# Help -- GSD Aggression and Visitors at Front Door



## Kirbydog (Mar 28, 2009)

I am looking for some training advice. I have a 9 1/2 year old GSD (AKC, companion quality dog) who we have had since he was 7 weeks old. We did all his training ourselves with some professional help between age 0-3. He is very well behaved most of the time but we are having a problem with him around the front door of our house. When people come to the door he goes bezerk (which is fine), and he has always been find once the door opens, but recently he bolted out the door and bit the Fedex guy. He has shown very little aggression at any other time in his life, but lately the front door has become a territorial problem. 

Any suggestions on training him to be less aggressive at the front door? I have small kids and I'm worried they will open the door and he'll bolt out and hurt someone. Help!!


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

At his age have you had him vet checked? Something may be going on healthwise. This is a sticky in the aggression forum clik on this for more links that may be of help: http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=554900&page=1#Post554900

Welcome to the site, I hope you find your answers to this asap for everyones safety


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

you said it's fine that your dog goes berserk at the front door.
that's telling me you approved of the dogs behaviour at
the front door. now at 9&1/2 years old and after it bit the Fedex
driver you want to change the behaviour.

i think you need professional help for the dog. find a trainer
or a behaviourist.


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## Kirbydog (Mar 28, 2009)

> Originally Posted By: doggiedadyou said it's fine that your dog goes berserk at the front door.
> that's telling me you approved of the dogs behaviour at
> the front door. now at 9&1/2 years old and after it bit the Fedex
> driver you want to change the behaviour.
> ...


Well you are right, we have been inconsistent over the years on this aspect of his training and we are paying for it now. Can you provide suggestions on techniques to address this? We have done most of his training (with great success in other areas) ourselves. I don't want to just go into this blind. Most of our training has been reward based (praise, some treats, etc). The doorbell/front door response seems to require some type of noxious stimulus/association training for him. E-collar? Other correction methods??


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

i think you should contact a trainer or
a behaviourist.


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

> Originally Posted By: KirbydogThe doorbell/front door response seems to require some type of noxious stimulus/association training for him. E-collar? Other correction methods??


Not necessarily.

First, you teach the dog a place command. You tell them to go to a specific spot and they do. Some people use the dogs crate or you can just toss a small rug on the floor and train to that.

Once you have the dog reliably going to their spot on command you add in the doorbell. You'll need a friend to help with this. Have them ring the doorbell and just wait. Allow the dog to bark at the door, then go up to the door, look out the window and tell the dog "It's OK. Go (insert place command here)."

Once the dog is in their place you reward and open the door. Make sure the dog STAYS in their place as you open the door. Any movement from their place earns them a verbal correction (ACK!) and you make them go back to their place.

Once the dog stays in their place when you open the door you can allow the friend into the house and they can give the dog a very good treat.

Using this method the dog is allowed to do what comes natural - announce an intruder and protect the entry way ... until you tell them to stop. Then YOU take over the rols as the guard and the dog is required to stay in place.


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## debbiebrown (Apr 13, 2002)

i think sometimes dogs just need guidence in how to act appropiately in situations, someytimes mistaken for aggression could be just that the dog has not been taught these things. you need to teach the dog that you greet visitors not him. the above advice is what you need to apply.

debbie


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## bergwanderkennels (Mar 26, 2009)

I agree also a negative stimulus is also not needed. And might lead the dog to believe that the correction is coming from the door ringing or stranger on the other side if this is not done the right way or with the wrong dog. 

Setting the dog up inadvance to fail by having people come to the door in a controled situation is the best course of action. 

Either you can do what Lauri sugests by teaching a place comand or the Ceaser Milan route which is what I show people how to use by taking possession over the area around the door.


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## elly1210 (Jan 4, 2009)

I agree with the training aspect and when doing this you should have your dog leashed when someone comes to the door this will ensure he can't bolt out and bite someone again.

