# Aggression in 7 month old GSD



## Jreynolds9 (Mar 20, 2018)

Hello! I have a 7 month old female GSD named Zola. She has the typical problems (biting, jumping, pulling on a leash) that I’ve been working on. We’re starting with a trainer next week. However, recently she’s become very aggressive about her food, toys, and even with other dogs. I leave her completely alone while she eats, but if I simply walk by her to get to another room, she starts growling and eating her food faster. I’ve never given her a reason to think I’m going to take it away. As for the toys, typically, if I go to pet her while she’s playing with a toy, she’ll growl and then run off with it. Last night, however, she had hidden a bone and I was getting up to get her leash and take her for a walk after dinner. After eating, she went over to where she had hidden the bone and started growling and snapping at me every time I’d get near. I eventually got her distracted enough and let her see me put it up so she’d know I was in charge of it (I’ve read that it works, but have no clue what I’m doing LOL). Finally, the aggression with other dogs is mainly in our house. At the dog park or pet store, she’ll be fine and sometimes even be scared of other dogs and stay away from them. If another dog comes to our house, though, she’ll immediately start barking, growling, and eventually attack. I’ve tried keeping her on a leash but that only increases her aggression. If I let her go, she’ll be fine for a minute but something (no telling what) will set her off and she’ll attack again. She’s a generally sweet dog, but she just has her moments of aggression. Has anyone had experience with this? Any advice? Thanks!


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## Sabis mom (Mar 20, 2014)

I don't understand why you are bringing strange dogs into your house, and I really don't understand why you would let her keep attacking them. If they must be in her house then put her in her crate while they are there, in another room.
At 7 months she could be getting a bit hormonal, or just trying out her big girl pants.

As far as the bone, rather then confronting her and creating a situation, call her off it and reward her for leaving it.


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## Jreynolds9 (Mar 20, 2018)

Sabis Mom, 

That’s good advice for the bone, I will have to try that!

As for the bringing strange dogs around, they are dogs she has met and been friendly with other times, at their homes or at parks. Any other dog I’ve owned or been around, even other GSD’s, have been fine with play dates.


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## tim_s_adams (Aug 9, 2017)

Yeah 7 months is just a tough age for a puppy...lots of things influencing behavior at that point! It's also common for puppies at or near that age to have a "fear period", which can perhaps easiestly be described as a sudden change in which things that didn't used to bother them, now do! If you see her bothered by several things that she used to be okay with, and it seems out of character for her, that could be the explanation. If so, give her a couple weeks with no outside visitors or stressful situations, and you should see her get back to "normal".

It does sound though, a little bit like you and her may have a relationship issue as well, because even when my pup went through a distinctive fear period when she was 8-9 months, she didn't ever growl at me. So look too at what you're doing with her. Lead and command, but don't challenge. GSDs have a very strong sense of fairness. If she feels you are, or even have been in the past, unfair, she will let you know that. Dogs are pretty transparent. If she's guarding stuff from you, you and her probably have some trust issues. 

Show her in all cases that she can trust you, and things will likely improve. It they don't, hire a good trainer to come to your house and help you! Don't let it go though, because issues like this are not going to resolve themselves without some changes!


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## Sabis mom (Mar 20, 2014)

Just because she is good with friends on neutral ground does not mean that she will be accepting of them on her turf, and this is really not something you should push. It's her home, she should feel secure there. 
It sounds like she may be a bit nervous(you said she seems afraid of some dogs) and in her home she may feel obligated to defend her territory. I suspect the dogs coming in is contributing to the guarding of her treats and toys as well.
As a breed they do not tend to be social butterflies, dog parks are not a great idea either. You need to be her focus, not other dogs. 
Dog parks are havens for out of control dogs who are often allowed to bully and harass other dogs. This can have a horrible impact on a soft or nervous dog. Better to find one or two stable, socially adept dogs and let them play if you feel a need to have her socialize.
It sounds like you are fairly inexperienced, no offense, so for now you may be better served to start your training and focus on building a solid foundation with you and your girl.


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## Jreynolds9 (Mar 20, 2018)

Tim_s_adams, thanks for the great advice! The aggression towards me has been VERY recent like in the past few days. I just realized that she’s been on steroids for allergies for 3 days and am wondering if that could have contributed to the aggression.


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## Coleen (Sep 18, 2015)

Sabis mom said:


> Just because she is good with friends on neutral ground does not mean that she will be accepting of them on her turf, and this is really not something you should push. It's her home, she should feel secure there.
> It sounds like she may be a bit nervous(you said she seems afraid of some dogs) and in her home she may feel obligated to defend her territory. I suspect the dogs coming in is contributing to the guarding of her treats and toys as well.
> As a breed they do not tend to be social butterflies, dog parks are not a great idea either. You need to be her focus, not other dogs.
> Dog parks are havens for out of control dogs who are often allowed to bully and harass other dogs. This can have a horrible impact on a soft or nervous dog. Better to find one or two stable, socially adept dogs and let them play if you feel a need to have her socialize.
> It sounds like you are fairly inexperienced, no offense, so for now you may be better served to start your training and focus on building a solid foundation with you and your girl.


This^^is spot on!


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## Sweet Stella (Feb 7, 2018)

You need to up your structure big time, this dog has too much freedom and does not respect you currently. 

Scrap the dog park for now, that's not a good place in general, but especially for this dog, that's a disaster waiting to happen. You need to crate train this dog and get her on a very consistent schedule and set boundaries. Don't allow this dog on your furniture or bed and scale back your praise and affection big time. 

Don't give her toys, treats and praise unless she has earned them. How will she earn them? Through obedience. This dog should be drilling obedience every day and should be corrected when she is acting like a brat. 

As for the resource guarding, I would start hand feeding her every day for the foreseeable future. Use her kibble in your training. Teach her to sit, stay, down, place and use her kibble as her reward. You're not only make her earn her food, but you're also developing her obedience and your role as her leader. 

I would also encourage you to research the OUT command. Her food bowls and toys are yours, she earns the right use them and reserve the right to regain possession of them as you please. Once she masters this command, then you go back to feeding her out of a bowl. 

Investing in balanced training for this dog is something I would highly recommend. She is at a crucial age in development and headed in the wrong direction. This can be reversed very easily. If you continue down this path, this dog will grown into an unbalanced adult, be a source of stress in your life for years, and likely end up biting someone. 

Good luck, you can do it!


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