# why would he suddenly act aggressive towards someone he has known almost all his life



## Lobo dog (Sep 19, 2014)

From the time we brought him home at 9 weeks, we have socialized him with toddlers to seniors and everything in between, and until 2 months ago he had never given us any reason to not trust him around a stranger. There is a special needs 18 year old that my sisters and I look after 4 days a week, from the time Lobo was 3 months he has consistently been around Marie. Marie is legally blind and physically handicapped and Lobo (even to this day) always greets her with kisses and leans into her for pets; so when he was 12 months I brought him with me for about three hours to watch Marie. I got her off the bus the leash in one hand and Marie on the other; the noise and chaos of the bus didn't phase him though he had never been so close to one before. He greeted her as he always does but about 15 minutes in we where all in the kitchen and Marie reached out her hand (she was about 4' from Lobo and he was on leash) he got up and sniffed her hand then let out a low quick growl. I kept him on the leash the rest of the time I was there and I didn't let him get close to her for the rest of the day. Well a week later I thought I'd give it another shot after all I wasn't going to let one odd incident ruin 9 months of relationship building, it started out the same no issue getting her off the bus and the initial greeting went well, but Marie offered him a cracker from her snack and told him "gentle" he took it SUPER gentle just as he has been train but he growled low in his throat just as he took it (so soft and quick I almost missed it). Marie doesn't understand that he growled so it wasn't like she was acting afraid of him due to the previous weeks incident. I had my mom come pick him up because he had me feeling very uncomfortable with his unprovoked aggression. 

Both times he was on the leash in a calm environment with just myself and Marie. It has been a month and my mom was walking Lobo so she brought him to Marie's today; again he greeted her with kisses and accepted her pets but about 2 minutes in she reached out to pet him just as she had been doing, and he let out a growl. We have decided for Marie's safety not to bring him back even for a quick visit. She is always asking to see him though, she just loves him, which makes this all the more difficult. On his way out Marie's the door two male construction workers stopped my mom and asked to pet Lobo he had no negative reaction to them, and he has interacted with countless people and kids (literal hundreds of kids) and he has only acted aggressive 2 other times, once an adult male (extended family) member started barking in his face and Lobo responded by barking and lounging at him, the other time a different man wouldn't break eye contact and Lobo jumped on his chest and barked twice in his face. Those two time I know what provoked his reaction but with Marie he has me stumped. Mom's theory is that now he views Marie as weak, and that perhaps she just smells "off" to him? But it doesn't make any sense that he never minded those things before. 

I was told the other day by someone that all of their male GSD's get overly suspicious and can be untrustworthy around people who are not one of their "pack", he said they started this usually at the age of 8 months but by the age if 18 months their hormones are balanced and they become trust worthy again. Is this true? What gets to me is just how unprovoked all three of instances were, she was acting and doing the same things she has done since he first met her and his reaction to her has tainted how I view every interaction he has.


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## Findlay (Jan 8, 2015)

How old is your dog now? 12 months??
Sorry. I can't give you advice in regard to why your dog has a negative reaction to Marie, especially since he has known her for a while.
It would be easier to understand if it was his 1st time meeting her and sensed a weakness or vulnerability because of her handicap.

You and your family are really smart to keep him away from Marie.

I think your dog was justified in his reaction to those 2 guys.
Good luck.


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## MadLab (Jan 7, 2013)

> she was acting and doing the same things she has done since he first met her...


How does the girl act toward the dog? 

What is the dogs general temperament like during the meetings?

Explain the meeting ritual a bit more?

How is the dog on greeting you and your family?

Is the dog in a excited or relaxed environment in general?

Who's in charge of the dog, who walks it, who disciplines the dog or tries to fix unwanted behavior?


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## MadLab (Jan 7, 2013)

> and he has only acted aggressive 2 other times,
> 
> once an adult male (extended family) member started barking in his face and Lobo responded by barking and lounging at him,
> 
> the other time a different man wouldn't break eye contact and Lobo jumped on his chest and barked twice in his face. .


I think the dog was over the top here. Like there is no reason to get aggressive in these circumstances. It is something that needs to be cured. The dog sounds over reactive with too little discipline.

A dog does go through phases and can totally throw you off with a show of aggression as a young dog but someone needs to stand in and let the dog know who the boss is.


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## Steve Strom (Oct 26, 2013)

Just an online guess Lobo, but you may have misread him with her. Maybe he was never comfortable with her, just accepting of how you had him behave. Now he's at an age where he's not being so accepting.


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## Lobo dog (Sep 19, 2014)

MadLab said:


> How does the girl act toward the dog?
> 
> What is the dogs general temperament like during the meetings?
> 
> ...


1. He is usually pretty relaxed. With most people he is aloof but with Marie he has always given kisses which we assumed was affection but it probably never truly was. 

2. She is always sitting on the floor or in a chair as her balance isn't very good, he goes up she has her hands out stretched he nuzzles through her hands until he gets to her face, then he licks her cheek a few times, she laughs and pets him for about 30 seconds then she straightens and he voluntarily comes back to what I call a "lazy heel" (where he sits close to me but not necessarily in the heel position). She moves rather slowly and laughs a lot.

3. He greets everyone in the family very enthusiastically even my older sister who wasn't around for much of his puppy hood and moved out when he was only 7 months. Whether we are 
Coming in the front door, coming to play with him outside, letting him out of his crate or when he is being led to us at the groomer, he makes eye contact, runs to us, once he is close his ears go back and he dives between our legs and usually does a figure 8, if he can see me but cant get to me (like if he is in his crate and I go out the back door, or like at the groomer yesterday they had a window door so he could see us while they dry him) he will cry. He has never done the figure 8 with anyone outside of the 6 of us.

