# The new (rescue) GSD growls at my husband



## lonewolf1977 (Feb 11, 2009)

Howdy folks...haven't been on here in a while. But I'm turning to you for some advice. We have a 4.5 year old GSD ,neutered male. Last week, we rescued a 5 year old spayed female GSD. We did a meet & greet, everyone seemed to get along while at a neutral location. The two dogs did fabulous on the ride back to the house. Things are going great until my husband accidentally cornered the rescue between the car and the door. She did a scared bark/growl, but seemed fine once she was back in the safety of the house. Since that time, over the course of the last six days, her growling at my husband has gotten more intense. If he enters the room, tries to put on her leash, tries to let her out of the crate, anything....she growls and barks.

I asked the foster if she had an issue with males. She said she thinks a previous man beat her with a cane. He has tried persuading her with hot dogs, regular treats, sweet talking, keeping her on the leash by his side, all to no avail. We are on a two week trial with this dog. She is super sweet to me...she gets along rather well is our dog (i.e., they aren't fighting) and hasn't had any major accidents in the house. She seems content to lay at my feet, follow me around the house, and play in the yard. I don't want to give up on her. But I also don't want her growling to progress into biting my husband.

Thoughts?

I know it's going to take time...and that her behavior won't change overnight, but does this sound like something fixable?


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## pfitzpa1 (Apr 26, 2011)

Do a search on the 2 week shutdown. It is a really good way of introducing a new dog with history to a new environment.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Agree with above: http://www.bigdogsbighearts.com/2_week_shutdown0001.pdf

I'd have your hubby just completely ignore her...other than tossing her a treat without making eye contact. Tell him to pretend she doesn't exist for a few days or a week, no frontal approach either. He needs to be neutral around her.


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## shepherdmom (Dec 24, 2011)

Been there done that have the t-shirt. Only dog we've ever had to take back. Tried the shut down didn't work. Tried a trainer, who said shut down was bad, she needed to be with the family and out of the crate... tried just about every bit of advise we got here including having my husband ignore her except to throw treats... Putting husbands dirty shirts in crate, having him hand feed her, She just didn't like my husband and nothing was going to change her mind. My husband started to feel like a prisoner in our home. Taking her back was the hardest thing I've ever had to do.  But we live so far out of town the trainer refused to come out and work with us at our house and the dog behaved perfectly at the dog class. Drove her 700+ miles back to where we got her so that she would be safe.


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## Jag (Jul 27, 2012)

If she was abused by a man in the past, the fosters were irresponsible, IMO, to put her into a home with a man present. Not only is your husband feeling the heat, but the dog's stressing as well! I had a rescue dog like this when I was a teen. The husband and kids beat the dog. My brother was about 19 at the time, and this dog was very wary of him, too. He NEVER got over his distrust and hate of children. He did OK when I had to rehome him, even ended up really loving the dad there. However, I'd worked with him for a couple of years before then. It's a very slow process. If the man had been the 'primary' abuser, I doubt it would have gone so well. Please think about the dog, too. I'd say she needs an all female home.


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## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

Try the shut down as Onyx linked to. 
I'd not give up just yet. 
MANY dogs (we have a rescue and see over 150 dogs per year) are shy of men at first, men are larger and have deeper voices than women. They get used to them! 

This doesn't mean they were beaten or anything of the sort (unless there's proof that happened in the past).


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## Debbieg (Jun 7, 2009)

Defintely agree with the shut down. Let her see your husband from the safety if the crate. Let her watch him interacting with the other dog.
She may just be trying to figure out who is who, and where they rank in her new family pack

Some dogs just are leery of men.
Benny has never been abused by a man. I have had him since he was 8 weeks and he has been exposed to men, women and children teens , but he is still leery of strange men approaching him and will growl. If the man just ignores him and Benny has time to see that the man is not threat he settles down.


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## gsdraven (Jul 8, 2009)

Completely agree with Jane (onyx'girl).


