Opinions: Protective or Aggressive? - Page 1

Scenario: Me and my 2 1/2 yr old son were down at our creek in the woods throwing rocks in the water watching our 7 month old female GSD playing with our 10 wk old female puppy and acting goofy in the water. We're minding our own business when our neighbor approaches on 4 wheelers with her 8yr old son. They approach talking with helmuts in hand. I grabbed the leash and put it on my 7month old so she wouldn't make a nuisance of herself being nasty wet and muddy, also in the event they were nervous around her. As they approached, my girl seemed alright until she got a bit closer. She immediately hackled up, tail raised, puffed up like a rooster and positioned herself in front of my two year old, growling and barking. I immediately put her in a sit position and told her to quiet. As we talked, she still acted very agitated, and was "eyeing" my neighbors, son included with "that look" that said she did not trust them. As we talked, she seemed to calm down enough to let my neighbor pet her. I was telling her good girl and things seemed fine. As she was removing her hand, my dog snapped at her, not connecting but could have. I corrected her with a quick jerk to the leash and a verbal correction and instructed her then to a down. She was once again fine until my two year old tried to go forward to the boy...at this point, she jumped up, turned and barked (not an aggessive but, a meaningful...like she was trying to tell him something) bark and pushed herself against him until he backed up...where she resumed to sit and growl. She has been well socialized since we received her at 8 wks. We've been to the vet with numerous people reaching out and petting her, and go regularly to the park. She's met many people and has never once shown this side of herself. The only time she's come off acting like she was upset is when we've been in our yard and someone has approached; however, she's always calmed completely down and been fine. This time, she never did calm down to the point I felt I could trust her. My question is, do you perceive this as being protective (which is what I'm truly hoping) or can this be aggression and/or fear (not knowing the people)? She has met this neighbor once before while in the kennel. I was in the house cleaning with my son and my husband told me my neighbor and her son wanted to meet the dogs. I instructed him to walk them down while she was kenneled and told him to ensure they did not put their fingers thru the chainlink as she did not yet know them. The lady approached and as I watched from inside, my girl approached the gate unsure and then began to growl and circle, barking and hackling. She did let her touch her thru the kennel but, was very wary and unsure the whole time. Also, I do not necessarily care for this person and was miffed that we were disturbed at the creek in our quiet time...could this have transferred down the leash to my dog? She has always been so sweet but wary of strangers and has always minded her manners once told do so do. This was very different. She wouldn't calm down and I truly would not have felt comfortable with her loose at that point. I also feel it may have had something to do with the way they were standing and looking at her. You could tell they were nervous. I know dogs pick up on that. I just don't want her to be aggressive. I've had GSD's for over 29 years but, all of them except one were always very "sweet" when meeting someone. Just curious as to how others would have handled this and what should I have done differently, if anything? Thank you in advance.

neither aggressive or protective - she was being fearful, defensive. Fear aggressive. More socializing - as much as possible - get her out around lots of people, only good experiences. molly

IMO - I've always been told that dogs can really pick up on our feelings. If you, and/or your neighbor, were uneasy at the time, it could of very well picked up on that. I would agree with eichenluft, get her out, out, out...but only goood experiences.

Molly, yes I guess I was afraid that's what it was too. This past month the weather hasn't cooperated enough to get her out as much as I'd like. When we've been out lately, not as many people at the park to socialize with...weather is soon changing and that will help. I definitely don't wish to have a dog that is fearful. I want to show the world what an attribute a stable GSD can be, not a fearful one. I'm also hoping as she matures, she will gain confidence. Until this point, she's never shown this so, we will definitely keep up the outings. Thank you for your replies.

gsdfanatic, do continue to socialize your dog. I would have really liked to have seen your actions/reactions during this incident before making any judgement on the dog. Your dog may be a little sharp, but you may have contributed to some of the interaction.

You might not want to tell her she's a good girl when she acts that way. She may perceive that as praise for a job well done. This is probably going to get me a good slapping around, but in my experience every now and then almost every dog meets a person or two they just do not like for some reason. It may be their scent or something in that person's demeanor that triggers an aggressive reaction in these dogs. My first GSD was obnoxiously friendly to every person he ever met including the chemo vet who he had every right in the world to not like. Then one night he tried to take down a stranger coming into our campsite waving a knife. You could have literally knocked me over with a feather, I never in my wildest dreams ever imagined that dog barking, snarling and showing teeth at anything other than another dog. If he weren't on lead, I am sure he'd have caused some damage to that man. He never even as much barked at a person until that night and was 7 years old at the time. It took him all those years to run into someone he didn't like.

Your dog does not like those people, thats obvious. They have invaded her space before and she remembered it. Her behavior was a warning - don' come any closer, but they did. She was protective, you said " She was once again fine until my two year old tried to go forward to the boy...at this point, she jumped up, turned and barked (not an aggessive but, a meaningful...like she was trying to tell him something) bark and pushed herself against him until he backed up...where she resumed to sit and growl"- thats being protective , for me. She did not trust these people with her family. And, as you sad yourself if she wanted to bite somebody she could easily do it but she did not.

Without being there I can't really tell you why she acted this way, but I agree with Molly. Environment away from home, 4 -wheeler, helmets, all that stuff was just a little too much. By posting this you are obviously concerned and nervous about this. This concern was probbly mulitplied by 10 at the time it happened. Your emotions travel down the leash like a telephone line. Like others said, extensive socialization and obedience. When the dog is secure and confident in her obedience it helps. Often when you correct a dog for nervous aggression, it makes it worse. Especially at such a young age and still learning her OB. I would take her to a place where there is alot of people and practice your OB a good distance away and gradually get closer as she gains confidence. Be careful not to go too fast, don't put your dog in a position to fail, and always be calm and confident in front of your dog. Holp this helps

Thank you all for your replies. Know that I do get something out of each of them. I do believe I was inadvertently sending her some mixed messages myself but, I also believe it has some to do with her being unsure of her surroundings and the people there not to mention my son being there as she is always at his side and he's generally not with us when we meet others. The thing that gets me is that we've been around many, many people with kids and without. People jogging up to us, people with hats, sticks, kids running and screaming, etc and this is the only time she's reacted as such. I do think she's protective but, I also think she does not like this person. In hindsight, I realize I should not have told her "good girl" when she let herself be petted but, at the time, was trying to reassure her that this person was alright. I also realize that I should not have allowed her to be touched by someone she did not trust as this probably enforced her agitation at this person. She is very different from the GSD's I owned in the past as she literally watches everything and everyone around her. She always seems to be on guard, even when playing. I like protectiveness but, want to ensure that it does not go further than that and definitely want to ensure it's not aggression due to fear; therefore, we will remain vigilent in our socializing. I also want to ensure it is not something I am doing incorrectly. I don't want my dog to lick everyone that she meets as I know it is the standard to be somewhat standoffish. I also don't want her to feel she has to scare everyone off. I'd like to say I don't believe she really would have bit the lady but honestly, I am not so sure. If her hand lingered in the pull back, who knows? Otherwise, why snap at all? Thank you all very much for your insight and opinions, they're as always, much appreciated.

I may take a slapping around too but I am always cautious of people that my dog reacts strongly to. She is a much better judge of character than I am and has never been wrong about a person that I can recall.