# Aggression, Guests and being Overprotective



## headsup7up (Apr 7, 2018)

Hi there, 

I need some help. My German Shepherd's behavior has become an issue that needs addressed.

He is 15 months old. His name is Joe. I have had him since he was 8 weeks. It's me, my husband and 2 kids, ages 8 and 11 in the home. We have another German Shepherd that is 11. Joe is an indoor dog. We have four acres for the dogs to run and play on so lack of exercise in not a problem. 

With us Joe is the most gentle, loving, cuddly dog you could imagine. I can put my face right near his, play with his paws, take his bones away from him...basically all the things you want to see from a family dog. He loves to please me. He is the same way with the rest of the family. No aggression has ever been shown towards family members. 

The issue is that he has become aggressive towards guests a few times and it's starting to worry me. The first time it happened was about two months ago when my husband and I went away on vacation. We had his mom come and stay with the kids. She has been around dogs for a long time. She let Joe come to her when he was ready and soon enough they were good friends. However, when she would go into my younger son's room (Joe sleeps in there) he would bark at her and wouldn't let her come near Matt. It's like he forgot that Grandma was there to take care of Matt but once the day was started they were best friends again. This didn't worry me so much because nothing like the following had ever happened and I attributed it all to Joe being out of sorts with us being gone.

The second time we witnessed negative behavior..... My older son had a friend over. He has had friends over with zero issues before this so I don't really know where things went wrong. I sat with Joe and the boys for about a half hour to make sure that Joe was alright with the new guest. I just did this not because there was issues before but because I just feel that's the responsible thing to do. Everything seemed just fine and I went along with my day. 10 minutes later my friends son had been bitten in the face. I think sometimes when I say "bitten in the face" it sounds worse than what it was. Joe's teeth hadn't sunk into the skin, more like grazed the skin but this doesn't excuse the behavior. I'm not exactly sure what happened but from what the kids told me, it seems as if friend was leaning over Joe's face and petting him. They said Joe jumped up and friend said he just thought they bumped faces. Both my husband and I were 10 feet away in another room. We heard no barking, growling or any kind of rapid or aggressive movement from either dog or kid. Luckily the mom of this kid is our vet and she had seen Joe many times so she knew his vaccinations and that we didn't let this happen because of neglect on our part. 

Today was the 3rd time.....Our older son was being picked up to go to a friends house. The mom came in and I was holding Joe back. He won't bolt out the door, but I am trying to teach him to sit back and wait for people to come in the door before trying to sniff them. I was holding on to him and she started to pet him. He was wagging his tail and was happy to have attention. He gave us all the signs that he was ok. I must have missed something though. I think she got to close to his face and he lunged at her. 

I don't know what to do about this. I have never owned a dog before that was like this. Our other German Shepherd hates people in a non aggressive way. He has a bark that will scare the crap out of people but he will bark from a distance. He will not let you pet him and he will back away if he wants nothing to do with you. He will put himself between me and a stranger but he has never lunged or growled at anyone like Joe has. I don't know if Joe's issues are because he is inside and more bonded with the family therefore just way more protective or if we have a big behavior problem on our hands. Does he sound unstable? 

I've always been a person that thought once a dog shows aggression like biting a child then all bets are off. The dog is gone. This feels different though. The thought of giving Joe up for the above three things seems wrong but this behavior is not okay and what if it keeps continuing? When does the line get crossed and what if the next time is worse? 

Just give it to me straight. What would you do? 

Thanks.


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## Mary Beth (Apr 17, 2010)

I would find a trainer. I would start by asking for recommendations from my vet, the breeder, and on this forum. I would also put my dog in his crate or in a outdoor kennel when people are visiting. If I had to be away on a trip, I would board him.


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## konathegsd (Dec 3, 2016)

Find a behaviorist who specializes in gsd.

I know you say excersize isn’t a problem. Do you train your dogs? Do you mentally stimulate them? Unstructured running around is NOT enough for this dog.


Also your dog bit a child. You need to stop allowing him to be out with no leash when guests are over.

Also having guests come in the house and immediately pet your dog is a terrible idea. Guests should completely ignore the dog. Have the dog either in a crate or on a leash. This behavior could get you sued and your dog euthanized so please do not let him be out free when guests are over.


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## Muskeg (Jun 15, 2012)

He does not sound unstable to me. It's pretty simple- put the dog away when guests are visiting, either in a crate or kennel. Many people on this forum do this with their dogs when they have strangers over. Maybe it's not the ideal you'd like, but the dog is who he is, and you need to protect your guests. If you have someone else there taking care of the kids, just board the dog.


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## car2ner (Apr 9, 2014)

15 months can be a trying age. Like teenagers they are trying things out, getting too big for their own good, need lots of direction instead of figuring things out themselves. The kids can't be pushing the dog's buttons. They need to give him space, especially if he is over charged or tired. Sometimes these young dogs want to be part of the action and don't have enough sense to settle down for a much needed nap. 

When new people come to our house we actually keep our dogs on collar and leash until everyone gets comfortable. Even then we don't assume strangers can understand our dogs' body language and we have to be fully aware of what is going on. There are some folks who are coming to our home on a regular basis and I have a good safe place for my dogs to go, away from the visitor and still have freedom to play. The dogs, of course, want to meet the visitor, test them out, etc, but in an abundance of caution, they are staying apart. 

When family comes to visit, they are all dog smart adults and people and dogs mix freely. When we start having grandkids, we'll have to revisit all of this.


