Pushing his luck - what would you do?

Shamus (GSP) has been with us for 9 months now. He was totally untrained - nice but dim but was frightened of people touching his back end. He growled, but never showed any sign of snapping, so we ignored it and worked on his training. He was pretty timid but is much better now. He`s dog-friendly and likes most people.

Now he`s well settled in he`s recently started to get more growly - it`s as though he wants to make the rules. He will ask visitors for a fuss - climb up on them then look straight in their eyes and growl. Which is pretty disconcerting because he`s a big boy. He`s worst with tall, confident men, or nervous people, so I think it`s status thing. He is also bristling at un-neutered males. (All mine are neutered BTW)
Now - I think he`s got a bit of confidence and is starting to throw his weight about. I`ve begun to put him outside when he growls or if that`s not possible, to put his lead on and get him to sit and wait. Do you think that`s the right method?

Certainly sounds to me like he's trying his luck with being dominant for sure. The asking for a fuss (is it more of a demand? Is he pushy when doing this?) and climbing onto visitors and the staring thing - all sound like he is trying to dominate to me.

If he were mine, I'd only allow him to be on-lead when your visitors come inside your house. This way you can control the whole situation from the start. I wouldn't allow him to run up to them and get a chance to climb on them.

Instead by being on-lead you can get your visitor to come in and when the excitement has died down allow Shamus to greet them calmly and not to jump up. Only let the visitor pet him if he behaves. I think this would help

Am sure someone else will give you some advice too, who are far more experienced than I!

Sounds like you are doing the right sort of things. I might take a few priviledges away for a while, like no getting on the sofa without invetation, and if he gets up without invitation just calling him off calmly.

They say during adolesence you should up the treats and rewards, for good behaviour so that they work out that it is still best to do what you want.

I wouldn't let him get on visitors laps, although i can see it's hard as it must be nice to see his improvements in friendliness. I would get them to ask him to sit and make a fuss of him or offer him treats for doing as they asked. If he does get up on their laps and growl, i would either call him off, or, if they are confident, get them to stand up straight away (so he falls, or has to get off the sofa) and ignore him, keeping off talking to you I would be tempted to ignore the growling, I don't mean carry on touching him when he is growling, but completely ignore him, move away and maybe even pay attention to another dog so that he realises that growling gets him no where and nothing good comes of it.

I am no expert, but it may be best to not allow him in situation where he goes challenge/growl...i.e if he growls at visitors when he is sitting on them , dont allow him to sit /climb on them....

Maybe the time to bring in NILF way of training making him work for all his privileges.... i.e if he wants to fuss visitors, he must sit, quietly and allow a small stoke form them, offering a treat...then make him settle ...

Sam with people he is uncomfortable, dont force the issue, allow his to be enter the room, sit, if he is good he gets a treat, them settle him down again.

Freddie our 2 year old Springador is a rescue dog that we have had now for about 2.5 months. When he first came he was very nervous and oh soooooo compliant. As he grew in confidence he became very pushy, constantly demanding attention and increasingly resistant to any form of training. His recall which was initially superb became almost non-existent. He didn't ever run off completely but was too busy doing his "spaniel thing" to take any notice of me.

This sounds similar to your problem although manifesting itself slightly differently. It has largely been resolved by an application of the NILIF principles across the board. Whereas he was coming into the lounge and demanding attention, scratching, nudging, jumping up etc, he now gets ignored and will only be petted when he is lying quietly on the floor.

Previously pockets full of salami and big praise were no help with recall. His recall has improved because now treats, cuddles and fuss are generally given more sparingly, he knows he has to work for them.

His general behaviour has improved enormously in a very short time, which is a relief because I could see dominance issues were just around the corner. Freddie and the NILIF principles are going to be together for the long-haul because he could very easily slip back, as he is a gorgeous but very stubborn boy!

Good luck with your dog. Although I have never had a GSD I know they can sometimes be quite assertive, challenging dogs. If it is another case of a rescue dog finding his feet and testing the boundaries, I'm confident that can be managed with NILIF and quiet determination!

Best wishes

Maxine

Haven't got much time, but I think I would put him on a lead when peole come around and get the visitors to ASK him for a behaviour, like a sit, then let them be in charge of the reward for it. Don't allow him to jump up, ignore him or ask him to sit depending on the situation. Do not allow him to demand anything, be it food or attention. You make demands on him,however small and THEN he gets attention.


I don't think I'd punish him for growling as at least he is giving a warning, which is far better than him giving no warning and then just biting,which is what could happen if you punish the growl.
Best not to put him or your guests into that situation in the first place,pop the lead on and control the meeting...

Hope that makes sense...

I agree with you all!
This is something that`s happened over the last month. He doesn`t try to assert himself with the family, just visitors.
I don`t ever punish him BTW - GSPs are sensitive souls and are very eager to please. Because he wasn`t kept in a house or trained before he`s having to find out what the rules of civilised living are now, I think.

He is an enormous GSP - doesn`t get on laps, he sort of stands up and puts his paws on their shoulders, which I`ve stopped now.

My house is always full so I can`t put him on lead every time or I`d be doing the Umbilical thing. I do now keep his collar on and have taught Leave.
He has started to improve. Now I`ll have to train the visitors.

Try having a tin of treats at the door, so any visitor that come in has to make him sit for a treat as soon as they enter the house.

Had a rescue once who was like this with some visiters & I'm convinced it wasn't him trying to be dominant it was him saying please don't hurt me as you love me I'm scared. He was bad with anyone who was nervous, as if he could smell the fear, & tall men he was fine while they were sitting but growled when they stood up. I think you are treating him just right, not getting cross which could add to his fear but showing him its wrong with time out. Hope he improves soon.

Have you had his back checked by a chiro just to be sure that he isn't sore anywhere as this could affect his behaviour. Training the visitors will be harder so good luck with that!

If he wants attention from visitors you could try getting him to work for it rather than just asking them for it. If you explain to them what they have to do and get him to interact a little more with them so that having them there is always good thing for him but it would still be on your terms? I've had a couple that were ok with taking food and praise from people but as soon as they were made a fuss of they growled, it was as though they couldn't deal with the physical interaction even if they had actually asked for it? Both had been abused though so not sure if that applies to your boy?