# Aggressive German Shepherd puppy !!! NEED HELP



## izzy (Apr 27, 2010)

My puppy is about 5 months old now an is terribly aggressive towards other dogs.. I think it might of started when he was about 2 or 3 months old i had him at a park and another dog came charging from the back an gave him a huge fright, first he came hiding behind me but than started barking an charged him back .. EVER SINCE THAT INCIDENT HIS BEEN SUPER AGGRESSIVE TOWARDS OTHER DOGS... !!!! i want him to get better before he gets older ... 

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE SOMEONE HELP ME .....


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## debbiebrown (Apr 13, 2002)

i think you should get into some classes where there are other puppies........the trainer should be able to help.........i wouldn't wait because it will get worse......

most stable puppies can bounce back from incidences if handled right........it also has just as much to do with your reaction in situations......if you freaked out when the dog charged him it escalated his feelings about the situation.......he's young enough to work on the problem and correct things, but i would definitely get professional help.....

debbie


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## trish07 (Mar 5, 2010)

Like debbiebrown said, you should get into classes with him. Don't wait!! It will only get worse, really worse.

This is how Phenix agressivity started, when he was attacked at the dog park. Beleive me, you don't want your dog the act agressively, it is very hard to manage and you start to feel insecure, and more insecure you are, more agressive he will becomes.

At first, each time Phenix was agressive, we tried to submitted him or punished him. But it only got worse....

Than, we tried the "gentle method" which works perfectly. Each time Phenix start to be agressive toward a dog, I walk away and pass again in front of the dog until he well behave and THAN I reward him a lot. I play with him in front of other dogs, I do what ever is possible to make the experience funny, you understand?

But, each dog is different. You should ask a professional and do it now!


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## dianefbarfield (Apr 12, 2010)

Lizzie is only aggressive on the leash. when lose, she will wag her tail and play with other dogs. I recently visited a dog park and was just amazed at all the different breeds playing with each other. They worked out who was ok to play with and left the other dogs alone. I wish we had a dog park in my town. I would love to take Lizzie.


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## trish07 (Mar 5, 2010)

dianefbarfield said:


> Lizzie is only aggressive on the leash. when lose, she will wag her tail and play with other dogs. I recently visited a dog park and was just amazed at all the different breeds playing with each other. They worked out who was ok to play with and left the other dogs alone. I wish we had a dog park in my town. I would love to take Lizzie.


 At the begining, Phenix was only agressive on leash. But soon, it became off leash also.....

After he got attacked, we were still goinf at the dog park. But rapidly, he started to become more agressive toward dogs, especially puppies or timid dogs. 

Generaly, he acted fine with other dogs, but he attacked 2 times and we than took the decision to stop going to the dog park.


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## Mrs.K (Jul 14, 2009)

dianefbarfield said:


> Lizzie is only aggressive on the leash. when lose, she will wag her tail and play with other dogs. I recently visited a dog park and was just amazed at all the different breeds playing with each other. They worked out who was ok to play with and left the other dogs alone. I wish we had a dog park in my town. I would love to take Lizzie.


Don't let a five month old puppy work things out for herself. 
Just don't do it. Do not risk that your pup is being run over or attacked by a dog that you will never ever see again in your life. You are the one that sorts things out. YOU are the one that decides whether or not this or that dog will approach your dog. You are the one that is setting the rules. It's not the dogs. She needs to be able to rely on you and if she can't, she'll take the initiative and there ya go, she's taking charge over the situation and becomes aggressive on the leash. 

Join a puppy class, but do NOT join a puppy class where they let 20 puppies run around to let THEM sort it out. 
It needs to be a class where every puppy is on a leash and under control and actually learn things.

I don't know how to translate it, it is easy to take anything and everything from a dog. You can take their selfconfidence, you can make them aggressive... but it is a lot harder to give them stability once it's gone.


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## fightin14 (Feb 18, 2010)

MY five month old was experiencing the same thing with dogs that were larger than her( I believed this stemmed from fear) . This past weekend we went to the local main street festival which has hundreds(maybe thousands) of people and some people walking their dogs. I saw this as a good opportunity to see how her temperament has progressed. She was great with all the people I sensed no anxiety or nervousness through out the trip as it comes to all the people. Actually I think she loved the attention (she now thinks her name is pretty dog). We only had two or three barking incidents when we first got there and then she just relaxed. I chose this event because the many years that I have been there all the dogs are leashed and well controlled so I thought it would be good exposure, and it was. By the end of the trip she could walk right next to a dog and she hardly paid it any attention.


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## gagsd (Apr 24, 2003)

By "super aggressive" do you mean barking, lunging, hackling? What exactly?

Honestly, for a fearful puppy acting aggressively, puppy class may be the worst thing you can do. (Depends on the set-up). If you force the pup into a situation where he is so close to other dogs, that he is being reactive, then you correct him and get upset, you are creating a real problem.
You need to be far enough away from any other dog that your puppy is comfortable. 
Your goal at this stage is NOT to approach another dog, but rather to not have any incidents of aggression.


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## fightin14 (Feb 18, 2010)

Mary keeping Ecco away from dogs that she could see actually caused more aggressiveness with her. Once she was able to get closer smell and all that non sense that dogs do she usually chilled out. larger dogs that she could see but not greet always got her bark and hackles up, when she got closer she usually calmed down. Maybe thats just her though.


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## trudy (Aug 25, 2008)

Often they are picking up your nervousness, when you see a dog do you think oh no I wonder if it will attack mine or if mine will attack it? Go for walks were you will see other dogs, keep yours on leash and keep walking. If all dogs are on leash you don't have to worry about attacks and relax, keep walking, If yours lunges jerk back, say AH, and keep going, don't stop, try to walk further away but stop worrying, if you calm down adn puppy sees you are takign charge and ensuring her safety maybe she will be easier.


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## Mrs.K (Jul 14, 2009)

gagsd said:


> By "super aggressive" do you mean barking, lunging, hackling? What exactly?
> 
> Honestly, for a fearful puppy acting aggressively, puppy class may be the worst thing you can do. (Depends on the set-up). If you force the pup into a situation where he is so close to other dogs, that he is being reactive, then you correct him and get upset, you are creating a real problem.
> You need to be far enough away from any other dog that your puppy is comfortable.
> Your goal at this stage is NOT to approach another dog, but rather to not have any incidents of aggression.


Yes, you don't want to go into a puppy class where every puppy is running loose. She/he needs to find a puppy class where every puppy is leashed and under controll and where they learn to do small stuff that you can find in the agility classes. Like going over the bridge, through the plastic tunnel and stuff like that. 

She can interact with the other puppies but in a controlled environment.


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## dukethegsd (Apr 11, 2010)

while walking duke a dog charged us, duke did take a step back but i did not get scared he then barked and charged but i did not let him take over i made him sit and relax when he saw that i was calm then he also followed and relaxed so its depends on how we handle the situation.


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