I want to add something that came up on another thread a while back, where the owner was afraid of the dog and had shown this to the dog, and that put him in a failure position.

If you cannot be absolutely calm and authoritative *even if you take a bite*, then don't do anything at all that has triggered nipping or biting in the past.

And absolutely do not allow anyone else to do so (including petting and feeding).

I'm not saying that I like to stand there and have my hand chomped off; I really don't . But I always remind myself with a troublesome dog (and mostly, they aren't) that I absolutely will not back away or flinch if the dog growls and nips.

So don't let it happen. Every time the dog nips and you back away, you prove over and over to the dog that he is the boss.

One more thing is that my s.o. has been under the impression that he should pet the dog, almost challenging him, even when he knows the dog is resting and is prone to displaying his "bad behavior." The dog has learned he can't mess with him, but no wonder when my dad (a very meek, loving human) approaches to pet, the dog acts out towards him.

IF my family will allow our dog to visit again, then we'll definately have to have an educational session first.

 Quote: stephanie biros

One more thing is that my s.o. has been under the impression that he should pet the dog, almost challenging him, even when he knows the dog is resting and is prone to displaying his "bad behavior." The dog has learned he can't mess with him, but no wonder when my dad (a very meek, loving human) approaches to pet, the dog acts out towards him.

IF my family will allow our dog to visit again, then we'll definately have to have an educational session first.

JMHO: this dog is not ready to go visiting.

 Quote: stephanie biros

One more thing is that my s.o. has been under the impression that he should pet the dog, almost challenging him, even when he knows the dog is resting and is prone to displaying his "bad behavior."

Challenging the dog when there are already aggression issues and the dog has bitten isn't the way to go, IMHO, unless you're Cesar Millan. I would do what everyone here has said, which is to work on pack structure and training. And let him eat in peace.

Great advice from everyone so far, stephanie. I hope it's been helpful to you. We also had a GSD very similar to what you describe (about 20 years ago). My wife, in particular, was afraid of him and we didn't know much about dog training and what to do at the time. I'm a big burly guy, so no little 90-pound dog phases me much. I (metaphorically) MURDER the dog at the first sign of being an a-hole (that's him being an a-hole...lol)My wife was/is an intelligent woman and is now a good dog handler. However at the time, she was 100 pounds and didn't have the same mojo (or as Cesar calls it ... "energy") around the dog.

A very wise trainer taught us this little gem: when the dog starts to act like HE'S the boss instead of you (and you have obedience trained him as we had) then give him a series of sharp, quick commands. "Sit!Down! Come! Sit! Heel! Down! Sit!" etc. etc. This establishes pack order almost "automatically" or "subconsciously" in the dog. I STILL do this if a dog ever turns his a-hole behavior towards me. (Sometimes one dog will growl at another over a toy and if I break it up one of them looks at me with that "look"...and I immediately give commands to that dog.)
Of course you can't do this when he's outright biting you. But a dragline in the house at all times is a great idea.

Oh ya - and I ALWAYS feed my dogs in their crates and NEVER mess with their food. I want them to know that they can 100% trust me around their food. Even my most a-hole of a-holes will let me pet her on the side and such around her food because I NEVER mess with it EVER.

I don't believe that a dog who guards food will guard his crate when there's no food in it - but I could be wrong. They know the difference between food and a safe place to eat food.

 Quote: charles bois

A very wise trainer taught us this little gem: when the dog starts to act like HE'S the boss instead of you (and you have obedience trained him as we had) then give him a series of sharp, quick commands. "Sit!Down! Come! Sit! Heel! Down! Sit!" etc. etc. This establishes pack order almost "automatically" or "subconsciously" in the dog.

Great point. Many call that "doggy push-ups."

All the more reason to get the marker training going and get the basic ob started.

I ran out and got yummy treats and we had our first "session". To correct myself, I didn't exactly mean my s.o. would challenge for the sake of challenging (by petting him), but because his belief is our dog SHOULD allow US at the very least to pet him, and SHOULDN'T growl or bite us when we do.

We have actually implemented that: giving commands when he starts to act like he's the dominator. We'll have to get back to the e-collar again, too. Sometimes to reach in and give a correction on a prong collar (for not down-ing, for example) causes an aggressive response, but the e-collar nicely removes us from directly causing the correction and makes the dog act.

Again, due to his leg problems, we have, in the past, made excuses *why* he didn't "down" immediately (oh, maybe he's sore.) So many excuses we never had with our last shepherd, and she was a gem.

I wouldn't be correcting for non-compliance with commands (like sit, down, etc.) until you have really taught the commands well.

For me, that means teaching phase, then when that's solid, different venues (starting with just different rooms, then the yard, etc.), then gradually introducing distractions, and phasing the tangible rewards out (gradually) until they are random.....

You're gonna love marker training.

I'd really start over. I mean, I'd load the marker and then do the simplest of commands. Give him confidence and a feeling of having worked for his treat, and build your own mastery and confidence.

And anyway, backing up to step one is never a mistake in basic ob, IMHO.

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

And anyway, backing up to step one is never a mistake in basic ob, IMHO.

definitely not a mistake. Sometimes it is the only way to figure out what is not working when you run into a roadblock!

 Quote: stephanie biros

We had watched the puppy tests, and he wasn't the alpha dog, but they worded it "he THINKS he's the alpha dog." We should have taken than as a warning right there.

That might be worse than the alpha dog. An alpha dog is usually secure in it's rank and doesn't need to prove it. On the other hand one who is in contention for "alpha" might be more prone to aggression because he has something to prove.

My GSD Lady was the alpha in her litter. She was about as headstrong as they come and even challenged me once. Like Charles however I was young and in great physical shape then and could throw a dog across the room if I had to. At the time I did an "alpha roll" (not recommended) and it worked that time. If it hadn't the outcome with Lady might have been much different.

I'd say that once you get a handle on the problem with your dog and establish proper pack structure you should have a wonderful dog on your hands. Lady was one of those "once in a lifetime" dogs.