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## headsup7up (Apr 7, 2018)

konathegsd said:


> Find a behaviorist who specializes in gsd.
> 
> I know you say excersize isn’t a problem. Do you train your dogs? Do you mentally stimulate them? Unstructured running around is NOT enough for this dog.
> 
> ...


Can you tell me what else I should be doing for exercise and training? We play a lot outside with a ball. He knows his basic training skills like sit, stay, lay down, kennel pretty well and we practice those frequently.


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## headsup7up (Apr 7, 2018)

Muskeg said:


> He does not sound unstable to me. It's pretty simple- put the dog away when guests are visiting, either in a crate or kennel. Many people on this forum do this with their dogs when they have strangers over. Maybe it's not the ideal you'd like, but the dog is who he is, and you need to protect your guests. If you have someone else there taking care of the kids, just board the dog.


Thank you for telling me that he does not sound unstable. This makes me feel like we can handle this issue and be just fine.


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## headsup7up (Apr 7, 2018)

car2ner said:


> 15 months can be a trying age. Like teenagers they are trying things out, getting too big for their own good, need lots of direction instead of figuring things out themselves. The kids can't be pushing the dog's buttons. They need to give him space, especially if he is over charged or tired. Sometimes these young dogs want to be part of the action and don't have enough sense to settle down for a much needed nap.
> 
> When new people come to our house we actually keep our dogs on collar and leash until everyone gets comfortable. Even then we don't assume strangers can understand our dogs' body language and we have to be fully aware of what is going on. There are some folks who are coming to our home on a regular basis and I have a good safe place for my dogs to go, away from the visitor and still have freedom to play. The dogs, of course, want to meet the visitor, test them out, etc, but in an abundance of caution, they are staying apart.
> 
> When family comes to visit, they are all dog smart adults and people and dogs mix freely. When we start having grandkids, we'll have to revisit all of this.


I just told my husband that I felt like we were dealing with a sassy teenager dog! 

He never minded guests, kids or other animals here at home or places we took him when he was younger. I was beginning to wonder if we did something wrong and flipped a switch in him. I don't mind putting the work into protecting him and guests in our home. That's just part of being a responsible dog owner!


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## Nurse Bishop (Nov 20, 2016)

I put Inga up when strangers arrive. I don't want her to learn to be friendly to everyone, I value her natural suspicion. I don't know if she'd bite people or not. Possible no goodniks can see this is a dog to be reckoned with.

She is let out to play with known children however. We put her in a down then everybody runs and hides. Then from some distant clump of grass I give the release command.

The OPs dog has bitten children. I don't know what to think about that. Maybe it is a phase. I would just put the dog up in the kennel whenever company comes then you won't have to be concerned. Ask the company to just ignore the dog, don't make a big deal out of it. Also, possible no goodniks would think this is a dog to be reckoned with


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## headsup7up (Apr 7, 2018)

Thank you very much for your responses. 

We aren't new to owning big dogs so we have always practiced kenneling or crating when guests are coming over. We know that many people do not appreciate big dogs so we have always been receptive to that. 

We have always put the dogs in the outdoor kennel when having a kids party or even when I knew people would be coming in and out of our house quite a bit. I guess it does sound like up until know we have just let him run willy nilly where ever and whenever he wants which isn't really whats happening here but I now think we need to do more leashing and crating in the house. For these three recent negative experiences I wrote about below, we have had many many many more positive experiences but the negative cannot be ignored because these are pretty big negative experiences.

We are new to owning a big mostly indoor dog. I think where we have gone wrong is that we have not been thinking of how the dog is feeling with new people coming into the house. It's kind of like asking your kid to go hug a relative that they don't know. I think I've been expecting that equivalent of my dog and neither situation is fair to the kid or dog. 

I've thought about what happens when we are outside with Joe and people come up the driveway unexpectedly. We tell Joe to kennel and he runs there and stays even if we don't shut the gate right away. He won't even bark. I think he knows that's his safe space and I think that's what is missing inside the house. I won't be holding him at the door anymore. I'll be telling him to go to his crate where he can view the guest from a distance and if we feel comfortable he can come out and greet them after some time, leashed of course. I will also be sure to tell guests to ignore him and to not pet him until he is ready. It will be warmer here soon and then just naturally he will be spending more time in his outdoor kennel which will make things easier as well. 

I think a lot of what we have seen has been more of a reactive response. Still not ok but more manageable than mean aggressive behavior. Just need to get to the point where reactive responses can just not be something that never needs to happen.

We live in a pretty rural area so finding a good trainer or behaviorist is a challenge. I did a search and found a gsd club about 45 minutes away. I'll contact them and see what they can suggest as well.


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## Jenny720 (Nov 21, 2014)

15 month old dogs can be foolish especially males. They sure do have a lot to learn with their brain still not fully mature and all their senses heightening! A confusing age indeed. . I agree on the training it is very important the dog needs to know this behavior will not be tolerated which is vital in a home with kids which often lead to a busy house with many new faces. 

Any new friend or new family member that the dogs have not met- I will put max away at first (Luna is very indifferent to guests enjoys little kids like a mother hen)just because he is a very nosey and forward wants to be in the middle of excitement. I will let him out and greet guests when all has calmed down -and he gets to heAr and smells the interactions before he meets guests and gets the message these are my guests no matter what mixed messages may be given. The message is clear and he knows how to act and greet and follows the flow. 

Service/delivery people I will put max away or outside. His natural suspcion can not be squashed just because he is able to meet family and friends he just follows my lead.


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## Apex1 (May 19, 2017)

Not qualified to give advice. I am curious if you work on exposing this dog to the world outside his home much? Could the young dog be picking up signals from the older dog and kicking it up a notch?


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