German Shepherd Puppy Barking At Other Dogs

[Jules_1200r]

Hi, just wondered if anyone has any advice....my 11week German shepherd is barking at other dogs or puppies that come near. Think he is a bit scared...want him to make friends with my daughter's 5 month GSD which is pretty boisterous and every time she comes close he barks and steps towards her. Everything else is going real well and he is a darling!

[persephone]

Welcome :)

What does your puppy do when he goes to puppy school? is he OK with pups there?

Where else have you taken him to meet dogs?

Have you asked, or do you know what he was like at the breeders with all teh other pups?

[Fordogs]

He is probably not very confident yet. Why not take both puppies to a neutral area and walk them together, then I am sure they will be fine.

[Jules_1200r]

Only been to one session at puppy school so far and he was ok until the other puppies came too close....good established breeders, said he was definitely not the most dominant of the bunch..

We tried today at the park with my daughters dog again and got them quite close with treats nd praise, but if she made a sudden move he got all aggro again....it was a bit better though...thanks for your interest :)

[Pockets]

My puppies bark, and bounce around like idiots, sometimes it's because they are unsure with big dogs they haven't seen before, but they will go investigate and end up doing the sweet puppy kisses.....othertimes they will bounce around and bark in play...

If he is barking and stepping towards her and then bouncing back when she comes towards him, it sounds like typical GSD play to me....but obviously hard to gauge without seeing it :-)

[Skye GSD]

My GSD girl is coming up three and if I could turn the clock back I would not have socialised her with other dogs for the first year. Her value for playing with other dogs became far higher than her value for me and quickly turned in to frustration/reactivity when she couldn't get to "play". GSD's play rough and your puppy probably feels threatened by the 5mth old. My daughter's GSD is a year younger than mine and although they play together now, we limited their time together when the new puppy was introduced. Concentrate on building your bond with your new pup - they grow up way too fast :)

[Dogsfevr]

Don't push it ,

Your pup needs patience ,pushing them to like something will have the opposite effect .There is no rush for your pup to be best friends with any dog BUT it is crucial that your pup meets other dogs even if that just means watching for awhile from a distance .

You also need to consider your body language & reaction .

Just take him for walks with daughters dog but no play or offleash no interaction.Just walk together & that is it off you go

Your daughters dog also needs to learn not every dog means play & some pups are very in your face & over the top ,

At present its seems the match isn't working but with a time,confidence building & maturity & not rushing things all should be fine.

I imagine you have had pup for maybe 2 weeks & the other pup is an established pro