i have a 7 mnth old male GSD, a 16 wk. old female GSD, and a 10 yr. old cat.
the male gets along fine with the female, but doesn't get along with the cat OR ANY OTHER DOG.
i have trained the basics to my dogs at home and as soon as i get the correction phase down pat i will try the proofing phase in training. my question is how should i or should i even try to get him use to other animals right now?
i just recieved your catalog in the mail and it talks about waiting to attend OB training classes until you have done the above mentioned steps, which is very great advice considering the male is animal aggressive. but, is there another way to get him use to other animals before hand?
i made the mistake of taking him to petsmart and to a GSD club training class. all he did was bark and lundge at other dogs. he is very friendly towards people (adults and kids).
i have been using the LEAVE IT command at home on the cat, but it didn't work in the other situations. i know....it was a stupid idea. i've learned my lesson....the hard way. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

http://leerburg.com/dog-agg.htm

Have a read here.... save me some typin!

thank you so much lonny B.
this has really clarified a lot of things for me.
zeus was attacked by our cat and by my sister-in-laws minature schnauzer when he was younger. so,
i guess all in all he will never get over his fear. it will just be up to us to help him control the fear with training. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

p.s. i guess we won't be visiting the dog park or petsmart anytime soon. :rolleyes:

Lots of individual attention and Obedience with each dog. Establish yourself as the clear cut leader as this will set the groundwork for you to display to both of them that any form of aggression will NEVER be tolorated.

thanks chuck f. i'm workin' on it. i'll let ya'll know the results.

I have the same problem with my 14 month old GSD spayed female. She was brought up on a farm with her 3 sisters and mother until she was 4 months old. She seemed to be fine with other dogs until the last several months. I also took her to Petsmart and she went ballistic. She barked at everything. It took a few minutes to settle her down and then she was better. I think one of her problems is that she gets overly excited. I have since taken her for a 8 week training class at Petsmart and she made friends with a chocolate lab puppy. I noticed she was fairly aggressive at play: biting ears, pawing, etc., but she was never "mad". I'm not quite sure what to make of it. We had a lab visit our house and we took both dogs on leashes in front of my house. At first, Kayla was barking and lunging, but then she settled down and sniffed the lab. We noticed she got more settled with every minute. Should I keep attempting to take her to the store and meet other dogs?

One of the things that I do, not to distract others from training (by going to an training session with other people trying train there dogs). I use everyday situations other peoples dogs that are behind their fence. You mentioned that their Ob is pretty good, it just needs proofing. We'll this is a good test, (try it one at a time 1st). While walking my dog eye distance from a fenced dog that is barking or standing up on the fence. I use the leave it command, also which stops him from going after them, (hair up on his back and everything). Then I'll have him face me, place him is a sit then a down. All this while the other dog is still barking and jumping around. You will see him occassionally look over his shoulder, he/she may even face the other dog. This is ok as long as he obeys your command, if he does not you do a correction and place him in a sit, praise him for doing a good sit. Then walk him off, praise him for doing a good heel. You are ignoring the barking dog and you are teaching him to the same. This will not be a successful venture the first time around, but continued practice will have him, being able to stop acting aggressive toward other dogs even when he wants to (hair up and tail up, pulling toward them if they act like the want out of the fence). Warning do this is done from a distance away from the the fenced dog's yard. Try this with small dogs 1st, the ones that won't try to jump the fence.

Maybe the park sceniro setup with a friend's leash dog that he doesn't know would be best and safer. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

I like Don's suggestion, but just want to emphasize DISTANCE. This is very important. If you are too close to the other dog, then your dog will not be able to focus on anything BUT the other dog. Dogs are not good multitaskers. Under stress, they can only focus on one thing at a time. So if you do this, make sure that you do so at a distance from the other dog where your dog is ABLE to follow your direction. Over time, you can decrease the distance.

And no, I would not continue to take him to Petsmart until you have a firm grasp of counterconditioning and desensitization, and a clear plan for applying these to your dog.

I think that this type of training builds confidence in your decision as the Alpha leader. You decide if and when the dog should carry out aggression, its ok if he barks and hair goes up on his back as long as she/he obeys, your command.

And as Lisa mentioned distance is the key, until your control gets better. What you are doing is socailizing your dog to other dogs, and teaching just because the other dogs are acting aggressive he/she should not. It may take awhile, but when they get it you will have less problems. I mean if your dog met another aggressive dog right now in pet-mart it could turn into a fight.

I get a kick out of walking my dogs, at the various park and watching some of the other people having to pull their dogs away straining at the leash trying to get at us. Some have this look of pride like boy he/she is a bad ass isn't he. I feel why keep straining and pulling, when Ob could make their life so much simpler.

Some of these mean ass dogs are little foo foos 5-20lbs adult spoon feed scramble egg eating, felines like dog animals (they don't know the Rottie/pit sees them as prey/a snack), depending how close it gets, the GSD doesn't even know they exist, he is sorta like me. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />