# Territorial/guarding behavior out of the former angel



## JazzNScout (Aug 2, 2008)

I swore I would not have another GSD who exhibits this behavior. I have socialized the daylights out of Layla, spent lots of money on doggy day care where she had lots of group play, have had her through beginner and intermediate obedience.

She's just over 1 year. And here comes the behavior. Another dog approaches and if it doesn't conduct the greetings the exact way she wants greetings conducted, there's the disciplinary action -- leaping forward, toward them with a nasty bark. This is getting to be common. 

If we're at the beach, at a park, sitting at a picnic table, she is starting to growl (no teeth showing) and bark at people and dogs who walk by (not the nice or normal kind of bark, but the aggressive, get the you know what out of here kind of bark). One woman walked by, smiled and said, "She's sitting there like a little soldier on guard." Well, yea, exactly.

I am wondering if it's me. This is my 3rd GSD that has exhibited this kind of behavior, even though I swore I would ward it off this time around.

Yea, she's going back to obedience classes. Any other ideas/suggestions are welcome! thanks.


----------



## PaddyD (Jul 22, 2010)

Weak temperament? Just keep correcting, hopefully she will catch on. 1 year is still very young. I'm sure you will get a lot of better advice than this. :0)


----------



## ShenzisMom (Apr 27, 2010)

Redirect. Start drilling her BEFORE she acts up. I do 'Doggie Sit Ups' Down. Sit. Down. Sit. I take TINY treats with me so I'm popping these into her as fast as possible. Turn yourself into a human Pez Dispenser-only correcting for focusing on you. Sooner or later she'll realize good things happen when the Scary X thing comes by.


----------



## Elaine (Sep 10, 2006)

What are you doing when she does this?


----------



## Stephan Eichler (May 14, 2011)

*aggressive behavior*

Hi Everyone,
I have a 4 year old GSD named Andy. He is a wonderful dog in most respects. He is not aggressive with other dogs, but he had Schutzhund training before I got him 2 years ago. He is very obedient to me most of the time, and we have a good working bond. The biggest problem is that he is extremely territorial and protective. If anyone comes down our driveway, he rins up to the vehicle, barking in a very aggressive way. Even if I call him, he ignores me and stays with the car and will not let the person get out. If I hold him and tell him "no" he still is very aggressive, and if the person gets out and I let Andy go, he will approach the person barking and often will try to take the person's hand or arm... not really biting, more just holding, but it freaks people out. It is as if he treats every visitor like a decoy! Is there a command I should be using to make him stop this when the people are non-threatening? Any suggestions, anyone?


----------



## gsdraven (Jul 8, 2009)

HI Stephan,

Welcome to the forum. What kind of formal training have you done with this dog? I'm sorry to be a little harsh but it doesn't sound like you have much control over him and that he possibly was poorly trained before. If you put your location in your User CP (so it shows up under your name like mine does) maybe some people can offer recommendations of behavorists or trainers that can help you get Andy under control because he is a liability right now. 

IMO, it is not protective when the dog is charging at everyday occurances when there is no actual threat present. It is just inappropriate behavior. Until you can find a trainer to help you, I would read up on NILIF (Nothing in Life is Free) and start implementing that.


----------



## Stephan Eichler (May 14, 2011)

Hi Jamie,
Thank you for the nice welcome. You were not being harsh, just honest. I have not done formal training with Andy, but I do work with him every day. I think his previous training was good... he was at a training facility just outside of Nashville for 6 months. The only problem is that I have not been able to ascertain the details of it. Just the other day I discovered that he understands "Aous" and it was amazing because prior to that it would be tug-of-war any time I threw a stick for him and tried to get it back. I had been using "drop" but he did not respond. Now I use "Aous" and he lets go immediately.
We live about half way between Nashville and Chattanooga TN.
If anyone knows of a good behaviorist near me, one who is familiar with Schutzhund training, I would appreciate it.
Other than barking at strangers, his behavior is fine. If I take him out in public, he is fine with other dogs and people, and he is very obedient to me in other circumstances. I am wondering if, like with "aous" there is a command he responds to that I am not aware of.
Anyway, thanks for your reply, I am glad to be a member here.
Stephan


----------



## PaddyD (Jul 22, 2010)

Having a little trouble following this thread. Was it purloined?


----------



## krystyne73 (Oct 13, 2010)

JazzNScout said:


> I swore I would not have another GSD who exhibits this behavior. I have socialized the daylights out of Layla, spent lots of money on doggy day care where she had lots of group play, have had her through beginner and intermediate obedience.
> 
> She's just over 1 year. And here comes the behavior. Another dog approaches and if it doesn't conduct the greetings the exact way she wants greetings conducted, there's the disciplinary action -- leaping forward, toward them with a nasty bark. This is getting to be common.
> 
> ...


I adopted Sasha under a year old and she was/is the same way. It was very stressful. I took her to a behaviorist and he showed me what to look for, before it happens, so I can make a faster correction or distract her. Also, he really helped me focus on my own behavior that encouraged her bad behavior. Now we are enjoying practically stress free walks. If I relax on the training for more than a week, Sasha will regress so I must stay on top it and keep her busy all the time. The training never ends.


----------



## kiya (May 3, 2010)

JazzNScout said:


> I swore I would not have another GSD who exhibits this behavior. I have socialized the daylights out of .


