Hello, long time lurker, first time poster here. A nod of thanks to our hosts and benefactors of this site. They have done a good service for dogs as a whole and the population of dog owners at large. Kudos.
To preface this call I want to say, firstly; that my young GSD is coming along fine, and secondly; I can not vouch for the bonafides or the methodology of the acquaintance I'm going to talk about. However, having spent alittle time talking with him he does seem to have a pretty good handle on the subject of dogs. That is to say, to his credit no new age phoney baloney mumbo jumbo has been opined.
I met Will one afternoon when I was at the locale green space in town(do they call them parks any more?) proofing my GSD in some simple ob (if memory serves she wasn't working well that day, bummer), the session was short and afterwards Will comes up and introduces himself. After some small talk he turned the conversation to his GSD. The story goes thus; he had just spent about three years to ready her for her first SchH. trial and on the eve of the trial (seemingly overnight) she turned from being calm, steady, confident dog to being a danger to any animal within range, that is bad enough but the worse part is that she started going after people, on the way out. One can walk up to her, pet her, make of her, or just stand and talk but as soon as someone starts leaving they are in danger of also leaving body parts with the dog! I have met this animal two or three times now (from some distance) and she doesn't strike me as a spook and except for her obvious dislike for other animals looks to be a fine, well mannered GSD.
My best advice for Will was to go immediately to a professional trainer and get help. But he said, he could not afford the sort of trainer needed, nor could he afford the liablity and is considering putting the dog down. Fair enough I quess. But I'm not so sure this is a case of bad nerves, or poor training, or something simpler that I've over looked.
Any ideas?
Thanks again for the site,
Randy Allen

I would say the first thing to do is have the dog vet checked thoroughly including a full, 6-panel thyroid test. Then he should consult with a trainer experienced in dealing with aggression such as a police k9, schutzhund, or French ring trainer. If he won't could you offer to take the dog yourself? The cost of the vet bill and trainer should be the payment to him and nothing else (if you are able to take her).

Elaine, that was a really good idea, to present it in terms of an evaluation. An evaluation sounds like (and is, of course) much less of a financial commitment to someone who might be paralyzed with anxiety about the whole situation.

And of course it's the fair thing to do, since who knows what really happened with the dog (from a second-hand report)...... or whether it was really a sudden change ....



Editing to add that the O.P ranks high in my book for seeing the need and trying to get it met.

Hello,
Thanks for the feed back. I could have, I guess, filled in some what on the subject line but I wanted to be as concise as possible. Will did say he'd a vet check soon after the problem was encountered and no health issues rose their ugly heads. As to the thyroid tests, I'll be sure to ask if those test specifically were done, next time we happen to meet (perhaps tonight).
And as to trainers and cost: my second best advice was to give him the location and days a very active local French Ring Club meet (twice a week!). And while I am not a member, I have on occasion dropped by. They seem as freindly as they are active and more than willing to help with dog related matters. So far Will has shown no intent of heading in that direction. I don't know. Only guessing here, maybe philosophical differences between SchH. and French Ring? Can the gulf separating them possibly run that deep?
Randy Allen

Unless specifically asked for it is highly unlikely a blood test was done at all and definitely not a 6-panel thyroid test.

It doesn't matter which one evaluates the dog. What matters is that it's a trainer who knows how to turn aggression on and off not some pet dog trainer or even regular obedience trainer.

Hello,
Elaine I couldn't agree more about how the dog should be evaluated and worked by somebody with much more expertise in agression than I have. And I want to leave no doubt here that I'll keep pushing Will in that right direction. I just can't understand how somebody into bite work could refuse an introduction to a very active and engaged dog group, which by the way is run and hosted by one of the professioal trainers in the area I would recommend for these type of problems. Go figure.
If the trainee isn't learning, then I must be doing something wrong.
Randy