Nervous gsd

hi,
my gsd Rocco 21mths old great on the lead recall all general comands more than happy, what i am concerned about is when friends and family come over, he shows signs of aggression will not settle growls when they move around the house any one else seen this in their dogs before?

Perhaps he is nervous because he's guarding his territory?
Tilly does this sometimes especially with strange men in the house (not that I have them often!!)

Tillymint,
Thanks for your reply.

I think I would get the help of a behaviourist who can see this behaviour in person and try to find the cause/a solution. Try the APBC website to find a local behaviourist who uses positive methods - negative training methods are the last thing you want to use on a nervous dog, let alone a sensitive breed like a GSD.
http://www.apbc.org.uk/

I would for now see if you can give Rocco a room to retreat to when he feels uncomfortable, perhaps behind a babygate for a bit of extra safety. Certainly don't tell him off for growling though - that's his way of telling you he's not happy and it's a good thing for a dog to growl rather than learn not to give this warning and skip straight to nipping/biting.

hi,
my gsd Rocco 21mths old great on the lead recall all general comands more than happy, what i am concerned about is when friends and family come over, he shows signs of aggression will not settle growls when they move around the house any one else seen this in their dogs before?

No I have not seen this in any of my dogs because they are not nervous.

Can I ask, how well socialised is he with people, have you had him since a pup and how have you made sure he is relaxed in company?

Does he exhibit this behaviour when out, at other people's houses, in training club halls etc?

If a dog is this uncomfortable with the presence of people you need to do some considerable work with him in order to change his conditioned emotional response by desensitising him to the presence of people and counter conditioning training

This means that instead of feeling uncomfortable when people come in he starts to feel "wow, people are here".

The suggestion of giving the dog an area in which to retreat is a good one.

Also you may need the help of an experienced person in order to identify if his response is fear or territorial aggression or, possibly, the fact that being a pastoral breed, he cannot cope with the fact that the "flock" is not all in one place.....................

Do not force the issue as if the dog has no escape he will have no choice BUT to bite if growling does not get the effect he wants.

Also if growling DOES get the response he wants, this may escalate until growling is not the ONLY behaviour he exhibits.

for some dogs, learning that they can control the movement of people is deffo NOT a good idea!

HTH

smokeybear,

I have had rocco since he was six mths,before that he was with the breader.

over other people house's he is ok, but will only go up to the person after a while for a "sniff".

does not like stragers going up to him when he is on the lead off the lead he is fine.

Trainnig was ok for the first 15 min then he would need a break i used to take him away from the group for a about 10 min then bring him back.

he's puppy training class was run by the miltary so the whole group was gsd.

Are you giving your visitors some nice treats to either drop on the floor initially for him, and if/when he goes up to them, they can then perhaps give them by hand? I found this worked well with my gsd, in that she would let them in and settle, BUT, if ever they got up or changed to another room, she didn't like that, she would bark at them Since "flooding" her last Christmas with lots and lots of visitors, things have progressed for the better.

Maybe you have the same trouble as me,in that you don't have enough visitors to keep practising with?

Another thing I did when she was a puppy (because she didn't like men), I would hand people a few treats when out on our walks, just so she got to know that the whole world was a friendly place including everything on 2 legs, and that helped a lot with the visitors coming. I also got all delivery men to hand her a treat over my stable door, so again, she got to learn that people were actually allowed to step inside her territory!

I can understand where you're coming from because these dogs are ace at wanting to be in charge at home, they think it's their jobs, but at the end of the day, you've somehow got to get it across that you are more than capable of dealing with all visitors, so he should go somewhere and settle nicely. Maybe if you work on your "settle" command indoors, he should take it as read, when he's told to go and settle somewhere, he does just that? Words are cheap lol, my youngster still won't do that, but it's work in progress!

I don't like the growling, and I'm on my 8th gsd and not one of them has ever growled at any visitors, I don't like growls! Barking yes, that's the warning to ME, that somebody is here (as if I didn't already know ), but when you think about it, if you haven't told the dog you are in charge here, then how is he expected to know what to do about it? Are they a threat? As far as he's concerned they are, so it's up to you I'm afraid to make him know you are dealing with the situation and he can go and relax. Good luck, not easy with gsd's!

ETA: Gsd's of course, are reknown for not liking people going up to THEM, they much prefer to suss them out from a distance first, and then approach the person when they feel ready, so in effect, they wouldn't like somebody coming in and getting in their face initially, just leave them alone until they are ready to come to YOU is the best option.

I have had rocco since he was six mths,before that he was with the breader.

The socialisation window closes at around 16 weeks, that it is why it is so VITAL for pups to get out and about as soon as they come home. More dogs are euthanased due to behaviour problems than catching diseases.

over other people house's he is ok, but will only go up to the person after a while for a "sniff".

GSDs are naturally "one man dogs" and aloof to others, they are not a "hail fellow well met" breed!

does not like stragers going up to him when he is on the lead off the lead he is fine.

Again this dog may be resource guarding you, however even in the BEST trained PPD etc, it should not, if correctly trained, socialised and from genetically sound stock, growl at the approach of others.

I would say do not allow people to approach him, but by him it sounds like the pair of you, and it is unrealistic not to expect or be able to be approached at some time or other.

This is where your counter conditioning comes in.

Trainnig was ok for the first 15 min then he would need a break i used to take him away from the group for a about 10 min then bring him back.

Why did he need a break, what went on?

he's puppy training class was run by the miltary so the whole group was gsd.

Hmm, so what was the training like, was it lots of choke chains, and showing the dog who was boss?

By the way is your dog entire or neutered?

GSDs don`t tend to like people outside their family, so this sounds pretty normal to me.
If I have visitors I either put my dogs in another room, or on a lead. If the visitor behaves ( ) and ignores the dog when asked to, allows the dog to make first approach and is dog savvy enough not to leap on her, then I`m happy for them to make friends. Otherwise I keep them apart.