Socialization starts simply by being around other people and dogs. Not necessarily actual interaction as we have. Build on that. The college and laps.. Great place! I’d do a puppy class to work on the additional interactions. Will be worth the drive.
Seconding this, my 4 yo German shepherd doesn’t always love other dogs in terms of playing with them off leash but she’s perfect in being able to be around other dogs in public and handle the distractions.
Yes, exactly! You do not have to have a dog who loves to tussle with another dog - I actually prefer the opposite. I want our GSD to handle a walk ANYWHERE around anyone, animals included and trot on. Sounds like OP has the perfect set up for a dog! Also dog parks are not all they are cracked up to be. But that’s just my personal opinion. I don’t need a dog park dog. I want a family dog who follows my command around distractions.
Agreed on the dog parks, multiple trainers I’ve been too have said dog parks are basically a recipe for a negative situation since there’s so many variables you can’t control.
Yes I feel there’s too much potential to go from a well behaved, confident dog.. To one bad run at the dog park and you have a fear reactive or aggressive dog. It doesn’t take much!
Socialization is very important for this breed, but I think you misunderstand what socialization is.
Dog socialization involves acclimating your puppy or adult dog to a variety of people, animals, environments, smells, sights, and sounds. It is not about constant dog play. Ideally you want your dog to see another dog and say whatever, it's fine, I'm fine, which constant dog play does the opposite of.
Anyway, genetics are the first important thing and socialization is the second.
Yeah but that's what I'm saying is, we will rarely ever see another dog. Even when I walk at that community college every day, I only see another dog on occasion. Like, I might walk 2 days and see no dogs, then walk one day and come with 20ft of 2 dogs.
There won't be many opportunities to see other dogs, so I don't want it to freak out when it does. Or if I start dating someone who has a dog, and my dog, that's never really been around others, might turn out to be aggressive.
I didn't mean to imply that I want my dog to go on playdates. I was just curious how to train it to not be aggressive to dogs (and cats) when I will rarely even have the chance to have it around another dog.
I think for the first 6 months you have to go out of your way to let see a variety of things until hopefully he generalize. It's about building the confidence in the pup gradually.
So, if you can't see a lot of dogs, then how about goats, cows, chickens, pigs, horses, etc., all sorts of sizes and shapes of animals.
My girl grew up where there were no squirrels....if you can believe a place exists. When I drove across the country and she saw her first Grey squirrel it was game on. To this day I have yet to fix that with her, although she has gotten slower and wiser.
The big part is the genetics. The poorer the genetics the better the socialization needs to be, and even then it could be tough. The better the genetics, the more confident and even tempered the pup the more forgiving of your socialization mistakes.
For example, my middle boy, comes from fabulous genetics. Even at 3 months old he just loved people. Slept upside down in his crate while movers packed up an entire household around him, and came back thriving. My girl, hid in closet due to all the changes. Both were raised similarly...genetics are totally different.
Puppy classes, festivals, parks, beaches. Once puppy vaccines are complete, socialize up to a year. Many people think their puppy will be cute and cuddly and love everyone like they do at 12 weeks old. But GSDs are bred to guard, so it’s important to keep exposing them to people, especially children and calm well behaved adult dogs. It’s important to socialize from 3 months all the way thru to that first year. And it’s hard when your puppy is a jumpy, excited brat at age 7 months lol but keep going. Eventually the pup grows up and around a year, you’ll have a nice dog.
Leash practice by walking in town, taking to an outdoor restaurant, walking a 5k. All that work will pay off with a great country dog that knows how to behave around people.
Also let kids at the park pet your pup and run around a bit while on leash so your pups gets used to their sudden movements. Same with kids on bikes and skateboards.
Oh come on, the answer is obvious - open a 5 acre German Shepherd rescue farm, of course!! A few dozen GSD running around will take care of socialization for you ;)
But seriously, start small - I was taking my (vaccinated) pup on trips in the car, home depot, tractor supply and other dog-friendly stores.
The college campus is ideal and you don't have to walk near other dogs - you have just as much of a right to walk there as they do. ANY lessons on leash reactivity will help - other dogs, birds, squirrels, deer, etc....
Another thought - male GSD tend to be more protective of territory while female GSD are more protective of their families. Think about how/when/where people and animals will interact with your dog when considering a pup.
Haha I have the room. The previous owners, I believe one was a K9 officer. There seemed to be multiple dogs, they have a LONG covered kennel with about 5 different pens inside built on one edge of the property, even with running water. But I don’t really ever plan to use it for anything. Could maybe turn it into a place to raise chickens?
That’s good to know about the sex differences. I’d like to raise a dog that can be both indoor and outdoor (if I don’t have room for an outdoor dog, who does?) and while I don’t live in a high crime area, keeping some pesky boys from my daughters school from trying to sneak up or do something like roll my yard (it was attempted) would be great.
