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Over protective or possessive

1K views 6 replies 4 participants last post by  NDrugerGSD 
#1 ·
Hello,

Looking for some help with my 1.5 old male German shepherd. I have been reading online about over protective or possessive gsds. My dog is well socialized I bring him every where. He goes to dog daycare on a regular basis and the employees at the facility say that he is wonderful, super friendly and social. But at home if someone that comes over that he hasn't know sense he was young he barks and puts up his hackles right away. I put his prong collar and leash on if I know someone is coming over that he doesn't know when. He still barks and puts his hackles up but I can control him and have him sit by me and calm him down. But you can still tell he is tense. He eventually will smell the person than ignore them.

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#2 ·
The barking and hackles can also be from EXCITEMENT! All my dogs do it all the time even when they are playing with each other. LOVE the great job you've been doing socializing.

Using the collar/leash is a good idea, cause you are showing him you are in control and that the new person is fine. You may want to add TREATS to the mix, cause eating can be a calming thing to speed the meeting up. Particularly when you hand the treat to the 'stranger' and they feed your dog. They can also ask for a 'sit' and use the treat to reward.

:)
 
#3 ·
I have used treats too. They work better with some people. He does try to nip at the person in some cases. Usually if it's a new person I'll have them come in and be calm and don't move to fast and tell them not to stare at him until he calms down and to let him come to you and smell. Once he does that I bring the treats out and have them do sit, shake and etc.

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#5 ·
My trainer at obedience class, also said to use treats. A little twist to it, she recommended if needed have the person toss the treat to the dog and have multiple meetings like that before you have the person and dog actually interact. The dog will then associate treats with that person.
 
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