# How do I teach my dog to be more protective/aggressive?



## snoop

This may seem like a weird question but no matter who comes to the house or walks in the back yard my dog is happy to see them all even if I'm not around. He is currently 10 months old, I'm glad he is not an aggressive dog but how teach him to be a bit more aggressive or protective of the house and yard. 

Thanks


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## doggiedad

1>>>> stop leaving your dog in the yard when you're
not around.

2>>>> your dog is young and you're glad
he's not aggressive.

3>>>> find a trainer.



snoop said:


> 1>>>>This may seem like a weird question but no matter who comes to the house or walks in the back yard my dog is happy to see them all
> 
> >>>even if I'm not around. <<<<
> 
> 2>>>> He is currently 10 months old,
> 
> >>>> I'm glad he is not an aggressive dog <<<<
> 
> 3>>>> but how teach him to be a bit more aggressive or protective of the house and yard.
> 
> Thanks


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## Castlemaid

Continue socializing and setting him up with positive experiences. 

Around 18 to 24 months, maybe later, his protectiveness will kick in IF he has the correct temperament for that. It won't be something you can train into him. Either he has it, or not. If he has it, than _experienced_ training can bring that out. (not something to try at home without the help of knowledgeable people).


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## LaRen616

You want a friendly happy dog, trust me.

Keep socializing him and once he gets older he will be able to tell the difference between a friendly stranger and a stranger that means you harm.

My male is very, very friendly and loves everyone but when he was 1.5 years old he growled, barked and lunged at 2 crackheads that were approaching me. He had never done that before and he hasn't done it again. I know that he would protect me again though. :wub:


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## doggiedad

1>>> maybe not. some are protective some aren't.

2>>> how do you know??




LaRen616 said:


> You want a friendly happy dog, trust me.
> 
> 
> 
> 1>>>>> Keep socializing him and once he gets older he will be able to tell the difference between a friendly stranger and a stranger that means you harm.
> 
> 
> My male is very, very friendly and loves everyone but when he was 1.5 years old he growled, barked and lunged at 2 crackheads that were approaching me. He had never done that before and he hasn't done it again.
> 2>>> I know that he would protect me again though. :wub:


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## Kittilicious

I would rather have a friendly dog than a protective dog, especially when it comes to my home. Why? Because the chances of someone coming into my house/yard that I don't want to get scared away are much higher than someone coming in that I want to be.


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## LaRen616

doggiedad said:


> 1>>> maybe not. some are protective some aren't.
> 
> 2>>> how do you know??


1) True, some are protective and some are not, but I think that a stable GSD would be able to tell the difference between a threat and a person meaning no harm.

2) I know he would do it again because he has done it before, he and I have a very strong bond, I am his world and he wouldn't stand anyone messing with his mama. I trust him and he trusts me.


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## snoop

doggiedad said:


> 1>>>> stop leaving your dog in the yard when you're
> not around.
> 
> 2>>>> your dog is young and you're glad
> he's not aggressive.
> 
> 3>>>> find a trainer.


I never leave my dog in the yard when I'm not around. I mean when we are outside together and someone comes. Or if I go inside for a minute and someone comes to the yard.


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## doggiedad

you have a friendly dog. some Sheps are protective
and some aren't. find a trainer for the protection work.
keep in mind you have a young dog. your dog
may become more protective. whatever it is i want to be
protected from i want my dog protected from it also.



snoop said:


> I never leave my dog in the yard when I'm not around. I mean when we are outside together and someone comes. Or if I go inside for a minute and someone comes to the yard.


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## Germanshepherdlova

Some GSD's do not become protective until they are mature. Many times you will begin to see some protectiveness between 12-18 months. Some earlier, some never. If you really want to see if he has it in him to be protective then I agree with Doggiedad-find a trainer.


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## PaddyD

I, too, am curious if it is possible to train a non-aggressive dog to become protective of family and property if he/she doesn't come by it naturally.... not that I would ever want to do it. I hope the OP can resolve the issue in a way that benefits the dog.


