G shepherd pup growled at 3 yr old son!

digzy

Just got a g shepherd purebred dog last Tuesday. He's a nice 3 month old pup. He is well socialised with other dogs and the people I bought from.I've kept him in his house until today. Fed him regularly and he's brought out at least 3 times each day. Two of those would be min 40 minutes.

He a little nervous of my son, even though he's seen lots of him. I was out with him this morning and the little lad came out running over to him. Dog trotted nervously into his shed. Son stood at the door and then the dog growled at him/no flash of the teeth thank god-and trotted away. I subsequently petted the dog and we all went for a walk. Dog is fine with me/wife/mother. I'd just be very wary with my son. They're nervous of each other I sense.

I'm not an idiot letting my son near him on his own just looking for advice on how to deal with this to everyone's happiness?

TitianGerm

digzy wrote: »

Just got a g shepherd purebred dog last Tuesday. He's a nice 3 month old pup. He is well socialised with other dogs and the people I bought from.I've kept him in his house until today. Fed him regularly and he's brought out at least 3 times each day. Two of those would be min 40 minutes.

He a little nervous of my son, even though he's seen lots of him. I was out with him this morning and the little lad came out running over to him. Dog trotted nervously into his shed. Son stood at the door and then the dog growled at him/no flash of the teeth thank god-and trotted away. I subsequently petted the dog and we all went for a walk. Dog is fine with me/wife/mother. I'd just be very wary with my son. They're nervous of each other I sense.

I'm not an idiot letting my son near him on his own just looking for advice on how to deal with this to everyone's happiness?

Your son cornered the dog and the dog gave them a warning.

Teach your son the correct way to approach a dog and you won't have this problem again.

digzy

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TitianGerm

digzy wrote: »

It's not a bad sign of the dog I hope?

Why would you think that?

The child obviously scared the pup and the pup went to a safe place and your child cornered him.

Stheno

Are you leaving the pup in a kennel out the back all day and all night with the exception of the three 40 minute interactions?

Bells21

digzy wrote:

It's not a bad sign of the dog I hope?

From what you've stated about the dog it most certainly isn't a bad sign of the dog, in fact quite the opposite! First you say he was already nervous around your child. When the child came out you state he moved away. That was the first signal your dog was giving that he was unhappy but your child followed the pup and essentially backed it into a corner. The pup the growled which was another signal of his unhappiness/nervousness. That pup used plenty of signals to indicate to you how he was feeling instead of biting/injuring your child. Never punish a growl is what I've been taught.
I think you should involve a professional who can help you introduce the pup/child correctly and maybe help you to teach your child how to be around a dog.

Sleeper12

The dog behaved in a natural way for a dog.
We have 2 dogs. One a kid could swing out of or take food out of its mouth. The other one growls if you disturb her while sleeping or if you get too close while she is eating.

njs030

digzy wrote: »

It's not a bad sign of the dog I hope?

Perhaps put it into the opposite way around.

Imagine your son didn't want to play with the dog, he walked away. The dog followed him.
Your son went into another room to get away, unfortunately the dog followed him AGAIN and stood in the doorway blocking his exit and staring at him. Your child shouted "go away dog" and ran away to safety.

Is this a bad sign of your child?

No of course it isn't. Neither was the dog in the wrong earlier. You need to teach your child that when a dog walks away from him and chooses not to be in his company he isn't allowed to follow.
Do remember they are both innocent and you are the adult who needs to calmly show both the right way to act.

muddypaws

When you say the pup is brought out regularly, what do you mean, for walks outside of your property, or outside of his kennel? If outside of his kennel, that is not enough, if you want him to build a good relationship with the family, let him in the house, he is a puppy, missing his mum and littermates.

If you mean walking him outside the property, that is too far to be walking a pup that young, the general rule of thumb is 5 minutes for every month of age, so 15 minute lead walks. You can tire him out with lots of play, and start training with him, get him using his brain, that will wear him out.

You are right, not to leave the pup and your son on their own together, but the bond that can be built between a child and their dog is incredible, and something that will stand your son in good stead throughout his life.

Any chance of some photos, we love puppy photos here

Some good answers already. I just want to add that I'd make sure your son knows that the dogs house/bed are out of bounds. It's really important that your dog has somewhere safe to retreat to that's just his.

I've seen too many people allowing their children to climb into the dogs bed or play in the dogs house oblivious to how anxious it makes the dog. We all like to have our own space after all.

I hope your son and pup manage to bond. I grew up with gsds and they were nothing but really positive influences in my life.

digzy

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TitianGerm

digzy wrote: »

Nope. I take him out at 7am for about 20 mins. Wife takes him out at 9 and lunch. He is brought out for a while in the evening around 330 for an hour and I go for a walk around with him at 530 for about 45 mins. He's fed 3 times a day

But other than that he's locked in a kennel?

Is it a dog box or an actual run with loads of room?

Bells21

digzy wrote:

Nope. I take him out at 7am for about 20 mins. Wife takes him out at 9 and lunch. He is brought out for a while in the evening around 330 for an hour and I go for a walk around with him at 530 for about 45 mins. He's fed 3 times a day

Just a note on the walking, the general rule of thumb as far as I know, is 5 mins per month of age. This is particularly important with bigger dogs as it can do damage to joints.
Perhaps some games/training might be another way to exercise him at this age.

