Dog curious, possibly aggressive, and maybe a little insecure?

[APCURLS]

Hey Everyone!

So, if you've seen my few posts over the past couple months, my husband and I had been trying to adopt a GSD... And we finally brought Draco home a little over a week ago!! He's an exceptionally well behaved dog for being only 18 months, found as a stray and kenneled for God knows how long.. He's super mellow at home, knows his name, sit, stay and is relatively low key. He has his puppy moments, of course, but he's absolutely adorable!

So.. Here's my little problem.. He's pretty good on the leash, and will heel and behave himself when we're by ourselves. When he sees other dogs his ears perk up first, and he won't break focus. Then, as they approach, he starts to whine and pull hard on the leash. When the dog passes by, he usually will whine and pull harder. At times he will lunge and give a bark. But, it's not a vicious bark, just a frustrated bark. We thought at first that he was just curious and frustrated that we weren't letting him meet dogs (until we knew what he would do, we didn't want to have him approach too many dogs)... However, yesterday I was in the garden with him roaming the yard. We back up to a well used trail and have a 6foot wood fence. There was a dog walking the trail and Draco started to pace, then whine, and, finally barked and charged after the other dog charged our fence. I stood and went "Hey! What's up?" in a tone I hoped was neutral to try to keep him calm. Draco turned and just bolted toward me with huge eyes and then went straight to the kitchen door to be let in. He obviously got spooked..

I have read some posts on the forum that we are not supposed to make a big deal about dogs on walks and redirect focus with treats and "look at me" which I have been practicing with him at home. But, on his walks, this has been very difficult to implement. I've tried treats etc to get him to focus on me, to no avail. What do I do? We have signed up for training classes that start in a week or so, but in the meantime what do I do? I don't want him to become aggressive, since I think at this point he's just curious and unsure what to do.

Any help is greatly appreciated!! He's such a wonderful pup and I want to do the best I can for him!!
Thanks!!

[APCURLS]

I should probably also add that he's learned to "leave it" when it comes to rabbits.. He perks up and goes to lunge, but I just give him one strong correction and keep walking.

I'd love to do this with other dogs - just keep him moving - but I don't know how to pass the oncoming dog & owner without incident?

Would appreciate any additional thoughts on different training techniques I can try! Thanks!

[suzzyq01]

It sounds like he is a bit curious and wants to play while on walks. Do you notice hackles up at any point and time while he is whining?

In your yard is somewhat of a different story. It's his yard, and he has every right to protect it. It's their nature. My dog would bark at the fence and run up and down if another dog was on the other side. When you responded he may have only responded in the only way he knew. He could have possibly be corrected via shock collar by his previous family for barking at the fence line??? who knows. The response seems like it was in fear of something happening if he didn't comply....a typical response from dogs who have been abused by shock collars.

I don't mind the barking at the fence as long as when I recall Sonar he listens. I didn't expect it to happen without proper training. He has a fantastic recall and leave it. Practice those things under no distraction then gradually add distraction, then eventually you will be able to recall at the fence line.

A trainer will be able to assist you in evaluating his ability to interact with other dogs. I would wait to see the trainer. It's hard to give too much advice without being able to evaluate the dogs behavior in the situation. You could video it and post it, that would be helpful.

[APCURLS]

I don't think I've ever noticed hackles... Well, once, with a Golden Retriever who lunged at Draco first, snarling and barking. Draco's hackles went up at that point, but it was a normal defensive reaction I think. (And, while I only caught a glimpse at the dog on the other side of the fence last night, I suspect it was this same retriever who seems to have a visceral reaction to Draco each time they encounter one another...)

I just don't want to misinterpret what he's doing - if it is aggression, I want to avoid interactions with other dogs until we have proper training. I don't think it is agression, though, and merely curiosity like you said.

I have probably been a bit overly sensitive about the barking in the yard. We have dogs in the neighbor's yard on the opposite side of the trail who are left alone outside all day and are very aggressive and snarl and bark at anything that moves. I don't want that to happen to Draco, so I'm a little sensitive about his reactions, but, you're right - he should feel like he can protect his yard. It is his, after all!

I never thought about shock collars! I thought it was the dog jumping at our fence, but your shock collar theory makes a lot of sense since he went immediately to the kitchen to be let back in!! Wow! Poor pup!

Thank you very much for your input, SuzzyQ! I'll try to upload a video if we get a chance to record one! And, of course, we're already planning on talking to the trainer! Thanks again!!

[APCURLS]

Just wanted to post a quick update. While playing fetch with Draco in the back yard, I saw how focused he was on the squeeky tennis balls we use to play with and thought to bring one on our walks as a distraction. I haven't quite gotten him to focus only on the ball while sitting as the dogs walk by, but I've had great success with him if I use the ball to keep him moving forward while ignoring the dog walking by. We have our first training session Saturday and I'll mention this to the trainer, as there is still more work to be done. But, I feel like we have had a little break through!!