Katarine, I am sure she’ll be just fine and so will you. I apologise for my earlier post, didn’t “know” you anywhere near enough to make that kind of comment. I am very sorry. Hope you’ll forgive me.
Claudia
My older sheltie / border collie mix came from a rescue at 3 years old. Poor guy was terrified of everyone. Raise your voice, pick up a rolled up paper (with no harmful intent), he would lay down and pee himself . He was very clingy but I think it was just from being afraid and insecure.
The first few months, he just didn’t know how to relax. As in, after his dinner and a long walk, when we were eating dinner and watching TV before bed, he would pace and pace and pace and pace and whine and bark. Honestly it was like he didn’t know what was expected and he was insecure. So I would quietly tell him ‘Go lay down’ every so often - and when he did, I would go over and pet him and sit with him. It took a while, but he did eventually relax and ‘get it’ .
He still always has to be in the same room as me, preferably under my feet sleeping LOL, but he did learn to chill out. He is much more comfortable in his own skin and is no longer as fearful of everyone, too. Now when strangers come to the house, he barks at them, but once they sit on the couch he is climbing up next to them to say hi and have a cuddle.
Here’s one of Drake abusing the animals. Daisy Dufus was a dumpette, too- I found her a home.
http://youtu.be/2LqgsLJjnfw
that same hill looking up.
http://youtu.be/7UcFRCY-y5w
My dogs don’t know they aren’t supposed to self exercise. They make a tour in the mornings that takes about 30 minutes covering those wooded hills and checking all the way around the pond. And they lounge all day. And then we go for a ride 
:lol: that silly video was probably where Drake’s neck problems began!
LOL you may be onto something. The big monkey.
If I came on too strong when I suggested you might want to rehome, I’m sorry too. It sounded (to me) from your first post that a velcro dog wasn’t going to work for you.
As I tell my husband…they’re not people, they’re dogs. They’ll survive quite well being treated like a dog. Sounds like yours just needs some maturity and confidence. You have to be very careful not to buy into a fearful dogs antics. I know, I adopted one that the foster mom just didn’t push beyond her comfort zone. Sometimes, they need a push or two.
If I came on too strong when I suggested you might want to rehome, I’m sorry too. It sounded (to me) from your first post that a velcro dog wasn’t going to work for you.
As I tell my husband…they’re not people, they’re dogs. They’ll survive quite well being treated like a dog. Sounds like yours just needs some maturity and confidence. You have to be very careful not to buy into a fearful dogs antics. I know, I adopted one that the foster mom just didn’t push beyond her comfort zone which included carrying her through doorways. We fixed that day 1. Sometimes, they need a push or two.
Katarine you come across as very defensive with all of the pictures and videos and constant need to use the word “abuse” in a sarcastic sense.
People are always going to disagree. That’s life. If you don’t like the advice given then don’t take it. Simple as that. There’s no need to feel like you have to prove anything to us.
I am not defensive, I am amused. I know the life of riley these dogs live, and I’m amused at some of the handwringing and bedwetting going on over the fact I had a small question about other’s experiences with similar personalities. That, I found amusing. One does not defend what they aren’t threatened about, and I assure you, my heart and mind aren’t even slightly skeered. I do understand that we all color things with our own perceptions, and I tried from the start to convey an amused tone, while also asking my question. Some got it, some didn’t, but with further postings most of the respondents heard me. They didn’t have to agree with me on the choice of dog, or choice of managing her, but they did, for the most part, hear me out.
Grace, you might see from other’s responses that they heard my humor and my patient, reasoned and amused tone. And they heard the actual question for what it was, nothing more, nothing less. You made it something entirely different, and responded callously, with the intention of trying to make me feel bad, feel lesser than you, for letting my dog down, being unreasonable, being a bad person. It didn’t work, so you’re calling it disagreeing. I’d just call you, disagreeable. With a side of superiority complex.
With that, thanks again to ALL who heard my question for what it was and answered with your thoughtful replies. I do appreciate it.
