[nagdu] Protectiveness in shepherds

[Tracy Carcione]

My trainer Sue had what I thought was an interesting idea on how to prevent 
overprotectiveness in shepherds.  She had a student whose dog was developing 
such tendencies, and she advised him to let people at his office or church 
come up, say Hi, pat the dog once, and go on their way.  She thought, if I 
understand it, that regular contact with relative strangers would help it to 
not regard them as threatening.  She said it worked for that student.  She 
also said it probably wouldn't work for a retriever, since they usually 
regard the whole world as friends.  One of my classmates was having trouble 
with an overprotective shepherd, and other instructors also advised this 
method, although in her case it didn't work.  I'm just putting it out as an 
interesting idea.
Tracy