GSD aggressive to other dogs.... - Page 1

Hello,

I've never posted here before.

I'm thinking of purchasing a working line male puppy from a trainer/breeder born May 20, 2017. My main concern is not acquiring another GSD that was perfect in every other way but *very* aggressive towards other dogs.

I've been told, based on this male puppy's genetics and his parent's (and their parent's) temperaments and the behaviors he has displayed so far, the breeder feels he will be just as mentally stable and social as his parents are and NOT reactive to anything. The breeder also is saying, on top of the right genetics, non-reactivity is further insured by appropriate training methods and proper conditioning during puppy-hood. And it will receive this training until he is 4 mos old.

My question is, does this make sense and is this a fact that is true? I know, this sounds like a rather silly question, but after my last dog, I'm almost feeling I should get an older dog that is already set in his ways, as opposed to a puppy that could change his re-activeness towards other dogs as he matures. Opinions?

Quite honestly, about 10% of dog aggression is genetically the dog. The rest is about handling from an early age and then current handling. I have handled many dogs that people said were dog aggressive and I had no problem- there are certain things people do to cause it and provided this dog has no genetic propensity to it and it's properly handled and you learn as much as you can about how to keep a dog neutral to other dogs and "up the ante" in terms of your handling, I think you'll do fine.

Thank you for the response, Jenni. I will do my homework on learning as much as I can about how to keep a dog neutral to other dogs. After my last experience, which made taking my former dog away from my home always stressful, I don't want to be tense with my new dog when other dogs pass us. I would imagine that's one thing that could cause a problem since especially GSD's pick up on our feelings/emotions once we've bonded.

ABSOLUTELY! People worry, they tense on the leash, or they stop moving, which creates suspicion, or they wait to correct the dog until the dog is snarling and barking, when what they should have done was communicated ahead of time the reaction they desired. I tell mine to "leave it" when they prick their ears, lift their tails, stop walking, etc. People don't pick up on the little stuff and then they have a real problem. I don't force socialization and expect friendliness- I just want quiet neutrality.

Yes you are better off as buying an adult if you are trying to avoiding one prone to fighting ive seen so hard of cases that can never be broke or trusted.Raising right and correct training can only go so far

Agree with Jenni - much dog on dog aggression is down to mishandling by the human(s) involved. As long as you learn all you can and have the patience to implement it, no reason you cannot become the kind of owner who no longer has these problems.
Bear in mind though that '4 months' is still only 20 WEEKS max, it will still be a young puppy, still be prone to pick up influences and behaviours other than the good groundwork your breeder has promised you (and that assumes your breeder is 100 % honest and capable); & still be prone to going through the 'stroppy teen' stage later, when it can all go wrong again if the handler hasn't worked out what to do.