# Protective of house getting scary



## shawnshayan9 (Oct 15, 2013)

My german shepherd Hunter has become very protective of the house anytime someone he doesn't know rings the doorbell and comes in he goes nuts barks and growls like crazy. I have a prong collar and I yank it and make him sit and he still won't stop. Or if he does stop after a while and the stranger comes up to him he barks and almost tries to bit. One time someone came over and he was barking like crazy and jumped on her. I really don't know what to do I need help!! He is 6 months old. I got him at four weeks and he has always been a little scared of people but he is getting better with that. But getting more protective of the house. 
I would love your help! 

Thank you so much


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## SunCzarina (Nov 24, 2000)

A 6 month old isn't protective. He's trying out the big scary dog act because he's going through his second fear period. 

You need to make everything happy and fun now. Enlist people to come over, hand them a bag of treats or toys to give to your puppy. Keep him on his leash and when he accepts a person (because you said to), he's the best dog in the whole wide world! If he barks and acts like a lunatic, shame and crate for the duration of the visit.


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## TigervTeMar (Jan 4, 2014)

you'll definitely need to put in work to get your dog over it but it'll happen one day if you stick with it. I would start by getting a piece of wood and just knocking on it sometimes and then praising her if she doesn't react and also using food. when ppl are over use a delicious treat to distract from the barking. Czarina is right, into the crate for bad behavior! should start choosing good behavior and food really quickly


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## DutchKarin (Nov 23, 2013)

I would enlist the help of a trainer. The reason is that you may be creating superstitious fear/aggression with your use of the prong collar in that circumstance. "Hey look, new person, I'm worried, I'm looking at them, barking at them and then OW!!!!! screaming pain in my neck... NOW I hate them and am really scared of them because they made my neck hurt. I must get them to leave... etc"


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## TigervTeMar (Jan 4, 2014)

DutchKarin is right too. one time I had my puppy in a pen and he wanted to get out and was whining and whining. so I squirted him repeatedly whenever he whined with water from a spritzer bottle and after a few minutes he was freaking out like I've never seen before. his focus became on escaping the situation and nothing else. I never tried that again, negative reinforcement can definitely make things worse sometimes. i feel like a prong collar would be even worse than a spray of water


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

I agree with the superstitious fear -- this is not like supernatural or anything like that. You have a dog who is afraid and all the sudden he gets zapped or bitten by the prong, it makes him more afraid which makes him act out even more and sooner. 

You got your puppy very young, and it is possible that he lost some valuable development within his litter. It effects a lot of stuff, like dog-body language, and bite inhibition. But there are some dynamics we should consider. A pup in the litter is not afraid because he has his dam and littermates there. For the first 8 weeks, new situations can be experienced in a very safe manner, because your dog learns from how calm his mother is, and realizes there is nothing to fear 

Now, you got a dog that could barely see, and hear. His eyes had been open for about two weeks and his ears about the same. Usually about 3 weeks they start paying attention with the littermates and start playing. But most of the time they are eating and sleeping and pooping. The dog was socially undeveloped.

That huge section of time when he should have experienced things under the safety of his dam, and littermates he did not have, and then at eight weeks, when they have a pretty good feeling about lots of stuff, they get their first major check and are separated from the litter and have to transfer their allegiance to you as the great protector. Now, I am treading on some thin water here, the transference happened earlier than it should have and the dog may not have gained that intitial boost of sink or swim with changing the environment of dam and littermates to new human owner and family. Because he was too young to really be afraid of everything and anything, he found that you provided edible food, and that was enough. But that was definitely some stepping stones that really didn't go as they should have. 

You cannot change that now, but your approach in dealing with this issue needs to take it into consideration that this dog may need remedial socialization, and you may need to gain a whole lot of confidence so that your dog will accept you as the great protector, like the dam in the litter.

Lots of young'ns at this stage go through some pretty fear-scary stuff. But I would definitely work with someone on this. Teach your boy that you are a fair and consistent leader, by setting him up to succeed and praising him for it, and by making rules clear and enforcing them properly. As he builds a bond with your through training and leadership, he will learn to trust you, and he won't have to act like such a nut. 

Hopefully. 

I am sorry your breeder let the dog go so young. That should only happen if the bitch and the rest of the litter dies. And even then, the breeder should try and find a substitute female to try to bond with the dog and teach the dog during that period.


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## shawnshayan9 (Oct 15, 2013)

Thank you for the advice. Please keep it coming.

