GS Female adopted at 2 and had agressive incident yesterday.

[Akashalives]

My apologies for the length, but hopefully all the detail can help shed some light on things.... Hopefully someone can help us out. About 1.5 yrs ago my fiance and I adopted a GS 2 yr old female. She has been fixed. She lived in my fiance's house which had an ample yard and on july we got married and both she and my now husband moved to San Diego to my house (which has a smaller yard), we exercise her often and we have routinely taken her out to unleashed dog parks (she doesnt socialize as much as other dogs and mainly spends the time sniffing everything) and even dog beach (she liked it ok).

Well yesterday, my husband and son took her for a walk with a neighbor and his son that also has a GS mix that we have befriended. Well at the dog park, she fully attacked the other dog (who is a sweetheart) and grabbed him by the neck and just wouldn't let go. The two men fully punched her to let go and she wouldn't... then when my husband's hand got in the way the victim dog bit him (and an ER visit and 3 stitches later) as well as neighbor was all scraped from his knees and it seems got a nick on a nail (unsure still who did that one) we are all home recuperating, and I am at a loss as to what to do about it.... husband is seriously thinking of what we are to do and now he doesn't trust her to be with my son and I (and hopefully soon we'll have a baby so that also weighs on his mind.

There was just one other instance of this. When my husband took her to visit his parents GS (male) she became aggressive and he established dominance quickly since he was much bigger and in his territory. On this instance, it was neutral ground and a smaller, thinner GS mix.

Can one fix this with a professional trainer? any recommendations? She is house broken and does sit, beg, down tricks... plays with a ball and is leash trained so she doesn't pull. Can we feel safe and trusting of her again with training?

When we adopted her it was for life thing, she was very sad initially and took 3 days for her to pick up her ears, she has been a darling. But right now we are both saddened this happened and am waiting for husband to be less upset so we can discuss more rational options.

Thanks for any help!

[onyx'girl]

Welcome to you!

I personally don't think dog aggression can be "fixed" You can manage the reactivity, but the way she is~ is genetic.
I would get with a good trainer soon, so your family can learn to manage her, and possibly the trainer will have a way to teach her to be neutral to other dogs. She looks like she needs a job to do, so keeping her mentally and physically exercised is very important.
She is really pretty, reminds me of Onyx. I hope you can keep her, because she will be a hard one to safely place in another home.
Practice NILIF until you get with a good trainer.

[BahCan]

Three bits of advice

1-I wouldn't take her to an off leash dog park, in my opinion they are horrible places and your setting her up to fail. There are to many variables at these places, you never know what other peoples dogs are like and there are too many uncontrolled dogs at these places and things can escalate very quickly, especially if you are not good at reading a dogs body language to intervene and stop an action before it happens.

2-Because your dog has displayed aggression towards another dog does not necessarily mean that it will also show aggression to humans, and vice versa.

3-Seek the help of a good trainer/behaviourist, they should be able to help you curb and controll the behaviour. Make sure it is a trainer that has experience with working line dogs. See if there are any German Shepherd Clubs in your area and get ahold of them and ask if they can recommend a good trainer.

Good luck and I hope things work out for you and the dog

[Castlemaid]

Hi, and welcome to the forum - Your girl is gorgeous!!

First, let me put your mind at ease: dog aggression does not automatically translate to people aggression. Some dogs just don't like other dogs, and that's okay. They can still be 100% reliable with people and small children, even if they don't like other dogs. So far, your girl seems to fall in that category.

In your situation, just understand that your girl does not feel happy or comfortable around other dogs - she doesn't NEED the dog park, or dog friends, she has you guys! GSD's, in general, are supposed to be more aloof with strangers, and not too interested in other dogs - this comes from their heritage of being a working dog, where their full focus should be on the handler.

Let me say it again: your dog is fine, and there is no worry about her acting out in an aggressive way for no reason towards people of children (I'm assuming she has always been fine with people and kids - sounds like in the time you had her it was only these two incidents that have occured?)

My first dog was a spaniel/retriever mix, very easy-going, non-aggressive, socially poised, confident dog. He was a therapy dog and the best dog to have in a dog park, loved everyone and every other dog, and everyone and every other dog loved him. Daily visits to the dog park and off-leash hikes with other people and dogs where our normal routine.

My next dog after him turned out to be dog aggressive/reactive. She is also one of those dogs that other dogs hate, and normally friendly dogs will lunge and growl at her. So no doggy socializing for her! So a completely different approach, of strict obedience training, leashed walks if there are other people around, and finding areas where we can play off-leash with no other dogs around.

Good news for your girl is that she seems to have good on-leash manners, and the incident didn't happen until she was off-leash.

So these incidents have absolutely nothing to do with how trustworthy she is with you, your son, or other people. And easy enough to manage this by keeping her from freely interacting with other dogs to prevent any further incidents.

What is her name by the way?

[zyppi]

So these incidents have absolutely nothing to do with how trustworthy she is with you, your son, or other people

I agree.

[Akashalives]

Thanks for the tips and the warm welcome.

Yes, she has displayed no aggressive behavior toward humans... just those two instances, the funny thing is that the two dogs were alone in the dog park, but yeah we will most likely keep her on a leash from now on... and a muzzle most likely until we trust her again... or is done with the personal trainer... must look for one in SD.

Her name is Trinity... and she is about 3 yrs old. Hubby is still very upset at her, and is now napping recovering from the 3 stitches he got (from the other dog's defensive biting), talked to neighbors... we will not get the 2 dogs together again... but we're in good standing. She is so sheepish right now... but can't treat this like a minor thing... will start making phone calls tomorrow; the problem is that it seems it will fall on me to do the whole thing... Husband wants nothing to do with her now, at least for the time being. *sigh*

[onyx'girl]

Dogs will be dogs, I hope your hubby doesn't hold a grudge.
I wonder if her body language as posted in the pics with other dogs was addressed? In a couple of those shots, she is very dominant looking and carries a threatening posture to other dogs.
Did your neighbors dog need vetting after the fight? Punctures should be taken care of and antibiotics given if the dog was bitten. I hope they checked him over well.
My dogs play hard with each other, and we had a GSD that I took care of for a weekend come over. She had no idea how to play as she was an 'only dog'. I had to manage my dogs so they wouldn't bully her and she ended up playing quite well with them. Though had I let the dogs be in control, I'm sure I would have ended up with some blood shed.
Females tend to hold a grudge with other dogs, so if they don't play nice once, I don't think they are safe to be around the same dog again without careful management.
My daughters best friend has a GSD named Trinity!

[katieliz]

great advice and opinions here already so i'll only say, please, please...no "most likely" when it comes to keeping her on a leash!!! i'd avoid interaction with other dogs entirely. once a dog has exhibited behavior (specific, easily avoidable behavior), like this you simply cannot be too careful. your responsibility is to protect her and other dogs as well, by managing the environment.

[katieliz]

btw, she is beautiful and looks like she's got quite a personality. she definitely has the alpha body postures.

[prophecy]

Sorry you have had an incident with your shepherd and I hope everyone is ok.What I am taking away from this sounds a great deal like dog aggression and not really a major concern regaurding her interactions with humans.*Dog aggression is a TOTALLY DIFFERANT BEHAVIOUR than human agression.*
As far as training DA out,I do not feel it can be 'removed' BUT it can be managed.I would honestly suggest NOT taking her to offleash dog parks or anywhere where the dog can get to offleash dogs.NO more play dates with other dogs(at least until the issue is sorted out by a professional-wich I strongly reccommend)