Hi,

Can someone help me with the following issue? I am very distraught.
I have a 3 1/2 year old neutered male german shepherd and a 3 year old female border collie. (I wrote in regarding another issue: dog growling at husband).
Lately, I would say within the last few months my german shepherd seems to have become extremely attached to me, more than he ever was. I work from home so I am with him every day and he wants to be everywhere that I am. I've always taken them in the car when running errands because we've always lived in a remote area and the dogs don't really get to see alot of people. The last few times I've taken them in the car, they bark as usual at passerbys after I get out of the car (I can hear them) but today when a fellow helped bring my groceries to the car the german shepherd went nuts. This was the first time I was actually frightened that he might attack someone. Now, this isn't the first time people have helped load things into my car and normally the dogs are good, the border collie is harmless..but the shepherd has seen this fellow helping me before a few times, he's barked maybe once or twice at him but then he usually calms down. Today I don't know what happened. I couldn't seem to calm him down and I was very upset.
I walk them on hiking trails every day off leash and once in awhile I come across people at which time I will put them on the leash if I see them coming or I will call out that he's okay and I leash him as soon as I can. He will generally run towards strangers and bark, he's very intimidating, but he is not an aggresive dog and he's just the biggest baby at home. So I've never really been worried about anything. I'm just worried that he seems to be acting up alot more when I meet people and I have this sense that he is protective of me, but there has never been a threat to me by anyone so I don't understand why he acted this way today. Can anyone help me on this one?
Thank you....

Joan,
First, I would like to ask what steps have been taken to resolve your earlier problem and has there been any improvement. I really feel like this is a dog that would be helped by a trainer experienced with this type of dog. I don't know if you will be able to resolve this yourself. For sure, you absolutely want to keep him on a leash on your walks. He is charging people and barking, and his entire demeanour is becoming more serious. It's only a matter of time before he really hurts someone. Still, I'm very curious about your first issue.

Hi Daniel,

With regards to the earlier issue, the dog hasn't growled at my husband since I wrote in. We have switched bedrooms and they both sleep on their beanbags with us. In order to get to that bedroom, there are extremely steep stairs which the german shepherd will not attempt to go down so we simply let him out the door and he goes down to the front door and we let him inside. In the mornings, my husband helps him up the steep steps and the dog doesn't growl at him. I haven't yet tried to set up a situation where he may growl at my husband, because whenever we say bedtime as before, he knows it's time to go downstairs. I will see tonight if he is laying on his beanbag in the livingroom, I will get my husband to approach him as if taking the beanbag and say "bedtime" and see what happens. I will let you know.
The reason I don't walk him on the leash on the trails is for several reasons...
The dogs get alot of exercise running around through the trees and chasing animals and running through the farmers' fields.
I cannot leash him and let the border collie run free, I don't think that is fair to him. And I can't leash them both and walk at the same time, some of the trails are rough and there are alot of trees around, and they would not get enough exercise, they would simply try to pull me through the trees and it would be very tangled with the leashes and slow going.
It isn't often that we encounter other people, it is once in awhile, I would say maybe a few times a month, certainly not every day.

Joan

Sounds like the dog is trying to be protective, but what I see as the problem is, You. You are putting the dog in situations that he has not been trained for, he needs to be socailized before he off leash or have strangers load things in the vehicle.

We need to work more Ob and set up situation that will test him under distractions. Like preparing a test that a stranger walking with you opens the door and loads bags or you meet a stranger on the trail and you tell the dog its ok.

Now its ok for the dog to bark, but once you give the command to disregrad he should stop acting aggressive and only watch the guy.

This may take a pro trainer, you probably need to get this done as soon as possible. The dog is sensing he needs to take control, because you have not trained him that you have control these situations.

Joan

Sounds like the dog is trying to be protective, but what I see as the real problem is, You. You are putting the dog in situations that he has not been trained for, he needs to be socailized before he is off leash or have strangers load things in the vehicle.

We need to work more Ob and set up situation that will test him under distractions. Like preparing a test that a stranger walking with you opens the door and loads bags or you meet a stranger on the trail and you tell the dog its ok.

Now its ok for the dog to bark, but once you give the command to disregrad he should stop acting aggressive and only watch the guy.

This could be handled better by a pro trainer, you probably need to get this done as soon as possible. The longer you wait the worse he will get, probably.

The dog is sensing he needs to take control, because you have not shown/trained him that you have control these situations.

I think I may be utilizing this forum incorrectly, but I have some issues with my German Shepherd as well. I wanted to post this as my own but couldn't figure it out. Well here goes....

