OK I've posted regarding this before but now it's getting serious and I need to do something about it.

My 9 month old male GSD is VERY protective of his home and garden, which is very good I know (I like it anyway, but the wife doesn't) but.....he's very agressive!!!

We've worked really hard on his sit/stay down/stay and he does this very well under distraction (dog classes, busy park etc.) but will NOT comply if a stranger comes to the door / enters the house.

I've already made the point to my wife that it's pointless to have a big dog and lock him in his cage if a baddie comes to the door, so how can I improve on the work we've done in basic training?

I'm under no illusions that he is NOT fully trained yet and I have a lot of work still to do but I REALLY want to control this behaviour NOT stop it.

I would very much like to have him down stay so well that a visitor can walk past without him flinching. Problem is we don't get a lot of visitors :-)

Anyone fancy a visit to Scotland?? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Cheers

John

You will have to continue your obedience inside the home. You might have to use a remote collar or keep a short tab connected to its standard collar. Correct him when he needs it.

Try heeling your dog away from an assistant that comes in the front door while on a prong. Alot of dogs automatically shut up when you walk away from the "threat" with them. Tell him "it's ok, heel" and walk away to the back yard or the other side of the house or somewhere else out of sight. Once the dog understands that when you say "it's ok" and nothing bad ever happens when u say that, then you can start to incorporate it into more obedience work. Downing your dog facing a "threat" is just gonna increase the suspense and anxiety in your dog because now you're making him submit to someone he doesn't trust, so until your dog understands that "it's ok" means ITS OK! Then a down/stay might be difficult. Every dog's different, this is what works with my dog, I still have some problems with his control work but since my focus is on his bitework I don't really work on it much... I'm happier that my dog fires up when a stranger comes into the house than I am upset about my dog not shutting up <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I should have said that correcting him does very little. I can give him a very hard correction (normally he would be very attentive at this) but it does nothing when he's like this.

Also his tail is wagging when he is "going for it" and I don't know what this means really.

Remote collar is not an option simply due to cost.

I'll try heeling him but he's VERY powerful and very intent on his target.

I didn't know that Down was a submissive position but I tried this simply because I was told by someone on this board to do that the last time I posted (either that or I read it in another post).

If I crate him he just goes NUTS bouncing off the crate trying to get at em.

Cheers

John

Sometimes correcting a dog for not heeling away is more effective than correcting your dog for aggression.

John,

I have a similar challange with a high prey drive GSD.
http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/4165742/an/0/page/0#4165742

I have followed the advice and have gotten good results. I have done the following:

Moved his crate to a low traffic room of the house I have a tray of treats on top of his crate and ask regular visitors to give him a treat whenever they come in the house. Make sure he is tired when I expect visitors. We play ball on a string every day and I use the ball as a reward for obedience. He is walked at night or early in the morning. I will avoid people on the street if I can when walking him. If that’s not possible I make him sit and take a knee next to him and ask the person passing to please don’t come near my dog. I then praise and reassure him keeping his focus on me not the people passing by. You can purchase a vest that has patches on it that say “working dog don’t pet” I use one and it helps with keeping people away .I allow him out on leash with adults that he has seen several times in the house as long as they are sitting out of range of him and; I keep him close to me. I use treats, ham hocks or a kong stuffed with cheese to keep him occupied. Unless he is alone with me he is on leash and I always walk him to and from his crate to kennel on leash. This has worked wonders in a very short time! He pretty much ignores people on the street now and acts pretty good in the house. I will slowly ease up over the next year or so but for now I am the center of his life. All food, exercise and fun come from me. I have had to resort to a no bark collar when he is in his crate otherwise he barks at everything that moves in the house, other dogs, puppies in their kennel, the cat, cars & trains passing etc. He seems to be getting into his routine and calming down nicely.

Good Luck! It will get way better if you invest the time and are 100% consistant.

what a good strategy--good idea!! (i think, but what do i know?)

With my Max I turned everybody into a hotdog dispenser. He still alerts when someone approaches the house but walks in the nieghborhood or parks he is quite managable. This where a club or training school is benificial. I couldn't imagine walking up to a stranger and saying "Hi, my dog is a fearbiter, would mind trying to give him this yummy treat?"

John, what are you correcting him with? Sorry if I missed it. Maybe a smaller link prong would be beneficial if he's hard to correct? My dog is very hard, and doesn't give a rat's a$$ about corrections, either, when he's got it in his mind to eat someone. I keep a prong on him in the house now and he just drags his leash. Down is definitely a submissive position, and consequently, we have major issues with platz. But, when he's being very aggressive, I step on the prong up high, so he is kind of forced into a down position, because he is too strong for me to do this with my arms. I think your dog is sharper than mine, however, as mine only gets so "focused" after MUCH provocation. So, take this with a grain of salt. I can see your wife's perspective on this as well. If he's this territorial at this age, you could be in for some serious problems as he matures. An ecollar, while I don't have one, would most likely be cheaper than a lawsuit.

 Quote:

Maybe a smaller link prong would be beneficial if he's hard to correct?

I went down to a 3mm prong from Remington for $9.99 at Bass Pro Shops and OH MY!!!! I have never seen such a perfect heel out of my dog, ever! I mean, his heel wasn't bad before, but his nose is to my knee, he sits on stop every time, he makes right turns without me having to trip over him (he heels to my right)... anyone who has any doubts as to whether the prong size makes any difference... it does! I need to remember not to correct my dog too hard, because he's given a few nips at the leash in a "hey hold on gimme a chance to DO what you want me to do before correcting me! I'm not that fast!" kinda fashion. This from the dog that could be corrected all day long as hard as I could on a bigger prong and still get ignored.