That’s a very touching story, and something tells me you had German Shepherd dogs. I agree they can be some of the most loving and loyal companions, but you should know their breed has a huge variety of personality traits, and some of them are just naturally skittish, aggressive, or untrainable. If they were abused, it’s basically impossible to undo that trauma. I’ve had a lot of experience working with many breeds, and you shouldn’t blame yourself for their problems.
The girls I currently care for were taken, one too early from her mother, at six weeks old, and because I was to overprotective of her, as there was a declaration of an infecto-contagious disease, fatal for puppies, and for which she could not be vaccinated before being six months old, in the least, she lost that very important early socialization window and became a very stressed and fearful dog. Even today, some gestures like rubbing her belly can trigger a growling reaction. She is lovely, otherwise and will bark and lunge but will gladly run off at first chance.
The other one, was the last one leaving her mother, at 12 weeks, but she was very underweight and skittish when coming home. Even today she stresses over food very easily. I risk she was poorly fed and had to fight for every piece she managed to get. She is very territorial and often is the first aggressor when they fight as she does not trust her sister around the family when she starts barking or fretting over anything.
Things have been easier later, as we introduced somw grounds rules to the family, especially my kids, that easily get into panic mode and start screaming for anything, which is a very clear trigger for them. If the kids are scared, there is a potential danger. When they don’t find it, they turn on each other and these are vicious dogs when engaged in a fight.
My male would enter a full kill-or-be-killed attitude when any threat presented itself. I never had any problems with him because we worked very well as a unit and I was always ready to take the first step to send away another dog before things got out of control. But this breed has gladiator spirit: outnumbered, out muscled, they fight to the death, if need be.
That’s a very touching story, and something tells me you had German Shepherd dogs. I agree they can be some of the most loving and loyal companions, but you should know their breed has a huge variety of personality traits, and some of them are just naturally skittish, aggressive, or untrainable. If they were abused, it’s basically impossible to undo that trauma. I’ve had a lot of experience working with many breeds, and you shouldn’t blame yourself for their problems.
Azores Cattle Dogs
The girls I currently care for were taken, one too early from her mother, at six weeks old, and because I was to overprotective of her, as there was a declaration of an infecto-contagious disease, fatal for puppies, and for which she could not be vaccinated before being six months old, in the least, she lost that very important early socialization window and became a very stressed and fearful dog. Even today, some gestures like rubbing her belly can trigger a growling reaction. She is lovely, otherwise and will bark and lunge but will gladly run off at first chance.
The other one, was the last one leaving her mother, at 12 weeks, but she was very underweight and skittish when coming home. Even today she stresses over food very easily. I risk she was poorly fed and had to fight for every piece she managed to get. She is very territorial and often is the first aggressor when they fight as she does not trust her sister around the family when she starts barking or fretting over anything.
Things have been easier later, as we introduced somw grounds rules to the family, especially my kids, that easily get into panic mode and start screaming for anything, which is a very clear trigger for them. If the kids are scared, there is a potential danger. When they don’t find it, they turn on each other and these are vicious dogs when engaged in a fight.
My male would enter a full kill-or-be-killed attitude when any threat presented itself. I never had any problems with him because we worked very well as a unit and I was always ready to take the first step to send away another dog before things got out of control. But this breed has gladiator spirit: outnumbered, out muscled, they fight to the death, if need be.