# 1 Year old GSD slowly developing Agressive Behavior... Help!



## Theboss (Feb 9, 2013)

Hello , I have an 1 Year and 6 months old White German Shepherd , he has always been a Playful dog , Never barked at anyone, would always play with other dogs (had proper socialization when puppy) would jump on visits and play with them ALWAYS,and even with people on the street.

But from about 4 months ago , He started Changing his Behavior,He started barking at 1 out of 10 persons who tried to pet him on the Street.... And that number just kept increasing along the time , until he started to bark to about anyone who tried to pet him (he'd stay calm on the beginning and then suddenly starts to bark out of nowhere) he'd even bark to people in my building's entrance hall or even to guests inside my house.
and oh ,today I tried cleaning his paws (what id always do) after coming back when its raining , and he wouldnt let me. he'd do a low bark and put his mouth on my hands,without forcing it. (strangely ,he'd cry and lick me after doing it )
Could you guys please help with it ? I dont know what to do anymore...Its getting worse and worse everyday,and he has always been a playful and docile dog !


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## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

It may not be aggression but fear an anxiety. He's not a little pup anymore and instincts and behaviors are developing. Don't expect him to want or enjoy being petted by any and every one. You need to protect him and let him know that he does not need to accept being approached by strangers. If it were me, I would not allow anyone but family pet him. Tell people that he's being trained at the moment and shouldn't be touched. Don't push him. Do you take him to classes for training or have an in-home trainers? That would help. The mouth on your hand thing is pretty normal for gsds. Mine does it a lot


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## Moriah (May 20, 2014)

Stosh said:


> It may not be aggression but fear an anxiety. He's not a little pup anymore and instincts and behaviors are developing. Don't expect him to want or enjoy being petted by any and every one. You need to protect him and let him know that he does not need to accept being approached by strangers. If it were me, I would not allow anyone but family pet him. Tell people that he's being trained at the moment and shouldn't be touched. Don't push him. Do you take him to classes for training or have an in-home trainers? That would help. *The mouth on your hand thing is pretty normal for gsds*. Mine does it a lot


My 7.5 month old boy does this a lot, too. I haven't corrected for it. Sometimes it's like he's holding my hand. Should I correct for it?


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## Theboss (Feb 9, 2013)

Okay, But , he has never been like that before! He started developing it along the time... he's now barking and agressively to anyone that goes inside the house that is not part of the family, even friends who played with him before ... I shouldn't "let that go" and "accept" it , i believe this needs to be corrected. But i dont Know how! Could please someone tell me?


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## ShastinaMama (Sep 6, 2014)

Moriah said:


> My 7.5 month old boy does this a lot, too. I haven't corrected for it. Sometimes it's like he's holding my hand. Should I correct for it?


My boy used to do that a lot as well. I always saw it as holding my hand since it was done with a soft-mouth. I never corrected it because I never saw a need to. To me, it felt as if it was his way of saying, "I'm here for you."

That's just MHO.


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## Bhoss17 (Apr 9, 2014)

