Fear agressive german shephard puppy

kaz · Post by **kaz** » Tue Oct 10, 2006 4:14 pm

I have a six month old female shephard who is wonderful apart from when anyone comes to the house or with people out on the street. She will stand and bark at them in an agressive manner and will only stop after a period when she deems them safe. Although it is very vocal I dont feel that she would do more but I would welcome any ideas about how to prevent this. She also will bark if anyone other than family makes eye contact or speaks to her directly or puts out a hand to her.

ashrussell4190 · Post by **ashrussell4190** » Tue Oct 10, 2006 7:29 pm

Its a natural instinct of the GSD to be slightly wary of strangers. Try taking her out on walks with a halti and correct her if she starts barking at people praise a lot when she stops. Instead of people going to pet her let her build up her courage and go and 'speak' to them then praise her for being friendly. In the house ignore her bad behaviour and reward with a tasty treat when she lets people pet her.

Hope this helps

Ashley

kaz · Post by **kaz** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 12:39 pm

Thanks Ashley, I will try your tips its just a shame that we have this as she is such a brilliant dog in all other ways. If all else fails I will try a behaviouralist. Do you know if some of this type of behaviour will change when she matures as I have heard of other bitches that calm down alot then? Thanks again Kaz

Josie · Post by **Josie** » Tue Oct 17, 2006 8:21 pm

Dogs go through a second fear impact stage as they reach adolesence. It's important that during this time you're consistent with her but that she doesn't learn people are to be worried about.

I'm sorry to disagree with you ashrussell, but correcting a fearful dog is always a bad idea, and even more so in a halti which can cause whiplash type injuries if it is jerked about in any way.

I would consider seeing a behaviourist to be honest, gsd's are big dogs and their threat displays are impressive and scary. In the dangerous dogs act your dog doesn't need to bite someone, only to scare them.

Although it is natural for gsd's to be wary, they shouldn't be overtly aggressive and I think what your dog needs is gentle, careful socialisation with people to increase her confidence.

I can't stress enough how useful a good, reward based behaviourist can be in helping you with this problem, before it gets worse.