I have been reading your posts for quite some time. I know it is hard to say what is going on with my dog without seeing him but I trust that you can steer me in the right direction. I just hope I can give you a good enough picture without boring you to death. I really want to do right by this dog but to have him and every one around him safe. I will probably write a novel, but I want to give you all the info I can that might help.

Basics. I have a 22 month old German Shepherd mix, male neuter (at 4 months). We are not sure what he is mixed with but he is smooth coat, tan in color with black muzzle and a curled over his back tail. Some think sled dog, others think Lab. When last weighed in June, he was 70lbs, tho I am sure he is more now and is 26” at the shoulder. He lives with 4 cats and an 11 year old Collie. I got him at 6 weeks old (but the idiot that had him took him from his mom at 3 weeks). I took him every where, even to work where he has seen many men (I am the only female there) and he began formal obedience training at 5 ½ months old which he passed basic with flying colors. We were working on his level 2 but it’s my fault, my husband and I were trying to get pregnant for almost a year and he kind of got pushed to the wayside for 6 months or so. He does not sleep with us, and we work with the idea that he is a dominant dog because he has tried to challenge me before. He actually bit me at 6 months when trying to correct him. I will tell you he has never tried to do that again. He trains in a prong. Since getting him back into training, we are now up to distraction again.

My problem is when we go for walks or when other dogs walk by him. I hope I can make this clear enough. Most of this has really begun to happen 2 months ago, when he also started hiking his leg, too.

1. When he sees another dog, he hackles from neck to tail (looks like a dinosaur) and he has done this since he was a puppy with anyone coming by the house, when something startles him or when he is going into something new. He has a high pitched bark when he first hears a noise in the house, but it goes deep very quickly. And his hackles will go back down fairly quickly.

2. When he sees someone new, or a dog he doesn’t know his tail goes high over his back with a slow wag, he looks like he is on tippy toes, with head erect, very stiff, never looks away, never shows bares his teeth nor barks on walks and has only growled once when we were at the edge of our property and some boys wanted to pet him. He also growls first when he sees someone on our property from the window. He never takes his eyes off of what he keys in, doesn’t turn his head. He immediate turns to face whatever it is that bothers him.

3. If another dog has marked our yard, when he goes out and sniffs, he will hackle then, too.

4. When he plays with dogs he knows (which isn’t but 2 that he knew as a puppy), he “stiff arms” them in the face or shoulder, almost like he is trying to push them down?

5. He has a huge prey drive, anything that moves, he wants.

6. I have never seen him put his tail between his legs, nor lower his ears, nor look away. I have not seen him snap except on occasion when a cat walks by his food and I correct him and then take his food away. He does not bark at people on walks nor another dog. I have rarely seen him avoid any thing, noise, or new place. He charges right in.

7. Oh, the teenage boys he growled at were on bikes. And once they turned their backs on him, he went and sniffed them. He growled when they turned around but was still very interested in them. He did the same thing with a dog just last week when he accidentally got away from me. He was ok when the dog had his back to him (another neutered male) but when that dog turned around, first, he came back to me, almost like he was scared, but when that dog got close to me my dog went after him. They didn’t fight, but they made a lot of noise with the other dog backing down. And at 6 months old, my dog would not submit to a very dominant Shutlzhund trained female shepherd. We broke that one up before it got ugly.

8. He seems to like women more than men which is so odd since he was around only men and me all the time. During a play fight, he has gone after and ripped my husband's shirt, which we corrected immediately.

9. Once I lose him, once he focuses in on another dog, he doesn't respond to a prong. I can make him down on the side of the walkway with people and he will stay down. But I can't get him to stay down if it's a dog. He gets way too excited and even starts "yodeling" but not barking nor it is growling.

Can you help me? Can you tell me what you think his issues are? Is he dominant, aggressive, fear biter? I know I am probably an idiot, but I can deal with whatever it is. If he is just that kind of dog that I have to constantly be on my toes about, I have no problem with that. I will learn whatever I need to and do whatever I need to, but I need some intelligent advice and opinions so I can go from here. If you have any questions, please ask me.

Thanks and I eagerly await your reply.

Crystal

I just wanted to add that my dog is crate trained and does not have full roam of the house. There are no issues with my older collie. If he messes with her too much, I make him stop or she tells him about it. The obedience I am doing with him now is with Ed's basic obedience video and I have ordered the dominant dog video as of yesterday.

