# Desperate Behavior Info Needed



## AngieScheetz (Jul 26, 2011)

My name is Angi and I have a 5 year old sheperd named Marley. And I am Desperate!! We have had our four year old pure breed sheperd for almost exactly a year. He will soon be five. He has a wonderful personality and until now he has been nothing but a big baby bear. Previously he was neglected but no abused. Spent a lot of time in his kennel. He has been amazing til now. In the last week or so, he has taken to growling at my 18 year old daughter and yesterday he bit her when she walked past him. Fortunately, she was wearing pants but he broke skin and you can see every tooth mark. And you should see the bruise! I don't know what to do. He growled at her at dinner tonight so my husband scolded him VERY firmly and put him in his crate. We made an appt with the vet for Wednesday evening... could it be the heat? could he be not feeling well? Has anyone else ever experienced this? I cannot live with a dog that I cannot trust my kids with , no matter how much we love him.


----------



## sagelfn (Aug 13, 2009)

A vet visit is good. Have thyroid checked. 

Also consult a behaviorist that has experience working with german shepherds and this type of behavior.

Start NILF (nothing in life is free) training at home. (there are many threads here on it or google)


----------



## Emoore (Oct 9, 2002)

Lots and lots and lots of potential variables here; none of us can judge over the internet based on what you've told us. 

Couple of things to keep in mind:
-A German Shepherd's bite can break bone, not just skin. If he'd really have wanted to hurt your daughter, she wouldn't be walking around right now.

-He could be uncomfortable or in pain for some reason you can't see, like a sprained muscle, infection, illness, etc. 

-His herding instincts might be coming out. He might have been trying to herd her and breaking the skin was an accident. If he's never learned to modulate the pressure of his jaws, he could break sensitive skin completely on accident. 



How much are your dog and your daughter around each other? Your daughter is an 18-year old woman, correct? You said "kids" like she was a child so I'm not sure. There's a difference between a dog who is uncomfortable/aggressive with kids, and a dog who has an issue with a certain adult. 
-


----------



## Dragonwyke (Jul 21, 2011)

_there are quite a few extenuating circumstances that could be the problem here. one of which i have learned to keep an eye on in my house. 

how does the human in the equation treat the dog when no one else is around to see? be honest w/yourself in evaluating this, objective. 

we had this problem in our home. needless to say, that human was quickly "handled". 

maria 
_


----------



## robk (Jun 16, 2011)

I am sorry to hear about your situation. It must be scary. Read up on dealing with "Rank" and "Dominance" with dogs. See if it helps.


----------



## JakodaCD OA (May 14, 2000)

something is not right if you've had the dog for a year with no previous problems and he now all of a sudden decides he doesn't like your 18 year old daughter?? 

I would definately do a full vet work up first. Keep him away from your 18 yr old, how is with other members of the family?? I certainly don't want to say your daughter 'did' something to him, but this is really strange behavior especially if you've seen no previous incidents like this..

How has he been with your daughter previous to this bite? Hope you can figure it out.


----------



## Jessiewessie99 (Mar 6, 2009)

I saw on this movie once(remember its a movie) this dog(a Border Collie) did not like this one guy that worked on his owner's farm. He loved everyone else but this one farmhand. Eventually they found out that food that was given to him was causing other dogs to die and get sick. So they changed his food and the dog stopped being mean to that farmhand.

I don't know if this happens in real life and if this would be the problem in this situation.


----------



## Betty (Aug 11, 2002)

Make sure your vet checks eyesight and hearing. Especially a sudden loss in either area can cause some strange behavior.


----------



## RazinKain (Sep 13, 2010)

*edited by mod*


----------



## sagelfn (Aug 13, 2009)

Seriously Kain... that is what caused the last thread to be locked. Contribute something useful


----------



## DharmasMom (Jul 4, 2010)

*Quote edited by mod*

Are you kidding me!! The last thread got locked because of this nonsense so you come into this one and post it AGAIN?? Even more violently this time!

OP, shooting the dog is NOT the answer. Please get a full medical work up on the dog. It is also HIGHLY suspicious that the dog is ONLY aggressive toward your daughter. Please have a serious sit-down talk with her and see if she is perhaps even inadvertently mistreating the dog. She may even think she is "correcting" the dog and be doing something the dog takes offense to.


