# new dog snapped at neighbor



## sahyinepu (Jun 1, 2012)

ok. i recently rescued an older german shepherd and have had her 9 days.

she has been nothing but sweet and follows me around like we have been togeather forever. today i took her next door for her first child contact and she did great and let the girl love on her and all. the roommate of the woman who owns the house, both of which she has met before, came home and she, the dog, barked at him in a funny way then got some pine cones and ran around with them, so i thought nothing of it. now, to be clear of the situation, the grandaughter of the home owner, her male roommate and the grandmother home owner were all sitting around with me and the dog as we all visited, dog off leash. then the male roommate got up and the dog got between the man and the young girl and barked oddly and bit grabbing the mans shirt. she had met this man the day before and had shown no signs of aggession. she does nto show signs of agression to other dogs or even my cat. she just met the neighbors grandaughter. we all feel she was just letting the man know that she was protecting the little girl and so on as she could have tore him up. i have even taken her to church with me, just last night to be precise, and she was as gentle as could be. i have only had her 9 days and am wondering why she would all of the sudden show such protectiveness towards a neighbors grandaughter she only just met. is this typical of the breed to be generally protective of small children? again, no one got mad at her as we figgured she was jusst being protective of the little girl. but why would she act like that? what to do? we are thinking of getting her a muzzle, not because she is mean but because we do not want her to bite someone out of a sense of trying to protect.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

I'm might be crazy but I'm thinking along the lines that she didn't trust that man and in IMO a dog can be a pretty good judge of character. I would just watch the dog around that man, any other men, and people in general. I would also watch her reactions around other smaller people too


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

hmmm.... interesting. How old is your dog? You've had her 9 days but you dont give us an age estimate or any previous known history. was she a stray you adopted from the local shelter/rescue?

I would keep an eye on her and her behavior. Its possible she sensed something off about the guy and felt the child needed someone to protect her but at the same time, its possible thats not the case. Keep an eye on her around other males and how she interacts with them. Especially around children. it sounds like she's good with kids but maybe not trusting of the males around them? Hard to say. There's holes that need to be filled in the story of information if possible.


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## Dlilly (May 24, 2011)

Also, keep in mind that she is still adjusting into your home. She might still be a little stressed.


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## sahyinepu (Jun 1, 2012)

more info...yes i pulled her from a shelter and she is at least 7 to 8 years old. she has grey hair around her muzzle and eyes and has some wear on front teeth but is playfull and in good health. animal control is strict about dogs showing no signs of aggression towards staff before they can be adopted, etc. her behavior is just so off compaired to other behavior from her. 
in general, we find it odd that she would "protect" a little girl from a man that said girl lives with and she had only just met. we all think we know the man and he would not hurt a fly. oddly thou she showed signs of trying to possibly protect the same little girl from her own father, who pulled up in the riveway, and she, the dog, got between girl and father, keeping father in car but showing no signs of aggression(father decided he did not want to get out of car)

we do not know her history and so do not know if she has possibly witnessed men abusing children or what.  same dog went with me to local park and showed no signs of aggression towards small children, their parents, other adults, cats on leashes, squirrels, or anything. dog has been to petco and several vets and shown no aggression and lets you do anything to her.

little girl is about 7 to 8 and has fought cancer and has a history of being coddled. man she snapped at is a vietnam war vet and has had german shepherd dogs himself. oddly, no one took offense to her behavior and grandma even applauded it saying dog was protective of her grandkids and would let no one take them from her driveway. dog watched kid and was very alert and watched both properties while out loose, and was off leash until incident, at which time she was put back on leash as i felt i could no longer trust her. the behavior of snapping and grabbing this mans shirt was just so out of character, but again, i feel she was just warning him, but why? she could have bit him. she first met grandma over memorial weekend when grandma just came over to help pet sit while i was out of town. grandma was invited, but dog let her in house like she knew her for years and had no problems with her. my mom was also at house. both my mom and grandma observed dog getting between my mom and a younger dog of mine, my mom uses a walker, but german shepherd did not show signs of aggression other than getting between the two. german shepherd shows good leash manners and sits on command and lies down and gives paw. german shepherd accompanied me to church this past wednesday and was calm and quiet while on leash and was interacting with small children and multiple adults, male and female.

i just dont get the snapping at this man over little girl. so out of character, or is it?


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## robfromga (May 10, 2012)

I would keep her on a leash until. Never let a new dog off, unless there's no chance of anything possibly happening. Set her up to win

You don't know her past. She may have seen something in the past and doesn't react well to certain situations.


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## Twyla (Sep 18, 2011)

I find it interesting that the 3 times she has shown protectiveness (for lack of a better phrase) has been with a child and an older lady using a walker. Is that the connecting factor instead? 2 times involved men, 1 time another dog. 

You've only had her a few days, so a bond hasn't had a chance to form and she hasn't learned to read you and the situations yet. Slow way down on meeting new people and spend time getting to know her, what commands she knows and how well she knows them, keep it happy and upbeat. Some on here advocate a 2 week shut down, do a search and look at that as well.

In the meantime, if the occasion happens again, have her on leash, and you stay relaxed so that she doesn't misinterpret signals you send down the leash.


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## TaZoR (Jan 26, 2012)

My previous shepherd would snap at certain people. There seemed no rhyme nor reason..it was just something I dealt with. I could see on his face when he didn't trust someone and acted accordingly controlling the altercation.


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## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

> ok. i recently rescued an older german shepherd and have had her 9 days.
> 
> she has been nothing but sweet and follows me around like we have been togeather forever.


Although this is nice and we are often very proud and happy we've got a dog this "devoted", I agree. 
She's not even been in your home 2 weeks and she's already working on a bite history.