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## Freestep

PaddyD said:


> I, too, am curious if it is possible to train a non-aggressive dog to become protective of family and property if he/she doesn't come by it naturally....


Yes, there are methods to increase suspicion and aggression, and I DON'T recommend them, especially for a young dog. Let him grow up, let him be friendly. One day he just might surprise you.


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## adas

Dog to Human. "Why do you want me to bark at that person? Are you crazy? I Don't get it. OK, show me a perp and I will bark my ass off for you."


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## ponyfarm

He is too young. He is a puppy..let him love everybody. My dog did not start to alert until she was about two years old.


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## juliejujubean

My girl is 10 months and she had her first snippit of protectiveness the other day when a stray was looking at us. I have never seen that before. I personally believe they just know.


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## GregK

ponyfarm said:


> He is too young. He is a puppy..let him love everybody. My dog did not start to alert until she was about two years old.


Exactly!


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## Jen&Bear

Hi i have a question...
What does it mean then when my 4.5 mth pup really barks at everyone without fail from afar but up close he loves them...


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## msvette2u

adas said:


> Dog to Human. "Why do you want me to bark at that person? Are you crazy? I Don't get it. OK, show me a perp and I will bark my ass off for you."


This.
You are happy to see the person coming in the yard, and your dog is doing the proper thing by taking his cues from you.
Perhaps when he's older he'll bark more but I bet he continues to look to you to determine if _this_ guy is a bad guy or not! 
You don't want your dog deciding, _on his own_, that Joe, your best friend, is a bad guy, trust me!


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## Emoore

PaddyD said:


> I, too, am curious if it is possible to train a non-aggressive dog to become protective of family and property if he/she doesn't come by it naturally.... .


Sure. . . enough brutality will make many dogs aggressive.


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## martemchik

Jen&Bear said:


> Hi i have a question...
> What does it mean then when my 4.5 mth pup really barks at everyone without fail from afar but up close he loves them...


It means your pup is scared of whatever is coming up to him until he figures out who it is.


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## Jen&Bear

Hmm...ok thanks
Is that good or bad
How can you tell if he has trouble seeing?
We have steps that go down...usually the light is off down.
B4 he would never go down cuz he was still young
I find this weird: when we would walk up he would be waiting at the top...first few times he would bark at u and act crazy an try and bite or play
Then i figured...i dont want him to be scared if he ever had to go down there and so i showed him i coaxed and encouraged him and finally he went down and no prob going down there now but there is a barrier because i dont want him to freely go down as he gets into all sorts of things if allowed
BUT what is weird to me is that he will wait at the top for me to come back up and he still barks and acts crazy the second i put my foot up on the floor 
Its as if he cant see? Or doesnt know who i am? Or i dont know what

Sorry to take away from the original subject/post...i'm just curious


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## PaddyD

Emoore said:


> Sure. . . enough brutality will make many dogs aggressive.


I hear ya, but I was being specific.
Not a generally aggressive dog but one that will be protective of home and family.
I don't think it is likely to be able to train a non-aggressive dog to be that precisely protective.


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## Emoore

PaddyD said:


> I hear ya, but I was being specific.
> Not a generally aggressive dog but one that will be protective of home and family.
> I don't think it is likely to be able to train a non-aggressive dog to be that precisely protective.


No, I think you're right. You can make a dog mean, unstable, and aggressive through brutality, but you can't make them protective, strong-nerved, selfless and noble if the seeds of it aren't already there.


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## Falkosmom

Emoore said:


> Sure. . . enough brutality will make many dogs aggressive.


I would think brutality would backfire and make a dog fearful, possibly submissive.


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## Falkosmom

Once had two pups with stable, confident temperaments. I made the mistake of letting a lot of people pet them. All the neighbors would come see them when they were out in the fenced yard. What a big mistake. These dogs came to think that everybody was their friend and developed no natural protectiveness. They would not even bark an alert when a stranger approached the home. 