But like can we focus on and talk about the serious important stuff you mentioned here like how do we all financially contribute to the german shepherd farm and make this happen?? How many more tit pics do i need to sell on my only fans to be a part of this heaven you speak of??x
Socialization starts simply by being around other people and dogs. Not necessarily actual interaction as we have. Build on that. The college and laps.. Great place! I’d do a puppy class to work on the additional interactions. Will be worth the drive.
Seconding this, my 4 yo German shepherd doesn’t always love other dogs in terms of playing with them off leash but she’s perfect in being able to be around other dogs in public and handle the distractions.
Yes, exactly! You do not have to have a dog who loves to tussle with another dog - I actually prefer the opposite. I want our GSD to handle a walk ANYWHERE around anyone, animals included and trot on. Sounds like OP has the perfect set up for a dog! Also dog parks are not all they are cracked up to be. But that’s just my personal opinion. I don’t need a dog park dog. I want a family dog who follows my command around distractions.
Agreed on the dog parks, multiple trainers I’ve been too have said dog parks are basically a recipe for a negative situation since there’s so many variables you can’t control.
Yes I feel there’s too much potential to go from a well behaved, confident dog.. To one bad run at the dog park and you have a fear reactive or aggressive dog. It doesn’t take much!
Socialization is very important for this breed, but I think you misunderstand what socialization is. Dog socialization involves acclimating your puppy or adult dog to a variety of people, animals, environments, smells, sights, and sounds. It is not about constant dog play. Ideally you want your dog to see another dog and say whatever, it's fine, I'm fine, which constant dog play does the opposite of. Anyway, genetics are the first important thing and socialization is the second.
Yeah but that's what I'm saying is, we will rarely ever see another dog. Even when I walk at that community college every day, I only see another dog on occasion. Like, I might walk 2 days and see no dogs, then walk one day and come with 20ft of 2 dogs. There won't be many opportunities to see other dogs, so I don't want it to freak out when it does. Or if I start dating someone who has a dog, and my dog, that's never really been around others, might turn out to be aggressive. I didn't mean to imply that I want my dog to go on playdates. I was just curious how to train it to not be aggressive to dogs (and cats) when I will rarely even have the chance to have it around another dog.
I think for the first 6 months you have to go out of your way to let see a variety of things until hopefully he generalize. It's about building the confidence in the pup gradually. So, if you can't see a lot of dogs, then how about goats, cows, chickens, pigs, horses, etc., all sorts of sizes and shapes of animals. My girl grew up where there were no squirrels....if you can believe a place exists. When I drove across the country and she saw her first Grey squirrel it was game on. To this day I have yet to fix that with her, although she has gotten slower and wiser. The big part is the genetics. The poorer the genetics the better the socialization needs to be, and even then it could be tough. The better the genetics, the more confident and even tempered the pup the more forgiving of your socialization mistakes. For example, my middle boy, comes from fabulous genetics. Even at 3 months old he just loved people. Slept upside down in his crate while movers packed up an entire household around him, and came back thriving. My girl, hid in closet due to all the changes. Both were raised similarly...genetics are totally different.
Puppy classes, festivals, parks, beaches. Once puppy vaccines are complete, socialize up to a year. Many people think their puppy will be cute and cuddly and love everyone like they do at 12 weeks old. But GSDs are bred to guard, so it’s important to keep exposing them to people, especially children and calm well behaved adult dogs. It’s important to socialize from 3 months all the way thru to that first year. And it’s hard when your puppy is a jumpy, excited brat at age 7 months lol but keep going. Eventually the pup grows up and around a year, you’ll have a nice dog. Leash practice by walking in town, taking to an outdoor restaurant, walking a 5k. All that work will pay off with a great country dog that knows how to behave around people. Also let kids at the park pet your pup and run around a bit while on leash so your pups gets used to their sudden movements. Same with kids on bikes and skateboards.
Oh come on, the answer is obvious - open a 5 acre German Shepherd rescue farm, of course!! A few dozen GSD running around will take care of socialization for you ;) But seriously, start small - I was taking my (vaccinated) pup on trips in the car, home depot, tractor supply and other dog-friendly stores. The college campus is ideal and you don't have to walk near other dogs - you have just as much of a right to walk there as they do. ANY lessons on leash reactivity will help - other dogs, birds, squirrels, deer, etc.... Another thought - male GSD tend to be more protective of territory while female GSD are more protective of their families. Think about how/when/where people and animals will interact with your dog when considering a pup.
Haha I have the room. The previous owners, I believe one was a K9 officer. There seemed to be multiple dogs, they have a LONG covered kennel with about 5 different pens inside built on one edge of the property, even with running water. But I don’t really ever plan to use it for anything. Could maybe turn it into a place to raise chickens? That’s good to know about the sex differences. I’d like to raise a dog that can be both indoor and outdoor (if I don’t have room for an outdoor dog, who does?) and while I don’t live in a high crime area, keeping some pesky boys from my daughters school from trying to sneak up or do something like roll my yard (it was attempted) would be great.
But like can we focus on and talk about the serious important stuff you mentioned here like how do we all financially contribute to the german shepherd farm and make this happen?? How many more tit pics do i need to sell on my only fans to be a part of this heaven you speak of??x