UKC- Ch.Endless- Waltz de- Nanrox
<(-How do you- Dew?-)> | 
 | | Barked: Fri Oct 12, '12 8:50am PST |  | |  | | Okay, second question about interacting with strangers, first again we go to the breed standard:
"...A formidable dog with a frank and unwavering expression, he always demands respect wherever he goes. ...He retains a high degree of his inherited instinct to guard home and master. Although he can be reserved with strangers, he is loving and loyal to those he knows."
Does you pup seem "fearful" or just "not quite sure"? I'll refer you to this link on canine body language so you can pick apart what you think- http://www.flickr.com/photos/lilita/5652847156/
Now given that, some lines of this breed do tend towards an "anxious" and even "fearful" temperament, it happens, and in some lines more than others. You can help your puppy to be more "open/excepting" with the public, whether fearful or just breed wise suspicious, through more socializing, but be warned, this breed is also easy to "break" with the wrong kind of introduction, so make sure you find an easy to control environment where people would be more willing to ask you about your dog (the pet store/farm store, little farmers markets, etc), instead of say a busy event where everyone and their eighth cousin might come to maul your dog for petting and hugs (which is rude, IMO as well as my dogs).
Now from my own experience, I have a cautious/fearful girl, but overall I sadly ended up with what I didn't want, the "happy to see everyone I can't control my excitement" Golden Retriever in a sheepdog suit. That happens too, it's taken a LOT to get her where she is now that she can safely keep 4 on the floor, but also not turn her off to strangers. She did have ONE bad experience one day when a family friend came over once, and from that I've now had issues with her and some men, I'm guessing it's a scent on them that's familiar to the experience? But she will back away, ears back, turned, and giving a low deep growl, at which point I usually dump a treat in their hand, and she'll take it cautiously in exchange for some nice petting (which I instruct them to please go under the chin or along the side of her face, she almost always backs away from "head pats" which again are rude to all dogs anyhow), she'll usually warm up a little after, but it's a work in progress.
Biggest tip, is mostly to control the environment as best you can to make sure every experience your puppy has is a good one! That is the most important key with handling this breed. I've heard numerous times from people across the world with this breed how much they would love to get into things like French Ring or schutzhund training with their Beauceron's, but can't because they don't have a trainer who can reliable work with their particular temperament needs in training, they truly are a different dog to work with than say a GSD or Rottie, or Mal, or Dobie, when it comes to that respect (although I'm far more a firm believer in the training methods outlined in those illustration I linked above by Lili Chin, no matter the breed, and it seems many other countries do too which is where I do see the few trainers able to successfully work with Beauceron in FR/Sch training, interestingly enough).
As to maturity, the leery of strangers thing wont just "go away", as I already stated, that's something that needs to be worked on now properly to change it. But overall, yes this is a "slow to mature" breed, however, I've personally found and can't state highly enough, that this breed is exceptionally SLOW to mature! I've seen breeders state it on their website, but no one can exclaim it enough, my girl is just 3 years old, and FINALLY things are starting to "click" with her. It isn't just the physical maturity, which at 3 she's only just starting to look like she's "filled out", although she's still too narrow which comes from her family line.
Hope that's enough info for now, let me know if you have anymore questions, I don't proclaim to be an expert, but feel free to pick my brain of personal experience with my very first Beauceron, it's been quite a ride already in the short (although it seems like forever!) 3 years I've had her. |  |  | |  |
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. Actually she had a funny melt down one night, I awoke from a vivid dream to hear coyote's yowling right outside my window, I looked over to watch her dart out of my bedroom, then peek around the corner of the door giving me the "Mommy, DO SOMETHING!?" look, yep, some guard dog. Doesn't matter a bit to me, she's SUPER sweet.
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