Aggressive 16 m/o Male

[Wirelessmess]

Hi everyone,

My neighbors 16 m/o male GSD is very people and dog aggressive.

My pup Zeke is 7 m/o male GSD and full of confidence, loves to play, and has never shown aggressive behavior.

My neighbor is trying to work through this with his dog; and my pup and I are trying to help. My neighbor isn't taking any obedience classes, has stopped positive reinforcement training. He uses a 'gentle-leader', muzzle, and e-collar for training/control. I suggested re-introducing treats and toys in his training and to possibly go to obedience classes. His dog went to an obedience camp in the Spring for a month and his aggression has remained intact.

We go on walks together and after a few minutes the dogs settle in and ignore each other, but often when we have them stopped near one another (6ft or so) his dog goes into attack mode on my dog. When people other than his family attempt to pet his dog, he attacks.

On a positive note, when his dog is off-leash he is less reactive to people. For example, he approached my wife in a friendly way and was able to interact and walk around with her positively. And while off-leash his dog actually calmly joined my pup to lay down in the shade.

If anyone can offer some suggestions I would appreciate it, he's a beautiful Czech specimen with superb intelligence. However, I don't want my pup to lose confidence or become reactive from these experiences.

Thanks for reading this far and I look forward to any suggestions. If you have any more questions about the situation please post to this thread and I will answer them.

[suzzyq01]

I would suggest he get a professional involved before someone/dog gets hurt. It's great your trying to help but chances are he (the owner) needs to make other changes and needs direction from a professional.

[carmspack]

young dogs copy behaviour . You go for walks together and the older dog fires off on someone -- watch for it -- within time your dog may be copying - and then you will be correcting him. This is why line aggitation is done in schutzhund sport. The young guys are tied out safely so they can watch the bite work , get aggitated and frutstrated . They will start rushing to the end of their leash barking.
Your dog is often the misdirected target .
I don't see anything positive about a people aggressive problem dog being off leash , though you say he is less reactive , that is only a matter of degrees (less) . Off leash there is no control should the dog decide to attack for who knows what reason .
I would say that your neighbour has to find a trainer and he has to have the dog in a more secure device than a gentle leader . I'm surprised the dog hasn't figured out how to claw his way out of it . Get a good collar on the dog .

Look after your pup .

Carmen
Carmspack Working German Shepherd Dogs
I would say let your neighbour

[Castlemaid]

I think it is great that you are willing to help your neighbour out, but it should not be at the expense of your pup's confidence. You will end up with a dog-reactive fearful pup if the attacks continue.

[chelle]

I'm far from expert, but I wouldn't have my pup around him anymore. Who knows what he'll pick up and it doesn't sound like there's anything positive in it for YOUR baby. Yeah, I'd cut that off.

[Wirelessmess]

Thank you all for the suggestions and advice, I am going to keep Zeke separated.

I will suggest he seeks a professional to help.