# 5 month old GSD showing aggression towards other dogs



## alilb160 (Nov 22, 2018)

Hi guys. Just after a bit of advice really. I have had my pup since 8 weeks old. He was one of 7 males in the litter. I had to restart his jabs when we got him so he wasn't really socialised until he was 12 weeks old. The first experience of socialisation he had was at a puppy class which run for 6 weeks. Looking back this wasn't really a helpful experience. He was very reactive to dogs the first time he met them - barking, lunging etc. This didn't really improve throughout the whole 6 week course and the trainers kept him on a lead while all the other dogs ran around freely. During the 6 weeks we would take him to dog socials in the park, he didn't really bother with other dogs unless they came up to him, then he would bark constantly. 
Since the puppy classes finished about 6-8 weeks ago, we have tried to keep him away from other dogs, when he's on a lead he will bark and lunge if he sees another dog. Off lead he is much better, his recall is good but he will occasionally go to chase other dogs. Yesterday, he went to chase an older dog which didn't react to him, so he got mouthy and tried to bite it on the back. I apologised to the owner (no harm had been done) and I put him back on his lead. 
Does anyone have any experience with this? A number of trainers have told me that it's almost as if he doesn't know how to play but I can't take the chance in letting him incase he bites another dog. 
I've had shepherds before but never had any experience with a dog aggressive one. Thank you


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## Kayah (Sep 3, 2017)

Did you get any replies to this? I am in a similar situation with my 7 mo. old pup.


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## Jchrest (Jun 5, 2019)

Your dog isn’t aggressive. He’s a GSD. He doesn’t need to be friendly with other dogs, but he does need to be trained to not react to them. You need a GOOD trainer that’s is very familiar with the breed. If your current trainer told you he doesn’t think your dog knows how to play, you have the wrong trainer. 

If your dog was able to run off and chase down another dog, and bite it, he doesn’t have good recall. He needs to be leashed, or on a long lead that you can reign him in with when he isn’t listening to a verbal recall. 

He’s 5 months old. Saying he is aggressive is like saying two young children playing together and taking toys or pushing each other down in the sandbox means those two kids are sociopaths. They are toddlers, not monsters. They need to be shown the proper way to play, same as your dog. Although, that doesn’t mean he needs to play with other dogs, but more play and training one on one with you, so he can be taught to ignore other dogs, and not chase and bite. 

If you wanted a sociable dog, you should have chosen a more dog friendly breed. Again, he can be trained to not react to dogs, but you can’t train him to like all dogs and want to be out at the park playing nicely with all the other dogs.


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## Pawsed (May 24, 2014)

I may be completely wrong here, but are you sure your dog doesn't want to play with the other dogs?  I think that could have been the case, especially when he was in puppy class. 

My younger dog plays like this, biting my other dog on the back. These dogs play roughly, maybe too much so for other breeds to understand that they aren't being attacked. A good reason to carefully choose which dogs they play with.

When my younger dog gets too rowdy with the older one, the older dog will put him in his place. But neither ever bites the other to the point of breaking the skin. There is usually a lot of noise and snapping and showing of teeth, even raised hackles from the excitement, but neither ever gets hurt. I would never consider it a fight or aggressive behavior. It may sound like they are killing each other, but it's just play for them.

I do think your dog should be taught to ignore other dogs when he in on the leash, and his recall does need work. Leash time is work time, not play time. His attention should be on you and no where else. 

I agree that you need a trainer that knows GSD's, not just a generic dog trainer who doesn't know how to interpret their behavior.


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## Jenny720 (Nov 21, 2014)

Puppy class should not allow interaction with a room full of puppies. It should consist of the puppy focusing on you and listening to you in a room full of pups doing the same with their owner. I would get a different trainer who is knows the breed and take a private lesson. A big room full of pups can be overstimulating for some pups also even if focused on you. Any interaction with any dog should only be a well known stable dog that is trusted and where you can go for a walk with it may put the pup at more ease. The over all goal is to have your pup ignore other dogs focus on you. I would not allow you pup to interact with unknown dogs. Focus exercises using favorite treats or if toys -, many “ leave it” videos. German shepherds don’t make great dog park dogs.


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## CactusWren (Nov 4, 2018)

I can tell you that our solution in puppy or obedience classes (Jupiter has been in Puppy Obedience, Obedience I, and Obedience II) has been the "watch" command. Jupiter sits next to me and is not allowed to stare at other dogs. He is supposed to look at me, and he gets a food reward when he does so. At first, every time he looks, then every other, every third, etc. So at 7.5 months, he is pretty good about that. He was never aggressive in the sense of attacking other dogs, but he did bark at them. We also have a squirt gun with 50% bitter apple, which we used maybe 10 times total as a correction. I still bring it, but have only used it maybe twice in the last 12 classes.