Sleeper12

digzy wrote:

Nope. I take him out at 7am for about 20 mins. Wife takes him out at 9 and lunch. He is brought out for a while in the evening around 330 for an hour and I go for a walk around with him at 530 for about 45 mins. He's fed 3 times a day

What everyone is hinting at is, is the dog a house dog or an outside dog

Stheno

Sleeper12 wrote: »

What everyone is hinting at is, is the dog a house dog or an outside dog

It's not that for me TBH. It's how much time he is left alone and isolated whether in a kennel or utility room

And agree on the walks they are too long

Mark Tapley

digzy wrote: »

Just got a g shepherd purebred dog last Tuesday. He's a nice 3 month old pup. He is well socialised with other dogs and the people I bought from.I've kept him in his house until today. Fed him regularly and he's brought out at least 3 times each day. Two of those would be min 40 minutes.

He a little nervous of my son, even though he's seen lots of him. I was out with him this morning and the little lad came out running over to him. Dog trotted nervously into his shed. Son stood at the door and then the dog growled at him/no flash of the teeth thank god-and trotted away. I subsequently petted the dog and we all went for a walk. Dog is fine with me/wife/mother. I'd just be very wary with my son. They're nervous of each other I sense.

I'm not an idiot letting my son near him on his own just looking for advice on how to deal with this to everyone's happiness?

I must confess I'm an advocate of a dog living with the family. I think the dog would have no problems with the child if the dog was really part of your family.

Bells21

Sleeper12 wrote:

What everyone is hinting at is, is the dog a house dog or an outside dog

I think what people are asking is if it's just the dog house/kennel that he's locked into when you say he's in or is the dog house left open in a secure area where he can potter about.

g2020

digzy wrote: »

Nope. I take him out at 7am for about 20 mins. Wife takes him out at 9 and lunch. He is brought out for a while in the evening around 330 for an hour and I go for a walk around with him at 530 for about 45 mins. He's fed 3 times a day

Abandon thread for your own sanity, OP.

njs030

Jesus will you all relax, op asked about the child and won't come back next time if he's going to get 100 other questions.

I'm sure if he wants advice he'll ask.

Does that help settle your mind about the child op?

DBB

g2020 wrote: »

Abandon thread for your own sanity, OP.

g2020, if you have a problem with the A&PI forum, why not just not use it? One thing that you can't do, whether you have 10 posts or 10,000, is tell someone to leave a thread.
Whilst there may be some extreme advice given by some, the vast majority of advice given on this forum is spot-on... some people don't want to hear it, but that does not mean it's not what they need to hear.
If you've a problem with any posts, report them. But do not attempt to put people off posting here.
Do not reply to this post on thread.
Thanks,
DBB

g2020

notjustsweet wrote: »

Jesus will you all relax, op asked about the child and won't come back next time if he's going to get 100 other questions.

I'm sure if he wants advice he'll ask.

Does that help settle your mind about the child op?

Absolutely.

DBB

OP, it would be good to get to the bottom of where your dog is spending his time when he's not out for walks or doing things with you or your missus.

I'm going to differ somewhat from what others are saying here.
Whilst the pup trying to get away from your child, and the subsequent growls are indeed indicators of how your pup is feeling, it's the fact that he's feeling that way around your son that would have me very concerned at this stage, at this age.
I can almost assure you that this is going to get worse, and you need to take swift, immediate action to ameliorate the pup's relationship not only with your son, but with other small kids too.
If your pup is nervous with kids at 12 weeks, he is going to be a nightmare at 12 months... mark my words on that.
The puppy Socialisation Period lasts from 3 weeks to 12 weeks, peaking at 6-8 weeks. Once a pup has got to 12 weeks, and is behaving nervously around, say, kids (or men, or other dogs, or cats, or anything else really), it is a clear indication that the pup has not been socialised with that group of people or animals, and you will never, ever get the pre-12 week time back. All you're doing now is firefighting, rather than pre-emptively socialising in order to prevent a problem starting. Your dog's breeder did not expose your pup to small children. Or, at best, if he did, the pup's experience with small children was not good enough.
Worse again, the Socialisation window in GSDs closes earlier than with other breeds.
I would strongly, strongly advise that you get professional help on this one OP. With someone who is VERY strong on socialisation issues and positive training (it is VITAL that you don't go to a trainer who uses any harsh training methods, particularly with this issue). If you let us know where you are, someone will hopefully be able to recommend someone who is adequately qualified and certified to help you. Do not delay one more day OP. This is quite serious.

Dial Hard

notjustsweet wrote:

I'm sure if he wants advice he'll ask.

He did.

njs030

Dial Hard wrote: »

He did.

He asked for advice on a specific issue. He didn't ask to be bombarded with people telling him he's doing x, y and x wrong.
To make it clear I'm not saying I agree with leaving a young pup isolated but it's very hard to be told you're doing everything wrong when youre worried about one very important issue.

Though as your only contribution to the entire thread was a smart comment I don't think you added much TBH.

cheekojuls

I really don't understand why anyone with children would buy a German Shepherd. The folks on here saying the kid was wrong are idiotic - he is a three year old kid; he doesn't know any better, and even by teaching him, you can't control the situation all of the time.

GS dogs are unpredictable and vicious. I'm always afraid of them when walking.

My advice, get a dog that is known to be placid, like a lab or a retriever.

DBB

Okay, with the nonsense that is now being posted, I'm closing this thread until further notice.
Thanks,
DBB