*I also am having a problem with aggression in my 11 month old.*

Cooper started off as a friendly pup we didn't have any issues with strangers. He developed his big boy bark and did/does bark at strangers. We do want him to do this but we want him to calm down on command. (This part is still a work in progress) 
The first incident we had was when my wife and I were taking him for a walk and we stopped to talk with our neighbor (Cooper was about 7 months old) our neighbor's daughter is about 2 or 3 and came over to pet him, she was sweet about it but put her face right on his. He was fine at first then let out a few loud aggressive barks. We yelled at him and took him away. 
The next incident was with family visiting our home one evening. I have 3 nephews ranging in age from 2 to 7. Cooper likes to chase the kids when they run around so i had him on a leash. We also brought him to day care earlier so he would be tired out. When the kids got there i had them give him treats. During the evening, one of the kids was walking by him and Cooper jumped up and aggressively barked at him. We scolded him and removed him from the room. a bit later we brought him back out. My other nephew walked by him and Cooper again Jumped up barked and lunged at him grabbing his shirt. Once again we scolded Cooper and removed him from the room. At that point we emailed the breeder asking for advice. She recommended a new trainer who specialized in GSD and to to stop bringing him to daycare.
Advice from the trainer was to work with him more often, and to work with him when the kids are close by. Also have the kids give him treats. Unfortunately, at this point the kids are scared of him. so we have worked with him more, we have stopped day care and i have also stopped wrestling with him. 
The next indecent was fairly minor but still concerning. I was at the Vet with him in the waiting room. An older women came out and asked if he was friendly, i said "yes" (up to that point he only showed aggression towards kids smaller than him) she pet him for a few seconds but he then let out a low long growl. she backed away and i apologized. 
The next situation is at a new vet, his first visit. The vet went to reach for his elbow and he growled at him, at that point to be safe we put a muzzle on Cooper. The vet went back to examine and Cooper barked and acted as though he was going to bite the vet (thank goodness he had the muzzle). 
Finally we brought him to the pet store for a bath. At checkout (prior to his bath) an employee came over and lowered her hand to allow him to smell. he leaned forward and sniffed her hand. i pet his side telling him he was a good boy and tried to praise him as much as i could. Then out of no where he barked and tried to bite her hand. I scolded him and held his muzzle shut. Up until now we had made many excuses for why he reacted how he did in each situation. "trying to show dominance over kids because he was fighting for it at day care" "he was at the vet and was injured and feeling protective over himself"
"the new vet had him backed into a corner and he did not know his surroundings, plus there was other animal smells around" I can't keep making excuses someone is going to get hurt. He is a very playful happy dog with my wife and me and a few select people. What do i do? What am i doing wrong? The best idea i have is to put a muzzle on him when others are around to make sure no one gets hurt. However i do not want him to feel extra discomfort around strangers that could lead to more problems right? Please help, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Oh, and a side note, he is not yet neutered. The breeder recommended we wait 1 year so that he develops properly. we have it scheduled.


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## Kiki42 (Nov 4, 2014)

I second the suggestion of training and that this might be anxiety based reaction. I'm not an expert, but I thought I would share what worked for us. Our pup is very sweet and loving, and was so tolerant of people that I never hesitated when someone wanted to pet her or guests came over and wanted to play. However, she eventually started to become reactive on our walks and I was dreading running into other dogs and neighbors. She started showing anxiety when guests came over, but because her bark was so big I was interpreting it to be aggressive. It was expensive but well worth it to work with a trainer experienced with this type of dog and to learn how to use the e-collar as a training tool. Because we've learned how to best correct her and how to understand her needs better, we are all better off. 

For Lydia, we've learned that she needs to know that I am in control of the situation and she needs me to make the decisions for her by giving her clear directions of what to do, and to have a confident attitude when giving those commands. I know that seems like a given, but there were situations where I was leaving the decision making up to her and I didn't even realize it, and left to her own devices she wasn't making good choices. One of those situations was when visitors came to the house. I didn't realize that I was letting her down by not giving enough direction to her on what to do, where to go, and how excited she was allowed to get. Now we have a bed in the living room that is her safe zone and has the same rules as her crate- that is her spot, no one else touches it. When guests are at the door, she has to go lay down there before I let them in. If she gets overexcited, she's going to go back there, and if I tell her to stay there, she has to stay. When she's in the bed, she needs to control herself in a calm manner. If she becomes tired of interacting with someone, she can go there and feel safe that no one is going to push her buttons and invade her space. I've realized that it doesn't matter how tolerant she is of people, she can get overwhelmed by too many strangers and too much touching at home or on walks. It's not "letting it go" or "accepting" the behavior to understand that sometimes interaction should be limited and that people should not only ask to touch but that there also times when you should say no.


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## DutchKarin (Nov 23, 2013)

Ya know, this kind of escalating behavior would best be dealt with under the guidance of a good trainer who can read the dog and the handler and make specific suggestions about what is going on and how to manage it. IMHO


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

Sometimes, a dog is trying to communicate something to you when they put their mouth on your hand, or give you a low bark. Maybe your boy has something in his paw or maybe the pads are raw or something from winter chemicals. There may be a physical reason for that. 

Many things are possible about his increasing negative behaviors. But a trainer or behaviorist with experience with the breed who can actually evaluate you and your dog together is better than possibilities we might throw out at you.

I think you know your dog, and if you think something isn't right, than you are probably correct about that. The question lies in what to do about it.


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