sorry for the repost but i really need some help this is urgent please - Page 2

no toy or food dominance at all. lately on his walks he wants to first to go out the door-that is a new behavior in him,but when on walks he is calm really not wanting other people to pet him-more on the shy side,but not backing away from them or hiding just wanting to keep walking not want to be bothered by strangers. I am thinking he is getting into adolescence and maybe testing him self him the pack( family included) because he is pack leader over the other 2 Shepherds and he is  the youngest dog. He also hates cats since he was a puppy. We had to get rid of a cat because he would not stop chasing her and putting her in his mouth ripping at her fur. As a pup he was a very shy one. So i took him to training classes tried to build his confidence, I do want to thank everyone who gave us your advise any other advise would still be very welcomed. thanks so much

Michele,
It does sound as if age may be a factor here.  It does sound as if he may be trying to assert his dominance.  I wouldn't have much of a problem if it was one nip at her out of annoyance as that can be easily addressed...but several bites and looking for more?  Were you planning on doing any kind of protection or Schutzhund work with this dog?  If he is a family pet only and you just want a dog you can trust you need to get on top of this now.  He needs a very Strong hand and to be put in his place pronto!  No letting him out the door first.  No walking around him if he is in your way.  Make him move.  Too bad if it is an inconvenience to him.  Find you a trainer that can properly evaluate your dog.  You need someone who is familiar with strong willed breeds and willing to "straighten" him out.  What I mean by this is someone who will put him in a position to bite again and when he shows any aggression at all (even at a cat) he corrects him, hard.  No redirection here.  No positive reinforcement.  Good, swift, hard correction.  He needs to know that he has screwed up and the fear of god put into him.  He needs to know his place in the "pack" and that is the very bottom, always.  I don't know how well you know dogs or if you can handle a dog this size.  If you are the least bit afraid of him you are in trouble.  I myself will not tolerate any aggressive behavior from a dog.  I'm the alpha bitch in this house.  My dog was about the same age as yours when she growled at me over a bone.  BIG mistake.  Since I don't know you I can't really suggest you "manhandle" him but it sounds like someone needs to, quickly.  We all love our dogs but you can love them too much and by letting him get away with minor infractions you are only letting him think he has a chance of becoming the alpha male.  You have to be strict with a strong willed breed like the GSD or they will take over.  They respect someone "in charge". 

Good luck with him.  Let us know how you handle this and the outcome.     

The WHY seems very obvious to me....Based on the information you gave I will give you my opinion...

"was bringing him in and was going to put him in his crate for the night,he did not want to go in so i was going to get him a treat and let him hang around the house for a little while"

Not only did you allow HIM to decide that he wasn't going in his crate yet....you were about to REWARD him for it by getting a treat!!

How many times have you done this would be my question, if more than once....IMO  your dog knew you were allowing him to stay up/out of his crate longer AND getting him a treat, IMO this is why he bit your daughter.

By allowing your dog to make descisions, submitting to them and actually rewarding him you have created a dominant dog that sees himself as alpha.  Sorry to say this but I believe you created this.  At 15 months he is comming into his own and maturing...and now enforcing what you have set the ground for.

You were going to allow him to refuse to go in his crate (and reward him for it) and a family member with a lower rank tries to physically push him in his crate... (correct me if I'm wrong but thats what it sounded like she was doing when she pushed his butt)...or even if he thought that's what she was trying to do....I don't think so.....he as alpha was enforcing position in the pack.

I do not believe the dog should be put down, but you must get a professional trainer to help and guide you to re-establish pack order and let him KNOW what his place is!  This will probably take physical discipline if you need to control anymore aggressive behavior towards the family.  It is not for the weak of heart or pushover, you need to create rules and boundries and you and everyone in the family must enforce them.  He doesn't make any descisions, YOU do!

If this seems like too much for you and your family I would suggest finding him a home, have his drives tested by a professional, he may be suitable as a donation dog for the police, or a sport person looking for a challenge.

I don't think this is a temperament issue by how they have described him otherwise, I think it is dominance plain and simple.  A strong handler who has experience dealing with dominant dogs can work with him I do not think this needs to be a death sentence but certainly needs to be addressed, or be given to someone who is able to.

I completely agree with GSDfan. I've seen the same thing many a time and 95% of the time it is owner created. It is almost always correctable IF you and your family can be strong and do the work a very experienced trainer will have you do.

Melissa

Your daughter "pushed his butt"......I'd be getting that dog x-rayed. Might be in pain--pano or hip issues.

Pushed his butt..... 
There is no excuse for this.  NO EXCUSE!!!
My sister got bit by our dog when she was 14 and the dog broke the skin.  The whole family made excuses about pain or this and that.  Anyway, we forgot about it.  2 weeks later the same dog grabbed my other sister by the throat and almost killed her.
The dog was 2 years old, we had him since he was little, had obedience training. 
I would not look for excuses.  If he snaps once and breaks her skin maybe, but he bit her a view times.  Why would anyone make excuses.  He got away with it and he will do it again.  I would not place him and I would not keep him.

Just because a dog bites doesn't mean the problem can't be fixed. Yes there are some dogs out there who can not be helped, maybe a few screws loose, etc.. but this doesn't sound like the case. Issuing a death sentance without having an experienced trainer eval IN PERSON is not fair. Without observing the family setting, how the dog interacts with the family, the other dogs, out in public how can you make that judgement? The average pet person doesn't know body language, pack structure etc.. more often then not, when I eval a dog the cause of the problem is not what the owners think. In a multiple dog setting, the instigator is not usually the dog called about.

Biting is not good, but that doesn't mean it can't be fixed. I can not make that call through a messageboard.

Melissa

Ok, he bites without any sign and you said his eye look diffrence. Maybe, just maybe, please check what he has been eaten before that. You mentioned you just brought him in from outdoor,  check see if he ate any strange herb from yard (like Datura, Lavender Etc, or some times even some wild mushroom), some time those stuff make animal do crazy thing.

Seek out the help of someone in your area that knows how to deal with aggressive dog behavior because he will do it again.  Stop posting excuses people about how the stars we out of alignment.  I guaranty he has given you subtle signs for a while now that this behavior was coming but you just didn't see them.  You say "he knows his commands" but what does this mean?  Learning how to sit and down in a puppy class does not constitute training.  Have you followed up with his training now that he is a maturing adult male?  Why did he not go in his crate, because he didn't want to or because he won't go without a treat?  If you were to try and place him in the manually (not throw him in like some of you are going to say I'm suggesting, but place him), would he go?  You are starting to have some dominance issues here that, like I mentioned, are starting to come out as he matures.  Seek help quickly because this will not go away without being addressed and you cannot do it alone or over the internet. 

I agree w/ GSDfan about it seems you're rewarding bad behavior instead of punishing.  I just have one question that hasn't yet been asked:  When the dog was a danger to the cat (another member of the household) why did you get rid of the cat instead of correcting the dog?  I understand some dogs just can't be trusted around cats, but why not correct the dog, limit his access to the cat, etc?

You have experience with GSDs but is this dog from harder lines than you are used to?

Sorry, that's more than one question.  :)