I have a 5 year old altered lab/GSD mix that because of a move and loss of job and another move, has been living with my friend for a while. I'm almost ready to bring her back to live with me as soon as the yard is ready for her. We are in the process of training, she's 100% on most commands without distractions, and as soon as she is more consistant I will add distractions. She has always been good with people but has dominance/aggression problems towards other animals.

When she's been around children, she has always been on a leash with me right with her, and she's been great. I will let her watch the child from across the room, then slowly bring her closer. As long as both child and dog are showing friendly interest in each other and no nervousness, I will let them meet with me in between ready to intervene if necessary. We have had no problems with this method as I never let the child approach the dog (or vice versa) without me being right there reading the dog's body language. I was bitten myself as a child, and I would hate to be the cause of that for someone else.

I wasn't there to see what happened, but my friend told me. The other day a woman was walking with her toddler on the sidewalk in front of my friend's house. My dog charged the fence, trying to bite through the chain links, and trying to jump over it to get at them. My friend yelled at my dog, and the dog turned and snarled at her. She has never behaved that way before, and has not since, either. I'm wondering if anybody has any suggestions about could possibly have caused this behavior. The woman and her child had walked in front of the fence many times, and did so again today without any reaction from my dog.

Holly, I don't know what caused your dog's behavior, but at the very least, you know that the potential is there for her to exhibit aggression toward people.

When you get her back, I would put her through the pack structure program that is outlined here, and I would not let her interact with young children. Toddlers can be extremely unpredictable in their movements and are at exactly the right eye level to provoke a bite.
Free Pack Structure E-Book
Pack Structure for the Family Pet Video

Holly, I agree with Lynne in that you will probably never know what caused this behavior and I would just concentrate on solidifying your pack structure with her when you get her home.

GSDs and mixes can be very emotional and reactive dogs. It could have been a stress induced reaction (has she been exercised properly w/your friend? Had you visited her earlier that day and then left her behind? Etc.), or perhaps the mom and child were pushing, pulling, dragging some strange, noisy, over-stimulating toy with them and she was reacting to that? Maybe she just wasn't feeling well and was pissy because of that?

There's really no way to know without having witnessed the event. Just know that she can react this way and handle her responsibly. I would not have this dog interacting with children anytime in the near future knowing that this behavior is possible with her. It may be better to simply encourage and train neutrality with kids instead of trying to "make friends".

Good luck getting her home, I'm sure she'll be a happy dog back with her pack leader

I'm a little freaked out as just last week a three-year-old was feeding her treats. Using the method I described above to introduce the two, after an hour or so of them interacting (and a half hour of observation before I let them meet), I felt comfortable enough to let him toss her treats. He had seen me give Hope treats for performing commands, and he had her start sitting for him and he started feeding her by hand. I was right there at her head the entire time, and she had relaxed eyes, ears and mouth. If she got too excited, I would take her outside until she calmed down.

Hope wears a headcollar, as I couldn't get a prong to fit correctly. We tried a prong collar for several months and it would fall to her flat nylon collar until I removed so many links that it wouldn't fasten at all. And she seemed to do better with the headcollar: she wasn't as spastic.

My first response to what my friend told me was, "Did you hit her so hard her teeth rattled?" It's probably not the best response, but if she's confined in a fence and off the leash, what is an appropriate correction if this happens again?

And I agree 100% with no more young children. Thank you for your advice. I'll check out the Pack Structure E-book. Unfortunately my finances are tapped right now trying to get the yard ready for the dog, and her annual checkup and rabies vaccination is coming up in the next couple of weeks, so I can't afford to buy a video at the moment. But hopefully soon.

 Quote: holly page

she's confined in a fence and off the leash, what is an appropriate correction if this happens again?

Why your first idea is to correct the dog? By now the dog considers this yard her territory, she can see everything through the fence, nobody knows what triggered the outburst (if your friend says it was "out of the blue" she either was not watching or completely missed all the signs, could be the grandmother), you have not mentioned any training (desensitizing and giving a command to perform) to teach the dog what to do in this situation (off-leash in a yard vs. leashed in a room) and the dog was left to decide on the course of action. You'll be correcting the dog for not following your unspoken wishes.

 Quote: ana kozlowsky

.... you have not mentioned any training (desensitizing and giving a command to perform) to teach the dog what to do in this situation (off-leash in a yard vs. leashed in a room) and the dog was left to decide on the course of action. You'll be correcting the dog for not following your unspoken wishes.

Unspoken, untrained, unknown wishes .....

In other words, a completely mysterious bolt from the blue that has no meaning for the dog beyond "WTH?" This makes it a mystery punishment and not a correction.

Not to pile on -- just to maybe help with a shift in thinking to "how do I teach the dog what to do in the fenced yard?"

 Quote: kacie hackett

I would not have this dog interacting with children anytime in the near future knowing that this behavior is possible with her. It may be better to simply encourage and train neutrality with kids instead of trying to "make friends".

Please ask if you need pointers on desensitizing (not with a goal of romping with kids, but with a goal of nonreactivity when they happen to pass by or be in the area).

First off, thanks everyone for chiming in. I love that there is a place I can go to for advice on my dog.

Secondly, (and I hope I'm not coming off as defensive, or argumentative, I'm just trying to explain more about the situation. I'm really here to learn!) whenever she has shown aggression (up until now only towards animals), she has received a verbal correction and a slight tug on the leash as well as redirecting her attention. Is she maybe just thinking that it's okay to be aggressive as long as she's not on the leash? She will usually bark when someone walks by, but she has never attacked the fence to try to get at someone. And I never would have thought she would snarl at my friend!

Connie, yes, please! I would love pointers on desensitizing her to children.

I found out on my lunch break when my friend was taking Hope for a walk they encountered that same child, and she was her usual friendly self and was licking her hands and face, but I don't want to risk it. I've asked my friend not to let her interact with children.

I called our trainer (a former K-9 handler), and she said she would evaluate her at our next session.

" I've asked my friend not to let her interact with children. "


Good.

I'll be back. We have some extremely detailed desensitizing threads (which of course do not put any child in danger or even in danger of being lunged at close up or anything like that).

My goal would not be real interactions with kids, as Kacie says, but rather indifference towards them.

 Quote: Holly Page

... I would love pointers on desensitizing her to children. ...

I found these with a quick search:

http://leerburg.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Board=134&Number=249354&Searchpage=1&Main=24006&Words=desensitize+Connie+Sutherland&topic=0&Search=true#Post249354

http://leerburg.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Board=69&Number=246647&Searchpage=1&Main=23779&Words=desensitize+Connie+Sutherland&topic=0&Search=true#Post246647

You might want to just read through them and then post questions ...