My German Shepherds dont like people, why?

Question

When I first got them they were very timid puppies, and would hide from everything and everyone. I've had them from nearly a year, and they will be a year old this coming Monday. They love me, my mom, and other females they knows... but they start growling at men and women whom they dont know. They know my brother, but they still dont like him. Why are they like this? They are very well behaved and trained, they just dont like people. This is my first time owning Shepherds, I've always owned Huskies but rescues these two from the pound when they were being red flagged meaning about to be put down. The person who dropped them off gave the animal control the day the were born and etc. But I'm unsure how I'm suppose to get them use to people without showing aggression.

Answer 1

● "\My German Shepherds dont like people, why?"



Your very next sentence explains WHY.



● "When I first got them they were very timid puppies, and would hide from everything and everyone."



That indicates that:

#1: They had genetically inadequate natures and

#2: had been VERY poorly reared, almost certainly with punishment used OFTEN and praise & reward almost never.



And so sensible people declined to buy them, so the pups never got anything GOOD in their life until they reached the rescue group.



To make it worse, YOU accepted at least 2 of them at the SAME TIME!

The "rule" for sensible people is

"Do NOT look for a second pup until the first one is confident, well trained, neutered and healed. And you then look for a pup of the opposite sex".



● "I've had them from nearly a year, and they will be a year old this coming Monday. They love me, my mom, and other females they knows... "



Because they have learned during those 10(?) months that you feed them and make a fuss of them - quite possibly the visiting girls/woman do the same.



● "but they start growling at men and women whom they dont know."



Naturally - their inborn instinct is to fear everything they don't know, so they snarl in hopes it will scare the possibly-dangerous stranger away.

However, the BIG danger is that when a fearful pooch cannot escape (such as trapped in a corner) as in these cases:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHLnjiISsOo

and

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okJL4x8NWrs

- the FIGHT part of "Fight or flight response" takes place until the fearful pooch thinks its can escape. You having TWO pooches like that, you are extra dangerous, as they will react to each other's fear.



● "They know my brother, but they still dont like him."



Don't ask US to work out why - but I'll bet that YOU have a pretty good idea. It is even likely that YOU don't like your brother! (Quite probably the other animals on your property don't like him, either.)



● "Why are they like this? They are very well behaved and trained,



Oh really? So you've been getting coached in a weekly training class for the last 9 months, have you?

Are YOUR dogs as well-controlled and patient as these?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B740GiFJh6k - not very exciting, but should be easier for you, seeing as you have only two to manage.



To see the rest, you'll need to copy&paste each web-address into your browser's address line - stingy Y!A activates only 3 web-links - and lets you start only the first one by clicking the video-screen; the rest you have to click the web-address or, as with the rest, copy & paste the web-address:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSJzmzw2gjg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-EZY1JDR2g



● "But I'm unsure how I'm suppose to get them use to people without showing aggression."



You can't - not until they TRUST you fully, and you have secure control using your voice commands and your hand.body-signals. And the BEST place to achieve that is in a training group with an experienced coach. But you will need to first meet that coach privately, so that he/she can assess each of your dogs (while the other is securely in your vehicle), sees how each of them is around his/her best-trained dogs, and decides which is best for you to leave home until you have the other under proper control and the other dogs & people in the class are safe from being attacked by your fearful pooch. Until you HAVE that control, you dare not let them off-lead near other people or dogs. And you won't be strong enough to control TWO adult GSDs, so you can't afford to walk them at the same time. Tough on you, but you made the decision to get a fearful pair. It saved their lives - but is the result worth the drawbacks and risks?



I consider that the only dogs worth having are bold, calm, curious, and fearless.



- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -



😛 To discuss GSDs, join some groups such as

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/GSD_Friendly/info

by sending an e-mail about yourself to the Subscribe address on that page.

The people in them KNOW about GSDs. Plus you can include several actual photos in your posts.

To find other groups or breeds, type the breed-name into the top field of

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/dir

then choose a couple of groups to Join - use the group's

Message History

on its /info page to make sure that it still has members who are ACTIVE.



