I adopted a 7-month-old GSD who our trainer says is insecure. She told us to use a muzzle and prong collar to keep her from nipping and jumping on strangers in our home. What do you suggest?

Question

Dear Sir, Last year we had to put our beloved German Shepherd female down. She was 11 and had cancer. I bought her when she was a 9 week old puppy and trained her myself. She always came when I called and the only 2 problems I was never able to correct, due to lack of knowledge on my part and her personality, were to "go" where I wanted her to go and separation anxiety. Right after we put her to sleep, I bought another female German Shepherd. My first was American this one was German/French lines. I trained her via your puppy video. I sold her at 9 months due to the fact that she bonded with our lab and was very dominant. I realized I needed / wanted a companion dog for me. One month ago we adopted a 7 month old female American German Shepherd. Her history is this: pure bread, found by a family as a stray at 3 or 4 months. Family kept her for 2 months and gave her to the German Shepherd rescue due to her being "overly protective" of the family. Since we brought her home, she has been a great dog. Great companion, good listener. The problem is she is very afraid of most people that come over or get too close to her. She lunges at them and nips at them. I consulted a friend who's family raised, trained and bought/sold German Shepherds in Germany. She determined that the dog is not skittish but insecure. She advised that I put her prong collar on her, sit her down about 4 feet from the door when people come over and make her sit until I tell her to move. I have someone else answer the door and I make her sit. Then, I was told to put a muzzle on her, which is made of mesh which enables her to do everything but bite. While she has the muzzle and collar on, I have the strangers stand around the room, I take her around to smell everyone at her leisure and comfort while I reassure her everything is fine. She does not try to bite people from behind. I then keep her tied to the couch where I sit and have her sit so she is in a confident position while she looks at people she doesn't know. I've tried to educate my children's friends on this procedure however they are very much afraid of her. She is a petite German Shepherd, almost all of these kids have dogs and aren't afraid of mine until she barks and jumps on them. She hasn't hurt anyone, yet before I got the muzzle, she jumped up and nipped at a friend who startled her. She also nipped at three other people. Our male lab is friendly and tolerant. She is gentle and good with him and our family as well as anyone who comes over who allows her to get past her initial fear of them. When she realizes that they are friendly, she's fine. She's a great walker and has no problems with other dogs and most of the time when people walk right past us she does nothing. It's when she lunges at them and barks that worries me. My friend says that with proper training she will be fine by the time she is 13 to 18 months old. What do you suggest? Putting her down is not an option, however I can take her back to the rescue. Regards, Shiela

Accepted Answer

Sounds like the trainer is right – the dog is a FEAR BITER. I have an article on my web site about this and a Q&A section. I would recommend that you read it.

Insecure dogs react well to training. They find comfort in doing that they know is the right thing.

If you are serious about keeping this dog you NEED to get a dog crate and use it. This dog should not be allowed out when your kids have friends over or when you have guests over. It needs to learn – “someone comes over I go into my crate”. There cannot be any exception. Not to do this is going to result in a dog bite. Its only a matter of time. So either get a crate and use it or make sure your insurance is always up to date . Know that you will lose your insurance when you have your second dog bite.

The prong collar training is a must. If you would like to learn more about the principles of obedience training a dog, read the description for my Basic Dog Obedience video. You will probably find that you have not had a clear understanding of the steps of training a dog must go through before it can be considered fully trained. You can also read why I am not a fan of taking an untrained dog to obedience classes. I think if you read the testimonials on that tape you will see that my customers feel the same way.

If you handle this dog properly (by using a crate) you will not need a muzzle in your home. I would recommend one of the wire basket muzzles we sell for walks. They allow the best air flow and the dogs acclimate to them very quickly. You can see them on our web site equipment section.

Good luck