worried about our GSD and aggression please help!!

[Jenn02nyy]

Thank you all for your suggestions. he is scheduled for a vet visit thursday to do the thyroid test and we will definietly ask about using hemopet. I will also contact the recommended trainer. I did contact someone locally but he said he would want to take my dog for 2-3 weeks and reprogram and that just seemed a little off to me. we want to work with him here he is perfectly well behaved at our home. He is alread neutered and has had a few dogs attack him at the dog park when he was younger but nothing recently. we have been trying to keep him on a pretty regular schedule but have had a lot of visitors. again thanks so much for your suggestions.

[Kayos and Havoc]

Just a word of caution..... it sounds like your common sense indicator was right on. YOU want to be the one to work with your dog under the tutelage of a trainer. Although there are probably many good trainers that take dogs, train them and return them, they are few and far between. I would be cautious with someone that says the dog needs to be reprogrammed. He is an animal not a machine.

Best to you guys and let us know how things work out.

[valkyriegsd]

Having trained a lot of dogs myself, I would not automatically say 'no' to the trainer taking the dog. There are some times when the person (or more accurately, the dog/person relationship) is a large part of the problem, and the trainer can more quickly get the dog over the issue while away from the dog's normal surroundings. That said, the person also HAS to be part of the training, or the whole things comes unraveled when the dog goes back into the home.

When I've done training at my home, it is only for 1 week, then training with the owner 2-3 times a week going forward. It is YOUR relationship with the dog that will make the difference, not the dog's relationship with the trainer!!

All that is assuming there is no physical issue involved, so definitely check thyroid, etc, as recommended. Let us know how things go!

[Riley's Mom]

Originally Posted By: Gunter'sMomThank you all for your suggestions. he is scheduled for a vet visit thursday to do the thyroid test and we will definietly ask about using hemopet.

If I could make a suggestion, I would not ask. I would TELL my vet that I wish to have the blood sent to Hemopet. It's your dog, they should send the blood wherever you want it to go if you have a preference. You pay for the shipping anyway no matter where it goes.

Also, you need to run over to the Hemopet web site and grab the forms that have to be filled out and sent along w/the blood. Take those w/you when you go.

[Jenn02nyy]

Thanks! I just printed out the paperwork for hemopet and will bring it to the vet. I will keep you all posted on any updates thanks again!

[herno1]

YOU ARE NOT ALONE !!!Darake is going thrrough the same

[Riley's Mom]

Originally Posted By: KathyWAlthough there are probably many good trainers that take dogs, train them and return them, they are few and far between.

I made the HUGE very costly mistake of doing this myself. I agree, YOU must work w/your dog under the guidance of the trainer. I've learned to not just blindly trust trainer recommendations from trusted sources. Not that my source was untrustworthy, but turns out there are things even she didn't know. If you do decide to do this anyway ... get a contract and get a copy of the contract so you have something to fall back on if things don't go they way you're expecting them to.

[middleofnowhere]

It looks like no one has suggested this yet but Pat Miller (or is it Pam?) has several articles in Whole Dog Journal dealing with desensitising dog agressive dogs. I think she even wrote a book on it. Or else it is a chapter in one of her other books.
Look up WDJ on line - see what issues this is in & see if your library can borrow those issues for you on Inter Library Loan. (Each article costs something like $10 to buy from WDJ which gets spendy fast.)

One basic thing to do is to start rewarding him whenever he sees another dog - before he reacts. And don't go pressing your luck after a successful encounter! It's sooo easy to push it further rather than realizing that you've achieved today's goal and head home.

Another thought is to take a look at what Bill Campbell has to say on his website about introducing dogs to new human infants in the home. I bring this up because along with his development this outside him change has probably had a huge impact on him.