I am not an expert, but own a dominant territorial dog, with many of the same traits your dog shows. I would recommend a dominant dog collar to use when walking the dog, but perhaps others would prefer an e-collar, especially for when the dog is in the yard. For myself, I thought the dominant dog collar would be easier to use correctly. My understanding is that you should correct the dog when he shows the initial raised hackles/stiffening and not wait for lunging or barking.

crystal, first of all, it sounds like you are doing so much that is right, so congratulations for that.

from all you describe, he certainly sounds like a dominant dog. i can't advise you about the dominant dog collar, as i haven't used one. i'm sure others with experience will step in on that one.

i can tell you how i avoid the problem you are having out on walks, which i also had with my boy when he was going through adolescence.

first and most important is to be paying attention at all times to what or who is coming at you down the street or down the path. look ahead so you see them before your dog does, and anticipate all situations before he gets triggered.

secondly, pay close attention to your dog at all times. if he starts to get triggered, correct him before he reaches the point of being unresponsive. timing is everything here.

but ideally, you will avoid all these encounters before he can get triggered. give the other dogs as wide a berth as necessary to avoid your dog getting triggered. basically, avoid these situations entirely! only walk him in places where you can avoid them. the more he is triggered, the more that behavior gets hard-wired into him. you want the behavior to go extinct from lack of use.

if you are practicing NILIF with him and he accepts you as his leader, it is easier. i've gotten to the point with my dog where the second i see any sign of dominance, i give him a quick pop on the prong, and simultaneously tell him "good boy!" in a happy, cheerful voice. i spent months doing my own dominance moves on him (pressing down on his shoulders, tapping his flank hard, collar corrections) with the "good boy!" to get him to associate those words and that tone with the message: "i'm in charge here, and you will let me handle it."

i'm a big fan of avoiding situations i might have to correct for. then, after he has started to settle down, i gradually reintroduce the dog to the triggers, always keeping a distance just short of what will trigger him.

this is a long process and doesn't always work. it has been working for my dog, but it may not for yours.

possibly even though he is neutered this is adolescent type behaviors and he may settle down in time.

I don't know if he's dominant or any terms (lol) but I would work on a focus command and whenever you see a trigger demand his complete attention and eyes on you until you are away from the trigger. I would even correct strongly for attempting to defy you on that one after a thorough understanding of the focus command is gained. There's good articles and probably posts here you can find on this.

Re: the hackles. I have a dog that does that. If she sees a squirrell, her hackles are up. I think she's anticipating the kill because she catches them. Whenever she gets excited in a predatory way or goes into what I would call high prey drive, the hackles come up. It's always when she's in a hyper alert state and always bold.

There's a wealth of information here on this site. I think you're going to need to keep a very close eye on your dog though. Good luck you'll do fine <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Polly, Alice and Barbara,

You gals ROCK! Thank you so much for all your advice. I think I knew my answer from all the info on this site but it sure helped for me to have someone with more experience confirm it. I mean my collie is a therapy dog and is the sweetest, most benign dog ever, totally different then this dog! I have ordered Ed's dominant dog video and the DD collar. I will be very excited to try everything. I understand about correcting him before he loses focus and we will begin practicing that immediately. He has played with other dogs but they have to submit right away and he forces them to do that immediately. If they don't, he goes off. I will only let him around the dogs he knows to play with and avoid all others, per your advice.

Thanks again!!

Crystal

Crystal,
After reading some of the advice that you received, I need to post a kind of a generic notice about the advice that is written in forums ( as some of the advice you received was bad )

The advice that you receive on an internet forum can vary greatly. There are hard core professional dog trainers here, dedicated sports trainers, and everything in-between.
There are also pet owners with very little experience but who feel the need to post with often weak or bad training advice.
Sadly, it's up to you to determine which advice is which. Sorry. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />


Will Rambeau
Moderator

Will, it would be more helpful if you said ____ advice sucks, this is a much better way. The way posted is bad because ____.

Was it my advice? I only posted a method that worked for me in similar types of situations. Had an expert posted I wouldn't have bothered. If my advice was bad, or ever is, please don't hesitate to say so and why. I wouldn't be offended in the least, I would be greatful <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Will,
I understand what you have said. I will let you know what I think and perhaps you would be willing to give me some of your own opinions? I do need it.

I am only a pet owner. While I may be interested in perhaps something like agility or tracking later on, it isn't what I need right now. I need a dog that is happy but obedient. I need a dog that realizes I am pack leader and will behave and follow me and not become a nuisance in the neighborhood. My worry was that he is more than that. I have read many posts and I think he is giving me dominant signs, but also some that may be something else (like him being on his tiptoes instead of standing firm) which the poster gave me an idea of instablilty or dangerous. Perhaps I am reading too much in to it? I think the advice I received makes some sense. I can't get him to respond to the prong on occasion and I am willing to try the DD collar or an e collar to see if I get a different result. But I also don't think I was getting him early enough before he became too focused on something other than me.

Since I am a novice, I am not sure I can determine what advice may not be for me. I understand if you do not want to be specific about someone's advice. Could you answer me this? Do you think Ed's DD video will help me? His obedience has helped so much but we are having a time in distractions. Can you steer me another direction if you don't think it will? Because I will happily do what is needed to correct my behavior and train my dog. I don't take this commitment lightly. I am determined to do this no matter how uninformed I may sound in my posts.

Thanks for any help!

Crystal

will, why don't you just post your own advice, rather than criticize others? i'm sure crystal can figure out for herself which advice she would rather follow.