# My GSD has started "stalking" -- ideas to stop it?



## Alley (Jun 2, 2013)

Background: we adopted our GSD in May and he's 2.5 yrs. now.

He is a GREAT dog. Very friendly, sweet and becoming more and more accustomed to being an inside family dog (he'd been w/ the military and lived in a kennel).

He's starting to do this funny thing when we're on walks where if a dog is walking in front of us. . . he gets down low (he's on a leash) and starts stalking the dog.

Once he was stalking a small(ish) dog who turned around, barked slightly at him and he jumped behind me. I mean, I don't think he has any mean intent at all. 

And generally when he's w/ other dogs he wags his tail a lot.

Do you know what to do about this funny stalking thing he's doing?

Alley


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## Myah's Mom (Mar 25, 2013)

I will let the experts chime in here. But here are my two cents.

Your dog is displaying fear, which is not healthy. Since the dog is relatively new to you, that is good, in that you are the new master and can lay down a good foundation. I'll be interested to see what the experts add here.


For me, though, if my dog was doing that, I would do the following:
Start a training regimen, both on leash (on walks) and off leash in your yard. You've got to get the dog in the habit of listening to you, trusting you, responding promptly and being rewarded (can use food or a ball first, then transition to praise)
When you come up behind another dog (say, 20-40 feet), do not yank on the leash, change your breathing or give any indication anything is different. Just go through your training regimen, taking your dog's focus OFF the other dog and ON you, without changing direction or avoiding/approaching the other dog. Ignore them, but keep pace.
In the initial stages, once your dog has gone through the regimen and taken their focus off the other dog, THEN change directions in a relaxed mode, keeping your dog focused on you with praise.
Work up to longer periods behind other dogs, meaning that you keep the training regimen (stop, sit, down, stay, come), and then keep walking along after the other dog for longer periods of time (neither avoiding or approaching).
Also, please don't think you have to have the goal of your dog making friends with other dogs. Your goal should be that your dog pays no mind to them, not bothered in the least.

Myah does great at ignoring other dogs, though it's always a work in progress. By that, I mean that you don't reach the destination of training, but always have to keep it up.

With Myah, she was fearful as a young pup (just normal puppy fear, as she is of very sound mind!). Whenever we went places, if there was a loud commotion, dogs barking through a fence, noisy construction, a dog on a leash far off giving her bad vibes, etc, I just made her SIT and would instantly reward, acting like nothing was a big deal. Staying very relaxed myself. Only when she would relax (which could be a few or several seconds), would we then casually go another way. 

Trust is a big issue. You need your dog to trust that WHENEVER they are on a leash with you, if they do what you ask, they will be safe and secure, bonded with you. 

It's good that you ask this, because when the dog starts making their own fearful decisions, then you have a BIG problem.

Good luck! :laugh:


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## Myah's Mom (Mar 25, 2013)

I would also add:

Start taking your dog OUT to new places a lot. Sounds like your dog is VERY comfy at home, but needs to increase training outside of the home.

You will be SO glad you do this!


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

teach him to "heel". work your way up to heeling on
either side with or without a leash.


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## Redberry (Jul 22, 2013)

My 6mo old pup does that a lot while PLAYING with other dogs in dog park


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

stalking is a part of the herding instinct. It isn't usually fear based.


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## misslesleedavis1 (Dec 5, 2013)

My dog does that too and in my opinion he is doing it out of play and herding because he springs up on his girlfriend and rtries to make her chase him.


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## Liz&Anna (Oct 29, 2013)

onyx'girl said:


> stalking is a part of the herding instinct. It isn't usually fear based.


I saw this thread and was very curious- my 4 month old will stalk my other dog, it's normally followed by a pounce! My poor other dog (Sam) but its really interesting she looks like a border collie she will get so low and sorta crawl as close as she can get before he notices her....she hides behind the furniture and slowly creeps out lol and she will crawl half the length of the living room like this, I think Sam pretends not to see her because I don't know how he couldn't see her...SHE'S HUGE


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## Bear GSD (Apr 12, 2012)

Bear is a stalker as well. He's been doing it since he was 6 months old. I agree it's part of natural herding instinct. While I know Bear only wants to play, at his size it's very intimidating to other dogs and when he goes down when he sees another dog I immediately put him in a sit stay. I still have not broken him of it, but he's gotten better about it, I swear Bear's demeanor is more BC than GSD :wild:


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

its not fear based. It's a herding behavior... part of the breed...


