pps oh and apparently he has had a hearing test at the vets and his hearing is fine x

I wonder how long she's had the dog and it's a rescue yes? I rescued Georgie when he was 5 and he was the same, just as you describe, he lived in his own little "bubble" didn't focus (which is such a gsd thing isn't it!) didn't respond to anything much, so I'm wondering if, because of his background he needs time, a lot more time before he can be "her" dog if you know what I mean? It took about 3 months before Georgie "clicked" with us, whereas of course, all my others having been puppies of 10 weeks old from the start, it was inbuilt in the very early stages, and in fact, with my latest, I sometimes wish it wasn't lol!

hi all, yes she has had him from being 12 weeks old, so quite a while,as he is 9 months now, he has been like this since she got him, i can understand a rescue taking time to adjust and gain in confidence, but not from such ayoung dog who has not suffered the background of some rescue dogs. Any suggestions on encouraging his focus remembering that he responds to nothing (as yet) and she has tried most basic things...... please have a think and i will pass ideas on, its a shame when she feels she can not bond with her dog and is beginning to feel there may be some medical reason behind it all, x

The only thing I can suggest is lots of play with him, get him to focus on something, be it a ball if not her, then she can turn the focus to herself once she's got that ball or whatever. They're not very interested in treats are they our gsd's they'd much rather have a toy or a ball on a rope, and even my old rescue eventually focused on his ball, although it took a while! If this were my dog, I would put aside lots of time to play with him, he needs to want to be with her and playtime is best for bonding imo. So sad isn't it, I've never known a gsd not to focus on it's owner 24/7, but hopefully she will have this, she's just got to hit on the right thing with him. Good luck to her.

Thank you for your ideas, i will suggest them all when i go to training on monday, i will keep you all posted, fingers crossed that something works so that she can enjoy her dog as much as we do xx

Might sound stupid but could she be trying too hard? Reason I ask is that Rupert more or less completely ignores one of my brothers. This brother was constantly talking to him, stroking him, trying to get him to play or whatever yet Rupe acted with him the way you're describing this dog as acting. He was far more interested in my mum who mostly ignored him. If my mum spoke to him he was immediately there, tail wagging, waiting to see what she wanted.

I'm not saying she should completely ignore the dog by any means but that by trying to bond with him and get the eye contact she could be putting him under more pressure than he can handle.