# Newly Adopted 5 year old GSD



## Silversky32 (Sep 13, 2017)

My family just adopted a beautiful, very sweet GSD. She is an absolute love, and has showed no aggression (even towards the cat), until this week. We have had her for about a month. She was in the animal shelter and had been attacked by another dog. She was found left for dead in a field. Lily came with about 15 stitches in her mouth to sew her lower lip back on. We brought her home to 2 small dogs, a husky, a cat, a 9 year old little girl and 3 teenagers. She has been amazing with all of them. She and the husky had to establish who was boss but they worked it out. She huffs at the cat here and there but generally ignores him. We immediately had her out and about to see how she does with people and other dogs. She has been great with everyone. For the most part, small dogs are not an issue. She does not like white or light colored labs, pits, and boxers. She is also extremely anxious when crated, and has torn one apart. She is fine when left out of the crate though, even if we are gone for several hours. Most of the time at least one person is home, so she is only left once or twice a week. We took her camping over labor day, and she was fine with my cousin's pit (she is dark grey). She was fine with the entire family, very watchful over the kids and kept track of where they were. We took her to the beach and it was so amazing it made me cry. She was literally leaping for joy in the waves. We did keep her leashed though because there were a lot of dogs around. She only reacted to a yellow lab and a white boxer. I took her to my daughter's soccer practice and one of the fathers walked up with a ball cap on, and standing over me, she barked at him, she did not lunge but her body language was definitely that he needed to back off. Given the situation I understood why she might have reacted. A few days later my friend came over wearing a ball cap, short dark hair and a big voice. Lily was fine with her girlfriend, but barked at my friend. She warmed up later, but it was concerning to me. My biggest concern was yesterday, my elderly mother came in the door amongst the kids. All 4 dogs were circling them to say hello, and my mom reached to pet Lilly and she backed up, hair went up on her back and she barked at her after a few pets. I made her go lay down, and had her come back after everything had settled down. She walked up and sniffed my mom, it seemed fine, but she did the same thing after a few pets. So I made her go lay down again. She did not actively try and attack my mom and went to lay down when commanded, but it concerns me. She has met my mother before at my house and my mom's house and was fine, even loving. The fact she knows my mom and still reacted this way is what concerns me most. Lily did go and sit in front of my 9 year old on both occasions with my mom and my friend. She also barked at my daughter this morning when she surprised her coming out of the bathroom, but her head was down and she had on a dark ball cap, once she realized it was her she was immediately loving. We thought it was because we grabbed her collar when people came in, or that she was on a leash but it seems to be beyond that. She is very attached to me and follows me like a shadow, but she does listen to the kids, and my husband for commands. She is also very submissive with us as a family. I am not sure what to do. I am concerned the aggression is going to escalate beyond barking. I would like to nip this behavior before it becomes a big problem, for Lily's sake and ours. What are we doing that needs to change?


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## tim_s_adams (Aug 9, 2017)

It sounds to me like your dog is just being protective. You said she listens to you well, did you tell her "no" or "it's okay" when she growled and barked at your mom, or just tell her to go lay down? I just watched a great video in which the trainer was teaching a dog to not be aggressive toward children. He was using an e-collar on a minimal setting, but essentially he was pointing out the necessity of having clear communication with the dog in order to teach them how you expect them to act. His approach was to show the dog an acceptable behavior in a particular setting. She may or may not learn to better discriminate between threats and non threats. But she can easily learn a desired behaviour for a given situation.

I had a rescue GSD that was initially aggressive toward both children and other dogs. Once she understood that that behavior was not acceptable, she quit. I just showed her first that aggression wasn't okay - with stern corrections, then showed her alternative behaviors that were okay. All dogs are different, so what worked with my dog might not work for yours. I let her act however she wanted to for the first 2 months after I got her, to settle in and bond with me, before doing any training at all. And that step is important, because rescued dogs in particular take time to really trust a new environment.

With a family dog it's tough, though, because you want them to be protective on one hand, but to also be able to discern non-threats from threats so they don't act out inappropriately. I guess what I am saying is that you need to figure out (a) how you want her to act when people come over, and (b) how to communicate that - often in stages- to your dog. She should understand over time who is, or may be, a threat and who is not. But in the near term she needs to understand concretely how to behave when visitors come to your home. If it's the petting that got her going in both instances, teach her to keep her distance from people. And do your part by not letting people come up to her or pet her. If you are clear and consistent in communicating, she will learn. If you're unsure how to do these things, talk with a professional trainer. They can help you figure out a training plan, and help show you how to clearly communicate the message. Good Luck! She sounds like a good dog!