Another friend with teenage kids allowed her pup to be exposed to a multitude of people in and out of the house. She got the same results as I did with my two pups. Her dog was workingline and she ultimately trained him in schutzhund but anybody could go in and out of her house and her dog was never protective and would not bark an alert either. She was also disappointed in her mistake.

IMO, if you want a more protective dog, I would not allow so many people to freely interact with him especially when you are not there when it is on your property. Personally, I don't allow many people to interact physically with my dogs at all, and *never* when I am not there.


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## Shaina

I let my dog interact freely, and as she matures I will be training for protection. In the right dog, you can have a social butterfly that will protect on cue. We are doing schutzhund now which has been all prey work, but I expect she will become more serious as she grows and as more stress is put on her.

So yes, if you don't want to go through the process and just want a naturally aloof dog, letting strangers pet your dog isn't what you necessarily want.

However, a dog with the right temperament can learn aloofness (in my opinion) through a lot of training even after being pet by many people.


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## BowWowMeow

My dog is super friendly. He interacts with anyone and everyone (when allowed) and has never met a stranger. However, if you come to our door he will bark ferociously. He did not start this until he was 3 years old and I did encourage him by teaching him a command for ferocious barking (which he now does appropriately on his own) but letting him interact with lots of people when he was younger did nothing to harm his natural instincts.


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## adas

Just a few minutes ago, I had first hand experience about what we are talking about here. A former "clean-cut" young man who used to work here for me, just came into the office. He was asking desperately asking for a job, even almost threatenly asking and I was fearful a bit. But also he has deteriorated into major drug addiction. 

All the while Nimai was watching, laying down, half-asleep. (as he usually does after the morning walk/play event). 

I followed the young man as he did not leave and instead went into the work area and Nimai came with me. Nimai did not bark or show aggression and almost welcomed the man and the man became a bit standoffish and apprehensive. Nimai at that time started following the guy and almost nipping at him (herding?) with the guy waving his arms but the man then chose to leave and Nimai watched me to see if I approved his behavior OR maybe he was confused on "did I do the right thing?". (again this was not an attack on the man, just Nimai kept escorting him and when the man stopped walking, Nimai started encouraging him to keep moving by going close to his legs and feet with his mouth). 
The young man was clearly a bit frightened and resorted to using his hand jestures at me as he left.

Seems Niimai acted appropriately. (The young man knows there is an unpredictable/playfull but no nonscense dog here, and the man did not get bit, so I will not get sued).

Comments on Nimai's behavior?

(it is sad to see the young man go down the tubes, he comes from a good family, etc.)

francis


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## Witz

My last male GSD(WL) loved everyone and would have let anyone into the house. He was socialized and yet when on 2 seperate situations stepped in to protect my wife. He was clearly able to see a threat and respond. There was no attack but he got between the threat and my wife and drove them away. If my wife had let him he would have gone after them. I do believe that socialization is more beneficial then to isolate. 

My new pup almost a year old is very social and we can take him anywhere. He began his bitework at 8 months old and the trainer has made many a statement regarding channeling his potential and disposition in a constructive and obedienced base approach. I have seen him get very pissed when agitated and he starts to reveal his inner protective (possible) mindset. 

I expect that I will be able to rely on his ability to move comfortably amongst those who pose no threat. I also feel as if he needs to make a statement, there will be no issue. Time will tell, but I would rather side on socializing, training and natural instincts to have a well rounded dog. Besides it's a partnership, we are in this together, I protect him and if it comes to it, he may step up to protect us. Other then that, as long as he barks to act as a deterent, I'm Ok with just that.


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## hunterisgreat

I'll explain by describing my own experiences with my dogs. First, I'll describe how the dogs are naturally. My female, Katya, is not suspicious at all of people who look friendly at all. She greats everyone friendly with kisses and a wagging tail. My male Jäger is indifferent to people. He doesn't greet strangers at all. If they approach and are friendly, he is aloof and cautious. If they posture or show any form of mild threat (strong eye contact, leaning over him, reaching out to him unannounced or speaking to him in a non-friendly tone they get a growl. An overt threat gets a strong defensive response, but without any lunging or biting. 

