# Goes Ballistic over spraying water



## GSDMark (Jan 4, 2014)

My 2yr old male FREAKS out over sprinklers, water from hoses, faucets, anything water!! And I don't mean scared. He bites furiously at the water stream and where it's coming from. If I turn off the water he will destroy the hose or sprinkler where the water was coming from. He totally ignores me when I call him out or to stop. I adopted Zeus 5 months ago, he is an intact male and is of course a virtual ball of energy! How can I stop what I call 'water aggression.' My grand kids cant play in the sprinkler when he is loose and I definitely cant water the lawn or wash the car unless he is inside. Help please!


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## Yoshi (May 12, 2014)

I can't help you but I've seen this kind of behaviour before where a dog tries to bite the stream of water coming from a hose. My dad's sheepdog Turbo has been doing it all her life and she's just about 10. But she was never aggressive, she would try and bite it and would then bark at it, then bite, then bark. She never tried to destroy the hose or sprinklers at all and as soon as the water was turned off she would go off and mind her business. It looked like she was just playing and she never looked aggressive at all. If we called her off to do work, she would leave the water alone. 

I do hope you can solve it.


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## mego (Jan 27, 2013)

sounds like he's just having fun. Just leash him and don't let him destroy things. If he ignores you you aren't managing it well and I wouldn't have him off leash until he obeys your leave it or recall to get away from the stuff. A lot of dogs find the hose/sprinklers really fun, mine goes nuts too, but if she gets carried away when it's game over I call her off and if she tried to ignore me I'd leash her.

On the plus side it's an awesome way to tire them out  I ask mine "wanna play hose" and then she knows she's allowed to go nuts:


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## Yoshi (May 12, 2014)

Mego, that's such a lovely picture. They look like they are having a lot of fun. :wub:


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## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

Its just fun but don't overdo it. They can get water intoxication from it as they wind up consuming a lot of water.


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## GSDMark (Jan 4, 2014)

Thank you everyone! I agree I don't have as much control of him as I should in the seemingly short five months I've had him. I will work on that but meanwhile will restrain him if he gets out of control while having so much fun!
Thanks again for your time!


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## osito23 (Feb 17, 2014)

He's having fun; Bear loves playing with the water hose too. However, there need to be rules - and definitely no destroying the hose afterwards.  You control the game. The dog needs to wait, leave it, and quit the game on your command. I would be very careful letting him out with your grandkids until he is better trained, and even then running kids and water may be too much for him. When Bear was younger he was trying to catch the water and my hand got in the way - he was so in the zone that he was oblivious and nailed my thumb in the process. It's easy for them to get carried away, and it takes time and patience to make this an enjoyable game for everyone. 

Here's my guy after a game, ready for more!

DSC_0259


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## jafo220 (Mar 16, 2013)

GSDMark said:


> My 2yr old male FREAKS out over sprinklers, water from hoses, faucets, anything water!! And I don't mean scared. He bites furiously at the water stream and where it's coming from. If I turn off the water he will destroy the hose or sprinkler where the water was coming from. He totally ignores me when I call him out or to stop. I adopted Zeus 5 months ago, he is an intact male and is of course a virtual ball of energy! How can I stop what I call 'water aggression.' My grand kids cant play in the sprinkler when he is loose and I definitely cant water the lawn or wash the car unless he is inside. Help please!


Cruz is the same way. He is actually borderline dangerous. He goes to another level. 

I have a theory with this. I think It's not really the water itself but the noise it makes when it comes out. At least that's what I think it is with Cruz. Cruz was exposed to one of those airburst things at the pet store. It sounds almost like a cat hiss only louder. He doesn't like either of those sounds. It sends him into high aggression. He does not like anything that hisses and will aggressively go after it.

The only way I have curbed this is the use of the e-collar. It's the only thing I have found that will break his focus once he's hit that high. Only reason I use the e-collar is because it's how we train now. I use an off command. It's very effective. But as has been discussed here before, get the aide of a trainer if you go the e-collar route. 

You can try a leave it command or get his recall down solid. Timing I think is very important. You have to get his focus before he ramps up. 

Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## GSDMark (Jan 4, 2014)

osito23 said:


> He's having fun; Bear loves playing with the water hose too. However, there need to be rules - and definitely no destroying the hose afterwards.  You control the game. The dog needs to wait, leave it, and quit the game on your command. I would be very careful letting him out with your grandkids until he is better trained, and even then running kids and water may be too much for him. When Bear was younger he was trying to catch the water and my hand got in the way - he was so in the zone that he was oblivious and nailed my thumb in the process. It's easy for them to get carried away, and it takes time and patience to make this an enjoyable game for everyone.
> 
> Here's my guy after a game, ready for more!
> 
> DSC_0259


That sounds very familiar! I found out about his water attraction when I first bathed him with a hose. I also almost lost a thumbnail when he lunged for the spray. Its comforting to know that it isn't all that unusual.


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## SuperG (May 11, 2013)

All 3 of the GSDs I have had over the years love the sprinkler, hose or faucets.....it's entertaining most certainly.....they go bonkers for it.

Funny thing is....my current gal doesn't care much for the rain.....what's up with that?


SuperG


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## ApselBear (Feb 10, 2014)

https://vimeo.com/98434493
Not my GSD, but our heeler enjoying the pool cooler, figured I'd share.


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## Yoshi (May 12, 2014)

SuperG said:


> All 3 of the GSDs I have had over the years love the sprinkler, hose or faucets.....it's entertaining most certainly.....they go bonkers for it.
> 
> Funny thing is....my current gal doesn't care much for the rain.....what's up with that?SuperG


Sounds like me and my previous dog.  We love going swimming, jumping in the dam, river, puddle, splashing in the beach, but we both don't like getting wet by the rain. Of course, if we have already been swimming and then it rains, it doesn't bother us. But my dog, unlike my dad's dog, never liked the hose. I think he must have associated it with bath time.


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## DJMac (Jun 16, 2014)

My 5 month old GSD is actually terrified of water hoses and bathtubs. When I use the water hose at any point, whether it is to wash my car or to spray her, she runs as far away as possible. Please help?


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## A girl and her dog (Jan 25, 2014)

I just ran across this thread while searching for play related things. I brought home a plastic pool for my dogs the other day and when I started filling it, Nonny went nuts over the hose and water. Mostly wherever the hose water was striking is what he went for, and the stream. He loved it! 

He goes after anything that sprays. It's sort of a game around here; okay, not a good game and one we really shouldn't play. I'll say "Gonna spray it" and he goes bonkers and bites at whatever I'm holding as a sprayer. Could be a water bottle, the remote, whatever he thinks I'm about to spray with. I have trouble applying even body spray. He protects whoever is being sprayed, even if it's me spraying myself.


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## Shade (Feb 20, 2012)

Jazzy tolerates baths and swimming but she doesn't find spraying water fun

Delgado on the other hand loves it, though I keep sessions short and if he's getting too frustrated or hyper I call it quits and redirect.


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## counter (Feb 20, 2009)

Nara does it too. She doesn't destroy anything, other than the water that is! Ha.


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## LookingForTheLight (Apr 27, 2014)

My eleven month old has been doing that since she was 10 weeks old! She bites the water, and barks at it, and jumps around it, and just has a blast. She also "destroys" the sprinklers when they turn off which basically is just her freaking out cause somehow the water is magically gone and she is wondering where it is. I don't think it something to worry about. I think your grand kids should be fine to play outside with him, I sure love running around the sprinklers with my girl as she finds it very entertaining!  Good luck to yah!


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## GriffinGSD (Mar 29, 2013)

A shot from this past weekend. He absolutely loves the water.


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## McCoy (Sep 23, 2013)

This has been the most difficult behavior for me to train out of mine. 
Its very hard for him to "leave it" but he's learning.
Train it out of him just as you would any other unwanted behavior.


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## GSDMark (Jan 4, 2014)

Thank you everyone for your advice and experiences. I also bought a kiddie pool and he runs in and out of it with his Kong. Keeps him cool and tires him out! Now I have to keep garden hoses out of his reach. Left him alone in the yard for fifteen minutes with the water shut off and he ripped the hose into ten pieces!  Living and learning!


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## Tratkins (Feb 15, 2014)

Glad to hear he likes his kiddie pool! Our 8 month old LOVES the hose, the sprinkler, getting shot in the face with the super soaker water gun from our pool. His absolute favorite is to run through the sprinklers in the morning and afternoon when our community greenbelt is being watered with the HUGE sprinklers (there are usually about 6 sprinklers going off at a time). He likes to race our kids through them all (he always wins!). He hasn't attacked the heads though.

Good way to tire them out and he loves the water! The only problem I have is settling him down for an actual bath without him trying to play.


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## car2ner (Apr 9, 2014)

I found my pup gets too hyper with the hose so now we have a small kiddie pool. We use that to rinse his off a bit after he plays in the brackish water of the bay. 

To just cool off we sometimes use a watering can. I can dribble the water out slowly or fast depending on his behavior. It is much easier to dial down if he gets over excited.


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