HELP!! The dogs are out of control & GSD is hated by my dogs & neighbors?? - Page 2

If you love your dogs as much as you say you do, you will take the time, energy, and money to learn how to control a pack of dogs. There are some books that you can read but you need some hands on right now. Your GSD is going through her "teenage" phase where she is testing the limits and seeing how far she can go (just like kids), if you aren't there setting boundaries for her then she will set her own which will be harder to correct later on. If you aren't willing to put in the time, energy, and money then the best thing you can do for your dog is to give her a new home. I think you really need to think about how much time you have and how committed you are. 

Contact a local breeder of GSD working dogs and ask who they would recommend for training. The problem is you don't want a treats and clicker trainer. This isn't going to help the problem. Teaching your dogs to sit, stay, and come aren't going to help this problem. You need some serious guidance on how to get these dogs under control. The problem is no one on this forum can help you because the problem is probably with everything you are doing, you just don't know it. How to you let your dogs outside, how do you let them inside, who comes in first, how you walk them, how you feed them, where they sleep, do you let them on the couch, do you let them on your lap, do you allow them to jump on you, do they lean on you, do they sleep in your bed, do they demand your attention, do they wake you up in the morning, do any of them steal food, do you allow any of the dogs to get too excited or hyper, on and on and on. Then these fights among your dogs need to be looked at. Who starts the fight is often times not who you think is starting the fight. A fight can be triggered by a look or one dog standing over the other and then you are correcting the dog who appeared to start the fight when really the dog who gave the look or stood over the other dog is who started the fight. Correct the wrong dog and you have just reinforced the problem. 

Correcting the type of problem you are describing takes a "360" approach. It isn't "fixing" the fighting and the barking. It is getting to the root of why they are fighting which is going to take an expert. Do your research and find a trainer/behaviorist that many different GSD breeders recommend. 

The irony here is I have never had any of theses problems. And at times honestly think they don't exist until I hear stories like this. My thoughts are that there are plenty of things happening, plenty of problems that have been going on for some time. NEIGHBORS are a tricky situation along with NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATIONS. But you as a homeowner/renter should already know that. As for the nuisance. It isn't defined by you or how you register it/define it. And that is where the problem lies. In my eyes, it's like a baby crying. Some parents can tune it out but the other person listening isn't. The relationship with the neighbor(s) should have had a good start that way IF problems arose they might be rectified. This is one of those threads I wished we had voice activated typewriters/laptops, because there are so many things going wrong. And there won't be enough time or energy to answer them in detail. Now, the way the situation has evolved it probably will never go back to the way it was in the beginning.

There are MANY problems here but I'll answer a few, hopefully the immediate ones. In my eyes IF you work at home, that means you are THERE. Right there and the majority if not all of the problems should never been started or continued. I'm not being hard on you but you are there and at the start of a situation/problem then you should've stepped in. Not saying you, but some people get "puppies" and think that they are so "cute" that they can't/couldn't do anything wrong. Because they are so "cute" they let them do whatever, thinking it's "cute" until you have a "cute" little MONSTER. The puppy isn't that way, it was allowed to become that way. Enough on that.

Do you have two neighbors? Left and right? Or three neighbors? Left, right and behind? If there is a "nice" neighbor I would build kennels near/against that fence. Separate the GSD and Labs. Work on obedience and working/training by themselves. They only get together time 1. In your eye sight or 2. When they have EARNED it!. Yes, there is SOOOO much were are not seeing. But honestly, you are passed that stage at the moment. You are/or have entered the area of liability/legal system for your area. Drastic measures are needed. In my eyes these actions have been ALLOWED and now it's biting you in the butt and wallet. If you have to separate the breeds till you have total control. Labs outdoors for three hours, GSD indoors and rotate every three.  this is a thread where (for sake of conversation) there could be 20 problems going on here and it doesn't just lie in the GSD.

I have four and whether they are outdoors, indoors or in the truck there CAN NOT be any chaos! Plain and simple.

I try to tell people when there is a "problem child" dog/puppy; "It's not a bad dog/puppy.......It's a bad owner"  Now, yes there are BAD dogs out there but I don't see this being the case here. Obedience, training, boundaries, for a well mannered dog/puppy. Unfortunately you might not like what some are saying but I think most if not all could have been prevented.

Good luck, keep us informed and I hope you don't have to end up getting rid of a dog.

I think I'd consider rehoming the GSD.

 I'd re-home the owner!

Wow, you have a real problem on your hands and it sure sounds like you need the help of a professional. You got some good advice here, but starting tomorrow I'd separate the GSD from the Labs unless you are right there to stop the unwanted behavior. You work at home so rotate them in and out of the house. Exercise the GSD more. Can you play ball with her a couple times a day in addition to the walking? I'd be angry if I were your neighbor and had to listen to barking dogs on and off all day long. I don't know about building an outdoor kennel as Alboe suggested because that is not going to solve the barking/neighbor issue. If I happened to be the nice neighbor that you decided to build the kennel next to, I probably wouldnt be nice for very long if the barking persisted. Use crates or gates in your house to separate the dogs or as I mentioned before, rotate them. Good luck and keep us posted.

My thoughts starcharr are that, (and it stinks because WE don't SEE it and we don't really KNOW), but my thoughts are that the majority, if not all ot this barking is because they are physically going at it. Unfortunately, there are upteem reasons to bark but for the most of the OP's comments it would appear to be like physical/close contact barking. You know like atagonizing which leads to confrontational which leads to fighting. So if they were kenneled/seperated and can't get their "teeth/paws on" contact to each other then the majority of barking might stop. Such a shame to have one dog outside and the others indoors, or vica versa, on a nice day. Just my thoughts.

Okee-dokee...if folks look back at the OP's previous posts, first off, you'd remember that her posts tend to be a bit 'tongue-in-cheek', and secondly that she wasn't planning on bringing a third dog into the mix to begin with--she rescued Mariah from a college student who was neglecting her.  So things likely aren't as dire as they sound...

Now, to the OP--That said, I do concur that the honeymoon is over, as is usually the case when one brings in a dog that's old enough to have established some habits already (i.e., anything older than 3 months or so, basically).  What she's doing isn't out of character for an adolescent GSD, and if you aren't familiar with canine body language, it's time to bone up on it (no pun intended) because you need to be able to tell the difference between rowdy play and real conflict.  Do a web search for on the subject, and check out your local library as well, and you'll be able to start distinguishing what the dogs are telling one another.  It also sounds like you do need to establish order around there--if you can't find a training class or if it's financially out of reach, check with your local humane society and see if any of their staff has sufficient training experience and might be able to help you out a bit. 

Some basic rules need to be put in place, ASAP, too.  The GSD shouldn't be with the Labs unless you can directly supervise them--and by directly, I do mean DIRECTLY, as in you can drop everything and wade into the fray, not just that you can look out the door and see what they're all up to.  If you can't do that, then the GSD needs to be inside with you while the Labs are outside, and when the Labs are inside, the GSD needs to either be on collar and leash with the leash tied off short to the leg of your chair or clipped around your waist, so you can keep her by your side, or she needs to be crated with something to keep her busy like a Kong stuffed with frozen peanut butter.   Do another web search for something called 'NILIF-- Nothing In Life Is Free', and you'll find a 'boot camp' type of protocol you need to roll out for all the dogs, not just the GSD (because the Labs are playing a role in this whole drama, trust).  They get nothing just for existing--everything has to be earned, all food, all play with you, all play with each other, treats, walks, everything. 

As for the nuisance barking, if the Labs don't do it unless the GSD is out there with them, then keep Mariah in the house when you can't be out there, and when you can be out there with them, keep them all *busy*.  A tired dog is a quiet dog.  If the Labs bark even without Mariah out there, then bring them back inside--they're telling you they don't WANT to be out there.  Contrary to what some may think, not all dogs want to be outside all the time--especially if they prefer the company of people to that of other dogs.

Initially you're going to need to spend a lot of time working with one dog at a time until each gets solid enough in understanding what you want that they'll respond when the other dogs are present as well.  It's not easy, I won't lie--I'm going through similar trials with my almost 3 year old female and the 8 year male I adopted in August: she was still a work in progress, and he had virtually no prior training whatsoever, so it is challenging at times...especially since both of them enjoy a good barking session *in the house*, just for fun, which makes me insane, but the sessions are getting shorter and less frequent as they learn that all it does is make me leave the room.  It probably will get better, with the time and effort, but you do need to keep in mind that it's not always possible to keep two or more females in the same living situation--it *can* work, but when it doesn't, it really doesn't...and bitch fights are not for the faint-of-heart to try and deal with.  It is entirely possible that now that Mariah's maturing, she may be the type of female who won't tolerate another bitch in her world, in which case you will need to consider rehoming her with someone who doesn't have another female.  I know it's not what you'd want to have to do, but it may be unavoidable if you don't want to keep racking up huge vet bills to stitch one or more dogs up on the regular because of fighting.  Some folks are successful in managing this kind of situation using crates and kennels, but it only takes one insufficiently-closed door, or one incorrectly latched gate or crate and you could have a blood-bath on your hands.  Fights between females who hate each other tend to be epic, and can be lethal. :(

hire a private trainer to come to your house,
learn to be the pack leader
I take offence to the comment about shepherds bitting. ALL dogs bite.
 bark collars make for good neighbors

if you are that busy with your business perhpas rehoming the pup would be in the BEST interest of the PUP
 

 

Alboe, You're right- we can't see what is going on so it is somewhat a guessing game for us all. I thought you gave really good advice, but the kennel solution was the one thing that made struck me as possibly not being an effective solution. In my experience a dog, especially an unruly youngster, that is confined and separated from the others, while outdoors with no supervision, will bark because he/she wants to be out with the other dogs. So, that is what crossed my mind and I do sincerely apologize if I upset you in anyway as that was not my intention.

I have 2 female GSDs and they do not always get along, I did not see anywhere on here whether or not they each had a crate or not. Dogs are den animals and it is important that they all have their own space and place they can run off to if they need a break from life in general. If the young dog is invading that space it is your responsiblity to make sure those barriers are sacred whether it is by closeing the door of the crate or putting the pup in her crate or placing crates in different rooms it is very improtant.

The neighbor throwing water on your dog is a concern for multiple reasons, it seems like in gerneral you may need to step up your Alpha. Your dogs need you to be that pack leader for their saftey and health. I would not take a neighbor throwing icewater on my dogs well at all, thems fighting words in a BIIIIIG way for me. That said you also have to be sure he can have a normal life without constant nagging from your dogs. Your dog could die if it is cold enough and it is no joke, there is a proper way to complain and a legal one, him throwing water into YOUR yard is a violation of your property and personal space. Honestly if he has problems he needs to be calling the authorities and dealing with it that way. In the end it is important that you remain as civil as possible because making enemies of your neighbors sucks :(.

In the end it has been said and I fully agree get a professional to show YOU how to be the pack leader and how to bring balance to the force. By professional I don't mean dog whisperer either, the guy is great and if he personally is going to go then GREAT. However watching a tv show to do it yourself is not the same as having a living breeding person tackle the problem