😛 Add

https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/The_GSD_Source/info

to your browser, so that you can easily look up all sorts of information about dogs, especially GSDs. It is an "encyclopaedia" group (to which members can ask for new sources to be added), not a discussion group.



King Les The Lofty - first pup in 1950; GSD breeder & trainer as of 1968

Answer 2

Numerous reasons, poorly bred, genetically deficient, failure to train/socialize by an experienced owner/handler and/or failure to enforce what has been taught as needed in a timely fashion, training/correction never stops. Aggression is easier to control by an experienced family than poorly bred/genetically deficient fearful dogs.



Genetics can't be changed, genetics determines, temperament, timidness, hiding, fearful nerve bag. It maybe possible for an experienced/knowledgeable handler/owner/family that is firm to somewhat control a GSD, as they're not for the novice family. Note I stated a GSD, not two at once.



"When I first got them" getting two at once was the wrong thing to do also. Google sibling rivalry/litter mate syndrome, and/or two close to the same age puppies, an experienced/knowledgeable handler/owner would have known and realized that. Train one first completely, first, before getting another pup, and then in about 12 to 18 months later start all over, with another pup.



Love is a human emotion that dogs do not posses. So stop anthropomorphizing your family dogs. GSD's are not dogs for novice families. Any poor behavior such as "growling at men and women whom they dont know" including other family members, your "brother" should be corrected immediately each time when caught in the act.



"Why are they like this?" Re-read the first paragraph.



The entire family should seek professional help on how to train a dog properly, before someone gets injured, dogs are removed at the families expense, family is sued, and both dogs are euthanized. Perhaps consider returning one or re-homing it with someone with more experience/knowledge, while you work with the remaining one.

Answer 3

They weren't socialized properly as puppies, and are now too old to really do much.

I would get a trainer to come into your home and work with you and the dogs one on one. This will help with their fear based aggression. They won't be 100% comfortable, but they should be less aggressive.

Answer 4

As Belgian TOLD you, when you SAW they were timid, they ought to have immediately begun a special, and super-enriched amount of socialization with people and lots of new situations (as puppies) - the minute you adopted them. Of course, I would NEVER, EVER have adopted BOTH puppies..... or kept BOTH in the same home.



Waiting a YEAR for something to "magically" change, or for then to MORPH into well balanced and mentally STABLE dogs (with no effort on your part) is absurd and has made the matter WORSE. They were not mentally "well" - when you GOT them. And instead of moving heaven and earth to FIX the obvious deficits they had (from lack of socialization from a good breeder or poor genetics, if not BOTH) you left them in the basically timid state - you found them in.



And we are not even covering the sad fact - you INSISTED on adopting siblings. (Please google litter mate syndrome.) So that neither dog could develop FULLY into its own confident or full personality. What we have (now) are like conjoined or Siamese twins - dogs who probably cannot be separated from each other (at all) with out going NUTS.



One is probably overly alpha & one is overly omega (at least with each other.) So now, they are totally DEPENDENT on each other & would be even harder to TRAIN or socialize. You could not have done much more, to make matters any worse, if you has intentionally TRIED to. Whether any trainer can help you at this LATE DATE is unknown.

Answer 5

Because they have genetically bad temperaments, combined with an owner totally clueless on the correct way to socialize and train dogs. They should have been worked on from the day you got them. You now have a choice - hire a qualified behaviourist to evaluate with them and come up with a plan that you FOLLOW. Or give them to a GSD rescue so they can go to people who actually know this breed and will work with them.

Answer 6

Keep your dangerous dogs away form people before they bite or maul someone and you are sued the dogs are destroyed. The dogs are badly bred and you didn't help by never properly training them. Since the dogs are becoming more and more aggressive, they need to be put down. Rescues shouldn't be pulling dogs that are flagged to be put down due to them being unstable an dangerous.





These dogs are human aggressive. No amount of training will help. They have to be put down

Answer 7

They need training and conditioning. Find a good dog trainer. There could be a history of abuse here you are unaware of that is causing this.