Desperate Behavior Info Needed

[AngieScheetz]

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]

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]

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.
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[Dragonwyke]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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

[RazinKain]

*edited by mod*

[sagelfn]

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