and wonderful German Shepherd Dog, Star, who just turned a year old about a week ago. We had him since he was 8 weeks old and he is really nice and friendly to all other dogs. However, Star thinks as his private parts as really private :) and he does not like to be smelled there; he backs away, turns in circle, tries his best to get away. Muzzle to muzzle is his only acceptable form of greeting :) Star and I walk every day about 3.5 miles at a park nearby. For the last 2 days I had to stop the other dogs (Rot & Lab) from getting under Star, since Star was trying desperately to escape the sniffing dog and in the same time he was trying hard not to pull me; since he is attached to my belt on a 4 ft leash. Today, a Yellow Lab about 85lb (same size as Star) who was unattended, got under Star and almost pushed Star down. So, I had to grab the Yellow Lab by his neck, since he did not have a collar, and calm him down. Now, I was lucky, the Yellow Lab was not aggressive and he did not mind me getting my arms around his neck, but I would like to know if there is any other way around this situation... Can anybody tell me if I need some kind of training to toughen up Star? Is this a normal behavior for Star, should he growl, bark... stand up for himself? Can you predict what might happen if I do not intervene? Any advice would be greatly appreciated, Star is my first dog and I'm not sure what to do in this situation.... Thank You! It sounds to me like your dog is undersocialized with his own species and needs some help in learning proper canine greetings. You *might* want to have your vet check and see if Star has an infection in his prepuce that makes him smell odd to other dogs - its not an uncommon thing in a male to have a mild infection there. Quote
Guest Anonymous Posted August 8, 2002 Posted August 8, 2002 Thanks "Guest" for your reply. The vet checked Star out & he's fine. However, you are right, Star has never been off leash when greeted by another dog and I know he reacts different when he is off leash. Well, at least Star seems to know that this "sniffing" thing is a part of the greeting, therefore he finds it intruding but not aggressive. I was worried that the sniffing dogs will bite; but from what I read on the Internet, dogs don't get under the dog they want to bite... hope I got this right:). About 3 months ago, we were at a Home Depot and the owner of a medium size dog said that she was fine to approach. Well, it turned out that she did not like Star; she tried to bite him (on the face) but he jumped back, on Star's second approach she tried to bite again and he jumped back but this time his hair was standing up, he barked and was ready to stand his ground. Of course we just walked away. I read his reaction as a message to the other dog that he was not going to put up with that kind of greeting. So, our smart dog knows the difference & now I'm starting to learn it as well :). Thanks again! Proud Mom :D Quote
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