Hello my name is Barbara and I am from England can you possibly answer a question which I find rather upsetting.
I have a two year old GSD and in the house he is very well behaved does what he is told even answers the telephone I have taught him to do many things and he also gets 3 hours per day free running. However, He is terrible when he sees another dog and runs after them to play. I turn my back and run in th opposite direction and I do admit he does run after me. However the other day he met a small border collie and she submitted to Max immediatly, but as she did Max stood over her and refused to come off her sort of smothering her. Obviously the owner of the border was extremly angry which I would have been myself. Why is he doing this bullying? Max is allowed to meet any dog his size and play it was unfortunate that he was loose and he seems to pick on dogs which are nervous. I notice that he does not pick on any who he doubts he can deal with.
Max is neutered and he is a lovly boy but he does have this dominance thing (I think it is) in him.
I have been told by an instructor that dogs should mix with dogs to keep them socialised but I am hesitent to loose him off
too much now. Please have any of you experienced GS owners got any answers. I sure would appreciate your views thank you

He was off lead around strange dogs?

Barbara, having your dog loose around other dogs is equivalent to a dog park. You might want to read Ed's article on dog parks; I think it may apply in your dog's situation and believe it's relevant to it.

Hi Barbara, It sounds like you have a really nice dog. Is he pretty young? I think your instinct not to let Max off lead to play with other dogs is dead on. Forget what the instructor said about it being good for your dog to mix with others. In fact, I think all this socializing business is highly overrated and turns some dogs into bullies and cows others. With all my GSD's the only socializing with other dogs (even people for that matter) is with my friends, family and their dogs (if they are good). This does not lead to aggressive behaviour, just indifference!

Hello Connie,

Thanks for the reply but you say he was off lead with a strange dog but how on earth does he get to meet and know other dogs.
It is very difficult here in England with 60 million people on this tiny island to release your dog without meeting someone else who has thier dog off leash. I am not making excuses but do I keep him on lead for the rest off his life.
Perhaps it would advisable until he is trained to ignore other dogs but I did sugest this to the instructor who is in the Royal Airforce and trains basic obedience and rescue dogs and he said by not letting him play and socialise he will become frustrated and more prone to aggression. Where do you go from there?

I would just like to note that my male does not socialize with strange dogs, and although he's not fond of other dogs, his lack of socializing has not made him more aggressive. If anything, I feel like learning to ignore other dogs has made him less dog-aggressive (or at least, it's no longer visible).

So, based on my own experiences, I definitely don't think that by not letting him play, your dog will become "frustrated".

Pretty much the same message here too Barbara.

Although my dog's problem wasn't aggression in any manner, he'd try to dominate some dogs and others, well, he would be content just getting to know them .

His 'I want to meet every dog I see' attitude became rather annoying rather quickly. So I learned to keep him away from other dogs completely (dogs he did not know). And the more I keep him away from other dogs, the better he is at ignoring them. He hasn't learned yet to walk past and completely ignore them but he has learned to walk past and keep his interest level to a mere sniff of the air kind of thing.

I agree with the others...no need to socialize with strange dogs....it doesn't do you any good.

 Quote: barbara lawson

Hello Connie,

Thanks for the reply but you say he was off lead with a strange dog but how on earth does he get to meet and know other dogs.
It is very difficult here in England with 60 million people on this tiny island to release your dog without meeting someone else who has thier dog off leash. I am not making excuses but do I keep him on lead for the rest off his life.
Perhaps it would advisable until he is trained to ignore other dogs but I did sugest this to the instructor who is in the Royal Airforce and trains basic obedience and rescue dogs and he said by not letting him play and socialise he will become frustrated and more prone to aggression. Where do you go from there?

Mike Arnold's reply to you is so 100% right on (IMHO) that all I can say is: "Ditto."

P.S. If you feel a strong need for your dog to have dog friends, then I believe very strongly that strange dogs are not the way to go.

Do you have a friend with a dog who your dog gets along with? Are you confident about your ability to supervise and be alert when they "socialize"?

But again, I agree 100% with Mike that I want my dogs to ignore strange dogs.

QUOTE from Mike which bears repeating: The only persons, in descending order, Max has to socialize with is you, and then perhaps family, and then maybe neighbors, and then possibly strangers, and then if you allow it dogs, cats, etc.END