# Dominance or just agression ?



## Cthulhu10 (Aug 21, 2017)

Well I have a 5 month old male german shepherd , started teaching him basic commands like sit , stay , lay down , and eventually he started acting weird , he gently nips at my leg and i pretend I got hurt and he looks up at me , then he does it again much harder and I say NO , he starts growling and standing in a very dominant way , and sits in my way and when I walk around him he jumps at my hand and bites it or keeps biting my kneecap and ankles , and when I try to pet him he bites my arm ( i have scars on my arm lol , and old cuts from when he used to play bite a lot ) , sometimes he even shows teeth , I don't know what makes him be like this cause it's all fine and dandy , playing peacefully and when I say NO or try to control him a little he gets very very dominant , I tried crossing my arms and saying NO in a firm voice , I tried walking away and ignoring him , it makes it much worse and he gets even more agressive.


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## Sunsilver (Apr 8, 2014)

What lines is your dog from? Need I say this is NOT acceptable behaviour? 

It sounds like you have a dog that is on the hard and dominant side. Your corrections are obviously not enough to discourage him from this behaviour. It also sounds like he may be wanting you to play, and is treating you like another puppy. (The growls could be play growls - hard to tell without seeing body language and hearing the tone.)



He obviously does not understand your corrections. I think you are being too soft on him (scars from play biting - why did you allow this??) What he's doing now is the result of him not being corrected for this behaviour when he was a small pup. 

Have you been to training classes with him, and what was the approach used? I think you need to find a good trainer that is used to dealing with large, courageous breeds like the GSD, and uses a balanced approach to training. You need to learn how to properly correct your dog for misbehaving in a way that he understands and will respond to. Crossing your arms and walking away is obviously NOT the answer!

Another factor could be lack of exercise (re. what I said about him maybe trying to engage you in play.) How much exercise is he getting? A walk is not enough to tire out a dog of this age. I would play fetch with him regularly, or rollerskate or bike with him to drain his energy before training.


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## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

He is just testing the boundaries and he will go as far as you let him. He is not being a dominant dog; he is getting away with everything. Your "no" is just encouraging him to increase his testing-you.
Read up on NILIF. No need for harsh verbal or physical corrections as it will only invite him to go against it since that had been successful for him so far. He needs to learn that other, 'good' in people's mind, behavior will get what he is after.
I don't think his lines matter in this case but his behavior does. What sunsilver said regarding exercise is right on; not just tiring him out physically but also exercise that smart brain of his. Since he is only 5 months old, be careful with overdoing the physical exercise.
I don't know what your take is on neutering but it is not a training method. Instead of the vet, he needs to go to school with you.
This dog will teach you a lot about dog training and how their minds work. I had one like that about 40 (  ) years ago.


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## Sunsilver (Apr 8, 2014)

What people need to understand with corrections is there is a HUGE difference between what's needed to correct a breed that's been bred to be a lapdog, and one that's a working dog, bred to defend the home, or do police and military work.

The correct correction is 'the one that works'. 

'Correction' does NOT mean causing the dog pain. Many dogs need nothing more than a voice correction. (Your dog obviously needs more than that.)

Without being able to actually SEE your dog's body language, and how he responds to your efforts to correct him, it's impossible to tell you exactly what he needs to get him to stop nipping you. You may need to use a prong collar. It all depends on the dog. That's why I strongly recommend finding a trainer used to working with breeds like the GSD.


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## Steve Strom (Oct 26, 2013)

Cthulhu10 said:


> Well I have a 5 month old male german shepherd , started teaching him basic commands like sit , stay , lay down , and eventually he started acting weird , he gently nips at my leg and i pretend I got hurt and he looks up at me , then he does it again much harder and I say NO , he starts growling and standing in a very dominant way , and sits in my way and when I walk around him he jumps at my hand and bites it or keeps biting my kneecap and ankles , and when I try to pet him he bites my arm ( i have scars on my arm lol , and old cuts from when he used to play bite a lot ) , sometimes he even shows teeth , I don't know what makes him be like this cause it's all fine and dandy , playing peacefully and when I say NO or try to control him a little he gets very very dominant , I tried crossing my arms and saying NO in a firm voice , I tried walking away and ignoring him , it makes it much worse and he gets even more agressive.


Used to play bite a lot. At 5mos, it changes. I think what your seeing is how that play biting escalates. At this point, all that ow, I'm going to ignore you now stuff is useless. In general, you have a dog that doesn't respect you. I'm not insulting you by saying that, but I think you'd be better off with some hands on help showing you how to build that respect.


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## Steve Strom (Oct 26, 2013)

> What lines is your dog from?


Lol, who cares. Unless you know of one that comes with no teeth?


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## WateryTart (Sep 25, 2013)

Sunsilver said:


> Another factor could be lack of exercise (re. what I said about him maybe trying to engage you in play.) How much exercise is he getting? A walk is not enough to tire out a dog of this age. I would play fetch with him regularly, or rollerskate or bike with him to drain his energy before training.


I'd have concerns about the repetitive motion involved with skating, biking, or running a puppy that young. Different breeders have different recommendations, but I've never heard one say that doing that with a five month old is a good idea.


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## Joys (Nov 6, 2017)

I noticed this is your first post. You came to the right place. There are people here who have lots of experience, some are former trainers. 

