# First time barking at another dog...



## mcdanfam (Aug 27, 2013)

This may be silly and or a stupid question...

She is 15 months old. She is a therapy dog since 1 year old. She is still in training and we will continue through at least 3 years old, longer if we need to. 

Today...2 new puppy's to class. But 6 total, along with the older dogs that are normally there. 

She growled and barked at one of the younger pups. She has never done this before, she goes for other dog play dates. She has never been aggressive with anyone, or thing. She is a working line Czech/DDR shepherd. She has intense drives in every area. She did not bite, jump on, or chase the puppy. Just growled and barked. She is not spayed yet. We are waiting until she is more mature, fully grown and hoping to avoid some of the possible health risk latter in life. We don't want to do hormone replacement....
Anyway...she is due for her heat next month...if she has it every 6 months. Her first was at 11 months. It was very easy and she has no mood swings. 

We have had snow which is not normal for our area. She has been trapped inside....more than she normally would have been. 

She is eating normally, this week has been the first week on raw diet....from the orgjien puppy food.... 

I may just be hyper sensitive to the Growling and barking because of many label shepherds as "bully breed" this is our first time with shepherds. We have been Training from day one....they get ran hard for an hour a day during our soccer game...and they do training and walks other times of the day. She works puzzles and has a lot of indoor brain work. We like them tired for bedtime. Everything we have done is to avoid them barking and growling at other dogs and people....never seeing her do this and all of the sudden, after 15 months old...doing it twice in one day...we don't know what could have caused it. 
The trainer said older, well behaved dogs will sometimes try and correct hyper, high energy, bouncy puppies. I trust the trainer and he did not act concerned but I am the type of person who will read many articles from both sides to form my opinion...I do the same with politics....:-/ 

I understand shepherds have MANY growing and attitude changes from newborn to 3 years old....

I called another friend with a shepherd, she said she would not be concerned...that her dog barks at some dogs and ignores others...she just tells her dog to leave it and they move on. 

This site has been a life saver for the year before we got our dogs. It helped us finalize our decision on the breed and you guys seem to know what you are talking about! 

Is this something to be concerned about? Should we keep her from doggie play dates for a while...? My husband is scared of big dogs, he is scared of shepherds, he trust ours but now thinks she is an aggressive dog. Looking for things to help him continue trusting her and keep. I personally think it was moody day but I can't say this for sure since she has never acted this way before...









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## carmspack (Feb 2, 2011)

pretty much , "The trainer said older, well behaved dogs will sometimes try and correct hyper, high energy, bouncy puppies. I trust the trainer and he did not act concerned but I am the type of person who will read many articles from both sides to form my opinion...I do the same with politics..."

I wouldn't do play dates --- a THERAPY dog cannot be reactive .


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## mcdanfam (Aug 27, 2013)

carmspack said:


> pretty much , "The trainer said older, well behaved dogs will sometimes try and correct hyper, high energy, bouncy puppies. I trust the trainer and he did not act concerned but I am the type of person who will read many articles from both sides to form my opinion...I do the same with politics..."
> 
> I wouldn't do play dates --- a THERAPY dog cannot be reactive .



I think I forgot to mention she barked at the puppy in dog class, she has never barked at dog while working...but that was a concern. If she barked at the puppy in class, will she start barking at many other dogs? 


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## Harry and Lola (Oct 26, 2013)

Yes to me sounds like she was correcting the puppy, you don't know what the puppy was doing - may have been openly staring at her, may have been anxious and nervous and she was telling the pup to quit it. However, it is not her place to do this. If you are concerned, maybe keep her away from puppies, however if she is good with most, then it is obvious it was something this puppy was doing to make her correct. She may correct juveniles or even older dogs too if she is allowed. to.


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## mcdanfam (Aug 27, 2013)

Okay...he did have us correct her in a firm voice, he did not allow us, to allow her to correct the puppy. He also tested her obedience after the fact...she had to do a sit stay in the area of the puppy, and was recalled. She ignored the puppy after that....the remaining 30 mins of class she was still in the general area, and did not bark or growl....she focused like she normally does and ignored the puppy. Not sure what happened today....15 months and no problems with behavior...guess the easy dog could not last forever...:-/ 


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## mcdanfam (Aug 27, 2013)

Harry and Lola said:


> Yes to me sounds like she was correcting the puppy, you don't know what the puppy was doing - may have been openly staring at her, may have been anxious and nervous and she was telling the pup to quit it. However, it is not her place to do this. If you are concerned, maybe keep her away from puppies, however if she is good with most, then it is obvious it was something this puppy was doing to make her correct. She may correct juveniles or even older dogs too if she is allowed. to.



