Hello!

[hollysmom]

Hi - my name is Cindy and I am glad to have found this forum. Our dog is Holly. She is a six year old German Shepherd who is a career changed Guide Dog. We adopted her about 4 years ago and we love her dearly. We have had a German Shepherd before, and are amazed at their personalities.

When we adopted Holly she had lost her focus and most of her obedience training due to some problems with the person she had been assigned to. We've worked hard to recover her obedience training. She has the attitude that she listens to us when it is convenient for her Overall, she's a great GS with a wonderful, loving, personality. And very empathetic. She'd make a wonderful therapy dog if I had the personal time to take her through the orientation and training.

Anyway, she is why I am at this forum and I hope to learn more about GS's and dog behavior while reading posts.

Cindy

 

[Maxy24]

Hi and welcome, I'm glad you rescued this girl! If you head over to the training section they can help you with your training and behavioral problems. I hope you enjoy the forum



-Erin

 

[Kase]

Hi and welcome to Chaz . Holly sounds lovely!

 

[Charliesmommy]

Hi Hollysmom. I also have a German Shepherd, Charlie. Aren't they just the most fabulous friends? Charlie has soooo much personality I sometimes almost forget he's a dog. Is Holly like that too? You'll find lots of great information on this forum. I've only been coming here a short time but they have already helped me with some questions I had.

 

[gapeach]

Hey, welcome to Chaz, I haven't been on much lately but plan to be again. My mom has a white GS. She also has selective hearing

 

[Denaluvscorgis]

Hi Cindy...welcome to Chaz!!!!!!!!!

 

[hollysmom]

Thanks for all the welcoming messages. Yes, Holly is completely lovely, and has a wonderful gentle personality. Her obedience problems mainly come from the fact that she had no direction for about 5 months before we adopted her, and became disconnected from the obedience she was raised on.
We are her 4th owners, so with German Shepherd's, that is pretty far down the line for her to do a complete bonding to - at least that is what we've found with our previous shepherd ownership. The further you are from their puppy years, the harder it is to get a really good bond. Don't get me wrong - she loves us and watches the door for me until I come back, so we have a good bond. It is just not as strong as the one she still has with her trainer. Boy, you should see what happens when her "grandma" (that's what I call her original owner who raised her from a pup), comes in to the room she is in. Holly makes a crying sound and still is bonded to her. If it comes to me giving her a command, or the lady who raised her - she will listen to her raiser every time, even when we give the same command in the same voice. Holly is obedient enough for us, but not as snap to it as she was before she entered the guide dog school.

After she had been with us for about 2 years, she was attacked by a Australian Shepherd while at a children's track meet. Holly was leashed, but this dog was held by a 2 yr old and ran completely across the field and latched on to Holly's neck. Holly has no aggressive skills, being a former guide dog, and was mentally traumatized. Now whenever she sees another dog, she barks and you can hear in her bark that she is scared, not being ferocious.

She gets over the barking if she can meet the dog, but she barks in the car at any dogs that are walking. We never heard her once bark before this happened. We've tried pretty much everything suggested to stop the barking. The only thing that works is if I can anticipate that she is going to see a dog, and then I distract her. If she isn't focused on the other dog, she doesn't get as worried, so doesn't bark. It isn't a huge deal, but sure wish those people would have kept their dog under control!

I look forward to meeting you all on this site and learning more.
Cindy

 

[tessa_s212]

Welcome. Glad you're here.

If you visit the training section, you might find some advice that could help you improve her fear of other dogs.

 

[geisthexe]

Welcome to the site .. Looking forward to chatting with you

Deb

 

[Whisper]

Hi and welcome to Chazhound! Glad to have you here!