Sounds like what I have said with Lakota, I have socialized her as best as I can, she is sweet as pie but I need to keep her that way. My 2 older dogs have issues and from what I have learned it is easier to prevent the out burst than to stop it while its happening. So working on sub-threshold exercises has done wonders for my older dogs. B.A.T. behavioral adjustment training http://ahimsadogtraining.com/handouts/BAT-basics.pdf you need to get the dog to focus on you and ignor the other people or dogs. See if you can get into group classes.


----------



## Stephan Eichler (May 14, 2011)

Oh... and thank you for the NILIF tip... it is great!


----------



## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

JazzNScout said:


> She's just over 1 year. And here comes the behavior. Another dog approaches and if it doesn't conduct the greetings the exact way she wants greetings conducted, there's the disciplinary action -- leaping forward, toward them with a nasty bark. This is getting to be common.
> 
> I am wondering if it's me. This is my 3rd GSD that has exhibited this kind of behavior, even though I swore I would ward it off this time around.
> 
> Yea, she's going back to obedience classes. Any other ideas/suggestions are welcome! thanks.


Question?

Do YOU take her to the obedience classes or are you sending her? I only take my pup to class with me cause I've found that apparently I'm a lot of her problems when we reach a training issue  

There's actually a ton of stuff you should be doing to stop her from the barking. Specially cause you are lucky she seems to be fairly consistant with when she reacts. 

You using the clicker yet? Just doing attention/focus with the click/treat as people near would start making a huge step. If you are fine and happy, it's not HER JOB to decide to react/bark at others. So if you give her a NEW job (watch me/get a reward) so she stops the job she somehow decided was her (bark at people/dogs) you should see some improvement.

Go to this site if you need to brush up on the 'Miracle of the Clicker' http://www.germanshepherds.com/foru...0-intro-clicker-training-perfect-puppies.html


----------



## Bundash (Dec 5, 2010)

Stephan- do you know all of the German commands? I don't know how far your guy had Shutzhund training for , but Aus, Nein (nine) and Pfui (foo-eyy) are key commands to know for unwanted behavior.


----------



## Stephan Eichler (May 14, 2011)

Bundash- Hi, thank you. Yes, I think I know most of them, except I have already been using "No!" which he seems to get but I will try him on "Nein!" also. The NILIF technique is great and I have already seen some improvement. We have had workmen around all week and when he sees them coming and attacks their vehicle barking I say "Andy! Komm!" and he comes right to me. Then I introduce him to them and if he acts aggressively I say "No!" and he stops. These fellows have been around and in and out of the house and Andy has not bothered them at all, they even pet him and play with him. So things are much improved.
I would like to find a GSD club near here.
Thank you all for your suggestions and advice!


----------



## RebelGSD (Mar 20, 2008)

The recall command could be "hier" sounds like "here"


----------



## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

You can actually use any word you want for a command. Heck, I could teach my dogs that "Snufala***us" means lay down. Just pick a word and be consistent.


----------



## JazzNScout (Aug 2, 2008)

Wow, this is one confusing thread. Yes, I am the person who has taken Layla to classes. No, I have not done clicker training. And, yes, you are right -- the training never stops. I worked with her with chicken on distracting her from this behavior once...that didn't work so well. She exhibits this behavior during walks, while we're sitting at a park bench, etc.


----------



## maisypie (May 16, 2011)

Hi Stephan, 
My dog is displaying the same temperament with people who come into the house. We have to keep him beside us and wait until he calms down enough to go over to the guest, but if we didn't have a hold of him he would attack. He is a rescue dog and we have only had him 4 months and we have no idea about his background. What do you do to correct him when he is already so fired up??


----------



## Stephan Eichler (May 14, 2011)

maisypie said:


> Hi Stephan,
> My dog is displaying the same temperament with people who come into the house. We have to keep him beside us and wait until he calms down enough to go over to the guest, but if we didn't have a hold of him he would attack. He is a rescue dog and we have only had him 4 months and we have no idea about his background. What do you do to correct him when he is already so fired up??


Hi Maisypie,
First of all, you need to work on general obedience training. One of the main things is getting his attention when he is distracted by other things (like people coming to your home). I am fortunate that my dog had very good training before I got him, so I just have to keep reinforcing it. If he is barking aggressively at a car coming down our driveway, I can get his attention usually by just saying his name firmly, "Andy!" then following with another command. He was trained in German, so I will say "Komm!" or "Komm hier!" and he will leave the car and come to me. If he approaches the people aggressively when they get out of the vehicle, I will say "Andy!" to get his attention, and then "Nein!" If he persists being aggressive after that, then the next level is to say "Pfui!" (sounds like fooey) which means "shame" or "very bad". He hates that word because he knows I am very disappointed with him when I say it, so I don't overuse it, but it really works. When I say "Pfui!" he will put his tail between his legs and lie down very submissively.
But of course, all of this depends on the dog being trained properly. One thing you can start with right away is the NILIF program which is simple, effective, and you can download it for free. Just Google "NILIF program" and you should be able to find it.
Then enroll in an obedience class and you should eventually have a fine dog.
I hope this is helpful.


----------



## Tessa99999 (Apr 16, 2010)

Wow! It's very unfortunately that despite all the work you've put into socializing her that she's beginning to react poorly. I don't think I have any great advice to give you (having had only the one GSD, who has fear-based aggression that we are working on). One thing that is working for us (but I know it doesn't work for all dogs) is a squirt bottle with water. The thing I like the most about it is that it doesn't cause any pain, but it's usually enough to snap my dog out of whatever frenzie she was getting into.

I hope this helps! Good luck and keep us updated!


----------