I have a 2.5 year old female gsd. We adopted her at 4 mos old from a dog pound, not a humane society, and have no idea of where she came from. She has a disorder with her pancreas where she cannot absorb her food and needs enzymes in order to do so. Recently she has been showing some unpredictable behaviors towards strangers and not strangers. For instance, she has met my husbands family numerous times, but lately she has become aggressive towards them. When she first sees my brother in law or father in law (seems mostly towards men) she will greet them by barking and raising her hackles, however she will 'loosen' up and jump around them for a while before settling down. The problem is sometimes she will sort of lunge towards them with her teeth bared and growling. We typically reprimand her and put her outside or in another room when this happens. On occasion she has shown her teeth to me as well. When this has happened I reprimand her and she immediately becomes submissive (tail lowered etc...) and that is the end. My question is what should my husband and I do when she is being aggressive towards others? I am pregnant currently and although I am not worried about her accepting a new addition; I am worried about other children down the road from now. I am also worried this behavior will worsen and she will eventually bite someone. I am considering a trainer/behaviorist, but live in Dubuque Iowa and both of which I believe are limited here. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

Stephanie Downs

Stephanie, correcting the dog when it shows undesirable behaviour towards family sounds fine to me. I wouldn't necessarily take the dog away and lock it up (at least not before trying other options) since this doesn't actually teach your dog to be calm and non-agressive in your family's presence. You aren't solving the problem - merely removing your dog from the problem. Correct your dog when it barks at family, keep him/her on a leash in the back yard or wherever your family mingles and let your family go about their business. correct the dog when it's agressive, praise it and reward it when it is calm. Maybe you might need a few sessions - start out exposing your dog to family for 10 minutes and then put it away - then a bit longer the next time and so on. Also don't have your family come and get in your dog's face when you are trying to train it - first you can reward the dog for being calm when the family are 30 feet away, then 20ft and so on..
Maybe you could try having your family reward the dog with a food treat it the dog can show calm behaviour it their presence - the dog might start to think - these people aren't so bad after all...Does your dog have any prey drive (instinct to want to chase balls or toys)? One potential option is to have family members play with the dog by throwing a ball/toy for her/him. But if your dog isn't interested in these sort of games then obviously it won't work. My theory is that your dog could learn your family are fun since they would throw the ball for him/her.

But be careful - to start out with always have the dog leashed or tied up and don't expect miracles overnight. If none of this works then the long term solution if what you are already doing - when visitors arrive - the dog goes away.

Good luck..

I am a trainer that works with aggressive dogs. What you are describing is not good and needs to be corrected soon. I work remotely with rescue groups and would be happy to advise you on how to handle this. Most of my clients come to me when it is too late and they can no longer handle the situation on their own and don't have the money to put the dog with a professional. You are doing the right thing by seeking help before this becomes too serious. check your private messages for my phone number. I use ED's methods and reccomend his videos and equipment and articles. Start by reading his articles on aggressive dogs, this should help you figgure out what kind of aggression this is. It sounds like dominance based, but she is nearing the older end of things for that to show up. Usually it surfaces from 18 mo to 3 yrs. It could also be territorial, with her not accepting your judgement as alpha, whhich ties back to dominance. any way, read the articles on aggression amd dominance and then give me a call. In the meantime keep her on a leash and under controll when she is in a situation where you think she will act this way. keep a short drag leash on her (NO loop on the end as this can break their legs and get caught on furniture)n so you can correct her. Order a prong collar from Ed and his obedience video. It is soooooo worth the money. By the way, prong collars are way more humane than regular choke collars. they, when used rght don't cause cervical problems like choke chains do. The germans did a study on this.

sometime, you might want to observe your dog from a distance. watch to see if people are teasing your dog as they walk by the car and see what the dog's reaction is. i was just furious when i came out of the grocery store to find two grown men teasing my old bitch behind the glass. she was a psycho about protecting car and home anyway. that was not the only incident either. teenage boys and well-meaning old ladies who would tap on the glass to say "hello" would set her into orbit. i only mention this because your dog went from occasional barking to near viciousness. it sounds like somebody or several somebodys have been taunting your dog. people can be so stupid and cruel.

to start out with always have the dog leashed or tied up and don't expect miracles overnight. If none of this works then the long term solution if what you are already Having your dog on a leash is probably OK but do NOT tie it up, this is when my dog bit. I think it does something to them.
I have had him on his leash before and I dont know if its because Im on the other end or what but he didnt act aggressive towards people.
(on leash in the house)
My dog is usually good in the car and will ignore people walking by but one night a du**!#!! stuck his face right up to the window and he went ballistic! What is it with people?!
I can understand why the local K-9 cars have the windows tinted very dark.