Also treats are a wonderful reward for positive reenforcement for the behavior you want which is to sit, wait until otherwise told.

Also practice what you want. The knocking or the door bell ring is what is causing the reaction then by the time you let someone in or he runs out the door his mind is eslacated so it is nearly impossible to now get him to focus on you.

So 2x or more a day just do a pretend knock or doorbell then ask of him what is expected by having him sit, wait, rewarding the whole time.

I have found that negativity is only going to either rale him up more or cause him to run from you and then you even have less control of him.

Going to the MD to rule out any issues is something I would do too and if you need that extra help with behavior do find a behaviorist in your area that uses positive methods.

We have been working very hard with Sonny in this aspect of people coming over (ours is a different situation in the fact that he was a rescue and his comes from a lack of confidence) and we are also going to be consulting with a behaviorist. When I told him that we do the above he said we are on the right track and continue it until our appointment.


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## Kirbydog (Mar 28, 2009)

Thanks for all the tips. We have done "stay" training with him since he was a puppy for food and treats, so he is used to that, just never really worked on front door/doorbell with this. He is kennel trained so that could work except his kennel is upstairs in our bedroom. We'll have to train him with a rug or his bed near the door as the stay position. Will start tomorrow.

I had tried some E-collar training in the past to try to curb the "arms length" phenomenon he does....kind of the haha, you can't get me now so I don't have to listen to you anymore. It worked as long as he has the collar on, but as soon as it's off he knows it can't get him. Not working so quit that method and successfully used other methods with treats, etc.


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## bergwanderkennels (Mar 26, 2009)

With the E collar or any piece of training equipment it must become an every day part of life so the dog dose not know of it is on or off. You can go back to using this route it will just take longer now until the dog does not "realize" anything about the collar. If you went to having the collar on the dog everyday all day for about the next 6 months or longer then I think that might work.


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## BowWowMeow (May 7, 2007)

My Basu was exactly as you describe. He was adopted at age 4.5 and didn't have much of any training. His fear (from abuse) quickly turned into fear aggression and was particularly bad around barriers. 

I followed a plan similar to the one Laurie suggested. First I taught a "Go to your bed" command. Then I kept some REALLY yummy treats by the door and whenever anyone would come over I would send him to his bed for treats. Before we got to the automatic stage I held his collar and had sit and basically stuffed a treat in his mouth when he was calm and quiet, even for a second. He continued to bark like Cujo when strangers came over but he knew the routine and there were no near misses with the teeth anymore! 

This method worked very well but initially it is easier if you have two people. One to control the dog and the other to let the person in your house!


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## Sashmom (Jun 5, 2002)

I once saw a Cesar Milan vid where the lady was actually LOSING friends because the dog made it so hard to open the front door. 
What he did was: he had people she knew come over, made the dog stay on the stairs, where he could see people but he was away from them, and they rang doorbell over and over until he "got it".
Just an idea...problem s, now that he has bitten someone, they might not be too craxy to come over and volunteer. 
Good luck.


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## catchdog (Apr 16, 2009)

My advice is to make sure that your kids not just answer the door in the first place for strangers and also that your dog is supervised as well as your kids. I would think that would be OK to say on this board. Also, you may want to consider using a training collar (stun collar) so when the door bell rings or someone knocks you can teach the dog to place by using the collar. This is what most trainers would use today. It won't hurt the dog but will get his attention. Sadly, at his age it may be too late for this in which you may want to close off that area from the dog period.


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

A dog is never too old to be trained. I am not a fan of any type of shock collar. But lots of people do swear by them. After ensuring there is nothing physically wrong, this could be anything at this dog's age, hearing loss, vision loss, or more serious issues, I think it is time to beef up your leadership skills, and do daily training sessions. 

I love the idea of training the dog to go to its place. The first thing being that you acknowledge the dog's alert, and then taking control as a leader. 

Good luck with your dog.


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