Thanks for the help... - Page 9

TESSJ10...My point....  Prince can stand right next to strangers and be absolutely indifferent to them. But, when a stranger approaches him directly and talks to him, ( which usually means eye contact) this can triggers his aggression.....    

         Your Quote..".As I understand it we're not talking about a dog bought to be a Schutzhund competition dog, but a dog bought to be a family pet, right? Families, children, other pets, visitors, all the surprises and unexpected things of family life"......When I purchased Prince it was for a family pet. I wanted the ability to do sports as well...I have not decided on that, as I am focusing on this issue first. Also, Prince is perfect with our family, and is fine with other animals too. We live on 10 rural acres, surrounded by 100 acres of corn. Prince has a outdoor fenced area and is on leash when out playing. I am not saying we never get visitors, but it is not often.....

Stop making excuses, Ruger!

It's the trainers' fault (how many trainers now? 2 or 3 I think?) 
We don't live in an area where there are too many visitors.
He's fine with the family ... (didn't you tell a story of how your daughter wearing a scarf set him off and he dragged you around running at her -and I quote- 'like the big bad wolf'?)

You had indicators at 4 MONTHS that you had an issue developing with this dog and you've let it slide for 5 months and now you've got a walking liability suit on your hands and I think you like it.

I think you like the attention and you like the idea of Prince being protective of you and to hell with anyone in the radius of his teeth because obviously it's going to be that person or persons' fault because you will not look at your dog and accept that he and you are in serious trouble.

Learn how to correct the dog.
it is unfair to set a dog for a failure that can not be adressed, timing is wrong and so on.

your dog is oportunistic and you are slow. maybe you need to not only correct your dog, but read his body to be able to correct the dog.

If you knew how ro tead your dog, you would know better. (you would not allowed the trainer to do the exercise)

timing is crucial.. find a triainer who can show you how to..

Good luck

"Prince can stand right next to strangers and be absolutely indifferent to them. But, when a stranger approaches him directly and talks to him, ( which usually means eye contact) this can triggers his aggression..... "

Right.  Dogs in general don't like to be stared down.  Little ankle-biter-sized dogs are often good examples of this reaction.  GSD sure don't like it, either.  I understand that, but family dogs need to learn to not react aggressively to these things.

I wasn't coming down on you critically.  In fact, huge props to you for recognizing a problem, attempting to fix it, and asking for help to fix it.  All excellent and greatly to your credit!  Your doing so here I really hope helps you, but know that it's helping all those other people who don't 'fess up to having the same issue.  And they are out there for sure!

"Also, Prince is perfect with our family, and is fine with other animals too. We live on 10 rural acres, surrounded by 100 acres of corn. Prince has a outdoor fenced area and is on leash when out playing. I am not saying we never get visitors, but it is not often....."

Understood.  However, that's why they call them "accidents."  It's that ONE TIME there's a child or another adult or SOMETHING unexpected and things go horribly wrong....

Back to finding a trainer - I know some have said don't go the SchH or sport dog route, but I've found that these people often understand GSD personality.  They're not afraid of them and they understand that aloofness and not taking a liking to every person they meet is a GOOD thing.  Without doing SchH yourself if you don't want to, you might find a trainer who will work with you away from the SchH field.

 

 "As long as people ignore him, everything is just fine."

But you cannot ever count on people ignoring him.  If I had a quarter for every moron whom I've seen ignore an owner's request to not approach their dog and go right up to it saying "But dogs love me" even as the dog's upper lip is wrinkled back up to his eyelids, I'd be retired.

"Prince can stand right next to strangers and be absolutely indifferent to them. But, when a stranger approaches him directly and talks to him, ( which usually means eye contact) this can triggers his aggression....."

Prince has decided that he is not only a bad-ass mother, but a bad-ass mother who reports to no one.  This is not all that uncommon.  However,  only you, with the help of a professional, can make him understand that he is sorely mistaken.

My final advice: get a trainer who specializes in quelling aggression issues, by contacting someone Kelly might have recommended to you or that school I PMed you about, or a trainer someone else may have recommended.  The who is far less important than the how, and the key things to look for are a) one-on-one training sessions - screw the group stuff, he's nowhere near ready for that; b) the trainer should have lengthy experience with GSDs; and c) the trainer should have lengthy experience with aggressive dogs and behavior modification.  Don't be afraid to ask for references, either - and request them SPECIFICALLY from owners who have male GSDs who were aggressive towards people - someone whose primary experience is in getting Fluffy the Miniature Poodle to stop pissing on the floor ain't gonna cut it.

Then start training in earnest, and stay off the PDB for the next month or two.  You've gotten all the advice here that anyone can give without seeing the dog.  Now your time needs to be spent with a competent trainer and Prince, not here soliciting more opinions that won't be any different than what you've already gotten. 

FHTracker....I have replied to you personally more than once with regard to Prince and our family...I think I may be communicating ineffectively or you are looking to stir trouble. However, Prince has NEVER shown any aggression toward our family.....

TessJ10....You have been extremely helpful and have given me excellent advice...Thank you..

Donald ......Your post just nailed it.....Thanks....



                EVERYONE,,,,,,

                             I owe a great deal of gratitude to everyone who has taken the time to respond to my posts. I could not have come to the place I am in confronting and dealing with Prince's aggression without your honest and straight forward advice.....I have a wonderful foundation of knowledge, thanks to PDB to move forward and work out mine, and Prince's issues.....Thanks...As Donald Deluxe stated, I need to focus on the task at hand. I have a trainer to find and a dog to train....I need to get off the database for a bit...

                             Thank you all ...from the bottom of my heart...

                                          Deanna and Prince.....

Good luck!   

Flat or Correction Collar???
by Ruger1 on 26 August 2010 - 02:08

Ruger1

Ruger1

Posts: 612
Joined: Fri May 14, 2010 03:45 am
Well, I answered my own question this evening. While out in the yard working on our obedience, my daughter was video taping. She was wearing a new fluffy scarf...Doesn't sound like a big deal, but it was to Prince. He noticed my daughter standing at a distance and took off running toward her like the big bad wolf. It took me by surprise because living on 10 acres surrounded by 100 acres of corn, you don't get much in the way of distractions. I had a hold of his lead, but he pulled me all over the yard before he would settle and realized it was my daughter....I had a needed reminder of the reason I bought the correction collar in the first place.....

KCzaja...Your post proved right .....

Ruger1


Your own words Ruger.  A charge at your daughter for simply having a strange scarf on.  I hope you do get your dog under control before it escalates to more than that.  I sincerely have my doubts in your ability to woman up and do what needs to be done at this point but by all means, come back in 4 to 6 months and prove me wrong.

FH Tracker, her last post suggests that she now understands not only what is at stake but what she needs to do to rectify the situation.   Further criticism is unnecessary at this point.