Leerburg / Ask Cindy / Categories / Aggression / Anyway, she did pretty good and she still does...B...

April 28, 2011

Anyway, she did pretty good and she still does...BUT, she is VERY aggressive towards strangers.

Full Question:

Hello,

I am writing this out of desperation!!..I have been reviewing your web site and other Q & A's about dog's with behavioral problems, and I am finding that we are now in the same boat with many other dog owners!!!..We own a spayed female German Shepard since she was 8 weeks old (she will be 2 this year)...First mistake was I got her from a backyard breeder and I was clueless what I was doing...I just wanted a German Shepard and I found the cheapest one in an ad in the paper..(how stupid, now that I am learning about the breed!!)...Anyway, right away, I noticed she was a little nervous and VERY car sick ..still hates to ride in cars...But I figured she was just taken from her "pack" and she is scared...She has always had this nervous side...We introduced her to the neighbors, gave her lots of attention and even as great dog owners we took her to obedience class which I found was more for training the owner, not the dog..ha ha..Anyway, she did pretty good and she still does...BUT, she is VERY aggressive towards strangers ...I mean she acts like she wants to maul them!!..WE throw her on the ground and even sit on her sometimes to "put her in her place"...however right or wrong that may be, our only objective was to keep her from biting...Well, last week while she was out on her runner, she did bite one of the neighbor children playing in the yard and who got into "her" area!!..The boy is fine, she left 2 teeth marks, but drew no surface blood...This will NOT be tolerated in our house. But she is a total Jeckyl and Hyde...She is very loving and affectionate towards us and our kids (one and nine), we are part of her pack, but bring in a stranger, especially a child, and she goes bonkers!!...We are seriously thinking of having her put to sleep, but I have put a last call into a local pet behaviorists and am trying to get other suggestions or perhaps the OK that putting her down is what we should do....HELP!!

Thanks,
Cindy

Ed's Answer:

Either put the dog to sleep or confine it. Tying a dog like this out is a serious mistake – which you found out. You could be held for criminal charges if this dog bit a child again. You ALREADY KNOW THE DOG IS DANGEROUS – if you act irresponsible again you could find yourself in real legal trouble.

If you choose to keep the dog you will need to: