Wont leave other dogs alone! - Page 1

Our GSD, Viggo, is nearly two yrs old and since he was a young dog has always gone after other dogs. Initially his first move is one of boisterous interest, no aggressive display. He seems like he wants to play but his approach often leads to the other dog ( and their owner !! ) becoming upset and reacting with defensive aggression. Then a scrap kicks off.

He has been attending  weekly training classes for the last 18 mths and has attained his silver (UK) award, although pressures at work mean that we sometimes miss classes.He is bright, playful, extremely affectionate, good with strangers.
When we attend classes the first ten minutes are a nightmare. He wants to go to the other dogs,barks and howls. It's extremely embarrassing to say the least and when the class is held indoors in a large community hall with a polished wooden floor he has actually pulled me over a couple of times. I weigh nearly 14 stone ( 192 lbs). After a while he settles down, will walk at heel off the lead around the other dogs, sit and stay  with the others for 3 mins and can be sent away and recalled without any trouble. Confuses the hell out of me.

We live in a village with lots of open countryside around so he is let off the lead to run and play but every now and again we spot another dog and he is off with me chasing and yelling after him. Even on the lead,when we pass another dog he wants to go to them and will pull on the lead. If I hold  him tight under control and let him approach the other dog ( with the owners ok that is) then more often than not only a bit of vigourous sniffing takes place and things are fine  and will more often than not lead to them playing nicely together. He never seems to know when enough is enough though and will push it.

What I need is some practical advice. I do not claim to be an expert by any means when it comes to the breed but I am not  a beginner either.  Viggo is our third GSD in 25 yrs. I have heard all this stuff about him trying to be the boss and how I need to be firmer etc. I AM firm..........he walks with me beautifully  under control and whenever I see a situation when another dog is around he is told firmly to leave.....I push his head away so no eye contact can be made etc. But sometimes he catches me out.

Yesterday I opened the front door to put out the empty milk bottles unaware that he was in the hall behind me. Sod's law dictated that at that  precise moment a neighbour was walking their terrier on the other side of the road. Viggo was off......bounding straight across the road to the other dog. Thank God we live in a village where traffic is very light. Being as the other dog was a foisty little terrier he didn't like it too much and snapped at Viggo. A bit of scrap ensued..........nothing serious.....but as gutsy as terriers are they are no match for a 7 1/2 stone ( 105 lb ) GSD and I was afraid that my dog may have inflicted some serious damage. Once again it ended with my embarrassed apologies to our thankfully understanding neighbour.

When Viggo was about 4/5 months he was on the receiving end of this sort of behaviour. A friend and neighbour has two rescue GSD's and they went for him in much the same manner. Viggo was terrified and urinated on the spot. I often wonder if this experience has somehow been a contributory factor in his behaviour.

He is from a pretty good UK/German bloodline sired by Shotaan Fabius out of Tramella's Irana Vom Fichtenschlag and has an otherwise very sound and affectionate  temperament. Good with our cat,  other children and strangers as I said.

I have sought advice from the people at our training class, bought books and have searched the web. All the advice seems to be exactly what I am actually doing anyway. Either I am doing something

Real easy to see   you are not the pack leader and you are far from tough or he wouldnt still be doing it...

Yank his neck right off his body the next time....know how to do that....?

your corrections are not getting tru to him...you have to   HURT him now....punishment is over...time for real things..

You let him get by with doing this so you did not correct him HARD  ENOUGH

Did you read in the other thread yesterday about the dog that growled at Abrham   and he said the first time he did it he took his boot and kicked his  Ass across the floor so hard  s      flew?   and he never did that again   A real trainer of hard dogs will get the dogs attention....If the rest of the people don't  like to hear this....too bad....when a dog is older and has a behavioural problem   ...YOU DO NOT  SAY      OH POOR POOPY BABY    DO NO DO THAT   ......NICE BOY  NOW LISTEN TO DADDY....


get the drift.??????  Hard times take hard consequences..!!!!!!!!

YOUR DOG HAS NO BUSINESS SNIFFING ANOTHER DOGs ANYWAY....GET A CHOKE CHAIN OR FUR SAVER ON THAT NECK .

PUT YOUR LEASH AROUND A POLE IN YOUR YARD OR THE END OF A HORSE TRAILER OR SOMETHING STATIONARY...TIE THE LEASE SO IT WON'T COME OFF

YANK THE LEASH SO HARD UNTIL YOU GET THE TRAILER TONGUE OFF OF THE BLOCK IT IS RESTING ON...WHEN YOU HAVE ACHIEVED THat   ,,,transfer the leash to your dogs neck....now you are ready for the correcting phase...he won't dare go near another uncalled dog or person again unless you say     Its ok...don;t let him near strange dogs anyway...you are asking for trouble....gsd are not companion puppy dogs...they are protectors and another unknown dog is a threat...people are who the dog needs to be approaching...and if he does it incorrectly  .....use the leash....but do it with force...practice on the horse trailer or a pole in your back yard....

YR- he is in England. Needs a good trainer in the UK. My male GSD became very domineering while I was down for the count after knee surgery. He was protecting me, which was nice, but in his mind that made him dominant over me. So, I was recently taught how to give a REAL correction with the pinch collar. Poor 'itty, widdle baby YELPED! --But he hasn't misbehaved since. Sometimes you have to be really tough with them, my corrections were like fleas biting to him, annoying, but that's all. I learned how to make him listen, he survived it, still loves me, & is a happier boy, 'cause he's not getting mixed messages anymore. And he knows who's in charge, no more conflict! It's a good thing! jackie harris

Get a pinch collar and let him correct him self.

yes,
 you need to be the boss.
which you have not shown yet.
full control.

Keef....maybe Yellowrose sounds harsh, but she is right. Your dog Viggo never learnt the correct way to approach other dogs. He learnt from how the other dogs aproached him as he was a pup. He thinks now thats the way to do it. In the classes he calms down because you wont let him get away with that behavior probably because its embarrasing to you there.

If you say you correct him, then either your timing is off or you are not getting through to him. You might have to find someone in your area to show you how to do that, as well as show you what exactly you are doing wrong.

You can read a ton of books about leadership without getting anywhere. Pack leader is about authorithy, leadership, control and trust. Learn how to read your dog. Do you have any kids? Remember when they were toddlers? You see the same behavior in a dog, the impulsiveness, the protest, the temper tantrums ect.... What did you do? How did you handle the situation? Oh yeah, forget about things such as going through the doors first, eating first...blah, blah.....thats hogwash.