John, while this can be an age issue the dog obviously has a few screws loose in his head. I had a look at a couple of the web sites listed above. More wordy that effective in my opinion.

I would not recommend a site that says the following on its first page “A true top dog is more likely to share a toy, a bone, or a sleeping place, than fight over one.” That’s just flat wrong.

Bottom line is the dog sounds more like it has weak nerves than a dominance problem. When a dog is at the level your dog is at you can clicker these dogs to death and socialize the snot out of them and you will still have weak nerved sharp dog. Clickers and socializing will help dogs with less of a problem but your dog is on the edge ( the edge of a needle)

You need to do serious obedience training with the dog. Teach it that inappropriate aggression will always result in a correction that it will remember. The dog needs to remember the correction the next time it thinks it needs to show aggression.

You can dance around the bush as much as you wish but if your dog does not respect the possible correction more than it fears the GHOSTS IN ITS HEAD you will never solve this problem.

This does not mean you go out and tear his head off in OB training - you set your bond with the dog there. Teach him that you are consistent and fair in your corrections along with praising the heck out of him when he does what you ask. But you need to correct to the level of control for aggression.

Food is not the problem for this dog. You found this out with your neighbor. It will ignore food when stressed.

Here are some DVDs to consider:

Basic Dog Obedience http://leerburg.com/302.htm

Dealing with Dominat and Aggressive Dogs http://leerburg.com/301.htm

Remote Collar Training for the Pet Owner http://leerburg.com/318.htm

I have a GSD with a few winged monkeys in her head.

Ed is absoutely right, and my dog is an example of what intense socializing, obedience training can do. After 6+ months, the dog appears normal when she is close to me. She appears calm because she lives in an obedience routine. If she was not always performing a command or task, she could very quickly be stressed into aggression.

Do I trust the dog? No. Do I trust my handling and training? Yes.

Check with the vet for any hidden health problems.

Make sure your dog is getting a lot of structured exercise. A tired dog is less reactive.

Don't allow your dog out in the fenced yard. If I am reading your post correctly, your dog requires quite a bit of structure, and when it out of obedience commands, he is nervy and aggressive.

Approach it as an obedience issue. When your dog is in the yard and sees a person the dog should ________________ . Go in his doghouse? Go inside? Lie down? These are not impossible but will require good management and training.

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John,

I can tell you from personel experience that the advice Ed just gave you will work with your dog.

As for being able to trust him to allow strangers to come on your property without being under your control....I would never trust him. Put a lock on your front gate with a bell for people to ring if he is going to be in the yard unattended.

For the nip he gave you.....guess you learned to not reach out and grab at him when he is "in a state", leave a drag line or ecollar on him until you get his obedience down pat. These types of dogs are a big responsibility and require lots of thought and management. Once he learns the rules and you figure out what works best he can still be a good companion for you. Don't get mad at him....just get control of him, then if he is just too much to hassle with, find him a home in the country with someone that doesn't have many visitors! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

The DVDs that Ed suggested are an excellent start for you.

Best wishes,
Debbie

John:
I am going thru the exact same thing with my GSD who is around 1yr old. I am just working his OB right now , bonding and some basic bite work ,besides my club time. I am not to worried about this ; he will grow out of it he is just a pup. I would be cautious on the e-collar use. E collars arent " silver bullets " or " magic " as some would leave you to believe. Alot of good dogs were trained long before ecollars were around

Good luck

"At this time I went to correct the dog, as he was barking and he bit my arm. Now granted the skin wasn't broken and it didn't hurt but is this a sign of things to come?"

And your responce was WHAT? sorry John but you need to show this dog who is the pack leader.

sorry, ignore my post, I did not see the rest of your posts.

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Alot of good dogs were trained long before ecollars were around

A whole bunch of math was done before the calculator too. But there is no need to avoid either tool if your a conscientious trainer and are willing to learn how to properly do things.

Hi All,

Thanks for your posts and PM's, they've helped a lot.

I have no intention of using the E-Collar as an everyday training tool as this kinda goes against the grain with me (I like to work at it and enjoy the frustration and rewards of of leash training) although I have no problem with using it as just another tool.

I'm looking at it to solve this specific problem, where he's in the garden and I can't get to him to correct him in time OR stop him in his tracks. I'm very happy with the training methods I've been using up to now, mostly gotten from Ed's videos and people on this board....It's worked very well for me so far and I'm very happy with his general OB outside this agression problem.

I'll report back in a couple of weeks and let you know about the improvements <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Cheers

John

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 Quote:

Alot of good dogs were trained long before ecollars were around

A whole bunch of math was done before the calculator too. But there is no need to avoid either tool if your a conscientious trainer and are willing to learn how to properly do things.

Sure, for certain specfic behaviors, espically when controlled scenarios are set up e-collars are great, and novices can use them. I have been using mine 6 yrs and still consider myself a novice. I think too many trainers think " Hey I'll get an e collar , and it will solve my problems "

Good luck with your dog

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It's worked very well for me so far and I'm very happy with his general OB outside this agression problem.

I think it's one thing to do obedience and other basic training from videos and books. And we all try to help here, and give the different ways you can try. But for aggression.................

So I'm not sure why you are so resistant to getting REAL hands on assistance from someone who can SEE you, SEE your dog, give instant feedback and advice based on their vast background and experience. As 'perfect' as my 3 dogs are, well, the truth is I've only raised the three. So I certainly don't know all things about all dogs. REALIZING this, I chose to use someone who HAS worked with hundreds of dogs and 'practiced' on them, so bringing a real knowledge to the training and learning.

Owning an agressive dog that I would not feel I could reliably control, would be a scary thing as well as a liability. I know I would be getting any and all the hands-on real HELP from professionals I could. Rather than just doing the best I could with what I know (which is obviously not enough cause my dog just bit someone).

But that's me, with a high drive GSD that has never and will never bite anyone who accidentally comes in my yard. And I KNOW this because of all the training and socialization we've done in clinics/seminars/classes. I relied and trusted professionals and it worked well for us.