Aggressive dog two year old german shepherd

[madowl 10]

Hi all, i have a Aggressive dog... hes a two year old german shepherd... and i love him to bits... through no fault of his own hes been neglected the training and handling he desperately needs... its long over due.. its along story but that is now the past, and its now that matters...!!!

He hates other dogs..

other people..

owt that moves...

but... i love him and want to make him mine...

How?

My partner and i have 2 bitches, hes been castrated, and didnt have an easy start in life...bringing him home is gonna be hard i know... i need as many tips about getting him to mix with people, the 2 dogs we have (and others when walking) and general tips and free advice... i do have someone lined up for professional support but that costs money.. so until i can afford it... i need all the help i can get... im not on-line much (pc) and most of the time now i use my mobile for internet etc... so if anyone can offer me good free advice and support id gladly give you my number i just dont want to stick it on here for the world to see.

cheers folks..

[NewBiz 10]

I'm sure Medusa will be along at some point with some good advice for you.

[Strix 11]

John Rogerson - he's your man for aggression training

 

I'd ensure you have a quiet secure space to 'kennel' your new dog away from the bustle of family life that's likely to overwhelm him initially, and just give him the minimum of attention - IE none, and just feed and walk him, then take things one step at a time, introducing him to the rest of the house and its inhabitants one by one over a period of time

[angel22 10]

I can't help you at the minute, but when you get to the stage of mixing him with other dogs, let me know. I'm only 5 minutes away from Handsworth and i'd be happy to meet you and your dog somewhere and let him meet Jazz, my Belgian Malinois. She was a bit aggressive towards other dogs when we first got her. We kept her muzzled and mixed her with as many different dogs as possible and that really helped. We stil keep her muzzled when we're out but she's so much better than she was just a few months ago.

 

Good luck xx

[medusa 16]

Yoohoo- I was announced a while ago I see

 

The GSDR advice would be to start off with the very very basics and to work upwards as he can cope.

 

Don't bring him home, put him in your home and allow him to mix with your dogs, then let him try to find a coping strategy with visitors- it is your job to control all of these interactions and to expose him to these triggers in a very controlled, calm and gradual way to maximise the chances of his introduction to your family being a success.

 

When you take him on you really need somewhere for him to be safe, secure and comfortable which is away from your family and dogs (especially away from any children or small animals, since they are the most vulnerable). He needs the basics, one room, a little (but not much) attention from you and as much exercise as you can give him.

 

Whilst he needs lots of exercise, walking him with your other dogs (even if your partner is walking them and you're walking him) is going to be something that you move towards over time, not something you can start with. He needs one to one time with you whilst he gets enough exercise to start bedding him in to a routine.

 

If you don't have anywhere that you can keep him separate and reduce the number of stimuli around him then you're likely to struggle. The really experienced foster carers who take on GSDs who just have no limits and aren't comfortable around people or other animals have outside kennel blocks and large land or some extremely quite walks so that they can go right back to basics for at least a couple of weeks before moving on. Don't flood the dog with love, attention, stimuli or anything else- it has to come slowly. Let them settle and then they will want to come to you and will start to look towards you as being the source of good things, reassurance and guidance.

 

From this point, once you've got a good basic routine going you can start introducing him to other things very slowly and getting each one right before introducing another. The smell of your other dogs, training sessions, one room of your home (no other people or animals present), then maybe one other person- each thing happens slowly and carefully until you're sure that they're OK with it and then you can think of another one.

 

When you have introduced the smell of your other dogs on a regular basis you can allow them to hear each other under a door or similar, then when he's calm with that and it's just routine you can allow them to see each other through a window.

 

This process will take a minimum of weeks, but could last months all told. The first time you walk them together it will need at least two people, you with your boy and someone else with the other dogs. You arrive at the walk independent of each other and start off with some parallel walking, starting a whole field apart and walking in the same direction as each other, walking really quite quickly so that they can see each other, but their attention needs to be on walking and watching forwards. No sauntering, which will allow them to get longer gazes at each other.

 

Gradually you get closer over the period of at least half an hour and if they show any sign of reacting towards each other you hold at that distance apart until they calm down and then start reducing the distance again. It's possible that the dogs won't actually end up side by side (on the outsides of you and the other walker) for several walks, but if you do this slowly and often enough then that should reduce the risk of him reacting badly later on.

 

Once you're down to walking on either side of the humans you can then change to walking in a circle with one in front of the other, several dog lengths apart, which allows them to smell and watch each other better but without making contact. When they're all calm with that you can drop the gap between them, allowing the back dog to get closer, as long as they remain calm.