Not all people on this forum, need to food train, velcro their dog to them, use grain free food and judge everybody else. It was a fine question to ask, the OP can now sift through the answers and develop a plan that will work for her and the dog.
My guess is that given their druthers, most if not all dogs would choose Kat’s dogs’ lifestyle over crating, endless training, leash restrictions, and the endless micromanaging that clearly occurs with some posters. Certainly my dogs would love to live on that piece of paradise with loving silly owners, cats, horses, and a donkey to pal around with. To me, it seems like doggy heaven.
Those animals every one of them look well-fed and happy. And yes, its ok if you are annoyed by some habit of a particular animal! Sheesh, you’re human! And if you’ve lived with a lot of dogs like Kat has, it’ll happen-geez, the good Lord knows I adore my DH, but certain things have always bugged me -he chews so annoyingly-and you KNOW I do stuff that drives him nuts, but that doesn’t mean a darn thing. Just something to grouse about to friends,
Kat, the girl will chill some for sure, and as to constructive advice, here’s mine.
Make a game of it with her. Teach her to find individual animals and DH. And sing to her to teach her her very own song:
I ALWAYS FEEL LIKE
SOMEBODY’S WATCHING ME (oh-woh-oh)
Then giggle and scratch on her while singing it-it’ll be “your” thing, and your annoyance willnmelt away
My personal guess would be that it is partially just her being watchful and protective of her people. I haven’t had a GSD, but I have had dogs whose heritage is herding and being a police-type dog. I have noticed that while they aren’t particularly energetic or hyper (once they reach maturity, obviously), they are watchful. My guess about her is that as she settles in and gets a feel for what is normal and what isn’t she will be comfortable being a little farther from you, but I also think that this is the type of dog that is always going to want to keep a close eye on you. You do get more used to the feeling that the eyes are upon you with time.
Another job she can do- “GO GIT ME A BEER!” Ofncourse you will needto supply the cooler and brew…youllnneednlots.of.brew;)
I work with and board many dogs for the whole of their lives. I love them all, but some I don’t like very much. For varied reasons. I always find SOMETHING I can bond up with those dogs, and it usually involves humor. Got an old choc. Lab, Mocha, who came into my run group at age 9 after a life of sedate sniffwalks around her suburban neighborhood. Mocha passively loathes almost all other dogs except my goofy giant Steiff-toy Lab. Owners hear about what I do (take a mess of dogs for a run in the woods) and want her in the group.
Problem. While she has no interest in taking off (too lazy), she is soo sloooow, sniffing EVERYTHING. Treats work to a small extent, so that for the 1st 200 yds. or so, I can get her following at a reasonable distance. But once everyone is pooped out, we rachet up the pace and Madame refuses to keep moving. Nothing wrong with her-shes a wiry thing-she just really isn’t interested in maintaining the “let’s all go for a walk” pack mentality.
So I put her on lead, and off we go, over hill and dale, through streams and through meadows. It KILLED me that all 10 other dogs are obviously having the daily time of their lives, and Mocha is mostly indifferent. So I have Mocha’s song, which I sing to her whenever I have to snap that lead on.
(To the 80’s song by Squeeze, “Pulling Mussels From A Shell”:
Dragging Mocha through the mud! OR Coaxing Mocha through the stream!
Always makes me smile and give her a scritch under her chin. Which she usually ignores.
Dan
Katarine - good luck with your new dog. That’s one lucky pup.
Your decision to adopt a working breed
puppy as an outside farm dog is something that is very foreign to most of us.
What you really wanted out of this thread was for people to affirm your decision to wait out this behavior and hope it disappears with age.
You asked us if we thought your dog would relax and become less clingy. We response honestly and said that she probably wouldn’t because it’s not in her breeding but giving her a job might help.
It seems a bit unfair to be frustrated at people for being honest.
yes- I don’t have a problem at all about people keeping working dogs outside. Really, I don’t. And the real working dogs, who work for a living, don’t either. But this isn’t a “working dog.” It’s a dog from herding breeds who has been uprooted and dumped somewhere and doesn’t know what to do with herself. Her instincts tell her she’s supposed to be doing something with/ for those people. But they aren’t telling her do anything except go off and entertain herself.
