# Jumped up at fence and bit neighbor kid



## SuzanneK (Mar 16, 2011)

I've been reading the forums for a while today and have decided to post on this because I'm not sure if this is fear, aggression, or other/play.

Our 6mo boy was in the yard a couple of days ago with my husband and our 4 kids (ages 3-10). It was time to come in and my husband was getting the kids up the stairs, and the neighbor boy came into his yard and started running the fence on his side, calling to the dog to chase him and jumping up by the fence (it's a standard size chain-link fence between our city yards and he had just come up the gangway to his yard from in front of his house). Boy has been told not to do this running and jumping by his parents and by us.

Our dog ran along the fence and then he leaped up and nipped the neighbor kid in the ear; drew blood. My husband corrected immediately. We are mortified that he bit the neighbor boy. Apologies have been made to the neighbors and they know his vaccinations are current.

Our dog knows this boy and has played with him since we brought him home during the winter at 9 weeks. I limit the play now, though, because our dog has grown as is normal for a GSD and is now 60-70 pounds -- he outweighs all my kids and the boy next door. I was out with the kids in the yard today and boy stayed well away from the fence with his back turned, talking all the while about how he wasn't coming near the fence.

I work with our dog daily and we have a class with a local club once a week. This is the first time he has done something like this. 

Should I be worried about this being aggression? Or was it just a reaction to the situation (boy running/calling/jumping)? I'm going to bring it up with the trainer at the club during the week but I didn't want to wait that long; I'm sick inside. I'm actually thinking of replacing the fence with one that is not chain link and is a bit higher because of this incident.

He isn't my first GSD, but this is the first time I've had a GSD bite someone

Thanks for any and all feedback.


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

it was a reaction to being tormented. The kid was annoying and aggravating and encouraging him and the dog simply obeyed and acted normally though maybe not properly. He acted like an animal who was being teased. Hate to say it but maybe now that kid will listen when he's told not to do something like that. Also hope your dog doesnt get reported for it.


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## JakodaCD OA (May 14, 2000)

I would definately bring it up to your trainer.

I'm not going to say it was acceptable behavior, but I could see this happening.

Your boy may have bit the kid as in a play biting behavior. Very hard to access since we werent' there.

I would attribute it to the boy running, calling, jumping at the fence. Even tho the kid may not have meant anything by it, he was basically teasing the dog in my view.

If he's never behaved like this with kids before, and has been fine with kids, while again, not acceptable, I can see it happening just from the kids behavior.

If the kid comes over again, or you might want to have a little talk with ALL the kids that hang around, it's not 'nice' to behave like that with the dog. The dog does not understand the kid means nothing by it.


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## Elaine (Sep 10, 2006)

You really have to protect your dog from the stupidity of others. Whenever my neighbor's kids were out, I watched them like a hawk and they quickly learned that my bite was worse than my dog's bark. I spent time with them too on proper behavior around dogs, but being kids, you just can't trust them. If you can replace the fence with a higher one, preferably a privacy one, do it.

It's hard to say of this was fence fighting going on or just play, as your dog is still very much a puppy. Your husband corrected him for it, which was the right thing to do.


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## lisgje (Sep 3, 2010)

I have a six foot privacy fence on two sides and a six foot wire fence on the other side to keep him out of the gardens and away from the neighbors chain link fence. You might want to consider a second high garden fence so your dog can't get near the fence separating your yard and your neighbors. Chance is a wonderful dog, but since he is so big and there are kids and another dog next door, decided to be proactive and prevent him from being anywhere the chain link fence separating my yard and the neighbors. Sounds like your dog was excited and being teased.


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## Jax's Mom (Apr 2, 2010)

I don't think a 6 month old puppy has the capacity to be aggressive. Sounds to me like he was excited by all the action and nipped the way puppies do. They shouldn't and there needs to be proper correction and training in place, but I don't think it came from an evil place. I'm not sure you can even torment a puppy that young because they think every moving object in the world is there for their amusement.


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## Franksmom (Oct 13, 2010)

KZoppa said:


> it was a reaction to being tormented. The kid was annoying and aggravating and encouraging him and the dog simply obeyed and acted normally though maybe not properly. He acted like an animal who was being teased. Hate to say it but maybe now that kid will listen when he's told not to do something like that. Also hope your dog doesnt get reported for it.


:thumbup:


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## wyominggrandma (Jan 2, 2011)

Bet he won't tease the dog anymore.
Put up a higher fence, so as your dog gets bigger and more powerful, if this type of thing should happen again, he won't be able to clear the fence to nip.All my fences surrounding my dogs and kennels are 6 foot chain link.


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## Rerun (Feb 27, 2006)

As this has been an ongoing issue, I would put up a secondary fence. We did it along one small section of yard. Our yard is big, and the house to the right side of us is the corner lot, so the back of his yard backs up to another yard, and our right side fence goes along his and their backyards. The yard his backs up to connects to our fence for about 40 feet. they have a little toddler girl who is very good and they are nice people, but to prevent any possible issues when she's out there playing and sticking her fingers through the fence, etc, we put up a 3' welded wire fence with metal t-posts. Easy to take down and move (well, easy'ish) if necessary, and by no means permanant. Very cheap, but the dogs respect it. They also have a little yapper dog and the secondary fence keeps the dogs from fence running and barking.

