Two attacks in one week. How do I correct this. - Page 1

Does anyone know how to correct a dog from protecting when the protecting is not needed?He wasn't trained to protected. Is there such a way? This is a new behavior and he is a 15 months old GSD. Only been going on for about a week and we have already had two bad situations. My neighbors fluffly puppy is dead and he just wrapped his teeth around my friend's neck, because he didn't like the way she was playing with my nephew. He doesn't bite hard. It seems to be more of a warning bite and he stays in a hold with them while growling. I'm not sure if the fluffy puppy was injured by his attack, because when I called his name he realeased her and she was frightend, but well enough to panick and leap like a deer down the road and into the highway were she was hit by a semi and killed instantly. Before she met her fate, she had bitten my daughter, that is why he leaped our 4 foot chain length and attacked her in the first place. It was his first time to jump the fence. My daughter is uninjured, it didn't leave a mark on her and we are installing a privacy fence tomorrow. He is trained, obiediant, and was well mannerd until today. I had no idea how to correct him. Other than call his name and tell him bad dog. He did seem like he felt bad after wards, but when she did it again. He grabbed the baby by the arm and tried to pull him away from her. My friends playing with my 15 month old nephew consisted of holding him by one arm and one leg and spinning him around like an "air plane". The baby was uninjured as well. He didn't even cry when Tagan bit on to his arm to pull him. This behavior is unpredictable and I'm afraid it might progress to something more serious. If you have any advise on how to correct him during these sitiatuons please let me know.

Fifteen months is when a male GSD starts to come into adulthood, and behaviours such as this often surface. It is up to you to learn how to control and direct his natural protective instincts. "BAD DOG!" certainly isn't going to cut it.

What training has the dog had up until now? What sort of training have you used? How knowledgeable are you about dogs? I'll bet my bottom dollar that this has been coming for quite some time, and you just didn't recognize the early warning signals the dog was giving.

My advice would be to find a trainer in your area who KNOWS GSDs, and is not just accustomed to working with fluffy little mutts who don't have a protective bone in their body. If you don't do something about this as soon as possible, someone IS going to get hurt by this dog, and he will probably wind up having to be euthanized. You may also find yourself facing a lawsuit for failure to control him.

Where are you located? Maybe someone on the database can recommend a good trainer in your area.
Trying to get help over the internet is just NOT enough. Someone needs to be there to actually see the dog's body language, and see how much control you have over him, and how he responds to you.

To be honest with you I trained him my self by watching training videos on you tube and using a shock collar. He is actually very well trained. I boundry trained him with it, as well as, obiedence. He is very consistant with my commands. I use sit, stay, down, break, heel, no jump, no bark, speak, roll over, shake hands, sit pretty, come, stop, go to and go get it and I have socialized him very well. You can lay a ferrit on top of him and he will just lay there, as long as it don't bite me. I think that is about it. He is very calm. Not a high driven dog at all. Some times I wonder if he is staying when I tell him to because I told him too or because he just likes to relax. I do read a lot about dogs and get information off the internet. I have no experience with any other dogs except for the  7 German Shepherds I have owned since my first when I was 15 years old and I am now 28. Tagan is the first dog I have trained to this extent. My goal was to get his CGC.

"I'll bet my bottom dollar that this has been coming for quite some time, and you just didn't recognize the early warning signals the dog was giving."
 
What are some of the early warning signals?

Where are you located? You need professional help, yesterday.

I love a good comedy

I echo the words.  you need help yesterday!  This is not the type of issue your search the internet for.  Contact your local vet to see who they recommend for aggression issues.  Not every trainer is qualified to handle a dog that is fast on his way to become a dead one.  Aggression of this type is no laughing matter. Get help NOW!!!!

Been raiseing dogs most of my adult life and when I read this it sounded very strange to say the least. Then when Sunsilver gave this person good advice he next rants on about how good this dog is trained. Hummmm CGC I would never try to get this dog a CGC when it has attacked twice in one week( His words). Are you kidding me!!!!!! And as far as training off of videos then saying you have had 7 shepherds since you were 15. Your 28 so that is 13 years and you have another. what happened to the other shepherds. Thats one every two years average. Didn't you learn anything with your other dogs. I am sorry people but this sounds more like an owner problem then the dogs. Spend some money and get this dog into a real training class and teach it some manors and you learn something too from someone who knows what they are doing. Its pretty obvious you don't. As far as I am concerned and from your post your the one who has the problem and needs help. I appolgise if this offends anyone but I really get ticked when I read about owners like this guy seems to be.

My friends playing with my 15 month old nephew consisted of holding him by one arm and one leg and spinning him around like an "air plane". The baby was uninjured as well. He didn't even cry when Tagan bit on to his arm to pull him.

Without seeing the dog's body language at the time this happened, I can't say for sure, but it is possible that the fast movement triggered the dog's prey drive. Kids often get bitten because they move fast, and the quick movements will trigger a dog's instinct to run after prey and bring it down. DO NOT let your dog be around young children when they are playing unless you are RIGHT THERE to supervise!  (I would have the dog on a leash, and under full control.) In this case, the warning sign would be the dog focusing intently on the child, and following its movements carefully, then straining in the child's direction.

In the other case, it sounds like he WAS being protective, and you are wise to deal with the situation by putting up a privacy fence. I would make sure it is at least 6 feet tall, and the boards run vertically so the dog can't get his toes into them to climb over.

But I'll say it again: you need professional help to deal with this, NOT the internet! I do not think I would got to the CGC tester for it either. It might be worth your while to contact the local schutzhund club, and ask about trainers in your area who are familiar with GSDs.

Edit: okay, good call. I didn't pick up on 7 GSDs being an unusually large number of dogs in so short a timespan. I'll echoe the above poster's question: what happened to these dogs?

Also, your dog may obey you perfectly at home, but what is his behaviour like when being walked outside? Does he lunge at other dogs or people, or stay focused on you?