# Sudden stranger danger?



## Danipants (Feb 20, 2014)

My boy just turned one December 22nd. He is the best stinkin' dog I have ever owned in my life. 
Today however was a strange occurrence. He has never EVER shown aggression towards people. He loves people! He loves kiddos and he loves other dogs and even cats. He loves everybody. He was always constantly socialized as a pup and exposed to everything we could think of that might be scary later. We even had him at my boyfriend's sister's wedding reception because it was outdoors and he ate it up, all the attention and all the kids running around.

Well tonight some people came over from a rescue because I was thinking of adopting him a friend. The moment we stepped outside and he saw them he lost it! He barked like crazy and would not let them near him. The woman I met a couple times, I've been to her home and everything and she is extremely sweet, very nice woman. Her husband I don't know but he didn't do anything extraordinary, he stepped out of his truck and smiled and calmly said hello to Pike. Pike was not having it!

He wouldn't let them touch him he would run away and bark. I corrected him firmly each time but he was wide eyed and freaked out. Me and the woman went into the house and knelt down and I gave her some treats to warm him up. Still wasn't working. It took us twenty minutes of barking and correction and confident urging before he finally cooled his jets. This is strange to me, such that I was really embarrassed and taken so back by it for a moment I just stared at him wide eyed and appalled. 

Is it possibly because he is not yet neutered? My vet wants me to wait until 1 year 6months but if this is going to remain an issue fueled by hormones I will neuter him within the next week. I don't want it to develop into a bigger issue where he becomes aggressive in the future toward strangers. 

Other strangers have come into our home without an issue. Usually he is extremely friendly, will carry a toy around and whine and waddle his butt around in big circles. But lately he has done strange things. My vet and his tech who I see quite often scare him now. He doesn't bark but he hides. I'm not sure if thats just from it being the vet (the worst they've done is put him on his side to rotate his shoulders) or what. He's been going there often there since 8 weeks old. 

This really freaked me out, I'm sure it didn't help that my anxiety went through the roof in an instant. I don't think he would ever do anything but I am getting a sinking feeling that he's getting a little weird about our home and need advice how to tackle this issue before it gets out of hand. Including if that means an early neuter. I will also be contacting a trainer, but wanted to see if anyone else has faced this before.


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## Hineni7 (Nov 8, 2014)

He is still a young dog going through stages.. Puppies (and young adults/adolescent) go through realization stages where they lose confidence, test out defenses, get overly suspicious (sometimes aggressive), and test authority... It's all a part of growing up.. How you help him through this/these stages will determine alot on how well trained /trustworthy /adjusted he is... Albeit, they usually choose the worst times for us to go through a stage (basically embarrass us ).. Hang in there


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

The reason we continue to take dog classes and socialize OUTSIDE the home for the first few years is because (as Hineni7 mentions) our young dogs go thru stages and we need to be PRO-active in getting out and about to prepare them (and ourselves so we don't over-react and freak out).

This is one of the reasons I have a 5 yr split between dogs so I can work thru all of this and really 'know' my current dogs (and they know my expectations) before adding another to the mix.

All the great prep work and history with --> http://www.germanshepherds.com/foru...191183-top-training-expectations-puppies.html will help you get thru this.

Good luck!


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## Debanneball (Aug 28, 2014)

Was the man all dressed up in winter gear and had a hat on? Fritz barked at a man he knows quite well, he just didn't recognize him in his winter gear..but once he heard his voice, Fritz bounced up and down with joy!


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## kelliewilson (Jan 1, 2015)

maybe they smelled of to many diffrant dogs at once and it just confused the puppy. being from the rescue maybe they stopped by there before coming to your house,


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## Nikitta (Nov 10, 2011)

This breed goes through stages. I am on my 6th and 7th GSD and they still surprise me. My male has a bad habit of sticking his nose into peoples butts and when my brother was over painting my house, he kept doing it. I told my brother to slap his butt. ( the dogs not his own /grins ) He did. I had Xerxes on a leash and he took a lunge at my brother after, growling. I was totally shocked. He's never showed any aggression before. I corrected him of course.


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## JoanMcM (Dec 5, 2013)

Sometimes dogs don t like certain visitors. When they are mature they will basically give them the cold shoulder. Your pup may of sensed something about the rescue people he just did not like. Did they just come from the shelter etc?

I would just tell him to hush and sit. It is not his decision to make re people when you are in the room. He does not have to like everyone but he has to behave himself.

This does not excuse shy dog behavior. Dogs should not act like that for every single visitor. But sometimes they just get a vibe off visitors for some reason.

Frankly I always went with my dog s instincts as long as you know it is a stable dog. I have a dog that liked one person one day and did not like them the next. It was a worker that was on our property from time to time. She really did not want him near the grandkids and was never like that when he was on the property and the grandkids were not there. She also was ok with other people near the grandkids. The dog is not allowed to 'take the law into their own paws' per se....that is my job to make those decisions but I did note her behavior with this person and the circumstances.


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