Do you remember Good Boy? - Page 4

Jenni
If that is the case Why is it then that 1000's of Dogs change hands every year go to new owners and then bond with them and live a normal life within the family if what you say is true then we may expect a huge percent of Dogs going to new homes to act in the same way
NO, i for one do not agree the Dog has an unstable trait about it WE will never know what goes through the heads of our Dogs, I had one such Dog 3 years old never a mean streak in his body huge drives and was going great in The ScH Sport then one evening he was sitting next to my brother who had him leashed He was standing talking to three other friends the Dog without warning came Up Bit through his arm to the Bone no warning no sound and then sat beside him as nothing had happened, My brother said he has had me, I came over and took the dog back to the car box we cut of his coat sleeve he had gone through and opened up the arm it took about 16 stitches, and a drain and nursing care for six weeks to change the dressing daily, Now this dog had been with us since it was 8 weeks old, The next day i walked it nothing at all  afterwards never a wrong move by the Dog, So why did it do what it did, we cannot see into there heads no matter how clever we think we are
However that was not the end of it but there is no need to continue as it is done and finished with
Steve1

"Don't you both agree that there are good temperament dogs & bad temperaments ones."

Absolutely but those with really bad temperaments, i.e. fear biters, are easy to spot if you've ever been around one.  I can't make a judgement call about Good Boy without seeing him but feel from your description that he wasn't managed properly.  I am not blaming you; by your own admission, you are relatively inexperienced but you should learn something from this experience.

"My male is bred off high drive lines. He was 5 months old when he was shipped from Europe and had a total of over 48 hours in a crate, passing through strange hands.

When I opened the crate at the airport, a total stranger to him he bounced out the door with a hug and a friendly, confident sniff and tail wag for everyone in that large hanger. I have no doubt that *I* was more unnerved by the airport than he was!"

Your dog was a puppy; huge difference.

"If that is the case Why is it then that 1000's of Dogs change hands every year go to new owners and then bond with them and live a normal life within the family..."

The key Phrase here, Steve, is bond with them; that process doesn't happen instantaneously.  I was in a meeting at a client's site in L.A. several years ago when the controller came in with both of her hands bandaged up.  When I asked her what happened, she explained that hse had bought a schutzhund titled Doberman from Germany, had gotten the dog home and the next day took the dog out to see what it would do.  What it did was attack her and why wouldn't it?  She had money but no experience whatsoever handling a dog like that and ultimately, whoever sold it to her was irresponsible for having done so.  She sent the dog back and got a Retriever pup which is what she should have had to begin with.

I can offer several accounts of people trying to work a dog right after its arrival and having gotten bitten which is precisely why experienced people don't do it.  Would you expect Izzy to take orders from a complete stranger or let one into her enclosure?

Keith- If you read my first thread about Good Boy you will see that he was a bit aggressive even during his younger days & it took me a bit of time to be friend him. So I think this aggressive behavior has been developed & became worse By the way he did attack the cleaner on the 7th occasion / visit.

 Thanks Keith for saving me the time of replying to all of those individually.

Puppies and dogs are different. I can tell you that while my dogs PROBABLY would not do that in the same situation, I cannot guarantee it and I certainly would not put them in the situation to find out! My dogs are bonded to me and if I put them in a situation or hand them off to someone, they generally trust that things are going to be ok; they trust me. However, if that person pushes them, all bets are off. This doesn't sound like a dog that has ever had capable enough handling to ever have that type bond. He felt threatened, or he was just plain pissed off, and I don't know why people find it so offensive that I say "and why shouldn't he???" 

I'm sorry that again, it seems dogs like this end up in inexperienced hands. Or is it inexperienced people are more likely to see this behavior from the same dogs that an experienced person wouldn't, because of differences in management? We'll never know.

Yes, thousands of dogs are imported and I bet alot of them are not so friendly at first- and the people who ordered them have the common sense and maturity to NOT EXPECT THEM TO BE! They take precautions! I know I did. I didn't expect to grab Capri out of her kennel at ORD and give her a big hug and get a big lick back. I was extremely cautious and watched her every move to get a read on how she felt about the situation.

If you talk to anyone who has been shipping GSDs for many years, they remember back when GSDs were GSDs and not Golden Retrievers in GSD suits. Ask them if every dog they picked up at the airport was friendly. He might have weak temperament or he might have strong temperament; I wasn't there. I don't know. It sounds to me like he's surrounded by people who have no clue how to handle him, and if none of you think that affects how a dog reacts to situations, then I hope you stick to Retrievers. 

Another big difference, and this refers back to his "history" of aggression is the fact that it's entirely possible this dog has NEVER been handled properly, thus has always felt like he was on his own, and was 10x more likely to react that way than a dog who has been properly managed his entire life. 

Maybe the dog is worthless. I haven't met him. Just saying from only the given information, I feel sorry for him and think it's a big harsh to say he's "dangerous" or has "bad temperament." 

PS- RLHAR, I have children (or a child anyway). I don't see the relevance. If you can't safely manage a dog under all circumstances, including children, you needn't have them. Your lacking management skills doesn't constitute bad temperament on the part of the dog (and I don't mean "your" as in you personally-just generalizing). If you can't trust your children to stay out of a certain dog's kennel (and we have zero proof Good Boy would react this way toward a child), then lock the kennel. Easy. 

"And lastly..................where are all these aggressive dogs when I want one? There are never any to be found and yet I keep hearing of all these "dangerous dogs." Every one I'm able to get my hands on turns out to be a non-aggressive disappointment."

You're such a hard ass you probably turn them all into sissies. 

 Keith, I'm starting to wonder! My friend and I have tried to get our hands on some ill-reputed dogs (worse reputations than mine!) and whenever we get one, it's a let down. Half of them can be rehomed into pet homes w/a little OB. The others are head cases that some ego-maniac talked themselves into believing were hard, aggressive dogs instead of admitting their dog is a head case. Now, admittedly there haven't been hundreds, but there have been a few and I've yet to find one that I thought was "that bad." 

I've been told it's my uber -laidback personality and dogs behave differently around me than they normally do....of course I can't prove this because I never have had the opportunity to view them when I'm not there. ;-) A friend of mine suggested that the more defensive and/or aggressive ones take cues from me once they are somewhat bonded, and because I don't get ruffled, they don't exhibit those behaviors like they would/did w/a more exciteable handler. Goes along w/the saying "emotions travel down lead." Not saying dog or handler is bad or that I'm better....just that my temperament  and that type temperament balance a bit and the dog is not so "edgy," if you will.