 

Repeat until you're sure that neither are unhappy with the other, and then you can walk them both home together, where by this stage each room will already smell of both dogs (allowing him in to rooms when they're out and then allowing them back again after he's gone) so you can then, with great care, start to share a space. If you're going to need a muzzle at all, this is the time when you're most likely to need one.

 

As for meeting visitors and strangers, that should be stopped to the best of your ability until you've got the home situation sorted out as you can address this sort of thing better once you've got the basic routine down and working well.

 

There are trainers and behaviourists who work with aggressive dogs specifically and I would recommend that you take advice from one who can work with you and the dog on a one to one basis initially to have a proper action plan. Have no illusions here, a GSD is plenty big enough to cause serious injuries if they are not handled very carefully and I've seen GSDs who strike with no clear warnings and those who only warn- I've got no way of knowing which set this dog falls into without seeing him for an extended period.

[H_Hounds 10]

Hi Madowl

 

You need to introduce him to your other dogs one at a time in a mutual place and take it slow. Don't use treats or toys when they meet either as this will cause jealousy etc.

 

He sounds like an extremely nervous dog which is probably why he's aggressive. You need to make sure he sees you as his master as this will help him to feel secure and reduce the risk of aggression IMO.

 

My oldest Great Dane used to be extremely aggressive towards other dogs. We rescued her when she was one so we have no idea why and we weren't warned about her behaviour. She was supposed to be my dog but took to my husband as her master as he didn't really want her at the time but let me have her so he didn't tolerate any of her bad behaviour like I did and now she will do anything for him. He only has to raise his index finger to her and she slams her bum on the floor and gives him paw. She will only sit for me if I have a treat in my hand my fault! We introduced her to a cocker spaniel puppy who's now two and they wouldn't be without each other now.

 

My tips are:

Be very consistent in your house rules.

Give him one word commands only ie sit not sit down.

Have a consistent punishment in mind as well as positive reinforcement. - Our dane, skye, is locked in her kennel for five minutes when she is naughty. now if sje is starting to misbehave I only have to say kennel to her and she goes and lies on her bed bless her.

use distraction methods when you see other dogs on a walk. - skye likes to give you a hug and puts her front legs around your waist and squeezes you. we never taught her this she just offered hugs out lol. when we saw other dogs on walks, we would ask for a hug and give her lots of attention until the dog had passed.

 

I would invest in some good training books to be getting on with. Borrow some from your local library.

 

Good luck with your training!

 

Terri

[medusa 16]

BTW- what happened to Ozzie? Is he not in your home any more?

[molly44 10]

Its a pity that a dog owner with the same breed and it was a young dog as well. didn't know this sooner. today i walked past a woman with a teenager and a young German Shepard dog. i an not nervous of dogs so when i had to pass them i was not overly concerned about the dog, it was quite but a bit excitable.

 

when i passed with a foot of it though is lunged at me with very little warning, snarling and snapping, i thought i had been well clear and didn't notice until i had looked down the dog had bite through my glove and grazed my right hand.

 

I was a bit disappointed at the people with the dog who merely pulled on the dogs chain and rushed off, without any sort of apology.

I was in half a mind to challenge them but thought i would only get a torrent of abuse shouted back at me. i felt sorry for the dog really. god knows how they have treated it to act like that and thinks its normal.

[Moonbird 10]

Its a pity that a dog owner with the same breed and it was a young dog as well. didn't know this sooner. today i walked past a woman with a teenager and a young German Shepard dog. i an not nervous of dogs so when i had to pass them i was not overly concerned about the dog, it was quite but a bit excitable.

 

when i passed with a foot of it though is lunged at me with very little warning, snarling and snapping, i thought i had been well clear and didn't notice until i had looked down the dog had bite through my glove and grazed my right hand.

 

I was a bit disappointed at the people with the dog who merely pulled on the dogs chain and rushed off, without any sort of apology.

I was in half a mind to challenge them but thought i would only get a torrent of abuse shouted back at me. i felt sorry for the dog really. god knows how they have treated it to act like that and thinks its normal.

Thats awful really, but you should have told them that their dog had bitten you, they do need to know what it is capable of even if they don't like it!

[madowl 10]

Medusa... Its ozzie im asking for help with... Long story.

[medusa 16]

Ah- OK. Is he local? Would you value a second pair of eyes on his issues? I'm not a professional and have no letters after my name, but I deal with GSDs on a daily basis.

[madowl 10]

Medusa... The more help the better, of course id lv your help...