The training we do with them is to teach them that strong forward aggression at someone appearing aggressive is desirable behavior. Both dogs, when told to turn on and be aggressive do so very strongly. Both dogs, when told to turn off, will turn off when the aggressor is also no longer being aggressive. There is a lot of "turn on, push aggressor away, turn off, now-friendly aggressor comes and speaks and shakes hands very close to the dog" type of stuff. My male has a more prominent front than back... which is to say, he puts on a very intimidating show, but really doesn't want to bite. He will, if the threat ignores his aggression. My female I think is more balanced front to back. My male, even without a lick of training in this regard, was already a very protective dog of our spaces and our pack. Katya is much more reliant on Jager's cues to be aggressive. If he's posturing, she follows. If he isn't, she doesn't. If I didn't have a male, she would probably not be naturally protective... however the makeup is there to train it in.

So these are two very different dogs in terms of protective posture... also differing in sex. The point is both can be effectively be taught to be aggressive. The important thing, is both dogs are very sound nerved, very confident, and very dominant. I think you'd run into trouble with a dog that lacks confidence (but this can be greatly improved through training), one that lacks nerve (not sure you can do much about this), or one that is submissive (not sure you can do too much about a naturally submissive dog either). You definitely need to enlist the help of a professional. And do your research with them... putting a ton of pain on the dog until he gets aggressive is not good training and can really mess up a dog mentally.


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## Corona

Why would anyone want their dog to be aggressive? Protective yes, but you want them to be a sound, stable dog that only reacts when it feels it or it's pack/family is in a threatening situation. A dog that is just aggressive is a good way to get a lawsuit. If you want your dog to be protective on command then you need to give it the proper training to do that. Otherwise you and your dog will have different opinions of what a threatening situation is. A dog with good nerves might not take a person yelling as a threat like a human would. Also not all dogs have a high defensive drive (protection) which is another reason getting them into training is a good idea, because it will help you see what drives are stronger in your dog if you are not able to tell for yourself.


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## hunterisgreat

Falkosmom said:


> Once had two pups with stable, confident temperaments. I made the mistake of letting a lot of people pet them. All the neighbors would come see them when they were out in the fenced yard. What a big mistake. These dogs came to think that everybody was their friend and developed no natural protectiveness. They would not even bark an alert when a stranger approached the home.
> 
> Another friend with teenage kids allowed her pup to be exposed to a multitude of people in and out of the house. She got the same results as I did with my two pups. Her dog was workingline and she ultimately trained him in schutzhund but anybody could go in and out of her house and her dog was never protective and would not bark an alert either. She was also disappointed in her mistake.
> 
> IMO, if you want a more protective dog, I would not allow so many people to freely interact with him especially when you are not there when it is on your property. Personally, I don't allow many people to interact physically with my dogs at all, and *never* when I am not there.


My male has been excessively socialized. Protective behavioir came out anyway


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## Exocet77

I was wondering this myself. When my pup was 9-10 months old, she wouldn't even bark @ a knock @ the door. We then started saying "Whos that?!" in an excited voice, to get her excited. Shes just over a year now and barks when someone comes to the door, as well has barking on the command of "who's that" regardless. She knows now, its more of a protective thing I believe. If I am out on some trails and get her excited with the whos that, she'll puff her chest out and get her hackles up being alert. I started rewarding her with treats when she started barking @ the door and command. 

My gf was walking her @ night and there was a kind of sketchy looking guy not far away walking towards her and she asked ruby "whos that" and she started barking @ him (controlled), so I believe that she has learned a little bit of protectiveness in the process. 

She is always great with people/kids and friendly strangers, so she also knows there is a time and place for that behavior. 

I think I have trained her well for it, and I haven't had to deal with any ill effects, such has barking for treats or getting out of control with it.


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