# Going to need support and advice - Arman



## #1arman (Mar 12, 2018)

Hi there,
Thank you in advance for any help or advice. 5.5 acres, not fully fenced, outside of 1 acre per house neighborhood - everyone has a dog. We have 3 wiener dogs, 2 male 1 spayed female. Just took in a one year old GSD, male, not neutered. He is very nice, loving and full of anxiety. Has been mistreated, minorly trained, sit,stay, come, down, shake - comes most of the time - but only for me. We have lived through a wonderful purebred lab, (13 yrs) and a 12 year old Akita on this property. I realize each breed is different. We are 3rd home for this nice boy. 1st home was a homeless kid at college. My kid took him as a roommate but when the kid could not pay rent he got booted. My son kept the dog until the kid could find a home for himself. He never came back for the dog. Arman was too much for the other roommates to handle and so I brought him here. He was here before (for a week at winter break) so when he got here he knew the place. We know nothing about this breed; we just took him because our beloved Akita passed and we sort of wanted a big dog again. I am reading as much as I can, am willing to do some work on training. I have bought a e-collar and will be possibly using that as a way to teach property boundary. I will watch many hours of training video before I put the collar on him. I am hoping the vibration or sound will be enough. He has only been here for 3 days and is doing ok outside of these things: 

Here are the "for starters":

He has taking an obsession with me as his master. It has been my husband in the past with the other dogs. I was hoping it could be a family obsession and not just me. Hubby is giving treats and feeding him now - but it is me he is staying next too. I have 2 teens living here who also want to be #1 with him. Can he love us all? Will he ever sleep near them or will it always be next to me? My son tried and failed to cage train. He broke the cage every which way. Part of the reason he had to leave his college home. 

He is fairly rough with the miniature girl dog. He sort of man handles her by the neck and I worry he might do the ragdoll on her? I am keeping a very close eye on this. He also kind of pushes them all around; but especially her. Just playing outside seems to be a challenge. He can't really let her just do her own thing. He is loving playing ball and I am getting good exercise in daily with ball kicking and retrieval. He seems to like the wieners but plays rough - they are tiny. He wants to herd them of course. 

He is coming or staying on property with me yelling "come" pretty darn loud and aggressive. I am using a cow bell to bring him back to the house when I am not actually walking with him. Our house is on a hill and I can see him from all points. He is responding to the bell and me yelling " come " so far. I worry he may not at some point - and run off. Any advice here??

When do i neuter him? I want to asap but only when it is the right time. 

Also, wondering if he would have to wear the e collar forever or can it be used just to train property boarder? Good news - we are fencing full property at some point this summer. 

One last big question: Will he overcome the anxiety with proper training so that he can be left home for a day or maybe 2 with minimal supervision like out Akita could? This is a big question - we are really hoping so. He gets very upset currently when I leave. Throws the whole fit - jumps up on door, cries, gets super hyper. I have cameras in the house and am going to work on short trips out the door so that he doesn't associate the door and me as a big deal. Not giving love for a few minutes upon return, etc. I think he will work through some of this anxiety but hoping he can go a day or longer eventually. Your thoughts? Hate to give up overnight camping or the short trip because the dog couldn't deal with it. But will if it comes to that. 

I am looking for solutions to make this work. He is a super nice boy, wants to be a good boy. He deserves a great life and we hopefully can make this work. I have never given back a rescue dog. Arman is our 5th rescue.


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## Nurse Bishop (Nov 20, 2016)

Beautiful dog. This is a big 1 year old puppy. Did you just get him? Someone will come on here are tell about the two week shutdown. It is a technique that helps an overcome dog settle and be his true self. I don't know it since I raise mine from a little puppy. With proper manegement and training this could be the dog of your dreams.


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## tc68 (May 31, 2006)

I don't know what to tell ya because I don't live in an area where I'm allowed to let my dog run loose. There are leash laws in most of the U.S. So I can't really help you there.


