Star the rescue White German Shepherd

Hi everyone I'm new to to Dogweb. 9 weeks ago I was very lucky as I brought home from a local stray kennel a very large (weighed 9 stone then) curly coated dog. I had to choose him he'd been picked up of the streets and in the kennel for 8 weeks he was so so sad.

Well after getting him home and trying to cut matts from his smelly coat poor thing he was so good. He's settled in very well and has now been bathed and groomed and a very handsome white shepherd.

H owever he has one vice can anyone help he go's abosolutely banana's when he sees another dog barking jumping and dancing, crying and because he's so big people are really scared of him.

We are taking him to training classes but has anyone had the same problems and won please help if you can I love him to bits and he's gentle in every other way.

how old is he?
is he trying to say hello to the others or is he dog aggressive?
we had the same problem with tob when he was younger he saw a dog and was focused on it because he couldn't wait to say hello the way we got round it is turning him away untill he learnt that he only went over if he walked propeerly and by our side.
some will always try and move away cause he is a shepard ignore them.

we get it with ours still now cause of their size even though tob is fine now holly is the one that dances around trying to get the other dog to come over because she knows i wont let her go to them like a bull at a gate.
maybe he hasn't been socialised as well as he should have been so another dog is a big deal to him.
what was he like in the kennels with the others maybe he thinks its one of them.

Hi and welcome

Cant help, sorry, just wanted to say hi

Not sure there is a simple solution to this one as he has only recently come out of kennels whereby he learn't to communicate through 'barking' and not being able to sniff. (one of my own dogs displayed this behaviour when I worked at the kennels and took him with me. In time he has learn't through positive reinforcement that this isn't acceptable or the way to greet other dogs)

Does he just bark at the other dogs when he's near to them or does he lunge with heckles up? If this is the case then you need help from a proffessional behaviouralist. Oh and as a precaution, Muzzle him when you take him for walks as he may do some serious damage to another pet.

As Leo says, you need to determine just what his behaviour is signalling. What did the people who were looking after him say he was like with other dogs? How old is the dog?

Whether he is just wanting to be friendly or whether he is wanting to 'have a go' training classes are probably not the ideal place for him at the moment. He will be overwhelmed by being with so many other dogs and his level of excitement or aggression is likely to rise. You need to take it slowly, introducing him to one dog at a time (if Star is indeed friendly and just wanting to play). Preferably he should be introduced to a calm, laid-back, confident dog who is well-versed in canine good manners.

If the behaviour is aggressive you need to ascertain his comfort zone when he sees another dog and work very slowly from that point. You also need to determine the type of aggression displayed, i.e. fear-based, dominance based, etc. This article deals with desensitizing nervous dogs, but it can be adapted to help a dog which is unsure of itself with other dogs: http://www.dogweb.co.uk/talkdogs/des...dogs_8050.html

In both cases it would be a good idea to teach your dog to focus on you when another dog approaches. You can do this with the aid of treats or a favourite toy. Get your dog to make eye contact with you and reward him.

If you can give further information about the behaviour, the age and any background on the dog we may be able to assist you with more detailed advice. It may be that you will need the help of a behaviour consultant if your dog is displaying aggression.

Good wishes
SB

Hi and thanks to you all for the advice to answer a couple of questions poor star was picked up roaming the streets so his age can only be a quess but we think about a year. The kennel he was in althought they do their best is old fashioned now and the dogs can;t see each other and it's non stop barking.
so
It's not out and out aggression he displays but because he's so big and noisy it looks that way. It's like he's a terrible two year old throwing a tantrum.

At least he appears to have learnt his new name now and will sit when told so bless him he's come a long way in 9 weeks.

We love him so I'll know he will get there.

Thanks a lot Angie

Hi Angie good luck with your new dog..
Try to sound calm when he is excited and keep you voice low so as not to excite him more..if you follow the advice above and given your patience and a little time I am sure you will have a great dog.

