# German Shepherd won't defend himself



## AxelsMomma (Jan 8, 2012)

Hello all. Our boy, Axel, is a 2 year old GSD who is a lover through and through. We have tried very hard to raise him with constant love and praise; and he has always had a very calm and very loving demeanor. The only time he has ever barked is when he is inside the house; anytime he is outside or on a walk he will simply stroll on by other dogs even if they are going ballistic. He stays by our side and constantly wants to cuddle (at 100 lbs.), watches over our 3 month old son like it's his own, even grooms and lays down with our 6 year old cat Bob. He greets everyone like they are a long lost buddy, even if they are absolutely terrified of him. He is everything we could ever want in a best friend.

A few weeks ago when my husband was walking him another large dog ran up to him out of nowhere and started to attack Axel. Not in a playful way- the dog was snarling, biting, and very aggressive to Axel. The instance was very brief as the owner came running over apologizing and pulled his dog away, but the part that has me concerned was how Axel reacted. He simply sat on the ground cowering and "took it"...he did not so much as bark or try to get away.

Then again yesterday we had our in laws at our house for dinner. They have a border collie-husky mix that attacked Axel for getting close to Axel's own toy! My husband and father in law had to pry him off of Axel. Again, Axel cowered and sat on the floor waiting for it to be over. Afterwards he was back to his gentle loving self.

I'm not asking for him to snap and start attacking, but I am concerned that he is going to get hurt. I am worried we have done something wrong along the way. Any suggestions?


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

don't worry about him not fighting back. you protect
him from fights and other dangers.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

doggiedad said:


> don't worry about him not fighting back. you protect
> him from fights and other dangers.


Exactly! I had a dog that didn't defend herself the first couple times. And then she sent a dog to the ER for stitches. Be proactive so he doesn't develop fear aggression. It's not fun once you hit that stage.


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## Mac's Mom (Jun 7, 2010)

I understand your concern. I do. I'm not a trainer or expert by any means so all I can offer is my opinion. And honestly,I agree with DoggieDad. You must be careful not to put Axel in a position where he needs to physically defend himself. I do think Axel is expecting you to protect him. I really am interested to see what others say...


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## Freestep (May 1, 2011)

It is not up to him to defend himself--YOU should be protecting him from harm. He sounds like a wonderful pet, a lover, not a fighter. You've raised him exactly right--please don't even think about doing anything to teach him how to "defend himself". Just keep him safe and out of trouble.


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## Mac's Mom (Jun 7, 2010)

One other comment...I know we cannot control every situation and unfortunately we have to deal with people that do not control their own dogs. If on walks, your neighbor's dog is loose then find an alternate path to walk. And if your in-laws cannot control their dog then keep him away from yours. Ya know what I'm saying?


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## Mac's Mom (Jun 7, 2010)

Freestep said:


> It is not up to him to defend himself--YOU should be protecting him from harm. He sounds like a wonderful pet, a lover, not a fighter. You've raised him exactly right--please don't even think about doing anything to teach him how to "defend himself". Just keep him safe and out of trouble.


couldn't agree more


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## Castlemaid (Jun 29, 2006)

That's his personality, so not much you can do about that. It will be your job to defend and protect him. He sounds like he gives you guys so much love, that is the least you can do. And as others have said, enough bad experiences of him being attacked by other dogs, next time when approached by another dog, even a neutral one, he may decide to bite and attack first since he is afraid of being attacked. 

You haven't done anything wrong with him, you did everything right. You as the pack leaders are expected to defend him, he shouldn't have to feel that he needs to defend himself. Many people actually train their dogs to sit behind them if a dog approaches, so that they can deal with the strange dogs, as it is their job anyways. 

Your dog sounds like an angel dog, don't hold his more submissive personality against him. In every litter of puppies, some will be more dominant and confident and scrappy, and some will be softer in temperament and more submissive. That is the temperament they are born with, not something that is trained or socialized into them. 

Set him up for a lot of neutral and positive experiences with other dogs to help him build his confidence. Doing obedience classes or fun activities like agility will help him learn that he can just focus on you and ignore other dogs, and everything will be okay.


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## MountainGSDs (Jul 25, 2011)

Sounds like you have a great dog and he looks to you with confidence and trust. Now live up to that and ensure he isn't harmed.

My dogs have been attacked once by a bully breed and I put him in a sit stay which he held while I dispatched the attacker.


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## Heidij (Dec 6, 2011)

Keep in mind that his non reaction is him defending himself. He is de escalating the situation by not reacting. He is saying, I'm all set with you, you are not playing nice. Consider it a blessing that your dog chooses to step down and not up. A reaction would cause he other dog to escalate and before you know it your 100lb shepherd is taking pieces out of a 50 lb collie...


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## Falkosmom (Jul 27, 2011)

MountainGSDs said:


> Sounds like you have a great dog and he looks to you with confidence and trust. Now live up to that and ensure he isn't harmed.
> 
> My dogs have been attacked once by a bully breed and I put him in a sit stay which he held while I dispatched the attacker.


