need advice - nervous aggressive 6 month GSD puppy - Page 1

we are unsure if we can keep this puppy due to possible fear/aggressive termperament.   we have young children & their friends over the house a lot and live in a town with lots of walkers, joggers, bicyclists, dog walkers, traffic.  after 3 weeks, the dog has been unable to settle in.  it is constantly licking its chops; is aggressive with nearly all the people dogs etc that we encounter.  it does not like to go for walks and has to be pulled along for most of the walk.  it constantly has soft stools. 

we hired a very reputable trainer evaluate him. the trainer indicated that he will be a lot of work as he was not responsive to her attempts to correct him and has enough confidence to continue with aggressive behavior. she does not use positive reinforcement . we have tried several methods on our own to train and it has been of limited effectiveness. 

the breeder is very reputable and we had a dog of theirs 15 years ago that was superlative.   we paid extra to get an older dog that was partially trainer and was reputed to adore children, get along with all. the breeder believes the issues to be transitional but will agree to take back the dog. 

we are talking to other trainers but are worried about spending more and getting little benefit and getting stuck with a dog that is going to be over 100 lbs and is aggressive, especially as we have young children around.   another trainer said that it might be a puppy fear period.  has anyone had a puppy that took a lot of time to settle down or that was able to overcome such skittishness/fear/aggression?




 

I can't help but wonder if there is something physically wrong with this pup. Have you taken him to the vet for bloodwork, urinalysis, fecal and a thorough exam? 

I would take the puppy back. Fear issues can be genetic.  A well-bred puppy will overcome fear very quickly, and adjust to a new place. I can understand the pup having trouble adapting to children, if it's never been exposed to them before, but that doesn't sound like it's the case with this dog.

I know of a lady who had young kids, and tried two different dogs, a lab pup, and an older dog, a shioh shepherd. Neither one fitted in with her family, and those of us who were trying to help her were starting to wonder if she was ever going to find the right dog, or whether there was something about her or her household that was preventing these dogs (or any dog) from working out.

Then she adopted a collie pup from a reputable breeder. She told the breeder what her needs were, and the breeder found her the perfect match. She loves the dog to pieces, and so do her kids!

this pup needs to be socialized big time, fear can comes from so many things, i have a feeling this pup is insercure and needs to be social and if not he is going to get worst. how much socializing have you done outside  your home? 3 weeks is not really long enough to know if its inviromental or gentics, if it is gentics it will not go away, but if it enviroment you can help him to over come this.
i have had a pup like this coming from a breeder once and it will take work, and you will need alot more time, atleast another 6 months...  as the older he gets the longer it will take.
how do some one come to him to get him to go aggressive , something is happening, i will need more information.

i also have a feeling this dog is very stressed out, where are you located.

i am located in the town area in suburban north nj but it has sidewalks and lots of foot, paw, bicycle traffic.
we have appt tomorrow with vet.  the breeder is von hayden german shepherds.  i am getting a little nervous as they did not deliver any papers with the dog.  they had said the papers would come later in the mail.

we are on trainer #2, a local lady, who uses different methods (similiar to cesar milan method). 

we are walking the dog a lot.  it is hard not to run into 3-4 people jogging, walking dogs, contractors even on our short walks. 2 or 4 long walks (about 2-3 miles)/day and many short walks (2 blocks or so to a nearby field).  the empty field is the only place where the dog seems comfortable and wants to walk to.  we have received varying thoughts on how to socialize him. the first trainer indicated with such a timid dog, we should treat him like a young puppy and gently push him each walk, without pushing him too much.  we had been operating the more walks the better and trying to push it by walking to the more populated areas of town.

it is very heartbreaking to take a dog in and then have to think that we cant keep him. it is hard not to run into people in our area. people a
are already afraid of us and crossing the street to avoid us.

thank you for taking the time to our problem.

the dog doesnt like joggers, walkers, bicyclists, crossing guard, people getting out of their cars, whether walking towards/away from us, within a one block area, whether or not across a wide 2 lane street or not.  also scared of statues, cars, his own shadow, his own reflection throughout the house, construction noise.

While I usually tend toward urging people to be patient and give the situation time as well as effort when they've only had a dog for a short time (such as 3 weeks), in this instance I think the best thing for all involved would be for you to return the dog to the breeder--this clearly isn't working out to be a good fit between the dog, your family and your surroundings.  Doesn't mean this is a 'bad' dog--but obviously if the dog is being so hyperstimulated that he's 'constantly licking his chops' and being reactive, he's not the right dog for your situation.  If the breeder doesn't have a more laid-back dog available, then they ought to be able to give you referrals to other breeders who do have appropriate candidates--it's simply not fair to this dog, to you and your family or to your neighbors to try and reshape this dog to fit the surroundings when he could thrive in another setting, and there's a dog out there who would fit your household like a glove. 

it seems like you have many socializing places and people , which is good, when he comes up to a person /jogger , what dose he do and what do you do?

i know the breeder you got your pup from and i know she is busy right now with a litter of pups, i would give her a little more time to send the paper work , i know she can be slow to send them. 
she does have good quallty dogs, but you still have to socalize, so not sure what she was doing with the pup before you got  him. 

yes, do give this trainer a try maybe she can help.

have you ask the breeder for any advise?

i would not force this puppy , but i would not let him stop , he needs to keep moving, when he see something he is fearful of , if it is possible  for him to see people but you be  like 10 feet away so he is not so close but still can see the people. i would not get him so close to what he fears. but he still needs to see it. he can not avoid the problems as  that is what he wants to do.

i was just over at one of my puppies  homes for the same problem and he may of shown a front , but he is not a very sure of himself , cause he never got to socialze with strangers and dogs.
what most people do is move away from the dog and that is the worst thing you can do.  

i will be working with my puppy to make him better as i go way father than doing nothing.

i am his breeder and feel i need to help.

have you corrected him for bad behavior.? most people dont do anything.

cause he is young it is very possible to get him out of this.

yes,  i also agree with Hexe , maybe this just is not the pup for you.  talk with your breeder.