My Murphy (8st Rottie) can be like how you described Star when he sees another dog - with Murphy it isn't aggression, it's more like frustration cause he wants to go over and have a sniff, they way I have trained to combat the lunging and barking is as soon as you see another dog (preferably before the dogs does) get him to sit and constantly feed him high value treats (or get him to play with a toy or mega praise - whatever rocks his boat so to speak) and as soon as the dog has passed carry on your walk praising him, this way he will learn that dog=treats and over time when he is comfortable with this when you come accross a dog get him to sit but don't treat until the dog has passed and only treat if your dog sits nicely and patiently (no lunging or barking), I got to a point with Murphy that as soon as he saw a jogger/Cyclist/dog he would immediately sit and look to me

Hi, I have a white g.s.d. which I rescued last October and when I first got him he was exactly the same, he would stamp on the spot (like the police dogs do) and bark at everyone he saw and other dogs when we were out, but somehow he has learned that it is not acceptable to do that, probably through my other dog telling him off about it, and my reassurance that there is nothing to worry about. However, having said that, there are some dogs that he will do this to as they go past us when he is on a lead, don't ask me why it is only some dogs, other times he will just sit there quietly whilst I keep saying "good boy" to him to let him know there's no aggression coming from anywhere for him to act like that. I think it will be just a case of patience and training which is the way I went with mine, but I would add this would only happen when there weren't any people or dogs around and then someone would appear and he would do it, he would never do this in a busy area, most strange. I think with mine it is a protection thing as I think he would have "had a go" if he was off the lead! Identical behaviour to yours though, with the dancing, barking and stamping the front feet! Good luck, and very well done you for giving him a lovely caring home.

Sounds very familiar , i took on a 3 year old Pyrenean Mountain Dog earlier this year and he did exactly the same thing with some other dogs , i was told he was dog aggressive but i soon worked out all the barking and lunging at other dogs was because he wanted to say hello he was excited and just wanted to play with most dogs. As you rightly say other people will be scared of him and i can fully understand why. Storm is 32 inches at the shoulder and weighs over 12 stone so if i did not know him and knew he wanted to play i would be scared too if he kicked off and i had never met him and people automatically assume that he is aggressive.

The first thing i learned very quickly was to make sure i had total control of him as he is so much stronger and quicker than i am , so on went the gentle leader head collar , the next step was stopping him reacting like that , i found the easiest way was just to turn him around away from another dog and just keep on walking in the opposite direction i did not tell him off or try to correct his behaviour using my voice at all until he calmed down and stopped barking as soon as he stopped barking i praised him and gave him a treat.

He soon learned that if he wanted to say hello to another diog he had to be calm and quiet or he just got turned away and it is quite funny to watch him now as he will do a little dance and then sit down you can see the excitement in him as another dog approaches , it is not something that will get results over night but with hard work and lots of patience it can be over come . He still kicks off sometimes but when he is walked away from other dogs he calms down a lot quicker now and it is lovely to be able to relax a wee bit with him on walks.

I had the same problem after a stupid man shouted at us one night , hanging on to 2 Akitas , that his dogs did not like other dogs and were fighting dogs etc , after that incident which happenned right outside my front door, any time anyone spoke to me Storm went nuts barking and lunging at them , he really gave a bad impression of himself and i knew i had to stop that straight away so off i went with him to our local retail park and Pets @ home i stopped people in the street and asked them to speak to me so Storm could see there was no problem , my teenage daughter thought it was hilarious and kept telling me that guys would think i was trying to pick them up lol But i am happy to say my cheek paid off and after a few days Storm stopped reacting to people , our feelings do go straight down the lead to our dogs and i know that guy shouting at me made me furious but i did not speak to him at all but Storm sensed there was something wrong and went into protective mode .

Another thing that worked for me was taking Storm to a good training class as soon as i got him , the first week i was a bit apprehensive so arranged with one of the trainers to meet me outside and go into the hall with me as i was worried that Storm might be aggressive to other dogs as i had been told , he was a star and has behaved himself very well in the classes he even passed his kennel club bronze award in 5 weeks and during the test a wee collie had a snarl and snap in his face and he just looked at me as if to say what is she doing mum ? And did not react at all i was so proud of him i cried when the trainer said he had passed , so these kind of problems can be worked out , good luck and i hope that helps a wee bit

Fiona xx