Six months ago I bought a 2yr old male GSD who is very dog agressive. The previous owner had told me that he had an older rottweiler when he bought the GSD pup and that the rott was the only dog the GSD could get along with. I suspect that the GSD has been bitten by the Rott as a pup before the order of rank was established. I read in one of the articles of Ed that a dog who had been attacked before would result in a dog agressive dog. I wanted to know the reason for the dog on dog agression so I tracked down the breeders and asked them by email if the parents or grandparents display/displayed the same behaviour. That was not the case, so I assume this is not a genetic problem. However, when my dog sees another dog he does not act like a fearful dog, he attacks from the front, standing tall with the hairs standing up his back and a high tail. Will a dog that has been attacked/bitten as a pup always grow up to be a fearful dog/fear biter or can this dog still grow up to be a dominant dog? If so what would be the best way to deal with this problem?

Not always! My JRT was very hard on my GSD when the GSD was a pup. At just under two yrs old the GSD had enough. I was expecting it. The GSD, although he wont let a dog get up in his face, is still quite easy going around any other dog besides my JRT. Even then, they are no real problem together IF I'm with them.

Sounds like it may be more of "lack of socialization" more than a "bullied" dog to me.

Did you talk with the previous owner (not that all previous owners will be totally honest) and find out what kind of socialization took place?

Why were they selling the dog to begin with?

Edited by Carol Boche (11/03/2007 10:25 PM)
Edit reason: change of wording........

That is the first thing I asked him when I went to his house before I bought the dog. He said that he just bought a new puppy, a rottweiler (the previous rott had already passed away) and that the GSD could not get along with the puppy. But he told me before I bought the dog that he was dog agressive and that I should not get another dog with this dog. But the dog seemed to have prey drive and I wanted to buy a dog that I could train. You see, these dogs are hard to find on the island. I have not been disapointed, he turned out to be a sweet, obedient dog with drive (I am training him with Bernard Flinks), who loves to be trained. The only problem is the dog on dog agression. He sleeps outside, and I make him sit everytime on command when I put down his food bowl etc so in order to discourage any dominance. But if the problem is lack of socialization can this still be resolved?

Well ok, thank you for the reply. Forgive me for asking this but what does JRT stand for?

 Quote: Maria van den Ham

what does JRT stand for?

Jack Russell Terrier

http://www.leerburg.com/articles.htm#dom

Above is a whole page of links to Ed's articles on aggressive dogs. This will help you a lot. Also, do you work with a trainer that you trust and that can help you with this issue?

Thank you, I have read all the articles on agressive dogs, but I will read them again. And no, I do not work with a trainer, because we do not have trainers or courses (only a few obedience courses) here in Aruba like in the US or in Holland (my native country). We do not have policedogs either, only one narcotics dog. We only have one or two trainers where the dogs are trained without the owners, I do not like that kind of training, because I want to train the dog myself, so the dvd player is my teacher (I have bought 5 DVD's from this site). I think I am one of the few owners who (try to) train their dog. But I am planning to buy the DVD dealing with the dominant dog.


By the way, you have some impressive hobbies