I think this is great advice. If you follow this you cannot go wrong. Good luck with your new friend.

Em Ok now all the above advice from yourself's is helpfull and thank you all but I dont want to dominate the dog's life with rule's I just want to be responsible with Rocky and for him to have a good upbringing and not me been a bully.

What I ''could'' say is Im just trying to make it easy for Rocky and my family without any hicups such as my 9 year old daughter been afraid of Rocky then for Rocky to feel her vibe's and for himself to feel uneasy if you get what Im trying to say.

My Daughter is afraid of big dog's when I first went to see Rocky she jumped into my arms so things were not looking good but get this less then two minutes later she came out from the house to the garden stood be side me and she just done what I asked her to due such as staying calm ect ect and Rocky came over and rubbed of my leg's then my daughter's and shaked his tail in her face wich she though was funny,so then I asked my daughter to call Rocky and she said no so I asked her why not and she just stood close to me and shacked her head and I said it's ok he wont do anything so she did call his name and Rocky turned around and looked at me instead and came to me with a rock in his mouth wich he put beside my foot,so as a wee test I ask my daughter to pick the rock up she went to do it but Rocky just been a normal dog looked up as if to say yes thier playing with me and my daughter pulled her hand away straight away so in the end I had to throw the rock for Rocky wich he calmly chased after.

So if my Daughter keep's showing her fear could Rocky become stressed .

Now as for getting to know Rocky Im bringing Him for a walk tomorrow plus Im been smart by wearing the same clothe's I first meet him so he can smell himself and say ah I know you and with me taking him for a walk I think this will be a plus side to bonding a friendship with Rocky (I think this was stated in a post above ).

And again thank you all for your help it is helping me to understand Rocky much better.

(PSI will ask a mod or admin if it is ok for me to post up the URL so you can all see Rocky)

Bye for now and if there's anymore info out there feel free to post it up Im like a sponge atm for info.

Hi Redrum re your daughter , yes her fear could be communicated to Rocky and may make him feel unsure. I would suggest that for the moment she doesn't approach Rocky if she is fearful, better to call him to her when she feels calm to accept a treat or praise (as described in the post above). I am sure in time she will grow to feel less apprehensive .

I appreciate your daughter is not small but this article about dogs and children may be of interest to you..
http://www.dogsey.com/dog-articles.php?t=10261

It is ok to post the URL to a picture providing it does not breach the guidelines (eg containing a link to a dog furum). We would love to see him
Also this link tells you how to post pictures using a host site...

http://www.dogsey.com/showthread.php?t=10395

Hi,

I'm almost 36 and have been around GSDs (puppies and rescues) since the day I was born - literally.

Please have some more visits with your daughter to see Rocky BEFORE you consider bringing him home.

Rocky WILL pick up on your daughter's fear or apprehension and may react badly. It may also be that his behaviour could put her at ease. But bear in mind you're bringing an adult GSD into a home where a child is afraid. IMO, this is wrong. You abasolutely HAVE to get your daughter over this fear or anxiety before Rocky is home with you.

You should put your daughter's feelings over and above the emotion of rehoming a dog. My Son (now 5 years old) was terrified of ALL dogs until 3 1/2 years old. Then he saw my friends dog and they got on fantastically well. After more visits we got Zane at 7 weeks old. Zane will be 2 years old on Christmas Day, and (hopefully) is fully grown. He is possibly one of the largest GSDs around, weighing in at 53Kg and still being quite lean and slender.

Many people back away from him, adults and children alike. But because of how he's been raised he is the most gently and loving dog around. Now I take him into primary schools, giving talks on dog safety. It gives at least one generation of children the opprtunity of seeing a big dog and realising they're not nasty or aggressive jsut because of what's in the media.
So, is there anyone in your area, neighbours, friends or family who have dogs or better still, GSDs? Maybe your daughter could get some experience of GSDs or large breed dogs from visiting Rocky with you more often before he comes home with you.

I think as things stand right now, you're placing both your daughter and Rocky in what could be a very difficult situation.

Good luck with Rocky and please post lots of piccies when you do get him.

Laura xx

I was going to say much of what has already been said, about becoming a friend to Rocky, establishing a routine early on etc etc until I read your last post, and now I actually agree with Laura (Stumpywop).

I do not think it is fair on Rocky or your daughter to bring him into your life and home while your daughter is so scared of large dogs.

Can I ask why you are considering rehoming an older dog when your daughter is obviously so afraid?

Thank you three for the info I am taking heed tothe advice wich is helping very much .

Today(Sunday) I brought Rocky for his first walk with me and my Daughter and in all fairness it went well apart from Rocky taking me for a walk but the owner did say he can get a bit to happy when it come's to going out for a walk.Now I did of course watch how my Daughter and Rocky got along plus how Rocky act's out on the street or world.

There were some Horse's out running about but they were on the outside of the park they could not get in and Rocky could not get out but he did chase them or should I say tryed to heard them the same happend when a boy was on his bike cycling past but Rocky coped on soon enough when he seen it was a human.

I did manage to bring a toy with me so my Daughter and I could play with Rocky to show him we are nice people he had no problem's with playing fetch but he did tire fast so I asked my Daughter would she like to try but she again said no. So here's what I done I picked up Rocky's toy and been a dog jumped up get ready to run after it but I did not throw it I just waited until he calmed down or basicly forgot about it then gave the toy to my Daughter wich she took no problem I then asked to call Rocky wich she did Rocky seen that she had the toy and came over as if to say well when are you going to throw it and she did and did so for a few more time's but the problem with Rocky is he does not bring no wait he does bring the toy back but he just keep's walk or droping the toy behind us including the owner wich I find odd or it could just be me .

