# socialization



## ben roberts (Dec 5, 2010)

how long will it take for my pup to be comfortable working at different location,,,, she will work just a little nervous thats all but will and works well and i know this is my fault for not exsposing her earlier by the way she 7 month old very full of drive and extremly hard deep grips


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## Brian McQuain (Oct 21, 2009)

What are your plans with this pup?


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## ben roberts (Dec 5, 2010)

Just sport work


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## Brian McQuain (Oct 21, 2009)

Take her to different locations as often as you can and just play with her, keeping it fun and controlled...how long it will take for her to be comfortable will be up to her ultimately. Sorry for not giving you a specific answer on how long, but thats up to your pup. Our club has a year old female GSD just now coming out her shell and becoming confident in any location.


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## ben roberts (Dec 5, 2010)

Thanks Brian for reply I have started taking her different places last weekend actually thanks again


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## Terrasita Cuffie (Jun 8, 2008)

Pups go in and out of fear periods. Take her different places and play tug or to fetch a ball--whatever she LIKES. Then add some positive reinforcement type work--just a couple of minutes worth. Finish with something playfood that she LIKES. I spend the first couple of years with foundation work. I really don't expect them to start settling in until they get closer to 3. I've seen the stages fade 15-18 months but then some males are just plain goofy age 2-almost 3. If she had good basic temperament to start with, chances are unless something traumatic happens, she will come back to it. 

T


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## Christopher Smith (Jun 20, 2008)

ben roberts said:


> how long will it take for my pup to be comfortable working at different location,,,, she will work just a little nervous thats all but will and works well and i know this is my fault for not exsposing her earlier by the way she 7 month old very full of drive and extremly hard deep grips


First of all it's not necessarily your fault. It may simply be that your dog is genetically predisposed to be nervous. If this is the case no amount of training or socialization is going to change that. What you can change through training is your dog's reaction to it's nervousness. You can also teach yourself to not trigger the dog's issues. This does not mean that you have a bad dog. All dogs have issues. 

What I do with dogs that have generalized nervousness is walk them. I don't try to make the puppy do anything to directly address it's problems. I just take the puppy for really long walks. If the puppy spooks, I act like I didn't notice and keep walking. After a while the pups usually stop worrying about things. But this does not mean that they are cured, it only means that the reaction is less noticeable. So a pup that would try to pull out of the leash, scream and pee when he passed a trash truck, might only speed up his pace or veer away from it. The problem is still there is just more manageable.

I think that confronting some of these fear issues head on can be a bad idea. All puppies have their fear stuff. I think that some times people get so involved and weird about their puppies issues that they make the puppy worst. For instance if the dog is scared of the trash truck and you start stressing the puppy out about it you are only going to make the pup more worried because you are making such a big deal about the trash truck. 

Lastly, dogs are going to simply mature out of many of these issues. Think of how many kids are afaid of the dark and how the vast majority either conquer or greatly diminish that fear without outside influence.


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## Terrasita Cuffie (Jun 8, 2008)

Christopher Smith said:


> Lastly, dogs are going to simply mature out of many of these issues. Think of how many kids are afaid of the dark and how the vast majority either conquer or greatly diminish that fear without outside influence.


 
Boy, you're optimistic.

T


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

I don't like a pup that is temperamentally unsound at any age. I'm not a fan of how the go in and out of these stages. To many years with "No Fear" terriers I guess. 
My older GSD Thunder has always been solid as a rock from day one. My younger one, Trooper was just a bit apprehensive in some situations but he DID grow out of it. He'll never be rock solid as Thunder though.


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## Terrasita Cuffie (Jun 8, 2008)

I've had the Thunders too and they do spoil you. But anything I picked/tested at 7 weeks, whether it staged or not, matured into what I saw at 7 weeks. Generally, if mine are staging, I'm the only one that knows it--its generally pretty subtle. One of my rules of thumbs is the puppy that doesn't work during a fear period vs. the one that will. I pick the latter. Adaptability to environment change is something you can see before they leave the whelping box if you are looking for it.

