Barking gsd

[Candycanestripe]

I have had many dogs in the past but never a nervous one and think I may need some expert advice. I have a 18 week german shepherd who is a lovely pup and very very clever. She knows commands such as sit, lie down, leave it, stay, come, watch me, through legs and stop. When I do training at home she's very on the ball and loves doing it...anything for a treat! I started to take training out on walks and again she would do anything I asked. We socialised her the minute we could and she was fine with people and other dogs and nothing has changed. These past few weeks we noticed she started barking at other dogs and no matter what treat I have she won't focus on me at all. Even if the dog isn't looking at her she'll bark. This has no gone on to barking at some people. Some she'll watch walk by others she'll bark at and if someone tries to stroke her she backs off and barks. This has really upset me because ive tried my hardest to prevent her being the barking shepherd people fear and show people with training they can be lovely dogs. I really don't know where I've gone wrong. I've had people shake their heads, tell me 'control it' etc. I've invested in a trainer who has said she is nervous and when we do group training she will bark throughout the session but does focus on me and do her training then once we have to regroup she'll bark again. Its got to a point I dread walking her because I don't know if there will be any distractions. Does anyone have any advice or positive stories? Is this a phase?

Is the barking mainly at training sessions with other dogs or at other dogs when out on walks? She's still very young so yes of course this is likely to be a phase but the context might tell you more about why she's doing it. For example my collie at that age was a barky twat at puppy classes BUT it was clearly excited barking (treats, play, other dogs and Mum's attention for a whole hour! I might wee in excitement oh I just did!) No one would look at her and think she was a nervous dog around other dogs and indeed she is not a reactive or nervous adult. At the same age she did bark at horses but not dogs on walks. That was different. She was clearly scared of horses. We took it slow, watched horses at a distance with loads of treats, slowly desensitized her, played Look At That. She's fine with them now. I think puppies can express and experience anxiety and excitement in similar ways. But your girl is a herding breed. If she has a trusted handler and you don't force her to do things she finds scary she will learn to manage her fears just fine, slow and steady etc.

German shepherds are a fantastic breed but they can be hard work if not trained correctly. They are often reactive as puppies towards other dogs and one of mine was leash reactive as a puppy (which we trained out of him) - however this was mostly because he wanted to play as he never barked at other dogs off lead.
I'd invest money in a good balanced trainer who has experience working with German shepherds. It's definitely worth it in the long term.
Here's a picture of one of mine - he was a nightmare as a puppy but he was definitely worth all the hard work and stress🤣

Gsds are typically very vocal dogs. As pp said figuring out why they are barking will help, are they anxious, do they want to play? Is it an aggressive bark? Depending on the reason will change how you should help manage it, however they really do bark, very typical of a German sheperd

Also if it is nervousness as your trainer said I would definitely focus on this because our rescue suffered from fear based aggression due to her previous owners not socialising her correctly and it was an absolute nightmare.
When people go to stroke your puppy make sure they allow her to approach them first as few dogs actually like being touched without smelling first.

The barking is normal for a German shepherd puppy - don't punish for barking you just need to redirect their behaviour. If you're unable to redirect with a treat I often do a quick turn, walk the other way and then distract.

When socialising don't allow puppy to play / greet every dog. Sitting and watching from a distance is the perfect way to show puppies other dogs are not a threat - allowing them to play with all other dogs will just slow down future re-call training as other dogs will be seen as more fun than listening to you😅.

Thankyou for the replies. She does this when out on walks too. A dog barked at her from across the road and she barked back and barked since. She'll do a little bark then a louder one. I've had her sit and let her watch the dog. I did this when in the field earlier as the dog was so far away she saw it but didn't bark but definitely knew it was there. In training she will bark on and off throughout and last week a dog lunged to play and she growled and I thought it was a ggresisve because to me it sounded it but the trainer said it was pure wanting to play and some dogs do sound aggressive but her body language certainly doesn't say that. It can be hard to get her to focus on me and not barking more so if another dog has barked at her because obviously she likes to have her say as shepherd's do and I don't mind her barking if it's just the odd bark but I really don't want her continously barking at every passing dog. A man asked if he could stroke her earlier and as he leaned down she barked and ran behind me, this is also a new thing she does. The thing I don't understand is she will bark when she sees dogs at training and even though they are still near she will listen amd do her commands then of the dogs get closer when regrouping she doesn't constantly bark she'll have the odd bark and alot of the gsd whinning then that's it unless one of the dogs are running around and she just looks like she's thinking yes let me run!
No 2 walks are the same and I really didn't want to be the women with the out of control shepherd that barks all the time. She doesn't bark much in the house just whines when she wants something or excited.

@cata09x your boy is gorgeous!

This is such a common GSD problem. Have you had any advice from her breeder? Often there is a genetic component to the problem and it’s really hard to train. You may have to change your expectations a little if she is a more nervous soul.

Firstly I really would consider an APDT registered behaviourist. Your trainer seems to be throwing some red flags (allowing a nervy pup to be in a situation it can be lunged at for one!) I would consult someone qualified who can really help you start from scratch building her confidence. Almost all of my GSD have had a barky and getting arsey with other dogs phase as young dogs but some are much more nervous than others and yours sounds like she could benefit from some help.

Shes probably not barking at training when she’s settled after the initial excitement because she’s comfortable she won’t be approached, she’s learnt over time that everyone else is doing what they are doing (ie not bothered about her) and as a result she can relax a bit. Growling is saying she’s uncomfortable your right to listen because every negative experience is adding to the bank, shepherds remember everything!

You need to do the same out and about. Teach her that no matter what she needs to focus on you regardless of what’s there. Is she food motivated? If so I would try and sit somewhere people and dogs pass and just treat every time someone walks past without her reacting. You really can’t let anyone interact with her at all or you risk setting her back, it’s about teaching her that if she’s calm and settled she is rewarded and that you will make sure nothing bad happens to her. GSD are actually huge wimps most of the time and she’s probably had a fright and now is kicking off first to get rid of whatever she perceives scary.

In the mean time I would seek out some dogs you can walk alongside but that won’t interact with her until she builds some confidence. You need some indifferent rock steady dog that will just walk along ignoring her in an ideal world! Letting people touch her will only set her back more if she’s worried so practice telling people no please leave her alone.

GSD generally are not the type to love everyone and everything and that’s fine! Most of them are one family dogs and you might have to learn to tell people and random dogs to leave her alone a bit quicker than you had hoped in order to keep her feeling safe unfortunately!

I thought they were a fairly aloof and vocal dog, it sounds normal ish… I may be completely wrong!

If you can afford a behaviourist, perhaps consider it and see if they can help.

I've invested in a trainer who has said she is nervous

Did the trainer not then give you advice, training exercises, offer to work 1-1? If not i would be looking for another trainer or behaviourist, preferrably one with a lot of experience of gsd or collies.

I have 3 more sessions with my trainer and then I'll look into behaviourist or someone who deals with gsd. I should have mentioned i do also have another dog and my pup is absolutly fine with her no issues whatsoever and when walking together pup seems to have more confidence and will approach other dogs when seeing my other dog doing so. When they are both off lead on the fields and they see one of my older dogs doggy friends they all play really good no barking. This makes me think it's not all fear based. I just feel so deflated about it because I did everything by the book. We researched the breed but I did know their nature as one of my family members had 2 gsd years ago. I socialised straight away and trained straight away so I thought I would be on the right track. She's such a lovely clever dog except for this one thing. We like long walks in the summer but this will be hard of we can't stop her from reacting as the places we go to have other dog walkers, children etc.