I just ordered the Basic Obediance DVD and the Remote Collar DVD. I will not try to use the Remote collar for awhile unless I learn otherwise.

I have a 14 month old GSD. 80 lbs. He was a 'yard' dog before I got him, I essentially 'rescued' him. He didn't even know how to play with a ball when I first brought him home. He is not yet neutered. A couple of SCH people who saw him said, "You may not have papers, but that's a 'German' dog, and he's worth saving".

The first few weeks he was home I worked with him everyday for about 30 minutes training (prong collar), then play, and a 15-20 minute jog each morning. He spends nights inside with us in a 3'x4' wire crate. He goes in willingly. Days are spent (8-10 hours) in a 6' x 12' outdoor kennel.

He has gotten progressively worse, not better. The biggest problem is when I take him from the crate or kennel he flips, leaps, paws, nips, lunges. I've tried turning my back on him in the kennel, and he'll nip at the back of my legs or paw at my back.

After he has been out in unfamiliar surroundings his disposition seems great! Friendly, good sit, down, stay, and pretty responsive to 'leave-it' when distracted. But in his own yard, or that kennel...he's a monster...lol.

I will not give up on him. He's too handsome, and I don't want to see bad come to him. But...I wanna do this right.

Any hope?

Hey Dave!

It's great that you've taken in this dog and I applaude you for that! You should consider posting a picture of the dog in the new members forum. The people on this board could probably tell by looking at him if he's likely a working or show line, American or German dog.

To clarify...do you mean that your dog is acting aggressive in these situations (like he's defending what he perceives as his territory?)...or afraid (like he doesn't want to leave the safety of the crate?)? Just curious because I think there's a difference in how you would handle the dog in those situations. Sounds to me like you're talking about territorial dominance problems, but I thought I'd ask to be sure.

In any event, you said that the first few weeks he was home you worked with him for 30 minutes every day. Do you still do that? Do you make him work (sit, down, etc.) for everything he gets to demonstrate who is the pack leader? Another thing is that most large dogs, but especially working line German Shepherds have extra energy requirements. I think keeping him kenneled...even in a nice kennel...isn't giving him what he needs for optimum results. Is there anyone around that can walk him during the day? I'm wondering if keeping him isolated and kenneled for so many hours out of the day could contribute to territorial dominance and possessiveness of "his" place...if that is in fact what's happening.

I am so glad that you said that you're not giving up on your dog. You sound dedicated and that's wonderful to hear. You will find so many answers here and you'll be amazed at how experienced and helpful people are. Don't forget the search feature. I spend tons of time looking things up. There isn't much that hasn't been discussed already, I've found.

Good luck!

Thanks for taking time Amber,

I'm off to work for am...so...can't answer it all. I should have said he's excited...happy..can't wait to get out. Can't wait to get out of the yard to go, go, go. Well...I understand! I like to get out to! But, I do think he's showing 'territorial' superiority about his demands, more than 'agression'. The nips or lunges are never 'angry', more of "I want my way, and by god I'm gonna get it!."

Oh...and by the way...he isn't afraid of anything...LOL. A few weeks ago we met up with a well trained Rott on leash. He was MUCH bigger than my Zorro. They met nose to nose. Zorro wagged his tail, and paused. The Rott was quiet for a moment, and then only curled his lip...a little. Zorro lunged on him. Pre-agreement, prong collars, and anticipation on our part kept both dogs from contact. Other than that, no 'other dog' aggression or handler aggression.

Good idea about pictures. I'll take some this weekend.

Thanks for the help.

Well in the case of a super-go-go-go dog, I would absolutely make him do a sit/stay or a down/stay before I opened the door to let him out...every time, no exceptions. That's the beauty of an intelligent dog..it won't take long before he gets it and you'll be helping to establish yourself as a pack leader that way too, which helps in everything you do with your dog.

Also, I still think extra exercise would seriously help.

Keep us posted!

I can ditto the exercise. We're seeing similar behavior from our 10 month old GSD. He was purchased in March and we had a relatively dry spring and a very dry summer and fall through the end of October. Now the sky has opened up and half way through November we've set an all time record for rain in November in Western Washington. And we still have half a month to go. We learned that our GSD doesn't like being out in the rain, and since the wind has been blowing so hard, and it's been raining so much, and we've spent all our spare time working on the ark, well, he isn't getting as much exercise as he did before and it's showing in his behavior.

Today the sky is this blue color I vaguely remember seeing before. And the air doesn't have any big drops of water in it, and we added some extra exercise today and he is behaving better now. Exercise makes a difference.

more excercise--yes, yes, yes!! also, insist on the sit/down before releasing from the crate/kennel. i do this w/my 11 mo old pup, but guess what?? after being crated for 10-12 hrs during the day, he'll sit, wait until released (even w/crate door opened-i've trained this from 8 wks), THEN get crazy, Just like your dog.

what i started was 20 min in the a.m. of structured excercise, then, when he comes out of the crate and starts acting like a psycho, i will ignore him until he's calm enough to sit before i even put a hand on him. this has turned out to take quite a few "knees into his chest", but that's the only response he gets from me (no talking!) until he's centered again.

this has gradually decreased his "psycho" time. he's learning that nothing good comes of it, and that when he calms down he gets praise, a pat, then gets to go outside for some NEEDED excercise (with momma).

i've only been doing this this past week (after he nailed me pretty good in the bicep), and the lack of positive reinforcement for his psycho behaviors has decreased the length of them from 3-4 minutes to about 1 1/2 minutes.

so, combine some intense excercise before crating with negative reinforcement/no reinforcement for being crazy, and you will hopefully see progress pretty soon. we're still working on it, but it IS working. just what has worked for me