4. At our house it's usually a pretty exciting environment, with 5 people, 4 cats and constant activity most of the day it is far from relaxing 

5. He is my dog (he was supposed to be the families dog but I take care of him and pay his vet bills so my parents have given him to me). I am the one who exercises him; usually a 2 mile run in the morning, lots and lots of fetch, at least 1 hour a day, and an evening walk usually another 2 miles. I work him in at a training facility at least 3 hours a week. Two hours in Intermediate obedience and one hour in beginners Rally. I have been the one to work him since he was 3 months (with help from my mother occasionally). I am in charge of all his grooming needs (ear cleaning, nail trimming, bathing, daily brushing). We all kind of pitch in when it comes to feeding. If it's a big issue like jumping on people, or mouthing than my mom and work on it with him together; however I do 90%of the training and correcting behaviors. 

Oh and he is an unaltered 13 month old male.


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## Lobo dog (Sep 19, 2014)

Steve Strom said:


> Just an online guess Lobo, but you may have misread him with her. Maybe he was never comfortable with her, just accepting of how you had him behave. Now he's at an age where he's not being so accepting.


That makes a lot of sense....


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## Lobo dog (Sep 19, 2014)

MadLab said:


> I think the dog was over the top here. Like there is no reason to get aggressive in these circumstances. It is something that needs to be cured. The dog sounds over reactive with too little discipline.
> 
> A dog does go through phases and can totally throw you off with a show of aggression as a young dog but someone needs to stand in and let the dog know who the boss is.


I agree he was over the top with the eye contact (that happened almost 2 months ago) but in the other situation I am not so sure. My cousin ( I'm just going to call him B) who is 27, was sitting on the couch talking about what a wuss our dog is (he's kind of a jerk). Lobo was sleeping on the floor and B just started bark/yelling out of no where (shocked us all) Lobo stood up and started barking at the back door we asked B to stop but he just got louder. Lobo figured out the awful noise was coming from B and got close to him, barked like 6 more times then jumped (what I called lounged) towards B. I think Lobo's reaction escalated appropriately with the situation. I grabbed Lobo's collar before he jumped onto B (I don't think Lobo was going to bite as he had plenty of time to do just that but chose to bark more instead. Can't say for sure though). My Dad came in and told B to either leave or knock it off and B stopped. Lobo was almost 7 months old when it happened and after he calmed down he was fine around B the rest of the day. I think that reaction was a mix of being abruptly woken up from a nap, the energy in the room and the fact that a grown man/stranger was loud and aggressive in his face. (Keep in mind the detailed situation I just gave all took place in about 1 minute.)


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## Lobo dog (Sep 19, 2014)

Findlay said:


> How old is your dog now? 12 months??
> Sorry. I can't give you advice in regard to why your dog has a negative reaction to Marie, especially since he has known her for a while.
> It would be easier to understand if it was his 1st time meeting her and sensed a weakness or vulnerability because of her handicap.
> 
> ...


Thank you :hug: yes he is 13 months


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## MadLab (Jan 7, 2013)

> 1. He is usually pretty relaxed. With most people he is aloof but with Marie he has always given kisses which we assumed was affection but it probably never truly was.
> 
> 2. She is always sitting on the floor or in a chair as her balance isn't very good, he goes up she has her hands out stretched he nuzzles through her hands until he gets to her face, then he licks her cheek a few times, she laughs and pets him for about 30 seconds


Yea, it is hard to know a dogs intention or true feeling.

Obviously the interaction between them is off. It is hard to say why exactly.

It could be the amount of eye contact that she is giving the dog and the fact that she is at eye level with him. Her condition might contribute as would her body language.

You can start to ask the dog to give the girl some distance. Licking the face might be making the girl feel fearful even though she responds by laughing.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

A GSD that leans in for pets from someone is not an uncomfortable GSD. This has happened in the last month? Has anything changed medically with Marie that he could be sensing? Maybe Marie should see if anything has changed with herself medically.


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## Lobo dog (Sep 19, 2014)

llombardo said:


> A GSD that leans in for pets from someone is not an uncomfortable GSD. This has happened in the last month? Has anything changed medically with Marie that he could be sensing? Maybe Marie should see if anything has changed with herself medically.


Yeah Lobo doesn't seem uncomfortable when around Marie. Wow, I never thought if something had changed with Marie medically...she has been a victim of cancer several times in the past so I sure hope it's nothing like that but definitely something to be investigated! Yes it has only happened in the last month.


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## Dalko43 (Mar 30, 2015)

MadLab said:


> Lobo dog said:
> 
> 
> > and he has interacted with countless people and kids (literal hundreds of kids) and he has only acted aggressive 2 other times, once an adult male (extended family) member started barking in his face and Lobo responded by barking and lounging at him, the other time a different man wouldn't break eye contact and Lobo jumped on his chest and barked twice in his face.
> ...


I think you're being a bit unrealistic there. Barking in a dog's face and making direct eye-contact are indications of aggression (or at the very least indications of trying to establish dominance) in dog language...so when a human does it to a dog, even jokingly, the dog will react accordingly. Honestly, its the humans who were ill-disciplined in that situation, not the German Shepherd...though of course the German Shepherd should be corrected if he tries to respond with his own aggression.

To the OP, a dog trainer might be worth your time and money. It really doesn't make sense why a stable and well-socialized German Shepherd would growl at someone who is acting in a calm and friendly manner.


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