I have 3 GS dogs. One fixed female is five years old and a Katrina rescue. She is very good. I have a 14 month old who is in a consant state of training. And, last I have a large (120lb) Long hair that we got from a rescue. He is imported from Germany was raised around other dogs, kids and cats. I also have a 6 year old son who interacts with him on a daily basis. I have noticed that he has over the past 6 months we have had him (he is not fixed by the way) become more aggressive in nature. He is very rough with the 14 month old to the point where I have to intercede and we do not let them out together unsupervised. And that helped but last night as we ate supper the door bell rang. All the dogs went to the door. I made them back off and as I stepped out to talk to the 14 year old Boy Scout I was closing the door (with no resistence from the dogs) and I had the handle of the door pulling it closed when the large long hair (120 lbs) charged through pulling me backwards when he forced the door open. He bit the Boy Scout at the crotch area and began shaking his head and growling. I grabbed him and he instantly released and retreated to the house. The child had a small puncture wound and was scared to death which I thank God he was not badly injured. (He was howerver very sore). His parents have been gracious enough to not press charges. I am exteremly worried now since he has never shown aggression like that especially towards children. My son and his friends could be in danger. I have been reading and realize that we did not have a good pack structure and that we have some serious remedial to do. My husband says we may have to put him down. I don't really agree but I am afraid for my child and the other children who may enter our home. Is there hope, what would you recommend?

I don't know where to start..............

Do you have a dog crate for this dog?

Do you have any of Ed's DVD's? There is a lot to be learned by reading through Q&A, podcasts in the meantime.

I wouldn't leave this dog loose in the house without being on a leash. Is there any reason why you wouldn't neuter him?

I had a male GSD that ran through a door to go after a small dog once, but that was the only time he ever did it. I have never had this situation with a dog going after people.

I wish you luck and know there will be many other's chiming in with great advice to help you.

Glad to hear the boy scout was okay.
Lisa

I would start calling to arrange for an assessment by a professional, separate the dogs 100%, never answer the door without this dog under control (and that means crated if you don't have absolute leash control), and for now I would not allow your child to have free interaction with this dog.

You need professional help, and meanwhile secure safety measures, which means crates. I assume that you have crates?

Just wanted to give you my sympathy's Lisa, that must have been a horrific incident for you and the boy. This is definitely the site to come to for wonderful practical advice. All the best.

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

I would start calling to arrange for an assessment by a professional, separate the dogs 100%, never answer the door without this dog under control (and that means crated if you don't have absolute leash control), and for now I would not allow your child to have free interaction with this dog.

You need professional help, and meanwhile secure safety measures, which means crates. I assume that you have crates?

Ditto x 2....also, how old is this dog? And why did you get him??????

Was the boy in a uniform? Perhaps this triggered something in the dog...

I think you are still a ways off from euthanizing the dog.

I second (or third?? fourth??) that motion to crate the dog. While I doubt here is any serious risk to your son, since your son and the dog know eachother, where the boy who got bitten was a stranger coming to your territory, I would still not take the chance until a professional could assess the situation.

When seeking a professional, make sure it is someone who has alot of experience with aggression. There's lots of idiots out there calling themselves dog trainers, and I would hate one of these idiots to either give you poor advice on how to fix the problem, resulting in more problems, or someone telling you to euthanize a dog when there is a chance that this behavior can be managed.

Ofcourse, once a dog has bitten, the next time is easier for the dog because he's already gotten success in doing it. So make 100% sure the dog is secure before opening the door again.

Good luck!

This dog is a liability I would not have on my property - he bit with intent (holding on, shaking, growling) it was not just a nip, and it was a child standing there, as you say - unprovoked attack and bite. You were VERY lucky the boy's parents will not press charges. You could lose the dog, as well as a lot of things you own (such as everything you own) because of a bite/attack like this. Liability - I would not keep that dog, perhaps place him with the police, or with a trainer to be rehomed as someone's PP dog.

molly

I have seen a lot of great suggestions already mentioned above. I wanted to mention a few things that I have thought of when looking for a trainer to work with.
1. Use common sense. A trainer should make sense. If they don't, it should throw red flags for you.
2. You should be able to see a pretty big difference right away watching the trainer. There should be a clear leadership watching the trainer work with your dog. If your dog is unable to respect the trainer, then you need to keep looking. Expect to have a lot of "why doesn't he do that for me?" moments.
3. Be wary of anyone that wants to set the dog up using a child as "bait" or whatever you want to call it. I don't think it would help the situation to set up a kid to be barked at, lunged at only to have the dog corrected for lunging, etc. This can make it worse. You will need to go back to basics and establish leadership and a good foundation with this dog. A trainer will help with this. Until you have that, you will not make progress. Any trainer that skips this step may end up making the aggression worse.
4. as mentioned above, do not assume anything with this dog. two weeks with no aggression does not mean the problem is "gone". It just means you had a good two weeks. Keep up with the separation and crates.
5. I didn't see it mentioned specifically, but you want to be aware that it would help to crate ALL the dogs, not just the problem one. THat way, you can have better control and more consistancy. It may help to crate everyone when the doorbell rings. Only crating the "problem" dog may cause additional aggresssion problems and more issues for you to deal with.
I dont' think this dog is ready to be euthanized, but I do think you have a big problem that needs to be addressed right away. Cross reference everything your trainer says to you here, that way you will be able to get feedback and advice the whole way through. Take deep breaths, it will get easier!

Thank you all for your replies. Some very good advice. To answer some questions. Yes we have crates for all. I was planning on having him fixed as I am the 14 month old too. We have begun some of the training already. I think we will continue to train him and still look for another home. I do not want to give away a problem. I have several vidoes and we are begining our training. I will from now on crate him when someone comes to the door regardless of who it is. The child and we were very lucky. This is a side of this dog we never saw until this past Saturday and I never want to see it again.