German Wirehaired Pointer Club of America

[mckean]

We just got our first GWP. She is 5 months old. I don't understand...she is nothing like a GWP is supposed to be! (Other than extremely smart!)

She acts like she is "scared to death" of EVERYTHING! A loud noise, a quick movement, anything and everything will send her into a "frenzy". Somedays she is better than others, but still nothing like a normal pup/dog. She will run and try to hide...NEVER-EVER has she come to us, even when called. We have to go to her when we have to take her out or to give her attention. We have had her for almost 2 months...we have never done anything to make her this way and I'm not sure what to do with her. Anyone have any suggestions? (She was flown in on a plane to us...could this have anything to do with this behavior?)

Will she ever be a "normal" GWP???

I must admit...if she is on a retractable leash, she acts a little better.
(a loud noise or quick movement will still send her into a frenzy)


HELP!!!

[cmmilach]

Hi,

You did not mention if you have taken her to puppy kindergarten? She is acting like a GWP that has not been socialized. They can be spooky if not exposed to lots of different things early in life. I own an eight yr old male GWP & a five month old female GWP. Doc, the male, has been shown for years & handles everything just fine. When he was a puppy, he would get startled & take off. I took him everywhere I went & just exposed him to different situations & now he is fine. I run agility with him, do field trials & hunt test. Sky, my puppy, has been exposed to different things from the day I got her at 9 weeks & tends to take things in stride. She too gets startled at loud noises, but she always comes around.

You mentioned that she does not come to you, why should she, if you go to her all the time?! I would let her drag a long line around & everytime you call her, give her a chance to respond & then give the long line a good jerk while calling her name. When she comes to you, give her a treat.

Good Luck.

Cathy

[dualgwp]

My first question is... has she always been like this... or it this a new behaviour for her?

If she has shown this tendency since the day she arrived, well, you have a tough road to hoe. If however it's a relatively new thing, then there is light at the end of the tunnel.

If you can answer that question one way or the other, I think there may some answers for you.

[Anne]

Just my opinion but I don't think a leash jerk is going to do anything helpful for a dog that afraid. While I think there is a time and a place for correction this doesn't sound like it to me. To work on a recall in a non-threatening way you could try playing "catch me". It will help if she's clicker trained (which is easy to do). When she even starts to come near you click, she'll have to come all the way to you to get the treat. Keep moving around (pretend to be straignting the room up or something) and each time make her come a little closer to get her click and come all the way to you for her reward (a treat, a favorite toy etc). Eventually when she understands the behavior add the command (come, catch me, here...)

Like the other posting said, if you enroll in a puppy kindergarten class they will work with you on the recall as well as provide some socialization. You could try a gentle leader; I've read they can help to calm nervous dogs. (Although that hasn't been my personal experience)