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## lonewolf1977 (Feb 11, 2009)

Thanks for all the info guys. I am going to ask the rescue group to give us more than a two week trial to improve our chances of getting her past these issues. I just don't see a miracle happening between now and next weekend. Her growling last night was the worst it's ever been. In fact, she is now approaching him with the growl, whereas before she was backing up (fearful growling). She is urinating when he commands her to sit or tries to leash her.

The good news here is that she does allow him to walk her...even the occasional tail wag or rubbing up against his leg. This is important as he is the one responsible for excerising them.


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## Debbieg (Jun 7, 2009)

lonewolf1977 said:


> The good news here is that she does allow him to walk her...even the occasional tail wag or rubbing up against his leg. This is important as he is the one responsible for excerising them.


Sounds like she is making great progress


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## Justaguy (Nov 20, 2012)

When we first adopted our 130lb male bullmastiff he kept growling at me at first. This went on for about 2 weeks. As a matter of fact I worked nights so I had to call me wife to come down and hold him because he would charge at me (that was before I knew it was a big bluff). Eventually I spent a whole weekend with him, walking him, playing with him and we became the best friends. He was definitely intimidated by men. I think your dog will snap out of it eventually. Patience is a virtue in situations like these.


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## lonewolf1977 (Feb 11, 2009)

Well, we started the two week shut down. Had a great weekend but as the week progressed, her growling and barking became more frequent whenever my husband would even move around the house. Occasionally she would approach him, but very seldom. We had high hopes that we could work through this. Even had considered calling out a trainer to observe and work with us. Unfortunately, she made moves to bite him on Friday night and if she had not been leashed it would have been UGLY. Her fear seems to have moved to aggression & we took her back to the foster yesterday. It breaks my heart....as she was so sweet to me, but she's gotta get along with the entire pack. My hope is that they will find a single female to take her in.
Thanks for all advice.


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## shepherdmom (Dec 24, 2011)

I'm so sorry. This is almost exactly what happened to us. The shutdown seemed to make the dog more fearful and that turned into lunging. We too took her back before something bad could happen.


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## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

Just FYI, it's not the shut down that failed, nor did it "make" the dog more or less aggressive. 
Shepherdmom, with all due respect, you had the dog @ a trainer who raved about what an awesome dog she was. The problem was in your home, for whatever reason, the dog wasn't comfortable there. It is likely no amount of integration through any method would work. 



> My hope is that they will find a single female to take her in.


While this would be "ideal", at some point the dog has to see other people.

I don't know why some dogs get "broken" beyond repair but this may be one of them. 
I do find a correlation between highly intelligent dogs and their likelihood to become unstable when life throws bad things their way. Herding breeds are particularly at risk where Labs (in general) and those type seem to breeze though more easily.


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## RowdyDogs (Nov 12, 2012)

It sounds like you made the right call, OP, as hard as it is. Just remember, that's the whole point of a 2 week trial...to make sure no huge problems surface in the home! She sounds like she will be a great dog for the right person and it is likely she will find a good home.


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## lonewolf1977 (Feb 11, 2009)

I agree that she shouldn't always be fearful of men...as she will have to encounter them throughout her life if she is properly socialized. We had a couple of guys over the other week to watch a football game, and she didn't growl or bark at them at all. That's what makes me not so sure that just didn't like MY guy. I mean, dogs don't always like *everyone* so I think there just must have been some hang up with my husband. Either she attached herself to ME and didn't want him around, or she just didn't like him. Who knows. GSDs can be pretty moody. I have learned this from living with one for almost 4 years, but our agreement was that she had to get along with everyone in our pack. She could have liked me more than anyone else, and that would have been fine...but you can't attack one of us. Not cool.


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## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

That's why we (in our rescue) strongly discourage that type of over-attachment that tends to come on when a new dog enters the household - the only way to address that is the 2week shut down or else to remain totally neutral and strongly yet kindly discourage the attachment.


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## lonewolf1977 (Feb 11, 2009)

I completely understand....however, the way my schedule conflicts with my husband's, (he works second shift) there's a lot of one on one time with either of us. I think it's sometimes hard to try to eliminate favoritism, particularly when we're not all together except for weekends. I dunno.


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## msvette2u (Mar 20, 2006)

Well, it may not have prevented it...


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