# Explain this behavior



## Ivanator (Sep 8, 2014)

Looking for some feedback. 

I have a 14 month old male WGSL from a reputable breeder. Prior to this, I had two male WGSL's: one had medium drives, the other had lower drives. All three have been from different breeders. 

My boy gets long walks in the morning off-leash. I sat down in a chair this morning in the kitchen, by the door, to put on my boots. He knows we're going for a walk. He is in my space, very mouthy, stepping on me, paw on my lap, then jumps on me (front paws only). I say no, grab his paws and put him down. He repeats - same behaviors, mouthy, jumps up. I say no and put him down again, and we repeat this several more times. He responds to these corrections by bearing teeth and mouthing me, but more intensely, sometimes snaps at the air. After 4-5 times, I respond by grabbing the nape and pulling him off and firmly and deeply saying no, continuing to hold him by the nape and push him back. He growls. When I reflect on this, it's clear he pushes back to corrections more assertively, so it escalates.

He is much, much more mouthy than my other males were, is more in your space, and in general does not quit, but tends to persist, when corrected. 

My boundaries with him are clear. Whenever he's jumped up on my like this, I say no jump, grab his paws (that are on my lap) and put him down. 

The growling has happened several times. I'm looking to better understand what I've got here, understand him and what the behavior is. The growling for me crosses a line and I would never be interested in buying a dog that acts this way and I'm disappointed.


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## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

Ivanator said:


> My boundaries with him are clear. Whenever he's jumped up on my like this, I say no jump, grab his paws (that are on my lap) and put him down.
> The growling has happened several times. I'm looking to better understand what I've got here, understand him and what the behavior is. The growling for me crosses a line and I would never be interested in buying a dog that acts this way and I'm disappointed.


The boundaries are clear to him but they are different than you think. He doesn't respect you at all and he just is taking the slack you have given him so you cannot blame him. You getting upset won't help either. You have to stay calm and in control. Like the situation where you put on your boots: the moment he acts up, calmly take him by the collar and crate him and go do something else, like reading the newspaper and try again later.
He is 14 months old and a typical adolescent GSD. We all went through this, me too. Work through it, hire a trainer and put down some rules. Let him deal with the consequences; pushy when going out? Then we aren't going anywhere and I am ignoring you. Jumping on my lap? Then I get up and leave you alone (grabbing his paws is just a game for him)
You cannot afford to be disappointed as this will not help you. Check out: Nothing In Life is Free.
If walking is an issue, consider a prong collar but study how to use it first. If you get in control of this little brat, he will reward you with being the dog you had in mind (about two years from now). Stick around and keep us posted.


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## le.tetrish (Aug 29, 2016)

I'm not sure if this will work for you - but can be worth a try?

With Bane we didn't have so much of a problem with him jumping or being all up in our space when going out BUT he did like to scoot up/get up when we asked him to wait. (Ignoring our command) as we wanted him to stay in sit until we are out the door and we tell him "go ahead". 

What I ended up doing was say -wait. and if he didn't I would close the door take his leash off (sometimes my jacket/shoes) and he wouldn't go out. Would try again in a few minutes and in the same day he realized if he doesn't wait he won't get to go outside.


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## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

I agree with Nothing in Life is Free for a pushy dog. Beau was pushy and still is a bit full of himself but knows the limits. I don't think what he is doing makes him a bad dog, just maybe one more than what you have been used to dealing with.


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## Ivanator (Sep 8, 2014)

Thanks everyone. At this point, I'd like to better understand what he's about before moving on to making changes in how I handle him. 

I ordered "I love my dog, but ..." book by Joy Tiz and also Training The Behavior - Tips, Techniques And Theory For the Working Dog Trainer, as I recognize my approach with the other two likely isn't working here.

The growling, and to a lesser degree, the pushiness - has caught me by surprise.

Nancy, you say your dog was pushy and full of himself - what does that mean and what do you think it represents? Simply a more alpha dog? 

If I sit on the floor, he is literally walking over and on me, mouthing me. My other males weren't like this. The only behavior I don't like is the growling. I did not anticipate this and I guess I'm trying to get some perspective on it. 

