We had an incident where my dog lunged and barked at a man. I'm wondering if this is a sign of problems to come or something provoked when I wasn't listening.

Question

Hi Ed,

I have a 22 month old intact GSD (German blood line) that I am training for schutzhund. I have most of your DVD's and read all your articles. Thank you for the incredible amount of info both in your web site and your DVD's. I had an episode of unprovoked aggression and I would like your opinion on what happened.

Let me start by stating that my dog is very well socialized and has never shown aggression towards strangers both at home and outside. He has a very balanced temperament and is very well behaved. I am very well aware of pack structure and have been my dog?s pack leader since he was a puppy. In training He is one of the few dogs that won?t bark in their crate when people walk by the car.

The other day I was at the park working on his obedience (my wife was with us). I decided to work on his retrieve and went back to my bag to get the dumbbell. I had him on a platz next to me and I was on my knees trying to get the dumbbell when a family of four approached us (husband, wife and two little girls). They struck a conversation with me and were there for about 30 seconds when suddenly my dog broke his platz and lunged at the man while barking just inches away from his face. The man must have been standing three feet away when this happened. My instinct was to yell ?NO, Platz? to which he responded by dropping to a down on the spot. Frankly I screamed the command as his behavior took me completely by surprise. The verbal correction ?NO? did the trick as he platzed and had a completely submissive body posture. I didn?t go for a harder correction as my first instinct was to make sure the man was OK which he was.

I felt really bad and apologized to the family who proceeded to leave.
Frankly if I was on the receiving side of what happened I wouldn?t believe them if they told me that this never ever happened before with their dog.

Now when this happened I wasn?t looking at my dog to see if there were any warning signs. My wife said that she saw him simply turn his head, see the man and lunge at him.

I am struggling to understand what happened. Please tell me if I am wrong but I do not think he wanted to bite him as if this was the case he wouldn?t have barked. He lunged and barked three or four quick barks. Then again I don?t know what would have happened if I didn?t order him to platz and his bark was clearly serious as it was nothing like the prey bark he normally has in training.

My wife and I take our dog everywhere we go and he is always at his best behavior. After what happened yesterday, I am starting to wonder if this is the first sign of other problems to come. I haven?t stopped replaying the incident in my head and for the life of me I can?t figure out how my dog could go form completely relaxed on a platz position to a behavior I had never ever seen before.

I would greatly appreciate your opinion on what happened and thank you for your time.

Thanks.
BB

Accepted Answer

Since I was not there, I can only make an educated guess as to why your dog did this. First of all, at 22 months your dog is becoming mentally mature. I can’t tell you how many emails we get from people who own a dog that at 2 years old starts to display the type of behavior you describe. I will bet the man was making direct eye contact with your dog and he felt it as a challenge. Had you been looking at your dog, you would have seen a momentary stiffening of his body and if he had been panting, his mouth would have closed a bit.

This is the reason that when I do let strangers approach my dogs, I tell them to NOT make direct eye contact. In a strong and confident dog, direct unbroken eye contact is a challenge. In a weak or nervous dog, it causes more nervousness.

Your dog is becoming a mature adult and this is normal behavior. Now that you know this, you will need to be more vigilant on your enforcement of obedience and leadership.

Cindy