----------



## RazinKain (Sep 13, 2010)

sagelfn said:


> Seriously Kain... that is what caused the last thread to be locked. Contribute something useful


Fine. Here's the acceptable responses:

*take to vet
*get full blood panel done
*have hips and elbows checked
*hire a reputable behaviorist
*hire a reputable trainer
*more exercise
*more training
*change his diet
*kick the kid out of the house
*join a schutzhund club
*shouldn't have bought a BYB dog

*then, when it happens again and your kid gets really hurt, you might consider my first suggestion.


----------



## Jack's Dad (Jun 7, 2011)

How does a thread get closed but re-opened with only certain posts from a few people left on it. I'm serious there were I think 60 some posts on the original and only 7 or 8 or so were kept. The other 60 or so couldn't all be that bad. Kinda weird to me. Sorry for being off topic.


----------



## Emoore (Oct 9, 2002)

Hunter Jack said:


> How does a thread get closed but re-opened with only certain posts from a few people left on it. I'm serious there were I think 60 some posts on the original and only 7 or 8 or so were kept. The other 60 or so couldn't all be that bad. Kinda weird to me. Sorry for being off topic.


The mod included the posts that actually pertained to the OP's question and were helpful and on-topic. The ones that went off on a tangent about Kain and his trigger finger were removed.


----------



## ShenzisMom (Apr 27, 2010)

The way you said bring him to the vet makes me think you are seriously considering putting the dog down. Please reconsider. I know what happened was scary, and you are having problems trusting the dog. Have him checked out instead please, I implore you. If the dog is loosing sight, hearing, having thyriod issues, hip/elbow issues, general aches and pains, it could be the cause. Have you had previous issues with this dog?


----------



## Samba (Apr 23, 2001)

It took a lot of time to clean the thread. Please keep it on topic to the OP and appropriate. Thanks so much everyone!


----------



## Jack's Dad (Jun 7, 2011)

Samba said:


> It took a lot of time to clean the thread. Please keep it on topic to the OP and appropriate. Thanks so much everyone!


 O.K. but a lot of threads don't stay on topic.


----------



## RazinKain (Sep 13, 2010)

Hunter Jack said:


> O.K. but a lot of threads don't stay on topic.


The thread did stay relatively close to topic. It's just that a select few fixated on my remedy for a 'family biting dog' and went on a tangent about it because it's not what _they_ would do, and the crucifying started there. Just accept it Hunter Jack, it's the way it works here.


----------



## Emoore (Oct 9, 2002)

RazinKain said:


> The thread did stay relatively close to topic. It's just that a select few fixated on my remedy for a 'family biting dog' and went on a tangent about it because it's not what _they_ would do, and the crucifying started there. Just accept it Hunter Jack, it's the way it works here.


The crucifying has been moved to a different thread in the same section.


----------



## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

RazinKain said:


> The thread did stay relatively close to topic. It's just that a select few fixated on my remedy for a 'family biting dog' and went on a tangent about it because it's not what _they_ would do, and the crucifying started there. *Just accept it Hunter Jack, it's the way it works here*.


*Oh my goodness RazinKain, sorry you are still confused about 'how it works here'. I'll try to help and be more clear.*

When you signed up on this site you agreed to it's rules. While it's clear you jumped right in and had no time to read them or you are confused by them or they just aren't clear to you  ....... members are trying to help point them out to you. 

The site that you need to read with the rules is http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/administrator-messages/93163-board-rules.html

Some of the specific rules to watch :

1. Be courteous to other members at all times;

2. Be respectful of the feelings of others;

3. Do not use untrue or misleading statements;

4. Do not make statements based on rumor;

5. Do not use defamatory statements or statements that attack the character of another;

6. Do not make abusive, hateful, harassing, or threatening statements;

9. Do not use statements that incite conflict among members;

10. Do not use statements that contain sexual overtones, particularly in regard to other members;


Thanks to all the members who are helping with the Moderator Notifications! :thumbup:



Hunter Jack said:


> How does a thread get closed but re-opened with only certain posts from a few people left on it. I'm serious there were I think 60 some posts on the original and only 7 or 8 or so were kept. The other 60 or so couldn't all be that bad. Kinda weird to me. Sorry for being off topic.


While I didn't do the edit/move I'm thinking it was a TIME element that was involved in reopening the thread with fewer posts. We Mods are unpaid with 'real' lives and tons of threads/topics to go thru on this board. So we do the best we can with the time we have and I think the intent was to try to have the OP still get some help.


----------



## Jessiewessie99 (Mar 6, 2009)

I am thankful and grateful that the Mods are taking times out of their lives to keep this board running. Big kudos to you guys!


----------