Thank you....

How would you correct her durning this situation? Hoping we handled it correctly. 


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## Harry and Lola (Oct 26, 2013)

I would give her a verbal reprimand and put more distance between them, also if I saw a puppy or dog that was displaying unstable behaviour (fear, nerves etc) then I would not allow her too close to the dog so that she is affected, that way if she is not too close she may not feel like it is her place to reprimand and that the owner has control. 

Also, I am going through something similar with Harry and I am finding distance and more control from me is helping.


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## mcdanfam (Aug 27, 2013)

Harry and Lola said:


> I would give her a verbal reprimand and put more distance between them, also if I saw a puppy or dog that was displaying unstable behaviour (fear, nerves etc) then I would not allow her too close to the dog so that she is affected, that way if she is not too close she may not feel like it is her place to reprimand and that the owner has control.
> 
> Also, I am going through something similar with Harry and I am finding distance and more control from me is helping.



Okay...great to know. That is what he had us do...move farther away but still in the general area....he stayed between the puppy and Millie while we were testing the obedience after the bark and growl. 
He took them from 5 feet apart to 12-13 feet apart. 
Did stuff to keep her focus. 
I do trust our trainer and his dogs are amazing...but it never hurts to get more info and knowledge. 

Thank you so much for taking the time...


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## Harry and Lola (Oct 26, 2013)

mcdanfam said:


> Okay...great to know. That is what he had us do...move farther away but still in the general area....he stayed between the puppy and Millie while we were testing the obedience after the bark and growl.
> He took them from 5 feet apart to 12-13 feet apart.
> Did stuff to keep her focus.
> I do trust our trainer and his dogs are amazing...but it never hurts to get more info and knowledge.
> ...


Great you have a trainer you trust and like, this makes a huge difference with GSDs (_as our breed can be quite embarrassing sometimes and you get people with other calmer breeds looking at you as if you have two heads!_)


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## mcdanfam (Aug 27, 2013)

Harry and Lola said:


> Great you have a trainer you trust and like, this makes a huge difference with GSDs (_as our breed can be quite embarrassing sometimes and you get people with other calmer breeds looking at you as if you have two heads!_)



We have many in our area tell us we are nuts for getting a "bully breed" and we are not very smart with all the kids in and out of or house. 
We wondered if she would ever act like what people were describing...took her 15 months but we were embarrassed today...luckily he likes everyone to have these distractions at his field so we know how to handle them in public. He is very firm about the 2 foot rule, now I understand why! 
Thank you again for taking the time to voice your thoughts! They are greatly appreciated. 


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## mcdanfam (Aug 27, 2013)

mcdanfam said:


> We have many in our area tell us we are nuts for getting a "bully breed" and we are not very smart with all the kids in and out of or house.
> We wondered if she would ever act like what people were describing...took her 15 months but we were embarrassed today...luckily he likes everyone to have these distractions at his field so we know how to handle them in public. He is very firm about the 2 foot rule, now I understand why!
> Thank you again for taking the time to voice your thoughts! They are greatly appreciated.
> 
> ...



Do you think we should hold off on therapy work for a couple of weeks or keep in the routine? 
Not sure if they need breaks from work of they behave out of the norm or if they should keep in routine. Never had this happen before....




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## Chip18 (Jan 11, 2014)

What kind of service dog?


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## mcdanfam (Aug 27, 2013)

Chip18 said:


> What kind of service dog?



NOT service....therapy dog.....she loves visiting schools, nursing homes, hospitals, veterans....she goes to make people smile and get tons of petting and love. 

She has been doing it since November 2013 and gets so excited when she sees her vest....she knows she is going to be the center of attention and she eats it up....depending on the visit, there are between 3-10 dogs...there is a two foot rule...she has never barked at another dog..until this puppy during class. She has been around all of the therapy dogs for a while now....
Just did not know if she needed to avoid her going for a bit...


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## David Winners (Apr 30, 2012)

I wouldn't focus on this one instance too hard. Put it in your mental journal and move on. I would keep working and take special notice if her attitude towards other dogs changes.


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## mcdanfam (Aug 27, 2013)

David Winners said:


> I wouldn't focus on this one instance too hard. Put it in your mental journal and move on. I would keep working and take special notice if her attitude towards other dogs changes.