He always wants to sleep by the door and and when he is bored during the day he goes by the door. I feel like he does this because he wants to protect the house. 

What should I do so he doesn't bark when people ring the bell or come inside do you guys no any training methods for this. 

I'm a little confused about how to do the knocking on the wood technique. 


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## SunCzarina (Nov 24, 2000)

I always thought my dogs napped against the door because there was a draft with different smells coming under it.

Find some dog friendly friends who are willing to help you with him. Have treats ready at the door for everyone who comes over to give him. Have him sit before you open the door. Try not to be tense (Oh this dog better not react!) If he's not a good friend, he goes in his crate (or another room). 

Alert barking isn't a problem, what if the door bell breaks? How would you know someone's there? It's the acting like a bouncing jumping loonie dog when someone comes in.


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## Chip18 (Jan 11, 2014)

I dealt with "people aggression" myself. I would lose the prong or find someone to instruct you in it's proper use. Never needed it myself and you're actually ammping up you dog with it.

You can't "force" a dog through this. You need to gain his trust he's deciding friend or foe that's your job.

I think this thread will be helpful. 
http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/general-behavior/431289-new-dog-very-challenging.html


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## EmilyB (Mar 29, 2009)

I would highly recommend you find yourself a good trainer. 

Your dog is young enough to correct this behaviour, mine unfortunately was not by the time I found someone to help using more positive methods.

Find a Board Certified Veterinary Behaviorist « ACVB

They can do a full workup and hook you up with a good trainer. You will be so glad you did.

Some good reading is _Control Unleashed by _Leslie McDevitt and check out Grisha Stewart's BAT methods.


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## e.rigby (May 28, 2011)

I was going to chime in and say 'lose the prong' but apparently others have already done so. 

The use of aversives on a young, fearful dog are going to end up back firing on you. Find a trainer who will help you implement a positive reinforcement/negative punishment plan of action to handle your pup's issues.


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## shawnshayan9 (Oct 15, 2013)

How long do you think I should put him in another room for after he does that? 


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## Blanketback (Apr 27, 2012)

How is your pup outside of the home: likes people, hides from them, wants to lunge towards them?


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## shawnshayan9 (Oct 15, 2013)

Blanketback said:


> How is your pup outside of the home: likes people, hides from them, wants to lunge towards them?


On walks he is good he doesn't bark or anything with me but with my girlfriend he does bark at people sometimes. But if someone makes eye contact or comes up to him very fast he will bark and get scared 

Yesterday I came home with him and there were people already in the house that he has never met and he was totally fine. He didn't bark and they gave him treats and he let them pet him. 

Today someone was outside fixing a plumbing issue and my eyes weren't on him he ran out and start circling around and barking at him so I had to chase him and put him in my room.


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## Saphire (Apr 1, 2005)

SunCzarina said:


> A 6 month old isn't protective. He's trying out the big scary dog act because he's going through his second fear period.
> 
> You need to make everything happy and fun now. Enlist people to come over, hand them a bag of treats or toys to give to your puppy. Keep him on his leash and when he accepts a person (because you said to), he's the best dog in the whole wide world! If he barks and acts like a lunatic, shame and crate for the duration of the visit.


What exactly is 2nd fear period?

I personally don't want my dog to take food and toys from strangers, quite the opposite in fact. 

I would however mark and reward them when they stop to verbal "enough" or "it's ok" or whatever command you want to use that signals your dog to stop barking, growling etc.

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## Chip18 (Jan 11, 2014)

Saphire said:


> What exactly is 2nd fear period?
> 
> I personally don't want my dog to take food and toys from strangers, quite the opposite in fact.
> 
> ...


Second fear period was news to me also.

Found this maybe someone can expand upon it?

Dog Club, Critical periods in your puppy’s psychological growth


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## Chip18 (Jan 11, 2014)

shawnshayan9 said:


> Today someone was outside fixing a plumbing issue and my eyes weren't on him he ran out and start circling around and barking at him so I had to chase him and put him in my room.


That should not happen a dog should not step out the front door without being released! He made that call not you. 

Some info here and I would strongly recommend you read the "Who pets my puppy or Dog" essay. Your dog is making his own decisions and many of them are bad ones!

http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/general-behavior/431289-new-dog-very-challenging.html


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

Chip18 said:


> Second fear period was news to me also.
> 
> Found this maybe someone can expand upon it?
> 
> Dog Club, Critical periods in your puppy’s psychological growth


"Any biting between 13 and 16 weeks is a sign of dominance?" 

