May 18, 2011
My 5-month-old GSD is very protective and barks aggressively at any dogs when I am out with it. It's the alpha dominant pup. I have some questions...
Full Question:
Greetings;I have recently purchased a GSD puppy. I'm keeping him at the kennel I bought him from one month ago. He's now 5 months old. He's the alpha male of his litter, and very protective. Whenever any dog comes about 2 meters from us (him and I), he starts barking uncontrollably. I haven't trained him yet, since his breeder considers 6 months being the ideal age to start obedience training. He barks at any dog he doesn't know, big or small. Another breeder told me his barking reflects a behavioral abnormality, and that the dog's antisocial. We introduced him to my sister's newly acquired female GSD: he barked at the puppy, bit her once, then everything went fine. My dog's breeder favors his protective behavior, so I'm torn between the two breeders' opinions. What do you think, and what do you advice me to do?
I hope you can help me. Thank you so much in advance.
Rawan
Ed's Answer:
Here is the category I have your breeder in - “Everyone has an opinion on how to train your dog – just ask your mailman – the problem is that very few people have the experience to back up their opinions which results in a lot of bad information being handed out.”
The dog is NOT PROTECTIVE. If your breeder told you this it's bull shit.
There is no correlation between animal aggression and people aggression.
I NEVER allow my pups to be around other dogs. Dogs are pack animals. A strange dog is not part of the pup's pack.
Obedience training begins at 8 weeks and never stops. With very young pups it's all motivation and no corrections. Keeping a dog in the kennel at the breeder's is not the way to raise a dog. Especially when you have a breeder who seems to be clueless.
Your dog is not a dominant dog. No 5 month old pup is dominant. I have bred well over 300 litters of working bloodline German Shepherds.
Read The article I have written titled DEALING WITH THE DOMINANT DOG You can find this article in the list of training articles on my web site. I believe you will find the answers you need in that article or in the Q&A section of my web site. There are simple solutions to these problems. The question is if you are willing to do the work necessary to make the changes that will fix the problems.
The dog is NOT PROTECTIVE. If your breeder told you this it's bull shit.
There is no correlation between animal aggression and people aggression.
I NEVER allow my pups to be around other dogs. Dogs are pack animals. A strange dog is not part of the pup's pack.
Obedience training begins at 8 weeks and never stops. With very young pups it's all motivation and no corrections. Keeping a dog in the kennel at the breeder's is not the way to raise a dog. Especially when you have a breeder who seems to be clueless.
Your dog is not a dominant dog. No 5 month old pup is dominant. I have bred well over 300 litters of working bloodline German Shepherds.
Read The article I have written titled DEALING WITH THE DOMINANT DOG You can find this article in the list of training articles on my web site. I believe you will find the answers you need in that article or in the Q&A section of my web site. There are simple solutions to these problems. The question is if you are willing to do the work necessary to make the changes that will fix the problems.
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