Thank you! We will continue to work and monitor her. It definitely surprised us...
A lady (another patient) at the vets office this morning suggested it was because we had changed her to raw feeding and it is changing her personality....but she had raw food for a week before barking and growling at the puppy, saw many other dogs and never barked or growled. I was on here this morning to see if anyone has seen any changes in their dogs when switching from kibble dog food to raw diet....
Thank you for taking the time to respond....


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## Karla (Dec 14, 2010)

Sorry to get off topic of your question, but are therapy dogs allowed to be raw fed?


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## mcdanfam (Aug 27, 2013)

I will research it and find out....when testing and confirming it was never mentioned....that is a great question. I will call the group and find out....

Thank you for going off topic, we are so new to the dog world I never would have thought food matters. 
Will update as soon as I find out 



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## mcdanfam (Aug 27, 2013)

The member handbook does not say anything about it, I am still waiting to talk to someone....


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## mcdanfam (Aug 27, 2013)

Just got off the phone with the office, they said there are no restrictions for their office and members. Maybe certain groups have that rule. 

:-/ 

Thank you for bringing it to my attention! I would have never thought to ask about diet! 


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## mcdanfam (Aug 27, 2013)

Took Millie to the beach and to a few of the stores we normally visit....she acted like her normal self...we will continue to watch her attitude toward puppy's...but she behaved wonderfully even with the off lead dogs (none were puppy's) bouncing around her. She remained on lead to be easily distracted if she got moody with another dog....fingers crossed...her attitude toward other dogs does not change. 

Thank you for our advice and opinions....



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## Pranesh (Feb 27, 2014)

Hi,
I do not know about this correcting behaviour of older dogs. But regarding barking n growling it may be helpful. I saw dog whisperer season1 and episode1 where he corrects a bullying GSD. He taps the GSD with his leg and diverts its attention and controls it when it is behaving wildly. You can look into it for further clarification. 
I am following it and it becomes helpful.


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## mcdanfam (Aug 27, 2013)

Thank you all for the info and suggestions....

Like I said in the update...we did all of our normal things last week...all went great. Zero barking....nothing...We did do class again Saturday....she barked at the same puppy....2nd Saturday in a row that she seems to have a problem with this one puppy. 
Today...took her to pet smart...zero barking! Tons of puppy's and dogs....nothing! It seems she has a problem with this one puppy....is it possible for her to have a problem with just one particular puppy? 


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## Chip18 (Jan 11, 2014)

Not really sure how Shepherds an be can be qualified in any way as a bully breed myself? But to your point...






Service dog can't be going nuts over other other dogs.


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## mcdanfam (Aug 27, 2013)

Chip18 said:


> Not really sure how Shepherds an be can be qualified in any way as a bully breed myself? But to your point...
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Thanks for the video share, she is not a service dog. Just a therapy dog. She does not bark at any other dogs...so far....other than this one puppy in class. It started our class two Saturdays ago and she barked at it both Saturdays that it has come to class. We go to pet stores, beach, community walks and sees other dogs in class without barking at any of them....I am starting to wonder if it is something with this one puppy that she does not like. I did not know if that was possible...after going an entire week without barking and seeing many other dogs durning that week...but barking at the same puppy....is it just the puppy? She saw a few puppy's at pet smart through out the week and never dared to bark at them. Not sure why this one puppy is catching her attention....one difference I do see...my husband works her on Saturdays that she has barked at the puppy. I worked her through the week and at the beach when she was around all the other dogs....would that make a difference? If it is the difference between my husband or me handling her why is she not barking at all the dogs in class? 


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## mcdanfam (Aug 27, 2013)

Update....thank everyone who made suggestions and posted videos and ideas...they were very helpful....I think the trainer called it along with some who posted...He said she was correcting the puppy...she was trying to communicate not to be nervous, scared and to mind its manners. I questioned his thoughts and opinions...but weeks later and Mille has yet to bark at the puppy again. She ignores it like she does every other dogs she is around in class, therapy work and around town. Our trainer did point out how differently the puppy acted after a two or three classes...more confident, better manners, and much calmer...Millie has zero in the puppy....so happy to see she can now ignore this puppy like she does all the other dogs she is around....huge relief...
Again thank you all! I figured I would wait a while before updating to make sure we had weeks of ignoring under our belt...I feel like we have had much time to see another growl if she was going to...feel like we are learning more about dog language everyday...





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