Well, I have have heard of various fear periods. Some dogs have them, some dogs are not bothered by them. Some of the article sounds like a lot of excuses for bad behavior. On the other hand, some dogs do go through some interesting phases, where, if we remain in control, calm, and consistent, the dog will generally pull through and do ok. If we over-react, tighten up, break out in a sweat, and put a death grip on the dog's leash while we scream at the other dog's owners to keep them back, well, we might just do more harm than if we stayed quietly at home until the dog was 12.


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## Chip18 (Jan 11, 2014)

selzer said:


> "Any biting between 13 and 16 weeks is a sign of dominance?"
> 
> Well, I have have heard of various fear periods. Some dogs have them, some dogs are not bothered by them. Some of the article sounds like a lot of excuses for bad behavior. On the other hand, some dogs do go through some interesting phases, where, if we remain in control, calm, and consistent, the dog will generally pull through and do ok. If we over-react, tighten up, break out in a sweat, and put a death grip on the dog's leash while we scream at the other dog's owners to keep them back, well, we might just do more harm than if we stayed quietly at home until the dog was 12.


Thanks that's why I asked for input! I found it on a Boxer Breeders site, they don't ship there puppies till they are 12 weeks old?
Had not seen that before?

I thought it was cut and dry my self (fear periods) maybe Rocky hit a "second fear period" don't know(he was in range by that info) but he's the only dog I had that happen with...people aggression.

But apparently I handled it well!  Learned a lot with this guy!


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## SunCzarina (Nov 24, 2000)

Otto never went through a second fear period in an observable way like Venus did. Before this pair I had older rescues, all older than 6 months and I just plain don't remember back to the dogs I had 20 years ago. Or more likely had no clue what was going on in their puppy brains until I had a 6 month old rescue who was freaked out of her puppy mind and I did a lot of reading on puppy brain maturity (for lack of a more technical term).

With Venus it wasn't any sudden change or scary experience, she just got to about 6 months and things started freaking her out. My formerly unflappable pup was suddenly noticing new things in the world and she didn't like them. She wanted to scare them away - like the day she flipped out barking at a statue in the park she'd seen 20 minutes earlier from a different angle. Scared barking, hackles all the way down to her tail.

Otto like I said never had moment where he acted afraid but he did some 'I'm trying out my big scary dog act' between 6 and 8 months. First time I notice my puppy was no longer all sweet and accepting of everyone, he cornered the plumber. Otto had been outside with my older female. When they came in, he heard a noise upstairs. Flew past me and ignored all my go in the kitchen, leave it, come back, stand down! commands. I raced up behind him to find the plumber using the toilet tank as a shield and my puppy doing a completely untrained yet perfect form bark and hold. LOL the plumber still tells that story and the guys always ask that Otto be crated.

About the same time, we got a new couch set for the den. I had the delivery guys move a chair to the front parlor. Again Otto came in from outside except this time he wasn't mad at the long gone delivery guys, he had to stand there and bark at the chair. It was so ridiculous I couldn't stop laughing but it was completely unacceptable.

Those are just the entertaining stories of when Otto discovered he scares people.


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## Blanketback (Apr 27, 2012)

shawnshayan9 said:


> Yesterday I came home with him and there were people already in the house that he has never met and he was totally fine. He didn't bark and they gave him treats and he let them pet him.


Perfect! Then it's not a problem with strangers in the home, it's a problem about door manners. That's so much easier to fix. I like to make my dog work for what he wants, not punish him for not doing what I want - so I'd forget about using the prong for this. 

Do you have a crate? I would make sure Hunter was in his crate before someone comes to the door. I know barking will happen, it happened with my pup too - but I want my dog to bark when someone is at the door, every time, so I don't want to get rid of that.

I do want my dog to be quiet when I say, but that's a whole other command. The main thing is to not let the pup out of the crate until he's quiet. That way, he learns on his own that being quiet gets him what he wants: to investigate the guest. Sometimes people will be afraid of dogs, so be careful of this. I didn't let my pup out of the crate at all if that was the case. Be consistent, and it will work. You need patience for this, because there will be times when, just as you open the crate, the pup will bark again. You have to say no and close it again, and start over. 

It seems like the hard way to do it, when you can just use the prong to get a sit, but IMO it's better to take more time to get a pup going in the right direction. I'm more concerned about being quiet and not jumping on guests, so I don't want to rile my pup up - I want to settle him down. The prong can work against you in these cases, if the pup is already overwhelmed.


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