# Shyness



## Patrick Cheatham (Apr 10, 2006)

Hi all new to the forum and looking for some insight. Here is the problem, I have a young GSD (11 mos) who is very shy/ afarid of people. I have had him 2 months now and he has made good progress in bonding with me but will run should anybody else come toward him. My intentions were to use him for HRD. But have never faced anything like this before. I wonder if I'm moving to fast with him. (He has not been abused). Can this behavior be corrected, if so how? He is just starting to show some drive. What would be a reasonable time frame for evaluating a dog with this behavior?


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## Greg Long (Mar 27, 2006)

What is a HRD dog?I know Im going to feel really stupid for asking this one.

Greg


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## Mike Russell (Apr 9, 2006)

Don't feel bad, I'm not sure what a HRD is either! :? 

As far as the shyness issue...
How much have you socialized the dog during its life? Has it been out and around people a lot? Were those interactions good ones? You can \"improve\" by getting a lot of socialization in.

However, if the dog is 11mos and is constantly shy, it would seem to me that the dog lacks confidence and nerve strength. A strong dog will be confident in all settings, regardless of it's socialization...not saying that they won't spook a little at first, but they would recover fast and be alright after that.


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

Mike Russell said:


> Don't feel bad, I'm not sure what a HRD is either! :?
> ....


Is it cadaver dog (human remains detection)?


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## Mike Russell (Apr 9, 2006)

Connie, I thought of that after I submitted the post. However, my first intuition was \"Hostage Rescue\" (as in FBI HRT)...guess it just depends on what \"world\" you come out from.


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

Mike Russell said:


> Connie, I thought of that after I submitted the post. However, my first intuition was \"Hostage Rescue\" (as in FBI HRT)...guess it just depends on what \"world\" you come out from.


 Mine was a total guess.......Herding something something came to me first!


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## Patrick Cheatham (Apr 10, 2006)

Human Remains Detection


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## Anne Jones (Mar 27, 2006)

Mike is probably on the right track questioning the dogs nerves & confidence.....but you might try making people hot dog dispensers for a while & see if that helps him feel more comfortable around new people. ALso male,especially, GSDs seem to go thru some strange behaviors around a year old. Things that didn't usually bother them sometime do & the can get a bit shy & spooky. It usually only lasts a short while & then they are back to normal. A funny growth spert for some dogs, I guess. But if shyness has been an ongoing problem, I would question, for one thing, missing the window of opportunity for the best time of socialization, which I believe is 12- 16 weeks as a pup & then that window closes. After that any socialization is still good it just is not like the imprinting of socialization that takes place during that window of time. If it is nerves, there is not a whole lot that you can do to change genetics. You might be able to have him feel a bit more comfortable in the company of strangers, but he will never be really confident & comfortable. JMO


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## Anne Jones (Mar 27, 2006)

I also forgot to add ...that when the strange people feed hot dogs, not to have them make eye contact with the dog. Eye contact is intimidating & challenging to a shy dog & will make things worse. Good luck. Keep us posted on his progress. Their may be others here with more experience with some other ideas.


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## Patrick Cheatham (Apr 10, 2006)

Ann :


> A funny growth spert for some dogs, I guess. But if shyness has been an ongoing problem, I would question, for one thing, missing the window of opportunity for the best time of socialization, which I believe is 12- 16 weeks as a pup & then that window closes.
> 
> Thanks all for the help, Ann I think you may have hit on the answer that I had not considered. Due to the fact that his original owner was working another dog in New Orelans from the time he was around three months until 8 when I took him over. I have seen his confidence level come up since receiving him and will try even more socialization. I guess maybe since my dog has so much drive that I really wondered if I was pushing him to fast. Or just needed to look for this to be a slowe pace if I kept him.


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

Patrick, I'd hate to see you waste good time on a dog that may not be what you want. A detector dog, wether it's HRD, explosives, drugs, whatever, needs to be full of himself. 
I've seen to many people try and get into search work with what they have avaliable. 
I compliment your efforts, but the correct dog should be first and foremost for this type of work. JMHO!


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## Jose Alberto Reanto (Apr 6, 2006)

Bob Scott said:


> Patrick, I'd hate to see you waste good time on a dog that may not be what you want. A detector dog, wether it's HRD, explosives, drugs, whatever, needs to be full of himself.
> I've seen to many people try and get into search work with what they have avaliable.
> I compliment your efforts, but the correct dog should be first and foremost for this type of work. JMHO!



Couldn't be said any better...


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## Patrick Cheatham (Apr 10, 2006)

Bob: Thanks for the advice, I had already come to that decision. I already have a very good dog for off lead trailing. I didn't want to make a quick decison on this pup because I'm so use to working a good high drive dog. This pup came from some czech imports, one already working HRD and both have schtzhund titles. That being said I plan on working with this new pup to see just how far I can take him. IMO if I haven't worked with less than the best. How will I as a trainer be able to help others later on with some of the issues I will encounter. Your right I wouldn't advice doing it for just anybody. [/quote]


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