:thumbup:


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## Stevenzachsmom (Mar 3, 2008)

You have already been given excellent advice. Nothing I can add, except I am sooo jealous. Your dog sounds absolutely wonderful.


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## RebelGSD (Mar 20, 2008)

You are very lucky to have such a nice dog. Keep him safe from other dogs that might harm him. You don't want to be in the situation of breaking up a fight between two large dogs.


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

AxelsMomma said:


> ....anytime he is outside or on a walk he will simply stroll on by other dogs even if they are going ballistic.


I hope you're not complaining about this - it sounds like he's not the slightest bit reactive, which is a very good thing. You definitely DON'T want him going ballistic in response. "Simply strolling by" doesn't sound like fearful behavior to me, that's exactly the kind of non-reaction most people would want, and TO ME, demonstrates very nice temperament.

I have a question about these two "attacks". Was he actually injured in either of them? Or was it a lot of noise without any real damage? Was he truly "cowering", or is it possible he was diffusing the situation by adopting a submissive posture and refusing to react in any way? The fact that he seemed perfectly fine afterwards and was his normal gentle loving self seems to show that perhaps he wasn't terrified and didn't feel like he was in any real danger.

Dena was the only dog we've ever had that didn't have a reactive bone in her body. She took everything in stride, and was submissive to other dogs, but not in a fearful way. It was more like she was saying to them "sure, whatever, you can be the boss, I don't care", in a casual way, if challenged. There was one GSD we encountered at Point Isabel two weekends in a row, and at first we didn't realize it was the same dog - until it did the exact same thing to her that it had done the first time, and we looked at the people with it and noticed - oh, yeah - it's the same two women with a baby in a stroller, d'oh! 

The dog charged at her and jumped on her in an apparent "attack", but Dena handled it beautifully. She simply laid down on the ground and waited calmly for us to get the other dog off, and then she stood up and trotted happily away with us with her ball in her mouth. It was like she knew exactly how to diffuse the situation. If she had decided to "defend herself" it's possible that this would have escalated into a full blown fight, complete with injuries, but because she knew what to do to prevent that, she was totally fine, both physically and emotionally. When it happened again with the same dog the following weekend she behaved exactly the same way. We were not too happy with the women walking with the dog, and with ourselves for not realizing it was him so we could move off in another direction before they got closer to us, but again - no injuries, and there was no fallout in terms of how she felt about other dogs, she was just as sweet as she'd always been. 

So anyway, I just wanted to put out an alternate viewpoint here, that maybe your dog is so well socialized and has such good dog communication skills, that like Dena, he knew the best way to handle the situations to prevent them from being worse.


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## AbbyK9 (Oct 11, 2005)

> I'm not asking for him to snap and start attacking, but I am concerned that he is going to get hurt. I am worried we have done something wrong along the way. Any suggestions?


Your wonderful dog is doing absolutely everything right. When he's being attacked, it is your turn (as the owner and his leader) to step up, prevent the attack, and keep him from getting hurt. 

If you're in an area where you often encounter loose dogs, I would recommend carrying a stick or something with you on walks to keep the other dogs at bay. But often, just making yourself big and telling the other dog loudly "GO AWAY" before they reach your dog is the best defense and will startle most dogs away.


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## pets4life (Feb 22, 2011)

The only problem is it seems dogs know which dogs will put up with crap and will take out their rage and pick on those dogs, we had this german shepherd was a total bully but he would only try to pick on dogs that he knew he could do it to, never would dare pick on a dog with a serious side. My cousins staffy was like that also.


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## shamdan4 (Jul 19, 2017)

With all due respect to the people on this post, the world isn't all sunshine and rainbows. When I was running my then probably 5 month old puppy she was attacked and latched onto. It was a pit and it had her by the throat and was rag dolling her and it took what seemed like forever for me to pry its jaws off my puppy. Not every situation is going to play out like we want it to and I sympathize with the OP. My puppy has such a high energy level that I have noticed it is way too high for some of the other dogs at the dog park, this is why I don't take her nearly as often as I used to or run her before she goes but she is beginning to calm down. My point is, you will not always be there to protect your puppy. What if a raccoon or other animal intends to harm it while its out in the yard? Just like your job is to protect your children, you will not always have the opportunity to do that its why you enroll them in self defense. How would you feel if a dog was going to attack your kids and your full grown dog just cowered down, just like I would expect my oldest son to stand up for my youngest, I'd expect the same of my dog. My point is, there should always be something you can train your dog to do, instead of just cowering down, I have a dog because they are amazing animals to be around but there's also a reason you get a German Shepherd and that's for guardianship and protection which obviously goes both (or all) ways in a loving relationship. As soon as that incident occurred I begun Schutzhund training her myself and although I will always do my best to avoid situations, it seems like her confidence has started to take precedent.


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## Castlemaid (Jun 29, 2006)

This thread is from 2012.


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