Please do this if at all possible. It will help get the keel more even for lack of a better phrase. I guess, it'll help ground her.

If you don't want to, that is fine but this dog needs to learn who is the leader in the home and this will help. The leader sets the tone - if you're afraid she has the right to be protective.
If you're not afraid, and this is the harmless neighbor next door, then she has no right to be or feel protective. She's making far too many choices on her own right now and dogs are notorious for making very poor choices, protecting against (for instance) the mailman when there is no threat. A good, well-balanced dog will feed off our own energy and won't snap at or try to bite people who are not a threat.

This dog, from the moment she left the shelter, needed an anchor and while she "follows you around" like she worships you, it could have been anyone. She just needed a life-line and some stability but the way dogs tend to go about it, isn't the most healthy way to build a foundation. 

This will help - "two week shut down". I don't think it's too late to do this, but we also only recommend it for dogs over 6mos, and definitely over a year of age. If she's under a year old you have a whole 'nother ball of wax and we'll go from there depending on your response to how old she is.

*
"I introduced her to 15 people" " he was a bit leery but seems to like my other 3 dogs" 
"she went everywhere with me " 
All in the first few days of the new home..... (!!!) 

Two weeks later we read 
“I think we will have to rehome the new dog" "the new dog barked and nipped at my kid" 
"we had a dog fight"

Ok, folks, here it comes; some feel this is extreme, why? I really do not know. 
But when bringing in a new dog, post finding, adoption, buying, etc, Give it time to adjust to you 
your family and the dogs in the new environment. 

TWO WEEKS - "shut down" 
For the first two weeks, (sometimes even longer) a dog takes in the new environment, who is the top 
persons, dogs, who ARE these people! By pushing a dog too fast and throwing too much at the dog we look like we are not the leaders and the dog can feel it MUST defend itself, as the leader is surely 
no one he has met so far! 
We coo, coddle, drag the dog to home to home to person to person, and the dog has NO idea who 
we are. 
As member Maryellen here said, "This is the dating period NOT the honeymoon" 
When you first met your "mate”, you were on your best behavior, you were not relaxed enough to be 
all of yourself, were you? Just think of the things you do physically once you get to KNOW a person, 
you wouldn’t run up to a stranger and hug them and squeeze them! 
Imagine, if on the first date, this new person, was all over you touching you and having their friends hug you 
and pat you on the head, and jostle your shoulders, then he whisked you off to another stranger’s home and 
they did the same thing. Would you think this person normal and SAFE? Wouldn’t you feel invaded and 
begin to get a bit snarky yourself? Wouldn’t you think to push these people away for obviously your date 
is out of their mind and they aren’t going to save you from these weirdos!! 
Yet we do this to our dogs, and then get upset or worried that they aren’t relaxed and accepting of EVERYTHING 
instantly! 

By shutting down the dog, it gives the dog TIME to see you, meet YOU, hear and take in the new sounds 
and smells of your home. 
I crate the dog in a room by itself if possible.(Believe me, dogs are sensory animals, they know more than you think without seeing it). 
I take it out on a leash (so I don’t have to correct it ..I don’t have that right yet!), I give it exercise time in the yard, 
I do no training at all, just fun exercise and maybe throw some toys for fun, leash the dog if you don’t have a fence outside. But I DO NOT leave my yard, AT ALL. 
No car rides, no other dogs, (unless crated beside them), no pet stores, no WALKS even, nothing but me, my home, my yard. (Unless of course the dog needs to go to the veterinarian) 
Believe me dogs can live two weeks without walks. Walks are stressful for there is so much coming at you! And the new person you have no clue who they are yet. The dog may react to something and we start correcting it with the leash and we just installed a VERY STRESSFUL moment to the dog! 
TEACH the dog by doing the shut down, that YOU are the one to look to, that you are now here for the dog! He can 
trust in you and look to you as its new leader!! 
In the house I have the dog out only for about 20 minutes post exercise/yard times. 
And, ALWAYS on a leash. 
Then PUT THE DOG AWAY. Let it absorb and think. 
I do not introduce the dogs for these two weeks, they can be side by side in the crates, (not nose to nose for they can feel defensive) . Some dogs will bond instantly with the other dogs if we don’t bond FIRST with the dog, and this can lead to some other issues, as the dog will look to the other dog(s) for guidance and not YOU! 

Literally in two weeks you will see a change in the dog and begin to see its honest and true personality. 
Just like a house guest...they are well behaved and literally shut down themselves these first few weeks, then 
post this time, they relax and the true personality begins to shine thru! 


So, please, if nothing else for your new dog, give it the time to LEARN YOU as you are learning who they are! 
This method works on shy dogs, confident dogs, abuse cases, chained dogs that come in, rowdy dogs, all temperaments!

(From PBF’s “luvnfstuff”, revised for spelling errors)*


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## sahyinepu (Jun 1, 2012)

now looking back...there has been too much going on and we are doing the two week time out...no neighbor visits, no petco, no trips to church just chill time at home in a controlled environment. looking back to yesterday i found it odd that she was trying to get into the neighbors house like she thought that was where she needed to be...it confused me, but i couldn't see why she was doing it. now i see. she has too much contact with too many people too soon and just needs to adjust. thanks for the tips as even if i bought a muzzle the environment would not have changed and thus not the behavior. this dog has been great and i want her to stay great. again, thanks for the tips and she is now in chill time.


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## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

That's great sahyine, many owners don't see the benefit of the "shut down" time, but things just go better overall when utilizing it.


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## sahyinepu (Jun 1, 2012)

i am planning to take jelka the german shepherd in question to a dog behaviorist/trainer to make sure we are indeed on the right path with her doing doggie shut down method, etc. i know this can be a great dog and want to make sure that is the case. thanks again for all the input.


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