Now as it was time for us to go home I was putting Rocky's lead on and my Daughter came up to me and asked me if she could walk the dog back home and I was like well that's a jump out of the fear factor so I did let her walk Rocky some of the way but just like me Rocky was walking her home put not in a pull your arm out of place type of way.
Now I did of course walk beside her and asked her if she was ok and this is what she said, yes Im ok look im walking Rocky why would I not be ok and I was like little so and so .

Right as we were walking down the street two little very little compared to Rocky dog's seen Rocky and done their hole barking seen and Rocky was like yeah what ever wich i liked but as we were hitting another area of grass somebody had left some bread on the green wich Rocky was happy to eat while these other two smaller dog's barked at him plus two horse's just less than 5 feet away so to me he handled that pretty well for free food .

So all in all I tought the day went very well the only problem I seen (not major) was that he is not trained to well on the lead O yea and get this there was fire work's going of in the park and he was like what is that stupid sound ah who cares were's my toy.

As for friendship with Rocky and myself that's going well also he has made eye contact with me nothing major again just looking at me as if to say hi or who are you,would you like to play or even just turning around to make sure were still there when he is walking of the leash and thencarry's on with what he's doing and when Im playing with him I can walk over to him (in front view ) and take his toy he again just does what any other normal dog does and stand's up to get ready to chase the toy.

Now as for the photo I will do that today but not now because it's like 7:11am .

Again thank's for the info the more the better and I will say this,this has to be one of the best forum's I've ever recived good honest help thanks .

(ps I may talk alot but I just want to help you's help me so ever detail will help)

Hi,

I'm sorry I feel a bit confused now. You said yesterday that your daughter was afraid of large dogs but she's played happily with Rocky and then walked him home?! If she was genuinely afraid she wouldn't have been able to do this so soon. So in one respect, it's a good thing that she's getting along OK with Rocky.

However what you haven't thought of (I don't think) is the fact that Rocky will always react differently outside to how he behaves at home. There would have been new noises (fireworks), smells, people, dogs etc and to top it all off you had his toy!
So he'd have been more interested in playing and walking than picking up on any negative feelings from your daughter.

Also, it's great that fireworks don't bother him. I have 4 dogs and only Zane will bark at them - but only if he can't see them. If he can see them, he sits and watches! If he can't and starts barking, then I end up with all 4 of them making one hell of a noise.

I don't think your daughter should be walking Rocky. The owner has already told you he doesn't walk well on a lead. This could be for a variety of reasons but if he pulled you all over the place, I think you were extremely lucky (& quite irresponsible) in letting your daughter walk him.

How old is your daughter? One thing I can say from personal experience is that unless your daughter is of an adult size and build with a lot of strength, had Rocky decided to run off he would've either hurt her quite badly of would've maybe got himself or someone else hurt had she let go.
Please don't let your daughter walk him until you know he can walk properly on a slack lead (not necessarily to heel) and that he will accept and act upon commands from your daughter.
Until he reaches that point, you and your daughter could always attach 2 leads to Rocky's collar/harness and you can both walk him. This way your daughter gets to realise the strength of a GSD and also will learn, with you, how to treat Rocky on his walks and how to train him and get him to do things she asks of him.

You say Rocky found some bread and ate it. Part of you training Rocky at home should include being able to take things from him - whether it be a toy or bits of food (I don't mean his dinner). After all, was it definitely bread? Next time it could be something that's harmful to dogs that he picks up to eat. You need to know that if you tell him to leave something or drop it, he will. Please look out for this sort of thing whilst out walking with him. And before you bring him home, make sure there nothing in your garden (plants included) that may harm him.

Finally, when you do get him home (I'm assuming he's up to date with jabs etc) you should enrol him in a local training club. Make sure it's one which either specialises in GSDs (usually come via recommendation) and/or one which only uses positive methods of training.
I've personally seen the bad effects of certain other methods used by so-called trainers and these types of clubs will only do harm.

Laura xx

She's 9 years old & I quite agree, I had my own GSD by the time I was 9(had her for a year by then)& I had trained her at home & at our training club, however I wasn't allowed to take her out without my older brother & TBH my Dad was there 99% of the time with his dog anyway.

I would not allow any child under 16 nowadays to walk any dog alone let alone a fairly non lead trained GSD & I wouldn't let them walk a big dog on a single lead either

Redrum,

We're not trying to put you off or have a go at you. We want the best for Rocky and at 4 years old, unles you have a very truthful, accurate and descriptive history from his owner, you are basically wandering into the unknown.

Fully grown GSDs are very powerful when they want to be. Some gentle positive training will mean that Rocky will walk nicely in next to no time at all.

All dogs, particularyl GSDs respond to kindness and respect. If you show Rocky this, you'll get it back tenfold.

When I take my GSDs out (the GSDs are walked together and the spitz-tpye dogs walk as a pair) my 5 year old Son has his own lead which is attached to whichever dog he wants to walk. Obviously I'm also attached via a different lead. Now I know that my dogs are already lead-trained and would walk nicely for Oscar. In fact, they respond better to him than me sometimes.
But even if Oscar was twice his current age, size and weight I still wouldn't allow him to walk any of the dogs without me being attached to the dog also. It's asking for trouble and isn't fair on the dog.

Laura xx

Good to hear your daughter's 'taken' to Rocky. From the rest of what you said, it sounds like you've got a fair amount of training to do but with a dog that sounds fairly well balanced to start with. hopefully then training will be a pleasure rather than a chore...