# Aggression towards women?



## Lindsey22 (Apr 26, 2012)

Hello fellow GSD owners. I am new to the forum, and am a bit sad that this is my first thread post.
Some background information:
My boyfriend found our GSD Ben out in the middle of the Phoenix desert about 2 months ago (sadly, "dog dumping" is pretty common out here). For the first couple weeks, he was pretty anxious, paced often, chased/lunged at his own shadow ect. Now that he is use to us and happy with his living arrangements, he has proven to be a wonderful member of our family. He is super playful, loving, and a HUGE cuddler! I can't imagine our family without him.

Here is the downfall: He is very aggressive towards women. He has never bitten anyone (knock on wood!), but viciously barks, jmups and growls when any female walks near him or makes eye contact. He has shown enough aggression to make a female vet tech cry, cause the women at the Humane Society to cower away whenever they see me come into the building with him, and make some of my girlfriends refuse to come over to my house. It's a really embarrassing issue, and I seldom take him places because of it. 

He knows a few commands and when he's not worked up, he's a very good listener. I wish that he could be friendly with more women other than myself. He does not have this issue with men, however you can tell he is a little anxious when we occasionally have another man over other than my boyfriend (pacing and shadow chasing). 

Does anyone have any tips on how to conquer this aggression towards women? Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks!


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

Find a good trainer. Someone that understands this breed and has a good knowledge of behavior modification. It's very possible he was abused by a woman.


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## chelle (Feb 1, 2009)

Wow, this is really interesting... I'm so curious to know, how was his initial reaction to you?


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## Lindsey22 (Apr 26, 2012)

He was fine the first time he met me. I guess he growled when I approached the car, but afterwards he didn't pay much attention to me. Maybe he was too overwhelmed with the situation to really care? I don't know. Now he doesn't let me out of his sight, and get extreme separation anxiety if I am not present (i.e. taken into back room at vet)

Also, the first time I took him to the vet was after 3 days of caring for him and he did fine with the veterinarian and vet tech (both female). The next visit was a week later and that was the first time I've ever seen him be aggressive with anyone.

This also reminds me, my boyfriend's mother came into town the week after we got him, and he was not aggressive towards her. She came in on a Wednesday. Second vet appointment was Friday (mother came along). Saturday, a couple we know came over and entered our home without warning and set Ben off. He warmed up to the husband seconds after contact with him, but continued to bark at the wife, making her cry. She is a close friend and has been over several times since, and now he ignores her completely now that he's familiar with her.

I've had dogs that didn't like men, but never had one that didn't like women, so this is very strange to me!


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## debbiebrown (Apr 13, 2002)

i agree, i have never seen aggression to woman mostly men. the only thing i can think of is something happened at the vets, was the vet and techs woman? 

you will need some good guidence to help him through this. positive encounters with woman. not forcing them on him. i would get professional help with this and an evaluation of the dog. this will help you come up with the right training approach.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

All aggression towards women is outside the home? Pretty much any woman can come into the home and the dog is fine?


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## Gmthrust (Mar 3, 2010)

Our oldest female, Cris, prefers men. GM and I knew it beforehand when we first went to see her in person----it was written in the adoption description. I still have no idea why, but for whatever reason, right from our initial meeting, Cris wholeheartedly superglued herself to me, and to this very day is superglued to me....except....she still prefers the company of men. It sounds so contradictory, she chooses me above all but it's true, she prefers men when we're out and about, which is daily. I don't know why. Maybe she doesn't like all the perfume, hairspray, and other blatantly artificial smells of women who use those kinds of items...and/or...that women are more inclined to use the higher-pitched babbily-googoo baby-talk which btw I find all that somewhat annoying too. lol. So anyway, both my husband and I go out of our way to show Cris good things happen when women are around us. It really helps Cris accept annoying things as actually a normal part of life byway of positive association and positive reinforcement. Cris is such an excellent dog!


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## Caledon (Nov 10, 2008)

My dog too prefers men. She has had this preference since she was a puppy. The breeder was a woman, but the one who interacted with the dogs the most was her husband. In our case I can see that she was drawn towards males because of this. My husband is also close to physical size as the breeders husband.

I agree with Jax08. Something has happened to have this distrust.


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## Good_Karma (Jun 28, 2009)

I'm sorry, I have no advice to give but my GSD is VERY wary of women and takes a very long time to warm up to a new female person. He's fine with the women in my family that he already knows, but does not like strange women at all. And he's never had a bad experience with women to cause this, it's just the way he is.

I'd agree with the people who have suggested a private trainer, provided you find one who does not use punishment techniques like a shock collar or prong, which have the possibility of making the behavior worse if it is fear-based (which is sounds like it is)..


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## Lindsey22 (Apr 26, 2012)

Im proud to say that my Benny boy had his first GREAT interaction with a woman!! 

I invited one of my really good girlfriends over who did not meet Ben yet. I explained to her that 1.) he's a HUGE dog. She's use to little Chiuauas running around and 2.) he WILL bark upon meeting her. She's very good with dogs, and doesn't fear them no matter the circumstance.

She walked into the house, and Ben immediately ran to her, barking and growling. She froze in place and held her hand out for him to sniff. He continued to bark for a few minutes, but then stopped and went about his business. By the end of the night, he was jumping on her lap licking her all over her face! 

I think he can sense when people are fearful of him. Ben has anxiety issues that we believe are from his abandonment, and it freaks him out. I just need to warn all my girlfriends that come over about what will happen and so there's no surprises, and he will be his normal sweet self. 

Thank you everyone for your replies!


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

I'll never forget when I got a Rott that was advertised in a newspaper and she did not like men. I brought her to my mom and dad's house because my mom loved Rotts's and was interested in her. The dog immediately loved my mom but growled and did not like my dad. My mom then got her credit card, told me to take her to the vet and get all of her shots. My dad just looked at her like she was crazy. The vet was a man and he didn't trust the dog at all It took all of about a week for the dog to get used to my dad and when she had to be put to sleep 11 years later my dad cried like a baby Time and patience!!


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