# My GSD is sometimes aggressive? challenging? toward me.



## Tinyboss (Oct 25, 2013)

This has happened enough times that a pattern seems to be emerging, and I wanted to get some community input on it. Background: we adopted Ben from the pound 6 months ago, and we believe he is about 16 months old now. He was half-starved, emaciated, low energy, and lacked confidence, but as he has become healthy his is "coming into his own", showing more confidence and seeming more at ease, which is great.

But there's a pattern that has played out three times now which has me concerned. I take him with me to wait for my 11-year-old son's school bus in the afternoons. Usually he's a saint, just laying calmly at my feet until the bus arrives. But today he was restless on the leash, and started rolling around on the ground and biting the grass. After my son arrived, we were walking back toward the house when Ben started growling. It was more a frustrated growl than angry snarling. He began to nip me and my son on the legs, and I sent my son on ahead so I could deal with the dog.

He wasn't out of his mind--when I got his collar and told him to sit, he sat. But as soon as I'd release the collar and start to walk, he started growling and nipping again. He actually left some welts on my skin. I had to hold him by the collar with a stiff arm and walk him all the way home like that. Once we were home, he reverted to his usual self immediately.

This same scenario has played out three times now (over the course of two months or so), with the rolling and grass-biting followed by aggressive behavior. I have a lot of questions and worries. Mostly, I wonder how I should react. Is he challenging me? Do I need to respond more forcefully than I have? I try to rely on positive reinforcement as much as possible, and I don't hit him at all, but I'd rather use a little bit of negative reinforcement, if necessary, than end up having to find him a new home. You all know that six months is enough time to get quite attached, I'm sure, and I really don't want that. But if my son isn't safe, I won't have a choice.

What's happening when he does this? 

How can I best respond?


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## BowWowMeow (May 7, 2007)

He sounds like a large puppy with energy to burn. How much and what kind of exercise and training does he get every day?


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## Tinyboss (Oct 25, 2013)

Thanks for the reply, BowWowMeow. Today he was at the dog park for about 90 minutes, split about evenly between walking with me in the forested area, chasing his frisbee, and running around with other dogs. He does that every day (and boy does his behavior change before and after). It had been about two hours between leaving the park and going to wait for the bus.


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## glowingtoadfly (Feb 28, 2014)

Skadi had a similar behavior. We used a ball, her favorite thing, to redirect her and have her do obedience before continuing the walk. Our behaviorist told us to incorporate obedience into play... Having the dog sit or lay down, or both, before throwing the ball or frisbee. Stepping on the leash also worked well. What kind of collar/leash/harness is your dog on?


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## gsdsar (May 21, 2002)

Your son coming home, may be too much stimulation. A rejoining if the pack. He does not know how to handle it. 

If it were my dog, he would get a solid 45 minute walk prior to picking your son up. Then, while waiting for the bus, do some obedience. Make him focus, do basic commands, give him something appropriate to do. 

Have your son give him some basic commands. Turn it into a training excersise. Engage his mind. 


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## Tinyboss (Oct 25, 2013)

glowingtoadfly said:


> Skadi had a similar behavior. We used a ball, her favorite thing, to redirect her and have her do obedience before continuing the walk. Our behaviorist told us to incorporate obedience into play... Having the dog sit or lay down, or both, before throwing the ball or frisbee. Stepping on the leash also worked well. What kind of collar/leash/harness is your dog on?


Today he was on a nylon flat leash clipped to his leather collar. But last time he was on a slip lead, made of soft round rope, which is what I use most of the time with him. And I think the first time we were probably still using the EZ-Walk harness.

Stepping on the leash didn't work, because it left him able to nip my legs--I actually had to hold him away from me. I didn't have a toy with me, but I'll try to remember to bring one from now on, to see if he'll be interested in it. I do have him sit and wait at doors and often before throwing fetch items, and he's very compliant in those settings.


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## glowingtoadfly (Feb 28, 2014)

I have found it easier to control a nippy dog on a harness because when you step on the leash their body goes down. I also agree with GSDSAR.


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## glowingtoadfly (Feb 28, 2014)

We have Skadi on a thunder leash, and she can't nip if we step on it just right.


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## SunCzarina (Nov 24, 2000)

gsdsar said:


> Your son coming home, may be too much stimulation. A rejoining if the pack. He does not know how to handle it.
> 
> If it were my dog, he would get a solid 45 minute walk prior to picking your son up. Then, while waiting for the bus, do some obedience. Make him focus, do basic commands, give him something appropriate to do.


This. Otto would get very excited to pick up the kids at school, he'd just about loose his mind lunging and barking in frustration as they'd HI MOM run past him to the playground. It took patience and time. Now he just sits there like 'another day another pickup, who this kid touching my head?'


