# Why does he bark at other dogs?



## BGSD (Mar 24, 2011)

So when I go on walks with my 5 month-old, he barks at some dogs, but not at others. I haven't seen a relationship between a dog's size and my pup barking or not barking at him/her. Although I think he's friendlier with females. And I think when he's tired, he's less likely to pay much attention to other dogs.

So why does he bark at other dogs? Is it out of fear? Dominance? Does he just not like some of them?


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## ValleyGirl (Dec 31, 2010)

It is unfortunately not uncommon for a GSD to be reactive to other dogs. My female is now 9 months old and is getting much better -- her barking does not seem to be aggression at all. If she meets another dog she may bark but she will play if allowed off lead. Trainer says its from being very alert and being anxious. So its kind of a bluff -- as "here I am so don't mess with me".

I live in a rural area and my dog does not see other dogs unless I make an effort. We have completed two obedience courses (6 weeks each). At first she had to be behind a partition but by the end of the first course, she could deal with the situation without the partition . We are now in private agility lessons with the goal of beginning an agility class in the future. My thought was to get her focused on the agility training itself and then add the other dogs. 

The other day I felt we had made great progess when I took her on a walk and she barked at a barking dog on a rope in a yard along the road but did not react when the dog barked at us on the return. Its a process but I think we are winning. 

The best advice seems to be to avoid situations where the dog will bark. That is, try to distract your dog with treats or whatever. But if the barking continues, turn around, cross the street or whatever. Don't fuss and don't coddle. If you can, try to find a structured environment like the class I found where the trainer is experienced with reactive dogs and will help you using partitions or whatever. Building up confidence is the key. In you and in your dog. Sorry to babble on and on but this has been the main issue I have had with my puppy and I am so glad to feel its getting better. Hang in there. Susan


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

maybe he needs some exposure to dogs.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

many times the other dogs body language will set a dog off. There are some video clips in this link to watch the communication of dogs:
turid rugaas - Google Search


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## idahospud49 (Jan 28, 2011)

I am having the same thing going on with Glock. Where I live we don't see a ton of other dogs. There are two that he knows really well that he gets to play with, but other than that not a lot of exposure. So when he does meet a new dog, it is like, "Ohhh a new friend!!" He is so vocal, in every way, shape, and form, that he barks. I had him at PetsMart today down in the valley and he was barking at the beginning, by the time we left he was much better. I decided I need to try to seek out more exposure to other dogs. He is fine with people because he has met so many.


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## BGSD (Mar 24, 2011)

Mine also mixes in growls and whines too. He's usually not reactive to other dogs barking though.


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## kazza123b (Jun 12, 2011)

hi i have a german sheperd 6 months old and have a border terrier the german sheperd is constanly barking in my other dogs face and constanly licking is testicles is this normal


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## BGSD (Mar 24, 2011)

kazza123b said:


> hi i have a german sheperd 6 months old and have a border terrier the german sheperd is constanly barking in my other dogs face and constanly licking is testicles is this normal


lol that's a weird first post. I don't have an answer though.


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## Obelix (May 16, 2011)

*5 month old very barky*

My male is a German working lines 5 month old. His barking I feel, if not controlled may turn into aggression, I bring him to puppy classes and walk him where there are lots of dogs to expose him to, but he doesn't greet them nicely he has his hackles up and barks like crazy. The thing that works best for him so far is to continue walking briskly past the other dog. He has gotten better but at the vets today he went ballistic when he saw other dogs.I would love to know what works you guys who have pups with this issue. Is this something they grow out of? Is this just lack of confidence? I have yet to find an answer to this, next step is a prong collar which the police officer who trains these suggested to me. Also neutering at 6 months for sure!


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## BGSD (Mar 24, 2011)

Obelix said:


> My male is a German working lines 5 month old. His barking I feel, if not controlled may turn into aggression, I bring him to puppy classes and walk him where there are lots of dogs to expose him to, but he doesn't greet them nicely he has his hackles up and barks like crazy. The thing that works best for him so far is to continue walking briskly past the other dog. He has gotten better but at the vets today he went ballistic when he saw other dogs.I would love to know what works you guys who have pups with this issue. Is this something they grow out of? Is this just lack of confidence? I have yet to find an answer to this, next step is a prong collar which the police officer who trains these suggested to me. Also neutering at 6 months for sure!


Mine does bark at other dogs at the Vet, but that's usually in the beginning. After a couple of barks, he stops, unless they come too close.

Probably should wait on the neutering until he's at least 1 year old.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

I would agree, wait on the neuter!
Redirect the pup before he starts in with the reactive behavior on other dogs. Control Unleashed by Leslie McDevitt has a great program of exercises to manage this. Worth reading and implementing for sure. 

Reactive behavior usually is due to lack of confidence. 

Obelix, does the instructor of your puppy class address this at all? I would hope so, as it is common in some pups to act this way. 
Problem is, over-correcting a pup when they react can backfire~ redirecting is much better, and won't squash the confidence level of the pup.
Hard to build confidence back up once it's been taken away or never present. So easy to squash it.


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## stolibaby (Mar 6, 2011)

I agree that the barking is probably due to a lack of confidence mostly. Stoli at that age would do the same thing usually if I wasn't letting him sniff the dog we were walking by. He would also have his hackles up but no growling which I had been told he was overly excited about the presence of a new dog that his fur would go up. Now though he is 1 yr old and while extremely curious about other dogs he does not bark at them and just goes up to sniff them and say hi. Even the hackles stay down a lot more often these days which is awesome. While on our walks if he started getting vocal I would keep walking tell him to "leave it" and just keep going like that dog wasn't even a blip in our world. Maybe something like that would help you some....


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