In Obedience II, there was another GSD that was aggressive to GSDs(!), and the owner said it actually learned this behavior from... another GSD in... a dog class. Poor woman. So she was constantly making her GSD watch, but it would kind of freak out sometimes just if Jupiter stood up to take his turn. In fact, right before our Canine Good Citizenship test, it lunged and barked at Jupiter, making her owner fall on the ground and scream. 

Jupiter did pretty good at his CGC, considering the circumstances.

In short, "watch" is our command during classes.


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## michaelr (Aug 5, 2010)

Are you sure this is aggression? It could very well be 'pay-attention-to-me' barking as an invitation to play. Same with the lunging, if it is 'bouncy.' Biting on the back also strikes me as more land sharking than aggression. In my experience, aggression is face on with lips pulled back and teeth exposed.
If it were aggression, older dogs in particular, would likely react angrily and quickly put him in his place and you don't mention that as occurring.


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## car2ner (Apr 9, 2014)

My dogs learned obedience and how to play with the humans in the family. There were rare play dates with stable dogs, no free for alls. I took them to small group classes not to play with other dogs but to learn to work around other dogs. I did spend an entire first class saying "look at me, look at me, look at me" but the following classes were much better. 

When my boy was young he wasn't aggressive but frustrated. He wanted to go visit but the leash held him back. The lunging and jumping and barking was his way of trying to convince me that we should go to the other dog. That is why we took the classes. Could you imagine if going through life my boy thought he could go over to other dogs whenever he wanted to? YIKES! He's a big GSD, not the sort of thing people want to see coming at them unasked for!


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## Jchrest (Jun 5, 2019)

car2ner said:


> When my boy was young he wasn't aggressive but frustrated. He wanted to go visit but the leash held him back. The lunging and jumping and barking was his way of trying to convince me that we should go to the other dog. That is why we took the classes. Could you imagine if going through life my boy thought he could go over to other dogs whenever he wanted to? YIKES! He's a big GSD, not the sort of thing people want to see coming at them unasked for!


That was my last Rotti! He LOVED people and other dogs, and his reaction to seeing them was pure joy shown through barking and charging full steam ahead towards people. Scared the crap out of them. He was a BIG boy. He was a rescue I got at 2yrs of age, so we were able to train him out of it, but lord, those first few months was (inwardly) funny for me, and terrifying for everyone else!


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## Jenny720 (Nov 21, 2014)

The op mentioned the trainer saying the pup does not know how to play - they are a very mouthy breed hence the word land shark. The lunging and barking on a leash is pent up energy and it could be a “i want to say Hello”or “I want to you to stay far away”. The Op should will need to determine this to better understand their dog but regardless same rules apply.

Just a story as to see that owners actually care and work on correcting this behavior as I am included and others find it hilarious. Also how different outside of obedience class is. At the beach a few weeks ago, I was getting out of the water with the kids and Luna and saw two men with a big wheeled baby stroller with two off leash cockapoo type white dogs walking along the beach a few feet away. I said this can’t be good. I had Luna jump on a rock that sit in the water as they looked like they were walking by. The people with the dogs still off leash stopped a few feet away. I had Luna on the rock for about 10 minutes. I took some photos practiced some stays on and off leash while on the rock and watched some paddle boarders have fun in the water. Ten minutes passed the sun was starting to go down behind us and it looked like they were on a walk break. I should of said leash your dogs but just assumed would that would of not made a difference. Through experience I just pretty much knew these dogs would go bonkers- it was the fact they were off leash I found worrisome. I knew they would not venture into the water and decided we would not be physically harassed but only from a distance by the dogs as the owner watched. Luna is not happy with barking charging dogs invading her space. I had Luna climb down on the rock and started walking and wading through the water to keep distance as the beach was small. They also started walking and as they pass us the little dogs went berserk resembling hungry white giant sand fleas stopping at the water edge. You would think at this point the owner would attempt to get his dogs and leash them up. As we slowly passed wading through the owner said to his dogs - all this time and you just noticed the shepherd now -and laughs thought this was funny. I just said you need to get your dogs on a leash or they will become someone’s snack one day. No response or attempt to leash their dogs. A classic response that I find mostly happens in walks through the neighborhood as loose dogs charge in the streets. I find beaches and parks (not dog parks)that most people are great with their dogs. Luna patiently waiting. .


















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