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## GypsyGhost (Dec 29, 2014)

Hi and welcome! Congrats on your new addition! I would suggest looking up what is called a two week shut down. It sounds to me as if you are doing too much too soon with this new dog, especially given the circumstances of her life before she came to you. Let her hang out with you and your immediate family at home and settle in before continuing to take her to lots of crowded places. It sounds to me like she is a bit unsure of herself when out in public, which makes sense. Work on building a bond with her, let her learn that she can really trust you, then slowly start bringing her out into the world. Work on engagement and training. As for the crate, look up crate games. Make the crate fun, go slowly.

Have you considered taking her to training or getting involved with any sort of dog sports with her? Things like nosework, rally and agility are great for dogs that need to build a little confidence, and will help build the bond and more engagement between you and her. Good luck to you!


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## Thecowboysgirl (Nov 30, 2006)

GypsyGhost said:


> Hi and welcome! Congrats on your new addition! I would suggest looking up what is called a two week shut down. It sounds to me as if you are doing too much too soon with this new dog, especially given the circumstances of her life before she came to you. Let her hang out with you and your immediate family at home and settle in before continuing to take her to lots of crowded places. It sounds to me like she is a bit unsure of herself when out in public, which makes sense. Work on building a bond with her, let her learn that she can really trust you, then slowly start bringing her out into the world. Work on engagement and training. As for the crate, look up crate games. Make the crate fun, go slowly.
> 
> Have you considered taking her to training or getting involved with any sort of dog sports with her? Things like nosework, rally and agility are great for dogs that need to build a little confidence, and will help build the bond and more engagement between you and her. Good luck to you!


I totally agree. Slow down. Buy Grisha Stewart's BAT book


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## GypsyGhost (Dec 29, 2014)

I wanted to add that you really won't see her true personality for a few months. But I have to disagree with the poster who recommended not doing any training and letting her do what she wants for the first two months. You cannot let the dog run the household. There are absolutely ways to show your dog what you want in a safe, controlled way. Training and house manners are absolutely something you can start working on right away, just don't expect too much too soon. Keep things positive and keep sessions short. Once she knows what you want her to do, you can think about adding corrections if necessary. The worst thing you could do for this dog would be to let chaos reign. Structure, rules and limits are all important.


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## tim_s_adams (Aug 9, 2017)

GypsyGhost said:


> I wanted to add that you really won't see her true personality for a few months. But I have to disagree with the poster who recommended not doing any training and letting her do what she wants for the first two months. You cannot let the dog run the household. There are absolutely ways to show your dog what you want in a safe, controlled way. Training and house manners are absolutely something you can start working on right away, just don't expect too much too soon. Keep things positive and keep sessions short. Once she knows what you want her to do, you can think about adding corrections if necessary. The worst thing you could do for this dog would be to let chaos reign. Structure, rules and limits are all important.


I guess I should have been more clear? I certainly didn't mean to imply that the dog should rule the house. Only that I would not recommend trying any serious training with the dog until it has learned your routines and your house rules, and you've had time to bond and build some trust between you! From my perspective that is not training, that's life.

But it is a lot for the dog to learn and become comfortable with...which is why I gave my dog 2 months, not 2 weeks. And by do what she wants, I did not mean anything at all, I simply meant that you need to give the dog time to settle and show her true personality. In my case, since the dog didn't do well with children or other dogs, I simply kept them away from her so she would be comfortable. After two months we went to work in earnest on those problems, because dogs and kids are part of life, and she needed to be okay with that!


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## Silversky32 (Sep 13, 2017)

I did discipline her and tell her no each time she barked. I made her lay down, and step back from the trigger. I made it clear it was not ok, and then I hugged my mom and my friend making it clear they were welcome. 
She is settling in to being part of the pack. She eats with the other dogs and there is zero food aggression. She frequently sleeps with my 6 month old shih Tzu, and tolerates her puppy play well. I also do not allow her to be in any position of dominance with us.
I have started making her sit and stay a few feet back from the door before it is opened. 
We were including her in what we do (like camping) hoping it would help with the bond. My other thought is maybe she is bonding with us and it's a protective aspect of her personality coming out? Perhaps it is too much too soon for her though, and it's giving her anxiety.
The other issue is, we do not really know her history or how abused she was. I am just hoping this is something we can work through. I do not want to have to give her up. I will see if someone local is available to help with behavior. Is it best to contact her vet to find someone? (her vet thinks she is pretty awesome by the way, been twice and zero aggression even when having stitches removed)


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## Silversky32 (Sep 13, 2017)

Also, I was considering agility training or something in the next 6 months or so, but I was thinking I should wait for something like that?


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