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## my boy diesel (Mar 9, 2013)

overstimulated and playful i am guessing
he sees the kid run off so he gets more frustrated
the rolling on his back and biting the grass is playful behavior
a few other things to try are arrive closer to when the bus comes so there isnt time standing around
some dogs do not tolerate boredom well 
and also dont let him flop down to roll around
which if you arrived closer to when the bus comes it shouldnt be an issue anyway


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## Tinyboss (Oct 25, 2013)

my boy diesel said:


> a few other things to try are arrive closer to when the bus comes so there isnt time standing around
> some dogs do not tolerate boredom well
> and also dont let him flop down to roll around
> which if you arrived closer to when the bus comes it shouldnt be an issue anyway


I sure wish that was a possibility, but it just isn't that predictable. It varies as much as 20 minutes day to day, unfortunately. What I can do is keep him occupied with walking and commands if I see that he's getting restive. Thanks for the advice.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

This post is very similar to another post where a dog was brought back to a rescue after 3 days for nipping at a child's ankles that is about the same age as your child. It amazes me that in these similar cases people use the term aggressive in one situation and over stimulated in the other. Both cases seem to be over stimulation and I give you credit on asking for advice how to fix it. Is your dog in any training classes? I think some dogs require less physical and more mental exercise. Maybe try doing more mental versus physical and really focus on mental exercises while your son is around. Good luck, I'm sure you will figure it out, your already half way there since you asked for advice


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## Tinyboss (Oct 25, 2013)

llombardo said:


> This post is very similar to another post where a dog was brought back to a rescue after 3 days for nipping at a child's ankles that is about the same age as your child. It amazes me that in these similar cases people use the term aggressive in one situation and over stimulated in the other. Both cases seem to be over stimulation and I give you credit on asking for advice how to fix it. Is your dog in any training classes? I think some dogs require less physical and more mental exercise. Maybe try doing more mental versus physical and really focus on mental exercises while your son is around. Good luck, I'm sure you will figure it out, your already half way there since you asked for advice


Three days? That's nuts. I'll only get rid of Ben if I think he's going to injure someone, not for nipping. But knowing the reality of "getting rid of" a dog that bites, I will do everything to keep it from reaching that point.

We do have him (really us, right?) in an obedience class through the Humane Society. We're in the third week of six and the results have been very good so far. I will be discussing this with our instructor, though she has limited time outside of class, which is totally understandable. 

Someone else also mentioned mental stimulation, doing commands while we wait for the bus, and I'll definitely be trying that, especially when he doesn't seem relaxed. 

I really appreciate everyone's replies.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

Tinyboss said:


> Three days? That's nuts. I'll only get rid of Ben if I think he's going to injure someone, not for nipping. But knowing the reality of "getting rid of" a dog that bites, I will do everything to keep it from reaching that point.
> 
> We do have him (really us, right?) in an obedience class through the Humane Society. We're in the third week of six and the results have been very good so far. I will be discussing this with our instructor, though she has limited time outside of class, which is totally understandable.
> 
> ...


This is good and your on the right track. Sometimes to much physical exercise can amp them up even more. Try reversing the two and see what happens. Its all about balance. Maybe even find something for him to do..agility, nose work, etc.


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## blackshep (Aug 3, 2012)

gsdsar said:


> Your son coming home, may be too much stimulation. A rejoining if the pack. He does not know how to handle it.
> 
> If it were my dog, he would get a solid 45 minute walk prior to picking your son up. Then, while waiting for the bus, do some obedience. Make him focus, do basic commands, give him something appropriate to do.
> 
> ...


I think this is worth a try. It will also help establish your son as higher ranking for the dog. He sounds like he's a bit like my dog, she's got a low threshold and can get kind of spun rather easily.

Along with the exercise, I'd do the obedience. It gets them more into 'thinking mode' and can help settle their little puppy brains down a bit.

ETA: nose work has made an amazing difference with my dog. Even when we first started it, she'd be crying and pulling to get working, but as we've done more and more, she's learned to settle down. Maybe it's that she's a bit older now too, but I really think it helps tire her out, more than exercise.


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## Jorski (Jan 11, 2019)

My two cents.. 
I am not a fan of harnesses. Personally, my tool of choice is a choke chain.
If my dog displayed a similar behavior, I would correct with a small leash pop and make him sit at my side. When he did, I would mark and reward.
I wouldn't move forward until he was calm and attentive.

FWIW, my pup was quite dog reactive on leash at 4 months, using the above method sorted it out in a couple of days. Since he was so young, I had him in a Martingale collar at the time.


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## Chip Blasiole (May 3, 2013)

It really doesn’t matter why the dog is displaying this behavior. It needs to be sufficiently authoritively punished. Harnesses are useless except for training specific things where you want the dog to pull. This can easily be squashed with a prong collar, but as usual, you have to know how to fit the collar and deliver the correction correctly which involves a skill set. Punishment should not be personal meaning the handler should not show anger or frustration, but simply deliver an adequate correction.


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## David Winners (Apr 30, 2012)

6 year old thread


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## Sunsilver (Apr 8, 2014)

And no one in it seemed to realize that the dog (a HERDING breed) was showing HERDING behaviour!


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## tigerdemi (Oct 5, 2020)

Sorry to bump this one up, I know it’s an old post but is dog aggression more genetic related or is it more to do with the way being raised? I had 2 GSD before and I was lucky that none of them are aggressive but both are leash reactive, I got both from rescue. I will consider any unprovoked aggression not a good trait and I am not sure it’s something that can be easily fixed if it’s genetic


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