HELP! Territorial at home!

[arnebchgrl]

My husband and I adopted a 2 year old GSD. She was clearly not treated well with her previous owner - we got her from the pound and she was timid, shy, tucked tail with us for about a week or so. However, within the last year we've had her, we've worked hard to set boundaries, socialize her, leash train her, and she's come amazingly far!

We have one issue, though.. She does not like visitors at our house. She barks, circles, lunges, and nips (never actually biting) at people when they come into our house. She is NOT like this anywhere else but our house. We've tried introducing her to our guests outside the house then have our guests enter the house first before her - didn't work. We tried making her sit and stay calm before we open the door- didn't work.. she immediately jumps up when the door opens. We keep her on a leash when people are over, but we feel there has to something we can do to help her see we are INVITING the people in, they are not intruders.

Any advice? HELP! Thank you!

[MaggieRoseLee]

Do you clicker train?

Clicking and treating as long as she's quiet (probably good to keep a leash/collar on her and use a 'sit' too).

OR sending her to her bed and clicking/treating as long as she stays in the bed?

You need to keep her calm/quiet BEFORE she starts to react. Once she's in crazyland you can't really train.

There's a game called The Surprise Party that works of focus to help with a reactive dog. YOu may want to work on that cause the skills will work both indoors and out.

Surprise Party - Clicker Training: helping the reactive dog - YouTube

Surprise Party - Clicker Training: helping the reactive dog - YouTube

[mtmarabianz]

Put her in her crate, in another room, when you have visitors.
I did this with mine, when she was younger & full of puppy, just because I was training for a dif venue than a pet; & also as stated above, teaching the platz on her bed/place when peeps came into the house;
now she is great when people come into the house, & she doesn't lift her head when they leave (lots of teens here coming & going).
Her protection is peeps outside not in the house yet! Until they are invited, then all is swell!

[mtmarabianz]

Tried to edit my above post, but timed out:
Wanted to add:
With what you have described, I would crate, preferably in another room; & work on the platz/place training before adding the strangers part. I used a long line in the house for this training & reinforcement, along with training treats of course
After she is more solid with the above place training, would then train with strangers/distraction the place command till she is more trustworthy on the command, crate for back up.

[arnebchgrl]

Thanks for the great tips! What's tough is that she is ALWAYS with us in the house... she is the kind of dog that if we are in the kitchen, she's right there. If we are upstairs, she is upstairs. Which is totally fine, but if we need separation (like when guests come over), putting her in another room or outside, she FLIPS out. She clearly was never and I don't think ever could be crate trained. She flips if she's put outside for even a brief moment and she knows we are home.. She does have a bed she goes to, but she is way to anxious/nervous/excited when people come over to really actually stay in her bed area away from people. Thoughts?

[chelle]

Originally Posted by arnebchgrl

We have one issue, though.. She does not like visitors at our house. She barks, circles, lunges, and nips (never actually biting) at people when they come into our house. She is NOT like this anywhere else but our house. We've tried introducing her to our guests outside the house then have our guests enter the house first before her - didn't work. We tried making her sit and stay calm before we open the door- didn't work.. she immediately jumps up when the door opens. We keep her on a leash when people are over, but we feel there has to something we can do to help her see we are INVITING the people in, they are not intruders.

Any advice? HELP! Thank you!

This is something I've worked on and we need more work still for sure.

First I worked on desensitizing my dog to the knock on the door. My bf would text me when he was within minutes of getting home, so I'd be ready. He came up and knocked on the door and didn't say anything. Just a knock. The early times Bailey was a nutball. Bark, bark, bark. I held firm. Put him back in a sit. Repeatedly. Gave him a good treat when he was focused on me and not the door. Another treat when he kept his sit thru the knocks. We just kept doing that. If I'm expecting a visitor that Bailey doesn't know, or doesn't know well, I let them know he may be a little nutty, but he's onleash and under complete control. He is corrected/reprimanded for barking at anyone in the house once they've entered. That may not be the right thing to do, but if they're leaving him alone and he's barking at them, I won't stand for it. After a little time he will sniff them out and all is well.

His behavior is MUCH more pronounced at home than anywhere else.

I know many people say just crate 'em up and avoid the issue and I can see where that may be necessary. A visitor that may never be back again, something like that... but I really dislike this approach unless it is truly for safety reasons for the visitor(s).

[msvette2u]

By FLIPS OUT do you mean she has separation anxiety??

[arnebchgrl]

She had separation anxiety badly when we first got her. We used to leave for a few minutes, then come back. And slowly we did this until now we are able to leave and go to work and other things and she's fine alone. But if we put her outside in the backyard and she knows we're home (she can see us, hear us), she barks barks barks jumps, etc etc.

[arnebchgrl]

That is a good idea that I need to be better about.. the whole desensitizing to the door thing. I need some understanding friends that can come practice with us and don't mind waiting outside until she is sitting and STAYING. She sits well, it's the whole staying part that is difficult when she is excited/anxious that someone is coming in.

[GSD07]

Originally Posted by arnebchgrl

She was clearly not treated well with her previous owner - we got her from the pound and she was timid, shy, tucked tail with us for about a week or so.

She was not necessarily treated badly by her previous owner, it's a mistake to always assume that when a dog acts shy and timid. You need to realize that some dogs have weak nerves, and living with such dogs is challenging and not for everyone. I hope you will work out the issues with your girl but I would move very slow, learn her triggers, and would not overwhelm her with new people. I would also slowly work on crate training as a priority.