Aggressively or not, you are lucky the boys parents are understanding. In the world of legal issues it does NOT matter if you argue that the dog perceived him as tormenting or teasing him. It's not right, it's not fair, but we have to save our dogs from themselves these days. Next time it might not be a harmless nip.


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## codmaster (Aug 5, 2009)

Jax's Mom said:


> I don't think a 6 month old puppy has the capacity to be aggressive. Sounds to me like he was excited by all the action and nipped the way puppies do. They shouldn't and there needs to be proper correction and training in place, but I don't think it came from an evil place. I'm not sure you can even torment a puppy that young because they think every moving object in the world is there for their amusement.


Agreed! I also don't think a 6/7 mo puppy could really be aggressive. Sounds like just rough playing, inappropriate but not vicious at all. And also understandable on the kids part as well. Running and getting chased by a dog is FUN (till the dog catches up anyway!). Training for both is indicated.


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## Emoore (Oct 9, 2002)

Elaine said:


> You really have to protect your dog from the stupidity of others.


This really bears repeating. Assume everybody in the world is an idiot and act accordingly.


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## Veronica1 (Jun 22, 2010)

Elaine said:


> You really have to protect your dog from the stupidity of others.


Agreed! 

I don't usually let kids pet Panzer anymore for this same reason. One day some little kids came running over to him - as their mom was saying you have to ask first - and Panzer jumped up right on the one boy and nipped at his nose. The boy ran away crying and screaming. No more.


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## DunRingill (Dec 28, 2007)

Jax's Mom said:


> I don't think a 6 month old puppy has the capacity to be aggressive. Sounds to me like he was excited by all the action and nipped the way puppies do.


Not true in all cases, unfortunately. Tho in THIS case it doesn't sound like an aggressive bite, it sounds like prey drive and an over-excited puppy, and a stupid kid!

I taught a class years ago where some people brought in a 6 month old male GSD from a mix of German and American show lines. Dog already had a history of 2 bites....first time, he broke thru a storm door and chased someone riding by on a bike and bit them on the leg. Real bite, it required medical attention. OK man on bike, untrained puppy, prey bite. But the SECOND bite was a visitor in their house...person (adult) was sitting on the couch, when she stood up the dog charged and bit her on the stomach. Not on the arm or leg, but on the stomach. Scary! 

This was one of those dogs that made the little hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I had a friend (longtime GSD person, 35+ years in the breed) come over and take a look, see if she was getting the same read. As she approached, (NOT looking at the dog) he lunged at her, intending to bite. 

I worked with them for a couple of weeks but it was very tense....it was a group class and I had to know where this dog was every second, and they were NOT good about staying on top of him or keeping him below threshold. He definitely had a couple of screws loose. He'd take cookies from your hand, and then BITE your hand (bruise, no puncture) when the cookies were gone! They started taking him to a behaviorist....never found out what happened after that. But that was one scary 6 month old puppy.


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## Zoeys mom (Jan 23, 2010)

I agree he was just chasing the boy to play- they are land sharks at that age and expecting them to resist a small running person is a little unfair. I would also suggest a secondary fence or even netting held by two posts like a volleyball net kinda but covering from the ground up and with the posts cemented in. 

I also have to say though rare aggression is possible in a 6 month old- we knew Zoe was a beast by them,lol


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## RubyTuesday (Jan 20, 2008)

> Sounds to me like he was excited by all the action and nipped the way puppies do. They shouldn't and there needs to be proper correction and training in place, but I don't think it came from an evil place. I'm not sure you can even torment a puppy that young because they think every moving object in the world is there for their amusement.


I agree.



> Sounds like just rough playing, inappropriate but not vicious at all. And also understandable on the kids part as well. Running and getting chased by a dog is FUN (till the dog catches up anyway!). Training for both is indicated.


Absolutely!


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

I'm w/RubyTuesday and the others just saying it's over excited play behavior.

HOW ARE THE DOG CLASSES GOING????

Ideal time to learn to manage a pup as they grow and mature and get the skills WE need to prevent issues like this from occurring. 

No fence chasing allowed, way too exciting.


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## MicheleMarie (Mar 29, 2011)

the first week i had my puppy he was just shy over 3 months and so excited to see me every morning i bent down one time and he puppy bit my ear lobe and blood started pouring out. those puppy teeth freakin' hurt!

i don't bend down anymore lol


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## GermanShepherds6800 (Apr 24, 2011)

The dog was returning play the child was giving. Did the child look like he learned a lesson? I would not leave the dog outside if you are not there to make sure the brat leaves the dog alone. If this kid keeps messing with your dog it can develop into a major issue. We must protect our gsds from idiots to keep them from becoming a bite statistic.


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