Iam having a problem that has happend 2 times now with my 18 month gsd male at obdience class when he approached by instructer he growled the first time i corrected him, the next time he didnt growl but i could tell he was a little uneasy. I dont know what is going on with him, its unlike him, iam not traing for protection work. Could anti inflamatory drug he has been taking for about a week (an injury to his paw) have anything to do with it.

Only one way to find out. Wait till he is off the drugs and place him in the same situation as before.

I seem to remember hearing in Ed's training tapes that as dogs mature, they begin to show signs of defense around 15 to 18 months old. A growling dog is warning the approaching person and is basically saying "Back off! I don't want you coming over here." The fact that you are not training for protection has nothing to do with your dog's behaviour. It is purely genetic. I seriously doubt the anti-inflammatory medication would be the cause for the fear/agression. JMO

John is right! Any GSD worth his salt will do the same thing as it matures. If you don't want it , train it out! Get him around a lot of differant people. Let them pet him, feed him cookies, lots of praise. Etc.
But it is in MHO a good trate.
Ron

Training it out of him might be a misnomer. If it is in him, the reaction is genetically pre-programmed and NO amount of training will take that out of him, however, if you find the behavior ( behavior--a physical manifestation of response to a stimulus)undesirable, you can train him to behave differently. In so far as any DHS being worth his salt, a degree of or absence of sharpness in different dogs makes them applicable to different kinds of work. For example, one cannot train dog aggression out of a dog but one can teach a dog that the barking and aggressive behavior towards other animals is unacceptable and will be met with negative reinforcement firmly, fairly and consistently. That dog will always desire to assert his authority over other animals but the punitive actions on the behalf of the handler will prevent the dog from BEHAVING in an aggressive manner.

To train in an obedience class / group environment is, in my opinion, an unfair expectation. If I were to take my CJ son to a group or class environment, I would spend more time on getting him not to eat everyone and everthing around him. Perhaps you may consider a bit / a lot more socialixation time with your dog before requiring his strict attention in a distraction filled enviroment. I beleive the obedience class issue has been flogged to death here, I won't be guilty of repetition. Perhaps you may consider getting your dog evaluted by a reputable sport /LEO trainer and go from there.

Good luck in future endeavors with him, sounds like a keeper.

thanks for the input, this was something to do while his injury heals he is well behaved during class when people or dogs come with in 10 ft no problems. It seems that if somebody approaches me stops 5 ft away its fine, i leave him go to them no problem, its when they approach him in a sit or down position is this fear or natural reaction this is my first gsd, all i ever had was coon hounds and labs. I put him in this class for socialization while he heals up. Then we are going to continue with his rcmp style( Eds tapes) training that we already started. Thanks Carl

I am training for strictly tracking which i feel he has what it takes to get started, ball crazy nose to the ground 90% of the time no problem at the house etc with people or my grandson, i keep telling him its ok(not a threat) Hpoping to down play the protectiveness am i being unrealalist to epect this Carl

I'd be careful with telling him "it's OK". While you may think you're downplaying the agression, he may think you're actually praising him.

I'd tell my dog, in no uncertain terms, to knock it off. Giving as hard a correction as it takes to stop this has never interfered with my dogs (as sensible adults) strongly protecting me and my property. I think at his age he's testing the water and needs to know you'll let him know when going ape is appropriate.

I also think that this (depends on your dog) is one of those things -- like chasing stock or cars -- that I wouldn't hesitate to use strong compulsion. The last thing you want is acting up that ends with him taking a shot at the back of a passing (stranger) kid.

Getting to go off at people, dogs, stock, whatever trips his trigger, is one of those self fulfilling things. It's fun, and doesn't take much (or any) reinforcement from you to keep it going. My son's belgian bitch lights all up right before she launches herself roaring her "aliens are landing in the yard right now" act. She freakin' loves it, and he's never reinforced it.

 Quote:

Originally posted by Stephan R Weber:
I'd be careful with telling him "it's OK". While you may think you're downplaying the agression, he may think you're actually praising him.

Stephan is right. Many people make this mistake with dogs that are scared of things such a sgunfire or thunder. They keep saying "It's okay" and petting the dog in an effort to calm him and the dog interprets it as praise for being scared. You need to let him know that his behavior is unacceptable to you. Make it clear and it will go a lot faster. Like Ed always says, "one good correction is better than 1,000 nagging ones". You know best how much correction to use. Use a voice command as well such as "No!", "phooie!" or "leave it!". Place him in situations where you don't want him to show aggression but he has before and let him know tht it is not ok with you. Once he knows the command you should be able to use just that in the future.