How would you characterize these types of behaviors? Prior to this, I would've never considered the growling, in the context I've experience it, as within the "normal" realm of behaviors one could expect when buying a WGSL. 

I would also expect him to be through the mouthy phase, but we are still firmly entrenched there ...


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## Baillif (Jun 26, 2013)

If the correction ends with you physically removing him from being on you it is building drive for him to come back at you via opposition reflex. It needs to end with him making the choice to remove himself as a result of unwanted consequences. If this sounds familiar you are the problem not the dog.


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## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

Ivanator said:


> Thanks everyone. At this point, I'd like to better understand what he's about before moving on to making changes in how I handle him.
> .


This is easy to understand. He _*IS*_ walking all over you and you shouldn't accept it, any of it! Forget about the "Alpha" stuff. It is a myth. You need tools to get in control. If you accept everything except growling, at one point he will bite you. Growling is not an isolated behavior. You, being a leader is intertwined throughout his entire life and throughout every day. The reason your other males have not exhibited this behavior is that they had a softer temperament and/or you were stricter. All dogs are different and every dog needs its own training concept.


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## Castlemaid (Jun 29, 2006)

The way to change this is to not even let is start. Not even on little bit. This is not fixed by being forceful, because by this stage, your dog _thinks_ that all the jumping, spinning, pawing, obnoxious behaviour he does is what _makes_ the walk happen: all of it, including your part in it. 

You have to teach him that other behaviours will make the walk happen, like sitting politely and waiting for you. He does this when you feed him? Yes? He sits politely and waits for you to put down his food, then you release him? Same idea. He know that if he starts jumping on you and grabbing at the bowl, he probably won't get to eat that evening. He has learned that sitting MAKES the food happen.

So you start by teaching him the behaviour you want - getting all physical and forceful is only amping him up, as others have said. 

Earning a dog's respect does not happen by overpowering him - one earns a dog's respect by a myriad of tiny little things we do in our day-to-day interactions where we naturally and without thought control our dog's actions. Making the dog wait for their food, is one example. Not allowing the dog to even THINK of jumping and pawing when they are trying to hurry us up for a walk, when you tell your dog to go lie down and they go lie down no questions asked, even if they think they are going to miss out on something. When you have that kind of daily obedience and control, you have the dog's respect - but you need to be fair. Your dog does not KNOW that he is not supposed to jump and paw, and bark and growl - he think this is normal behaviour, and is being re-inforced each time the routine gets rewarded with a walk. 

wolfy dog gave good advice - change up the routing, set a new one, the Instant he starts the crazy dance - you walk away and ignore him. Nothing comes of it. If you do need to take him out for a walk, keep him in his crate or somewhere he can't see you while you put on your boots and get his leash.


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## Nurse Bishop (Nov 20, 2016)

With Inga, and she is the same age, and she went through a phase like this. Not growling but opening and closing her mouth at us as a protest . We make her sit before going out the door. This is back from the door in the middle of the room. Then we go out and look around. We look at her and wait and she looks at us. Then the release is come or lets go. She is not allowed to crowd the door or invade our space. That was the end of it. She must also wait before going through gates.


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## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

You have good advice here. When mine was pushy, I mean he went through a phase where he did not want to listen to me and I got a few growls for leash corrections. We never got the mouthiness or the jumping because that was re-directed from early puppyhood to a toy and used the toy as a reward for good. And jumping was directed to sitting. I still practice basic rules of making him sit before petting, wait for his food, and off and on obedience. 

The prong is a great tool but can drive the dog into aggression a dog if the collar is not adjusted properly (it will seem to tight) and the correction is not well timed and fair with quick release. My growling prong problems were fixed with proper adjustment and correction, though I will not let anyone but me handle my dog on a prong. He has learned over time to walk properly on a flat collar.


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## Ivanator (Sep 8, 2014)

Thanks everyone. I have a wife and three little ones, so there hasn't been much consistency among how the family interacts with him. I will take the advice and make some adjustments.


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