Hello,

I am new to this forum and I introduced all my dogs in the "New Dogs on the block"

The main reason I wanted to join this forum is to receive some advice. We just got a new puppy (4 months old) female German Shepherd. I know much about the breed and realize they need a "role" in life and they are very submissive dogs as well as very shy if not socialized at a young age....

...well there's our problem!

At 4 months, Nova has not be introduced to anything in this world. We got her from breeders that said they have been breeding GSD for 19+ years. Nova was actually pick of the litter for them. They bred their stud with an outside female service and thus little Nova was born !! <3

However, we are trying to pick up all the pieces now. When we first got her, she refused to come inside (we have a large fenced yard) and she just hid outside in the corners. She would mold herself to the ground if we walked to her and shake of course. She was only in a vehicle 2 times before we got her, and she drools...litterallly....a ocean!!!! I realize she has lots to adjust to with us! We take her and our other two for 2 hour long walks at night when it's quiet and she's a different dog! She wags her tail and plays with us (not even hesitating) As soon as she comes inside now, it's like she's out of her element! She runs away from us all the time. The only way we can coax her to us is with food -.- and I don't want her getting used to that too much.
If we walk up to her in the house, she will just instantly pee! It's very stressful and I just want to know if anyone can suggest anything. With our 2 hour long walks she is slowly coming out of her shell, but will she ever stop drooling in the car (it's REALLY bad)? Will she stop running away from us in the house? will she stop peeing when we touch her?...

Will she ever open up?

Any suggestions would be GREAT!!

Thanks!!

Originally Posted by Erin,

At 4 months, Nova has not be introduced to anything in this world. We got her from breeders that said they have been breeding GSD for 19+ years. Nova was actually pick of the litter for them. They bred their stud with an outside female service and thus little Nova was born !! <3

However, we are trying to pick up all the pieces now. When we first got her, she refused to come inside (we have a large fenced yard) and she just hid outside in the corners. She would mold herself to the ground if we walked to her and shake of course. She was only in a vehicle 2 times before we got her, and she drools...litterallly....a ocean!!!! I realize she has lots to adjust to with us! We take her and our other two for 2 hour long walks at night when it's quiet and she's a different dog! She wags her tail and plays with us (not even hesitating) As soon as she comes inside now, it's like she's out of her element! She runs away from us all the time. The only way we can coax her to us is with food -.- and I don't want her getting used to that too much.
If we walk up to her in the house, she will just instantly pee! It's very stressful and I just want to know if anyone can suggest anything. With our 2 hour long walks she is slowly coming out of her shell, but will she ever stop drooling in the car (it's REALLY bad)? Will she stop running away from us in the house? will she stop peeing when we touch her?...

Will she ever open up?

Any suggestions would be GREAT!!

Thanks!!

The correct question isn't "Will she...?" but rather "Can she...?" The answer is, "Yes, she can with the right approach."

Remember one simple rule: Never reward negative behavior.

When she acts afraid to come in or afraid to get in the car or afraid of you, ignore the behavior. Make no acknowledgement of it. Period. Petting her or talking to her when she is in a fearful state will only send the message that she is right to be afraid...which is definitely NOT the message you are intending to send.

When she is acting brave--reward her. At first, reward the least little "brave move"--if she moves her nose toward the fear object, acknowledge and reward. When she comes to you willingly...reward. Don't worry about "over rewarding" her right now--reward reward reward...just be sure to reward the right behaviors. As she improves, you can taper off the rewards.

Thank you so much for that! That was a big eye opener. When she refuses to come inside, we usually (in a way) Reward there because we st art saying "Come on Nova..good girl, come inside..come on Nova" and I guess she could get the sense that she is doing something good by not coming in! ;o

So when she doesn't listen, or runs away from us..we should ignore her? If she doesn't want to come inside, is it okay to leave her out there until she wants to come in..even if it means leaving her out there for hours or do we draw a line and end up having to go out there and get her from outside!

She is such a smart dog and you can tell that she feeds off of us! Everything is starting to make sense now with her behaviour that we reward her too often now!

Thank you again for the advice and any other advice is welcome!!!

Yep-- invite her in only once, and if she declines the invitation, walk away, go back inside, and leave her there. She'll come in when she's ready/feels comfortable. In the meanwhile, if you live in an area that has extreme weather right now (snow, wind, ice, or summer), provide her some sort of shelter, like a dog house. You can't force her to use it, of course, but at least you can say you did provide it, as well as welcoming her in the house, if she so chooses.

You are welcome. Glad to help.

Regarding bring the puppy in, I'm not sure at what point you are inviting her in. What I'd do is take her for a walk on-leash and then at the end of the walk, very naturally enter the house and expect her to enter. If she stops at the door, don't say anything just watch. Watch for her to stick her nose toward the entrance and the second she does, praise and reward. Each time she moves closer to the entrance, praise and reward. When she enters, JACKPOT reward (extra big reward). If she doesn't want to move from the door, fine, leave her there. Let her go at her own pace. If she begins to explore, praise and then ignore her--let her explore.

Now, as for approaching you or another human. NO EYE CONTACT, NO TOUCH, NO TALK. Sit on the floor/ground with your back to her. Ignore her. She will probably approach from behind you. That's fine, let her sniff you. Continue to ignore her. Do not acknowledge her until she is in front of you LOOKING AT YOUR FACE. Slowly, reach your hand toward her BODY NOT HER HEAD. Pet her. Make sure you are being very low-key about this....no excitement. Until she is much more comfortable with humans, you will want to pet only on the body or under the chin. Instruct everyone -- NO TALK, NO TOUCH, NO EYE CONTACT. Her urinating is a submissive act in response to what she preceives as a dominant even threatening approach.

On the walks, which she handles very well, try incorporating some reward based obedience--sit, down, stay, heel (or walk without pulling) and give treats. This will serve several purposes including building her self-esteem.

Yes, you will be treating often--account for that in her daily food rations so she doesn't become obese. Eventually, you'll be able to back off of the treats but for now, treat allot just be sure you are rewarding the RIGHT behavior! :-)

Thank you again for that information!! It's been very useful. Both me and my spouse have noticed on many occasions that we were accidently rewarding her for being afraid so we've snapped out of that.

Nova along with our other 2 dogs go for on leash walks around 10 P.M at night (when I'm finished work) every night! We think it's better for now, because she's more comfortable with less people and we can work with her more freely with no interuptions!
She is doing absolutley GREAT on those. She's come quite a long way! The first night we got her and took her for a walk, she only stayed behind, and herded us. We thought it better than not walking at all, but now she is actually walking ahead and beside us! You can tell she wants to trust so bad and she's beginning to show her trust with me and my spouse! Little things such as when on walks, stopping ahead to look at us and walk back towards us, coming inside from outside easily now (and btw, we do have a dog house outside if need be, but she hasn't used it once), Allowing us to be near her in the house and now actually exploring even more of our house than she has the first few days we've had her. She is extrodinarily smart! She know's her crate and she goes in there easily when it's time for "bed", doesn't whine, no accident's in her crate...it's just amazing!!
She has considerably slowed down on her submissive peeing, however now I think I have another issue with her ...as well as our other 2....


I will make a new post for this as it's a reall douzzyy and this would be GREAT if anyone had some suggestions on this!!

Thanks again!!