MY German Shepherd's aggressive behaviour towards people and other dogs

I have a 3 year old german shephard, i have only had him for about 3 months. He came with some bad habits.

When people come into the house he would try to attack them, i had to start and still do take him to another room when people come round and then introduce him when people are in and sitting down.

The big problem is when he is outside on walks, when walking past people he is very vocal and aggressive even at a distance. when he gets aggressive there is nothing i can do to get his focus, i just have to drag him past as quick as i can. i want to know how to focus him so he doesnt react. i have tried the treats of cheese ham chicken and puff jerky but when we are out he is not interested in treats at all

I am at a loss as to what to do next

can anyone help !!!

experienced gsd owners will be more help than me

the first thing i would do is to go to a really busy dog club and give lots of reward and praise whilst sitting at the side - you will need to work with the trainer on this one

Sounds like fear aggression to me. I'm no expert but I'm going through something similar with my rescue dog Cain who is half German Shepherd. They can be insecure and when they feel vulnerable they will take the lead and kick off to protect themselves. Cain was very poorly socialised and can react awfully to strangers - growling and hackles up, at night he will lunge towards them (don't believe he wants to bite, just scare them off). It's an almighty display to cover up the fact he's terrified.

We've made great progress with Cain through baby steps of socialisation and confident handling. If your dog was less stressed you could introduce the "watch me" command however you say he ignores treats. You won't get his attention, no matter how good the treats are, because he his far too stressed to be able to eat. You'll need to go right back to basics and start slowly with stimuls being a long way away and gradually bring it closer over time. The thing is that, handled incorrectly, fear aggression can be very dangerous for everyone involved and may make the problem worse. I'd advise contacting a local dog trainer/behaviourist who is experience specifically with aggressive dogs. Try and get one on recommendation if possible as any old dog trainer can teach sit/down/stay etc but it takes an experienced handler to deal with aggression. We couldn't have done it without our dog trainer, they have been worth their weight in gold and have helped Cain come on 10 fold. In four weeks, he's barely the same dog Yes, it can be expensive, but it's worth every single penny to see how much happier Cain is, I even enjoy walks with him!

Good luck, it'll probably be slow progress and require a lot of patience and understanding on your part

Hi Paul,

Firstly, in the house, how long do visitors have to be sitting down for before you introduce the dog? Also, are you sure that your dog is calm and settled before you allow him into the living room/or whichever room your visitros are in? Obviously if he's excited or worked up at all then this will add to the tension on both sides and it can take a lot longer than necessary to get a happy, clam environment for all concerneal

You say that he would attack people who came into the house. Can I ask, what exactly do you mean by attack? Was his intention to carry out a prolonged attack with the commitment to inflict damage? Or is he like many GSDs - very insecure, makes a lot of nosie and shows a lot of teeth but doesn't really mean it? It can be difficult to decifer what he he's doing unless you think of it from his position.

When your dog is in a different room for visitors to come in, is he behind a closed door? Is there a stair gate so he can see visitors but not reach them initially? Do you ask your visitors to not retain eye contact, let them give him treats, allow him to approach them rather than they approaching him?

When out on walks, is he aggressive only to people or other dogs too? Is it only adults, or children also? Is i tonly on lead walks o the street or also inthe park or other areas when there may be a lower number fo people? What's he like with traffic/noise etc? Do you have any info about his history generally?

Sorry for asking so many questions, but the answers to these could help.

If you're finding that the higher value treats aren't working, have you tried toys? What is it that he really goes wild for? Do you have something that is so high value, that he'll do anything for it and you only use it during training? If not, then you need to find that one thing - whether it be a tennis ball or piece of liver cake. Once you have that, you will be able to keep his focus on you during walks.

You may like to try to teach him to watch you ("watch me" command). Does he look at you if he thinks you have something in your hand? You can use high value rewards or nothign at all (so long as you praise him a lot).

Have you tried telling him to sit for when people walk by? This also could help. If he sits when people are a certain distance away and he knows he'll get something nice (regardless of what it is - liver cake, chicken or even a wrapped up towel like customs dogs) if he focuses on you or the reward, then gradually you can reduce the distance between youand other people before putting him into a sit/ sit-stay.

What's he like if someone else walks him? Do you ever have friends or other family members walk him? I wouldn't recommend too many people be allowed to take him out. He needs to build a bond with one or two people. But it may be worth looking at how he reacts to strangers depending on who walks him. It could be that he's guarding you when both in the house and out on walks; hence his behaviour towards people he sees as outsiders.