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## sarah1366 (Nov 3, 2013)

Gsds are a guarding herding breed and it's quite the natural for them to do this you never really stop that cause it's genetically built in like there guarding instinct sometime shepherds will do it if not quite sure of what's approaching but if not barking or anything then doing it when getting ready to play mine always do it when up to some thing lol or about chase each other playing 

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## SuperG (May 11, 2013)

*"Once he was stalking a small(ish) dog who turned around, barked slightly at him and he jumped behind me.. "*

Another thought to add to the mix. A dominant dog will present themselves as 'large" as possible while a submissive dog will do the opposite at times. A submissive dog looks very similar to a frightened dog because he makes himself look small to convey that he’s not a threat. If your dog is submissive, he’ll lower his body or even cower on the ground. His head might be raised, though, if he’s greeting a person or another animal

Your observation of "stalking" may in fact be body language to convey submissiveness.

SuperG


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

misslesleedavis1 said:


> My dog does that too and in my opinion he is doing it out of play and herding because he springs up on his girlfriend and rtries to make her chase him.


I agree you may be seeing this. My Glory still bellys down to the ground when meeting some dogs. Also a non-threatening behavior.

Without seeing the behavior, it's always hard to really help.

But, as usual... going to dog classes usually makes a huge difference to help! And you have 'dog' people there to really see what's going on and give instant feedback and suggestions.


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## misslesleedavis1 (Dec 5, 2013)

MaggieRoseLee said:


> I agree you may be seeing this. My Glory still bellys down to the ground when meeting some dogs. Also a non-threatening behavior.
> 
> Without seeing the behavior, it's always hard to really help.
> 
> But, as usual... going to dog classes usually makes a huge difference to help! And you have 'dog' people there to really see what's going on and give instant feedback and suggestions.


Well to give you a better idea, he usually ends his "chase me" spring with him on his back pawing at her face and making little cooing noises lol, oh and he starts class in Feb!!! so excited


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## Kaimeju (Feb 2, 2013)

When he is wagging his tail, is it above his back? Is his body stiff and straight or curved and loose?

He does not trust the other dogs and is gearing up to defend himself if something goes wrong. If you can start getting him to make eye contact with you instead of staring at the other dog, start rewarding him heavily for that so he makes the association "dog appears + look at handler = get food." If you do this enough times he will start looking to you automatically. If he is VERY fearful and can't focus at all, it might be worth taking a class with someone who has experience with reactive or aggressive dogs.




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## Sp00ks (Nov 8, 2013)

Our now 9 week old pup has done this from day one with his aunt (Jack Russell mix) In his case it is a playful expression. 

As usual, I agree with MaggieRoseLee.


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## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

Take him herding


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## alebron14 (Feb 25, 2015)

I have a question here. My GSD who is only 13 weeks old stalks my other GSD who is a little over a year now. Should I be worried that he will become aggressive to other dogs?? If he has no fear of the bigger dog what makes me think he won't attack another dog once he gets his legs under him.


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## newlie (Feb 12, 2013)

I have noticed my Newlie sometimes doing this strange thing where gets down a little lower than usual and sort of slinks toward the dog or chicken by the fence next door. It's like he is trying to sneak up on them. Is that what you call stalking? Then, when he gets close enough, he will fly at the fence and bark, again like he is trying to sneak up and scare them to death. Sometimes, I can interrupt it while he is still in the "slinking" stage by diverting him with a ball or whatever. I would like to find a way of breaking this behavior.


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## Palydyn (Aug 28, 2014)

Rommel does this too. He will stalk anything outside, butterflies, chuck-it balls, his fur siblings. They don't put up with it though. And yeah, I think its just playing since he is not aggressive with them - just wants them to play with him.


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## DutchKarin (Nov 23, 2013)

onyx'girl said:


> stalking is a part of the herding instinct. It isn't usually fear based.


Second this... my dog is not fearful when he does this, its game on and part of his play routine.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

Apollo and Robyn do it. I don't think I've ever seen Midnite do it. 

In this picture Apollo is stalking Midnite. He gets lower but this is how it starts.


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## misslesleedavis1 (Dec 5, 2013)

I posted about this a long time ago. My boy still stalks shiggs, he's still a nervous wreck but when he is stalking and playing he looks confident which is great to see!
He's been stalking her for a yr now, they are wonderfully bonded and it's never turned aggressive


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