I’ve met a lot of dogs who would be totally fine living in a situation like that, but very few of them are of herding dog heritage. A hound or a terrier would most likely think they’d died and gone to heaven. Most herding dogs (and many other of the more people oriented breeds) would think otherwise.
She’s a mixed breed dog, so she may not have the intense need to work for people and she may just settle in and enjoy it. But possibly not. I know the herding dog I own right now would be completely, utterly miserable being an outside nonworking farm dog. The hound mix I have would take to it with great joy. Depends on the dog.
You still aren’t seeing that they are doing some training with her, they are exercising her daily, and they’re spending more time with her than most people do with their dogs.
The pup probably does have some shepherd type dog in there but who knows what the rest of it is-she could be part couch potato too and when she settles in a few weeks she might slip into a sleepy coma on the front deck and then all the doomsayers would have been totally wrong.
My aussie is a line bred Hangin’ Tree Black Bear and she doesn’t remotely need to be trained and coddled all day and neither do her siblings.
I think it’s whacked to be so judgmental toward someone who is obviously a good home. Especially by you, wendy, to Kat. Why would anyone ever ask a question here when all they get is superiority and pompous judgement?
You say “we” like you and those who agree with you are the stopping point and you’re not. Others here said she would settle in time.
what exactly am I judging? she wanted to know why her dog was so clingy and if it would stop being so clingy in future. I explained from my perspective why I thought the dog might be so clingy, and that it might not go away, and offered some thoughts on what to do to stop the dog from being so clingy- exercise and training and finding some kind of job for the dog to do. And some thoughts that certain dogs may not fit so well into the owner’s lifestyle.
I’m not the only person in the world who thinks that the typical outside farm dog lifestyle isn’t exactly the “heaven for dogs” that many like to think it is.
you know what is judgemental? calling someone who makes an effort to take care of their dogs’ needs “coddling.”
Kat- If she does have GSD in her, you may not see a whole lot of her leaving Drake alone. I think she’ll settle to the point where she’ll go lay down 20 feet away- but her head will be on her paws and she’ll be still staring at him as she drifts off to sleep. Grizz isn’t hyper-clingy but he’s ALWAYS got his eyes on us and he ALWAYS sleeps within touching distance and he ALWAYS looks for praise when he does something and he ALWAYS thinks we’ve been away for a year when we come through the door I bet she tones it down but you’ll find that she’s super tuned into where you guys are and what you’re doing- which isn’t a bad thing. Just different.
[QUOTE=wendy;6280986]
what exactly am I judging? she wanted to know why her dog was so clingy and if it would stop being so clingy in future. I explained from my perspective why I thought the dog might be so clingy, and that it might not go away, and offered some thoughts on what to do to stop the dog from being so clingy- exercise and training and finding some kind of job for the dog to do. And some thoughts that certain dogs may not fit so well into the owner’s lifestyle.
I’m not the only person in the world who thinks that the typical outside farm dog lifestyle isn’t exactly the “heaven for dogs” that many like to think it is.
you know what is judgemental? calling someone who makes an effort to take care of their dogs’ needs “coddling.”[/QUOTE]
For a clingy, velcro-dog, it’s pretty much hell.
Kat, I want to say I see some BC in that face. Maybe BC/GSD? IME with both of those breeds, I’d say no - don’t expect the clinginess to diminish with age at all. My BC is now two years old, still follows me absolutely EVERYWHERE (yes, even to the bathroom door) and can frequently be found laying next to me while STARING longingly, or if he’s not staring, usually he’s touching me. He waits outside the door, stares out the front window watching for me to come home and even when he’s out at the barn will stay nearby or at least come ‘check in’ every few minutes.
It might be prudent to acknowledge that if her personality doesn’t develop to be more independent, she may become MORE needy and could start showing some separation anxiety. If that occurs, you really will be forced to either change your dog-keeping practices or find her a more suitable home.