A 1 year old GSD is still a puppy. A GSD needs discipline, and rules. You can't compare your Akita or Weiner dogs to a GSD. Different breeds, different ways to raise it. Akitas tend to be more independent. GSDs need more interaction. They're working dogs that need a purpose. 


Neutering...I've been told the earliest you can neuter him is about 2yo. That's roughly when they're fully mature and stop growing. Some will say earlier, some will say never neuter. My breeder told me about 2yo....so that's what I'm going with.


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## Pawsed (May 24, 2014)

We also have some land and our dogs are almost always loose on our property. But they are never outside alone, never. They stay with us, wherever we are and their recall is great. If we weren't outside with them, I'm sure they would wander off.

If you cannot be with him outside all the time, I think the only way to be sure he stays at home is to fence the property. Or you could fence a smaller area where he could be left outside.

I doubt an e-collar would work the way you want it to. You would have to use it every time the dog gets close to crossing the property line. Every single time, no exceptions. That would require you to constantly have your eyes on the dog. If that's the case, you might as well be outside interacting with him. An invisible fence might work, but I don't have any experience with those.

I hope everything works out well for you and your new dog. I'm glad he has found a good home in a much better situation than he had previously.


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## Sabis mom (Mar 20, 2014)

Couple things off the top of my head. Watch him being around the Dachshunds, they could easily be seriously injured with one misplaced, playful swat. GSD's play rough and at 1 year old he's just a big pup.
Crate training is debated and many find it unnecessary, however if your boy is ever injured or ill it could be needed and a vet will certainly crate him should he need to stay over. I would rather not be forced to do battle with a sick or injured dog so all mine get crate trained. We can walk you through it, doesn't need to be traumatic.
I would not let him run loose, and certainly not unattended. He has not the maturity to handle it and needs much more training. My rule is that if the recall is less then 100% they stay leashed or fenced. 
Family is a thing for this breed but they have a nasty habit of picking one who is their world, and it isn't generally the one you planned on.
He is a handsome boy and I'm glad he found you.


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## Dragon67155 (Oct 16, 2017)

Ok so I'm still new to GSD's but I will tell you what happened with my nephew's dogs; he rescues all types. He had a big dog; we think he was a lab/pit/rottie/newfoundland mix. He's probably 1.5 old and they had a little 7 pound yapper mutt. Big dog rough houses with all the little dogs (3 of them) gets beat up by them since puppy hood. He attacked the 7 pound twice and almost kills him the 2nd time. No leash laws where I live so they were all running loose; no structure no rules. Big dog took to shelter status unknown, little can only do his business if my nephew is holding him up with a harness system he created. 

Please watch the dogs carefully and set up controls or structure and no running loose. My nephew's children saw both dog attacks it has bothered them greatly.


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## Stevenzachsmom (Mar 3, 2008)

It is very common for a GSD to have a favorite person. It doesn't mean he/she won't love all of you, but one person may be first choice. In this case, it is you. Some people deny that GSDs pick the opposite sex human as their favorite person. My last two GSDs, both female, adored my husband more than any other. My old girl is gone. My current girl disappears, when my husband is home. He loves every minute of it and I don't take it personally.

My hound is a mama's boy, so I guess that sometimes works across breeds too.

Just to be clear, are you saying you have 5.5 acres and 1 acre is fenced? If so, keep the dog in the fenced area. If not, fence a section of your property to contain the dog. As for the smaller dogs, watch your GSD like a hawk. Do not leave them unattended together. Do not allow him to rough house with them. Keep him on a leash, if necessary. Teach him 'gentle' and remind him often.