T


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

I agree about some are more adaptable to environment but if there is one in the litter that is spooky as a pup I won't look at the rest of the litter. 
Remember the litter that Sandra had? One was a pretty nice pup but I still wouldn't pick a pup from a litter like that. Of course Sandra's older dogs had a bit of influnece on that. :grin: 8-[ :wink:


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## Terrasita Cuffie (Jun 8, 2008)

Bob Scott said:


> I agree about some are more adaptable to environment but if there is one in the litter that is spooky as a pup I won't look at the rest of the litter.
> Remember the litter that Sandra had? One was a pretty nice pup but I still wouldn't pick a pup from a litter like that. Of course Sandra's older dogs had a bit of influnece on that. :grin: 8-[ :wink:


Well, it flunked the stock test and from what I'm told, never did work. The litter was linebred on soft/fear/avoidance. The mother is a piece of work as well. The one we liked was decent but still nothing I would take home because it wouldn't engage stock and hit was submissive--sit with the leg cocked open and ears laid back. Scary, considering the "working line" breeding.

T


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

Terrasita Cuffie said:


> Well, it flunked the stock test and from what I'm told, never did work. The litter was linebred on soft/fear/avoidance. The mother is a piece of work as well. The one we liked was decent but still nothing I would take home because it wouldn't engage stock and hit was submissive--sit with the leg cocked open and ears laid back. Scary, considering the "working line" breeding.
> 
> T



I think they were genetically programed to ignore screaming and hollering. :-# :-\"


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## Terrasita Cuffie (Jun 8, 2008)

Bob Scott said:


> I think they were genetically programed to ignore screaming and hollering. :-# :-\"


 
Or to avoid it altogether. There is this trend in herding that the older you get the softer the dog desired. They say they are too old to deal with the fast, driven, hard headed types. I'm the exact opposite. I like the proactive type--especially for chores. Your job is to hold the gate and they will get the rest done.

T


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## jim stevens (Jan 30, 2012)

Christopher Smith said:


> First of all it's not necessarily your fault. It may simply be that your dog is genetically predisposed to be nervous. If this is the case no amount of training or socialization is going to change that. What you can change through training is your dog's reaction to it's nervousness. You can also teach yourself to not trigger the dog's issues. This does not mean that you have a bad dog. All dogs have issues.
> 
> What I do with dogs that have generalized nervousness is walk them. I don't try to make the puppy do anything to directly address it's problems. I just take the puppy for really long walks. If the puppy spooks, I act like I didn't notice and keep walking. After a while the pups usually stop worrying about things. But this does not mean that they are cured, it only means that the reaction is less noticeable. So a pup that would try to pull out of the leash, scream and pee when he passed a trash truck, might only speed up his pace or veer away from it. The problem is still there is just more manageable.
> 
> ...


This is what I did with mine. When I watched her with the other pups, she showed no lack of self assurance, or fear. When I brought her home to a strange environment, it was different, loud noises, cars, lots of things bothered her. It only took a few days and she was fine, and gunfire, cars, nothing bothers her. 

If it took much more than a couple of weeks, I'd be worried.

Working away from home is the same way, if it didn't go away after the third time or so, I'd be concerned. 

I have years of experience with horses, and they hold all kinds of 'works' basically bogus shows at different locations to get them used to strange areas, crowds, other horses being around, before the $$ are on the line.

I would assume that dog trainers do something similar, it just gets them used to distractions, so they learn to concentrate on their job, no matter where they are at.


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## James Downey (Oct 27, 2008)

I do the same protocol that Mr. Smith does. I also believe there are genetic limitations to how much it can be changed. I have seen dogs kenneled to 14 months old and be social well adjusted dogs. 

Also, I am not sure if this is a Malinois, But Malinois have a different nervous system than shepherd. Many Malinois work because of thier suspicion. And My experience with Malinois is that can and sometimes do grow out of thier weirdoness.


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## ben roberts (Dec 5, 2010)

Everything is looking great regarding my post on this thread I have been taking every other night to different location and playing a all with her or letting her bite a tug everything is well thanks for the input everyone


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