I do not want to write a very long posting here, so I will try to touch on all that I can.

I have a 2 GSD's, one almost 3 the other just turned 2, the 2 year old, Loki, started to show aggression, I am a first time dog owner and I did not notice any signs before the below situations.

Loki is part of the vom Haus Kuhn working line, and from what I hear is fairly good. The dog is extremely smart, crazily energetic and as the breeder said, is a hammer head. I started him out in Schutzhund around 8 months and he was doing great. I had some health problems and stopped about 8 months ago.

He was not getting allot of exercise except for playing fetch pretty much everyday until my arm was sore. This dog has an insane amount of energy.

I have been having the same people over to my house every Friday for the last year. 4 weeks ago, Loki was in the back yard and one of the Friday guests came and walked into the yard, Loki ran, barked and jumped on her, I was in the kitchen, when I called him, he came to me right away. I passed this off as him not knowing who was coming into his yard so he got a little protective, not knowing who it was soon enough.

At that point I decided to go back to Schutzhund, the first day back, we walked out on the field, I had him sit and the trainer came over, he stuck his hand out and Loki nipped him, no bark or warning.

At this point, I was concerned, I brought Loki to see a reputable police dog trainer here in Illinois, he suggested that I leave him for 2-3 weeks and go from there. After he found out that I do not have control issues with this dog, (he does everything I say with no problem at all) he then suggested one on one training with one of his trainers. The soonest they could fit me in is 3 weeks. He even offered to buy my dog.

Needless to say, the husband of the girl that Loki went after, walked in to my house 2 Friday's ago, my wife grabbed the dog by his scruff, and from what they say, he went for his hand. First off, I did not in anyway plan for him to walk in, secondly, I was not there to see exactly what happened.

Since then, I have brought him everywhere with me, I have been spending an hour in the morning, heeling, playing then obedience, and the same at night. I have been bringing him to the local shopping center, he was a little tense at first from all the commotion and now he does not even notice people walking out of the store 3 feet away when he is in a long down.

He was very aggressive to the dog on the other side of my fence since he has been with us, I gave him one leash correction, and now, when he starts running toward the fence, I say no and he ignores the other dog.

He obeys my daughters, 16 and 8 and my wife. He cuddles with everyone like a cat, and gets along great with the older dog.

Is this just maturing phase that I can correct? Are there other signs to look out for?

I do not know how to approach the subject of people coming into my house, 90% of the time, we are going to let the person in, but there will be a time when someone walks in unattended, like my Sister-in-law who is over just about everyday. I cant be worried about my daughter bringing in a friend and something happening, unless it's a boy and we are not home.

How do I know this can be fixed?

How do I train him to accept these close family members coming into my house?

I hope this post is not too long.

Sorry, that post was too big.

At two years old your dog is maturing, but the best thing to do is get a kennel. If you are going to have people dropping by at anytime, then you should make sure your dog is in control, because someone will probably get bit!

You may not be able to "train" him to accept people to come into the house unannounced when you aren't there. I would suggest that when the dog is not with you that you crate or kennel him, then he CAN'T bite anyone. You will still have another dog loose ( if I did my math right) so you sill still have the deterrent effect of having a loose GSD in the house/ on the property.

I feel your pain, I too have a very busy household, lots of people in and out. My 1st GSD is a serious dog and started to become a danger to others outside of the family (unless I was home, then she was fine)....I was told that between the age of 2 and 3 alot of the drives finish maturing,..and this seemed to be the case with her.

She is now doing awesome as a patrol dog. I was lucky that I had help to find a fantastic situation for her to be able to utilize the gifts that she has, BUT, if I hadn't had that outlet, I would have had to do EXACTLY as I advised you to do...crate or kennel her at all times if I'm not immediately in the vicinity to supervise. This would be to protect myself from liability and her from euthanasia!!!

Good luck with your dog, I hope you can work this out. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Sometimes dogs will only accept their pack members, but you could have the people that come over uninvited give your dog hotdog pieces or something your dog really likes.

Even though he just started this behavior? I have in the past been able to correct issues as they appear, once he understands, he just does it without blinking an eye. Granted, this is much more serious, and I do not want anyone to get hurt.

This dog just amazes me in his undertanding of me.

If I was to have guests become hot dog machines, put him in a muzzle until he understands, then see how he responds. I have a friend that may be willing to test him with his hand and a leather glove on after a few weeks. Or even with a muzzle on I can see if he lunges. Can't I show him that anyone at anytime may play fetch or give him food so he is always eager to see someone.

Is there any chance that it is just a phase and he does not know right from wrong? I am so serious when I say that this dog excepted everyone (minus other dogs), and so on up until 4 weeks ago.

Has anyone here corrected this before, or is it a genetic / working line issue that cannot not be fixed.

I would seriously like to hear experianced input on this, if after a reasonable period and he fails the test, I will remove him from my house.

keep your appointment with the police dog trainer. very seldom do they offer to buy dogs since a high percentage of them are not suitable for psd work. after some evaluation, you should have a better understanding of your dog's behavior and can determine if your dog is suitable for you, if you want to continue with the sport training, or if your dog would be better off as a working dog. meantime, do what you must to keep your dog safe and your visitors unharmed.

Yeah, I wouldn't recommend asking your friends to be hot dog machines...your dog isn't stupid, and it won't help change this behaviour.

Jeanette, desensitizing the dog through a ton of positive reinforcement coming from every stranger that he meets can have a beneficial affect on the dog's behavior.

Human hot dog machines can work if done carefully.

Get one of Ed's German wire muzzles untill you figure out what is going on. Think of it as a "face crate". Keep the appt. with the trainer. hang in there.