Also, I think to begin with you need to begin really working on building the trust between you. He needs to know that you will protect him and look after him no matter what. Your dog needs to understand that it's not his job to look after you and that he's safe with you, where ever you go together. Once you have that bond with a GSD, absolutely NOTHING will break it if you treat him right.

You should also enrol him in a local training class. Ask around, look at adverts in the vets or local pet store etc to find out about local classes. Get him used to walking into a room with other people and dogs who don't take any notice of him. The more he does this the more he should relax, so long as you continue to build the trust and relationship between you both.
I think it would laso be worth investing in a trainer who can spend some one-2-one time with him. iot would be even better if it was a trainer who understands or is qualified in dog behaviour also but theses are very few and far between (and can cost a fortune). make sure though that whoever you choose to help you train him is APDT qualified and that they use positive methods.

Peopel such as Helena54, Claire&Daisy, Moobli and particularyl GSD-Sue will be able to help you better than I have. They've all had more experience of GSDs than I have I think.

Good luck and please keep us updated.

Laura xx

Where abouts in Birmingham are you? Are there any reputable training classes nearby?

There is a good training class in Knowle (not breed specific) where a lot of the trainers have GSDs and a couple have Police GSDs (either pups or brood bitches) so know the breed well.

There is also a GSD breed specific class in Wythall which is pretty good.

I personally wouldn't start off straight away in a busy class environment, just on my experiences with Jess, as this made her worse, but I would probs start by muzzling him (with him being muzzled, you will relax a bit as you know he can't harm anyone, so therefore he will relax a bit as he will feed off your energy) and sitting somewhere where lots of people walk past, but at a distance where they aren't immediately "on top" of him - so maybe go to a park with a big open space, and sit at the side of the field where both and him can watch the world go by without him feeling threatened. To me he just sounds like he needs socialising and realising that if he ignores humans, most will ignore him.

Hi there, you already have some useful suggestions above. It's difficult to give specific advice without fully knowing the dog and his history. However I would agree that it sounds pretty muchy fear aggression by what you have said - but that is by no means certain, and I would therfore urge caution. Far better as already suggested to muzzle him for now when out and about until proper assessment and advice may be given.

I would try and find out something about his history as a starting point and get in touch with a good behaviourist/trainer have a look on the APDT website; http://www.apdt.co.uk/ for approved trainers in your area.

Also I agree with jesterjenn about going straight into a busy class environment - that may just push him over the edge if he is already fear aggressive. Better to slowly de-sensitise him first. And again there are many good suggestions above. Take it one step at a time until trust has developed (both ways) and you feel that he is ready for the next step.

Good luck and keep us updated.

Agree too about the busy class environment, it can make things much worse.I must admit, I am not keen on gsd only classes for 2 reasons - firstly they can get gsds used only to other gsds and secondly, sometimes (not always, but I've seen it enough to know) some gsd clubs stick to very old fashioned training methods. One very well known gsd rescue person really terrified a sweet gsd and the owner phoned me in despair asking me to help her help her dog, so I'd tend to not suggest the gsd clubs in case! I do know there are some good ones around, though. Am not tarring all with the same brush.

I'd suggest asking your vet to refer you to a reputable person to help (do check they use modern methods though). I'd suggest a vet check because sometimes aggression can be due to a medical cause and this isn't always obvious. So really this has to be discounted, unless you are absolutely sure there is some other cause such as lack of socialisation for example

Good luck

Wys
x

Humm... would steer clear of busy clubs as well.
TBH -I doubt a decent club would be happy about taking him into a class without a full assessment (they have to think about the other dogs as well)

I hope you manage to find someone to help.
Good luck

First - please muzzle your dog when out. It would be tragic if someone complained and he fell foul of the law. It will also encourage people to give him some space. Use a Baskerville muzzle (basket muzzle, plastic - PAH have them).
I recommend you read `Understanding and handling Dog Aggression` by Barbara Sykes and `The Dog Aggression Workbook` by James O`Heare.
Look for a good trainer or behaviourist who uses positive (kind) methods. GSDs are big jessies and use their snarls, barks and lunges to keep scary people away. The trouble is, it works!
Never back your dog into corner - or insist that he `meets` people. (I know you won`t but you`d be amazed at how many try!)
And lastly - settle in for the long haul. It will take months, if not years - but at the end you will have a lovely companion, and a great feeling of achievement.

You will be pleased to know that the one in Wythall (I took Jess there for about 9/10 months), although breed specific (I agree with the getting them used to only GSDs which is why I take Harley to a non breed specific club), is very much for positive reinforcement and praise, and has chucked someone out of the club for being too old fashioned in his training as it didn't adhere to club rules