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## #1arman (Mar 12, 2018)

Thank you for your reply. I understand about the rough play, it is concerning. Lucy is a tiny little dog and her energy seems to be pinched at the moment. I am hoping we can all settle in for a long nice ride. Do you think this breed has/does or would take her by the neck and give her the "pit-bull ragdoll" shake? It would kill her. It would kill me. I am keeping a very close eye on them and he will not be left alone with the dachshunds. 
My son tried to crate train and it was a fail. I could attempt it again. 
Thanks again -


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## tc68 (May 31, 2006)

#1arman said:


> Thank you for your reply. I understand about the rough play, it is concerning. Lucy is a tiny little dog and her energy seems to be pinched at the moment. I am hoping we can all settle in for a long nice ride. Do you think this breed has/does or would take her by the neck and give her the "pit-bull ragdoll" shake? It would kill her. It would kill me. I am keeping a very close eye on them and he will not be left alone with the dachshunds.
> My son tried to crate train and it was a fail. I could attempt it again.
> Thanks again -


Was it a fail because every time he whined or whimpered, your son let him out? There are plenty of threads in these forums about crate training. If you don't find any, Google it....lots of articles on it.


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## Pawsed (May 24, 2014)

Yes, you dog could easily kill the smaller dog. At least for a while, I would keep them separated and not allow any interaction.

We also have a small dog, and our big guys know to leave him alone. One of the shepherds is pretty infatuated with him, but he has never put his mouth on the little guy and he's not allowed to play with him. To me, these guys are just too rough and strong to play with the little ones. They can do serious damage without any intention to do so.


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## Nigel (Jul 10, 2012)

“Stuff” can happen in an instant and there may not be a “do over” best to take precautions with any newcomers. Even something of a mild retaliation from your gsd can be dire.


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## Thecowboysgirl (Nov 30, 2006)

If I were you I would get this dog neutered asap. He is running loose with questionable recall in unfenced areas. You can't realistically prevent him from siring an oops litter or running into a road to get killed because he smells a bitch in heat. Yes it is good for them to mature before they are neutered but that's in a best case scenario where the owner has the ability to manage the situation and you dont. So, neuter him. He is old enough.

I have had GSDs and toy breeds. Dogs have disagreements sometimes. a disagreement between a GSD and a toy breed is not a minor thing....not to be taken lightly. Rough play can escalate. Rough play alone can hurt the little guy. 

My rule with the toy was that the big dogs were not to bother her. My small dog did not want to play anyway so it was just a matter of "this thing is off limits to you. You don't chase it, etc". I did not allow the little one to so bad things to the big dogs either, and she would charge in to steal food out of their bowl if I let her. Back then I had no better way to separate them st meal time so I put 3 tethers up around the kitchen, 4 foot nylon leashes, plenty of space apart. All 3 got hitched up before meal prep, until bowls empty, and after I picked up bowls I let them all loose again. We put metal cabinet handles into the wall with screws to hitch them to. the whole setup probably cost 20 bucks and 20 minutes to install. 

I never left the little one unattended with the big ones. My husband poo pooed me but I knew better and that little dog died of old age at 17... The GSDs having killed her was simply not an outcome we could have probably gotten thru so I made sure it was not possible for it to happen.


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## LuvShepherds (May 27, 2012)

I would not neuter until he is 2. He is already anxious. A sudden loss of hormones could make his anxiety and behavior problems worse. 

Rescues who have been neglected will bond quickly when they feel safe. He feels safe with you. Enjoy the bond. He will get used to other family members and become attached. But don’t rush it. Can he be crated? Keep him away from the little dogs until he is completely trained. Take him to classes so he can get used to ignoring other dogs. I would only leave him in the fenced area. Don’t leave him alone for now. Rescues can be on good behavior for a month because they are still unsure, so you may see more bad behaviors after you have him longer. Training now while he is getting used to you is very important. I did a lot of rescuing and fostering until I ended up with a full house and dogs that needed too much of my time. I started basic obedience right away at home and classes as soon as I felt they were ready. If you still can’t manage, get a good private trainer for at least one sessions at your home to give suggestions.

Please do not use an ecollar unless you are shown how by an experienced trainer. You can create worse problems by accidentally misusing it.


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## Sabis mom (Mar 20, 2014)

The problem isn't necessarily a bite. GSD's can be klutzy and slappy. One swat from a paw could seriously damage a doxie's back. A big clumsy puppy falling on one could be fatal. 
If you wish to pursue crate training there is tons of advice on here and I will be happy to walk you through some of my methods if you wish. Crating will help with his anxiety once he is comfortable with it.


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