Aggressive Shepherd Puppy - Page 3

like i said lets see the pedigree then talk price...

My male who is now 20 months of age was "exactly" the same. He began showing aggression towards strangers and other dogs at 6 months, loved looking out the window in the house looking for people to bark at, was a nightmare on the lead walking, he would strain on the lead, bark and want to chase everyone and everything he saw. No distractions from strangers or other animals he was a perfect well behaved gentleman and extremely affectionate towards the family with absolutely no aggression towards us, you can take food from his mouth. At the vet for his 12 month check up, I had to muzzle him as he lunged at the vet trying to bite her as she entered the room. By 16 months, he lunged at a girl walking in the opposite direction past my wife, pulling my wife off her feet, she could hardly hold him on the lead when his mind was made up to try and get someone. He appeared that he wanted to attack anything in sight.

The Vet suggested he was fear biting, but there was no fear, his ears were up, his neck was straight, if he saw someone or another dog in the distance, he wanted to get them, he was confident like, "I am a German Shepherd and I am tough, get near us and I will take your head off", it  was like he was looking for the challenge, nothing scared him, he seemed to have fear of nothing whatsoever.

He acted up aggressively with me 3 times on the lead pulling towards a person or dog that he saw and snapping him sharply on the choker with a harsh no corrected him. I would also make him sit on the side walk if someone was walking past, sure he would eye them off and think about it, but he remained calm. By 18 months he was good with me on the lead walking, but still acted up with my wife, pulling and trying to lunge at people and dogs he saw.

We hired a trainer who came to our house, my wife was holding him by the collar as the trainer approached barking aggressively the closer the trainer got to him and my wife. He told her to let him go, the trainer said "he won't bite me, he is sensing my wife's fear and tenseness, her fear that he may attack and bite". She let him go and he ran up to the trainer who stood still and ignored him. He sniffed around his legs for a bit, the trainer took a treat from his pocket, offered the dog a treat which he ate and patted him, the dog was calm and accepted the trainer being in the yard with us becoming freindly towards him after a few minutes.

To cut a long story short, there was nothing wrong with the dog, it was especially my wife's lack of experience with aggressive behaviour in the dog's adolescence after owning Golden Retrievers for 26 years that don't display that type of instinct at all. Once we learned how to correct the behaviour on the lead with a sharp tug and a firm NO when ever he looked like acting up, he started to get the message how we needed him to behave. It took a few weeks during a daily walk to correct the behaviour, but now at 20 months only last weekend off the lead in the park area, someone with another GSD appeared suddenly, my dog thought about it, you could see it in his stance, but a harsh NO at the point he saw the person and other dog, he stood still for me to casually clip his lead back on.

It's definitely true that with my wife, she would tense up with dread on a walk seeing another person or dog appear where the trainer told us that my wife was relaying to the dog that a threat was approaching and his job was to scare them away in protection mode, which is exactly what he seemed to do and react accordingly. Teaching him that there is no threat by remaining calm and leading him completely corrected the problem altogether. 

Right on Rexy.

I really hate to say this, but sometimes you gotta just take them down a notch..........and tell them who's boss.

That cute little puppy on my signature, decided that "no" was not the answer he wanted to hear. He came at my face, bit me and left a cut and bruise over my eye. I really love his spirit to a point, he crossed over the line.

I did the ole' "grab him by the neck, drop him on his back, look him in the eye, and not let go untill he stopped fighting", ( it took 4 minutes). Immedately after we played with a tug for about 10 minutes. He has been respectful ever since. He still has plenty of spirit, and now he has just a bit of respect to go along with it.

I hope my eye doesn't turn black and blue!

Do whatever it takes.



About 3 years ago, we recieved a "dumped" dog. He was a 3 year old half black lab, half pit bull. The dog  beautiful. He was also nuts. After a year of working with him, and thousands of dollars of professional training he bit my son in the face - un provoked. The next day he was put to sleep.

While your dog is still young enough, get through to him, so his fate will not be the same. You cannot be enough obediance training or socialization. Find someone who can help you get started and never quit.

Red sable,
I 'd use a prong before I'd use a choke on a live ring.
As everything, without proper training all can be abuse!  I was implying that there needs to be someone that looks at that dog and can figure out what is going on and how to help before one throws some advice out there.