I have a terribly emotionally sensitive dog question.?

Try doing what another dog would do. When she mouths you, just yelp, pull back and back away and ignore her for 30 seconds (NO eye contact). She'll adjust her behavior to a softer response.

With the shyness, use a lot of praise (verbally) instead of treats. Try more hands on her shoulders and ribs instead of petting her head (it'll feel safer). You may even want to look into a body wrap for dogs---it can make a dog feel safe with the pressure around their rib area.

To have a true guard dog, it must go through months of training at $5000-$10000 out of your pocket. Most dogs can be an alert dog and bark at an intruder. A chihuahua or a rottweiler. Your dog is being submissive. Telling her NO and properly correcting negative behaviors isn't going to "hurt her feelings". A submissive and fearful dog can be dangerous too. You could end up with a dog that is a fear biter.

Accept the fact that you will never have the guard dog you desired, and accept her as a pet. Treat her like a dog, and train her properly and she will stop the mouthing.

You've already got all the answers from everyone else.

I would only say -- FORGET the guard dog bit anyway... even if she were not so submissive.

All that will get you is a dog that bites someone - gets put to sleep - gets named in the papers and give you a law suit.

Enjoy her as a pet.

Do tell her firmly but fairly regarding the mouthing and jumping up, but at the same time do not even allow her to play rough. Playing rough is mouthing and this should ALWAYS be stopped.

First, congratulations on your new puppy! You must understand she is just that a puppy! I own GSD/Rotty mix and he is one of my best guard dogs. You have to have a strong hand with a Rotty and it takes time to train any dog. You do not know what the puppy has been through in the past 7 months so give her a chance. You need to study the traits of both breeds to have a better understanding of what you puppy is all about. In time she will become loyal and be the dog you want her to be, but this does not happen over night. It takes months of training!

Good luck and again congratulations!

Dogs are not natural guard dogs - no matter the breed.

She seems fearful to me, not "sensitive".

She is only 7 months old so I'm not sure what professional obedience classes she has done beyond puppy classes. You can't have such high expectations for a pup.

You CAN correct any unwanted behaviours though.

For you, I would suggest contacing a professional trainer. One who is familiar with these breeds and these breeds with faulty temperaments.

Contact your local Schutzhund club and ask for a referral to an obedience trainer.

Having "balls" and disciplining this dog would surely be detrimental. It may just be in her nature to be a shy dog. A "guard" dog just barks and brings it to your attention when something is not as it should be so this could be something she can handle with some work. If you catch her bark at a stranger or if someone is at your door, shower her with praise and thank her for her warning, if you keep doing that she will get the idea and make a bigger deal of it each time, just make sure she understands when enough is enough and don't allow her to go on barking forever

emotionally sensitive dogs are the hardest to train and gain trust, unfortunately.

i have one myself and this is wat if have found to be helpful:

as us stated Don't raise ur voice. do not use physical punishment. Always have a soft mild voice and calm approach. time and patience are ur only resources. earn her trust with lots of love and treats. do not allow jumping on u. that is a dominant behavior. her jumping on u signifies that she is trying to be ur boss and u r not exercising ur authority substantially. simply push her down and don't look at her don't acknowledge that behaviour. she wants attention. so she must get it through correct behavior. wen she bites don't pull or snatch ur hand away but push ur hand into her mouth. to teach command Say "no bite" and give treats wen obedient. a little pop on her nose wen she wants to bite will not hurt her. its just enough if she is being stubborn. make sure she is getting lots of exercise playing rough and jumping also means she is energetic. a good long walk or run are essential. she will calm down the older she gets as well but ur firm pack leader approach is essential. u can teach ur dog to speak and be quiet. both are essential in a good guard dog. if u r practicing ur training from obedience classes everything should fall into place. dogs need reminders so training is life long not only for duration of a class.

hope this helps.

Wihtout training you cannot expect any dog to guard. Period.

Sounds like you corrected her too harshly and shut her down. She's a puppy, you don't use physical corrections on them until you've proofed the command.

Do handling with her.

As in lay down so you're in a non-threatening position and toss treats to her, talking softly. Lure her towards you and when she gets close reward with a "jack pot" of treats. No fast moving, no loud noises. A couple of sessions of this should make you seem like a great thing to be around.

As for the biting, don't let her. Put your hands out of reach when she goes to mouth, spin when she jumps up and redirect her to an appropriate toy to tug or chew on.

That is an incredibly intelligent mix you have there I suspect she needs to move up a stream. Please read the short article in the link

http://www.canis.no/rugaas/onearticle.php?artid=1

This should put you back in proper contact with her and give you a chance to train her how to guard in the way you would like the guarding to be done.

Because of the Rottie in there you may not get warned about threats quite so quickly as they can reckon they know how to deal with things for you. You want to train in the immediate warning bark.

Please don't think I am judging you (I promise I am not) I am just trying to give you advice. It sounds like you are playing right into your dogs hands. It sounds as though your dog is 'owning' you. She is telling you what she wants, and when she wants to do it, and you are giving her that choice. This makes her think that she is the leader, and pretty soon will start to show dominant behaviour, and may even start to bite, instead of mouth. I urge you to be braver, for your dog's sake, and for years of future enjoyment, so that your dog understands who's boss. If you do this, then she will feel more relaxed aswell, as she will know her place, and you will know that you can control your dog. Take her to obidience classes asap.