Rehabilitating Shy & Unsocialized German Shepherd Puppies

Socializing Your German shepherd Puppy

If your German Shepherd puppy is gradually getting aggressive towards other animals and strangers or strange situations or if he exhibits unpredictable behavior and shies away when your friend approaches him with a friendly gesture, then you should admit that you have not socialized your dog properly when he was young. It is your fault - not your dog's, although there are instances about shyness being genetically instilled into the progenitors from their parents.

There are many reasons why some German Shepherd puppies grow different and shy away and try to attack other animals and strangers. Many a times novice owners pick puppies from their dam or separated from the pack before they reach at least 2 months of age. It is a must to keep the pup with its damn and newly born pack members, because of four major reasons:

a) It gets the total nutritional benefits of the mother's milk

b) Keeping it with his pack members until at least 8-10 weeks of age will help each puppy to learn how to mingle and behave with other dogs

c) Keeping it with another adult dog (its mother), each puppy learns certain skills, gains confidence that make each of them naturally social by birth

d) Being with an adult dog (its mother) helps each puppy to get groomed up with special skill to resolve conflicts


Shyness caused by Social Deprivation

A German Shepherd puppy that is separated from his pack before at least 2 months does not learn adequate skill and confidence to handle a strange situation which they face from time to time.

Another reason why of dogs becoming fearful and unsocial even though they were picked after they reached two or two and a half months of age is Social Deprivation. Social deprivation during a puppy's grooming phase (early years) is commonest cause for the puppy (irrespective of breed, class and gender) growing into an unsocial adult. If they are kept away from the external world - enclosed in a hall or kept in a backyard where they hardly get to encounter with various sounds, situations, incidences, animals and people. Consequently, when they are brought to the world outside their enclosed territories, they get nervous and tend to shy away when people or animals approach them or they face situations that is strange to them. They begin to consider every single stranger or strange situation and incidence as a threat. Treating shyness caused by social deprivation can be tough and a time consuming process, and in worst cases sometimes fixing the problem seems impossible and requires serious intervention of professional canine behaviourists.

You have an immense responsibility, if you want to handle things by yourself. First off, always keep in touch with a knowledgeable professional who can guide you in this process. Establishing yourself as an alpha member is of prime importance. Once you've done that successfully, things will become much easier and controllable. You need to control the way your dog interacts with other people who are stranger to him and Vice versa. As soon as a person, who is unknown to your dog, approaches him he will shy away due to his normal instinct. Ask the person to ignore him totally and not to proceed further and touch him. Also the stranger should not make any eye-to-eye contact with him... means nothing that can make him feel unsecured. "Ignoring" him is the way you can make your dog feel that people who approach him do not have any wrong notion, and should not be considered as threat. And your dog will relax from within his mind. This is a training process (Socialization) and is not as simple as it reads here, rather needs a rigorous daily practice. It may take a few months to even a year to get your dog socialized with strangers. The key to the success story is to adopt a non-treacherous, docile and very thoughtful method to make him understand that the world beyond his territory is not a threat to him. For sure you will be glad to see one fine morning he will start coming closer to people. Let him sniff a new person. Even now it's not the right time to touch him! Discourage a person to touch your dog, even if your dog is smelling the person and exhibiting a slight wagging. "Slight wagging" (wagging with slight breaks or not in full swing) indicates that your dog still have confusion and doubts in his mind about strangers. He is yet to open up for a better interaction. Be patient!

Start Socializing Your Puppy at The Early Age

Some German Shepherd puppies are stubborn by birth and this trait gets instilled into them genetically from their parents. Pushing them to do something will never be fruitful. Although characteristics that are genetically influenced cannot be easily manipulated, yet a certain level of repetitive practice of socialization will definitely help. For instance, if he shows stubbornness and signs of attacking or misbehaving with other dogs and strangers in the park, consider taking things more seriously. Talk to your friends who have dogs with balanced mental configuration. Tell them that your dog is in a training session and you need their help. All you need to do is to go for walk together and in the process do force your dog to befriend them instantly. Notice your dog and keep in under strict control, so that he doesn't exhibit any kind of wrong behavior to strangers and other dogs. Let him feel that everyone in the pack (including the human) is trustworthy and he will gradually realize that going out with them will be safe. Doing this almost everyday, if possible, will make things easier and bring your dog in the main stream faster.

Socializing Your GSD Puppy With Sound

Socializing with sound is another important thing. Sometimes honking car, thunderclaps, or other noise may scare him. He may consequently exhibit sudden fear-behavior, and will try to get into a safer place. Don't try to comfort him instantly. Ignore it, and continue moving forward. Being the leader of the pack, guide him towards focusing more on his confidence, and walk forward, without giving a halt. Addressing to his nervousness will help in nothing, but his nervousness will be encouraged.

"Rehabilitation" is a word used for dogs that have not been properly socialized. Putting your German Shepherd puppy to a session of socialization will stimulate the five most important senses in him that can make him a balanced dog. "Socializing" your German Shepherd puppy is getting him introduced, exposed and desensitized to the five distinctive situations that include smells, sight, sounds, touch and feelings that he may come across in his day-to-day life.

Related Read: Puppy Socialization Checklist