Which brings me to my point. I think most people are going to tell you to get to a trainer with your dog...quick. That will help teach you how to lead your dog and get the behavior you want. 

I’m new, too. I start a class with my dog next Wednesday. She will be 5 months Dec. 6 and she got mad at me and bit me last Sunday. 

Good luck and welcome!


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## Armistice (Oct 12, 2017)

Sunsilver said:


> A walk is not enough to tire out a dog of this age. I would play fetch with him regularly, or *rollerskate or bike* with him to drain his energy before training.


Unless you want your dog to take off at a 90º to your bike and topple you or take you for a ride on your skates, I'd strongly suggest to NOT do that without training them first

(Even then, I, personally, would never do that. I'd rather just get back into running/ hiking)

Remember, around 5mos is when they start to go through their rebellious, teen phase. Recall usually goes out the window. I'm wondering if this is what it could be if your pup was doing just fine and now behavior is going downhill now. I'm dreading teenager puppy

Sounds like it's got a lot of pent up energy that isn't being burned off, so you need to get out and run and fetch and run your pup so much that it doesn't want to stand up anymore

My pup started going whacko and ended up taking her to run around with my in-laws dogs and she tired herself out and was totally fine that night and the next day. So every other day, it's going to be going to the in-laws to kill energy until she's fully vaccinated


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## Nigel (Jul 10, 2012)

Armistice said:


> Unless you want your dog to take off at a 90º to your bike and topple you or take you for a ride on your skates, I'd strongly suggest to NOT do that without training them first
> 
> (Even then, I, personally, would never do that. I'd rather just get back into running/ hiking)
> 
> ...


I've biked with most of my dogs without issue. My only reservation would be this pups age. Still, short distances on dirt wouldn't be any harder than the starts and sudden stops that can happen with fetch. Every thing in moderation. Some of my dogs seemed to take to it easily and others a bit of training was required, none were difficult. There are bike attachments that help keep your dog positioned and your hands on the bars. I wouldn't recommend roller blading without solid OB, lol! 

Having your pup play with other dogs is ok, but as a primary source of exercise can (not saying it will) lead to other problems. Getting focus in the presence of other dogs may eventually become difficult. They may see other dogs as the primary source of fun and not you. Having the pup see you as the source of all good and fun things makes training that much easier.


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## Apex1 (May 19, 2017)

Cthulhu10 said:


> Well I have a 5 month old male german shepherd , started teaching him basic commands like sit , stay , lay down , and eventually he started acting weird , he gently nips at my leg and i pretend I got hurt and he looks up at me , then he does it again much harder and I say NO , he starts growling and standing in a very dominant way , and sits in my way and when I walk around him he jumps at my hand and bites it or keeps biting my kneecap and ankles , and when I try to pet him he bites my arm ( i have scars on my arm lol , and old cuts from when he used to play bite a lot ) , sometimes he even shows teeth , I don't know what makes him be like this cause it's all fine and dandy , playing peacefully and when I say NO or try to control him a little he gets very very dominant , I tried crossing my arms and saying NO in a firm voice , I tried walking away and ignoring him , it makes it much worse and he gets even more agressive.


I am not all that experienced; I am a complete novice actually. I say the following based on my experience with 1 pup (now 9 months old), keep that in mind. Get a GOOD trainer if you can. 

I had my pup do the same things at the same age and earlier. I did teach bite inhibition so no scars, but it took months before no teeth on me was reached, gentle came first. Like wolfy dog said this dog has taught me a lot about dog training. Your puppy is still very much a puppy and doesn’t understand probably us much as you think. I made my mistakes, but now that I think I understand I could not be happier with the progress we are making. 

1.	Make sure the pup is healthy; get a clean bill of health from the vet. Especially if this is a new behavior. 
2.	Make sure the puppy is getting adequate exercise, this is a must. 
3.	Make sure you play with your dog with toys. He needs to know that you are not a toy to bite, but someone who will play with a toy with him. Play with him a lot. 
4.	When you are training and he gently nips, he is warning you IME. Then you correct him and he meets you with the same attitude. I don’t think he knows what your correction means. I would redirect to play with a toy. You want to end training on a good note, stop before he gets to this point and end the training with a fun playtime. You have to learn to read him, he may need a break from teaching then stop and play he needs an outlet from the stress, he may need a nap crate him, etc. 
5.	How are you training what is his motivation? The bond and respect is not established yet, not as much as you think it is. Respect is earned and it goes both ways. You have to learn to read the dog and work WITH the dog, teach the dog. You have time slow down and think about it. 

I am very generally speaking based off my own experience, I have no idea how your life is lived with your pup. I know there is much more to it than just the things I mentioned. It was a good place for me to start when it came to objections during training and I learned a lot from trial and error. At 9 months my pup wouldn’t and doesn’t have to communicate with me like that. Only once in the last few months he let me know he was done training he laid down at my feet and nibbled my shoe, and shook his head LOL he actually went inside and crashed for a nap, off day I guess. Don’t get me wrong sometimes it was because of training and sometimes he was just being a wild puppy who wanted to play so I would get a toy and we played, sometimes he was just being a brat and needed a nap, learn to read your dog. It takes time because they are just starting to develop into the dog they will be, which you have influence over. I learned to read and motivate him. We still have a lot of work to do and we are slowly getting it figured out. HTH 


READ this post http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/training-our-puppy-basic/716730-lets-create-puppy-training-sticky.html


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