We have a two year old male GSD. We got him when he was about ten weeks and has been in our home with myself, my wife and our 17 year old son. He is the most loved and loving thing you would ever see. My work takes me away for weeks at a time and he spends every minute of every day with my wife. She walks him four to five times a day. She takes him to the field by the house three times a day to play catch. She feeds and cares for him like he was another child of ours. He is our baby.
Since he was old enough to bark he would defend the vehicle and the door very aggressively. We have had a difficult time having friends of our son stop by for this reason. He is very intimidating and very loud. Although to this point it was all more bark than bite, he is avoided by all but one or two of our son’s friends.
About three weeks ago he started growling at our son. It was like just one day he wouldn’t want him in the same room with him. The dog would hide from the boy and he was visibly shaking. We tried to have the boy feed him some of his treats and the dog just would growl at him. We separated the two and it has been hit or miss ever since. Sometimes he would be fine and loving on the boy. Other times he would growl and move towards the boy.
Fast forward another two weeks and he has started the same behavior with the wife. He will love her by kissing her and licking her like only these puppies can do and the next minute growl at her. Several minutes later he would sit next to her and lick her face then start growling at her again.
We LOVE this dog. He has NEVER been mistreated. He is loved, well fed and well exercised. Up until a few weeks ago I would say he is well adjusted. Fiercely protective of the home and when he is in the car but obedient and well behaved.
Now for the bad news. The dog bit our son. Fortunately it was not a bad bite but it wasn’t a nip and he did intend to do harm. He has been to his vet and there appears to be nothing obviously medically wrong with him. We are urgently trying to find an animal behaviorist to meet and hopefully give us an idea of what may be happening. The problem is that there are no openings in our area. My schedule keeps me away for weeks at a time. I cannot leave my home with the dog alone with my wife after he went after the boy. Our choices are limited. We will not rehome the dog and pass this problem onto another that may mistreat him for this horrible behavior. We do not want to put him down as it is an unthinkable thing to do if there is a chance we can figure out what is wrong. I am afraid the unthinkable may be what we need to do.
If anyone can give us information that will help us and our puppy please help.
You are free to continue to mock me, I could not care less, after you guys ran down these people who are doing good by their dog. Maybe others could untwist the knickers and be a little supportive as opposed to "dissective". Love when the knicker girls who do not neuter know everything best about the effects.
No one is "running them down." I can't speak for others, but I just don't want them to get "false hope" that neutering did some kind of magic on the dog's behavior when that likely isn't the cause.
IMO few people have enough experience with charting neutering patterns to really comment on how much change it can have in a 24 hour period on a dogs behavior. But maybe that's the scientist in me a bit too much.
I think it's great what they are doing. Great that they are seeing improvement. But just don't think that anyone should be thinking that neutering play one little bit in it because waaaaaay too many variables changed in a 24 hour period of the dog's life to make that kind of assumption. I just think that it's asking for trouble to think that neutering had that kind of effect on the dog's personality. It's not some kind of statement as to if neutering is good or bad--not knocking them for doing it.
And you do need to loosen up Rebel! Geez, wound up quite a bit.
They need to follow through. If neuter is a magic pill that turns bad doggies into good doggies, they could fire the behaviorist and dump the classes. I think all of us are suggesting they not take that chance.
I hate to say it, but this family is setting itself up for another bite. It is not possible that the dog is cured within a few days. Even if neutering decreases aggression, it can't happen within a few days. Nor can a few days of training fix the problem.
OP - for the sake of your family's safety, please treat this dog with caution and stop kissing its face. Human aggression issues take months of hard work to resolve. This dog is still dangerous.
Since he was old enough to bark he would defend the vehicle and the door very aggressively. We have had a difficult time having friends of our son stop by for this reason. He is very intimidating and very loud. Although to this point it was all more bark than bite, he is avoided by all but one or two of our son’s friends.
Nobody said the dog is magically cured. The family is working with an excellent (and expensive) behaviorist, they are practicing behavior modification, they changed their own interaction with the dog, they changed how they manage the dog, they neutered him and they see improvement they are happy with. What else do you want from them? This will be just another poster chased away by the negativity. I wish other dog owners put this much effort into their pet.
No one is saying they are not trying. They have a behaviorist with great credentials and are, for the most part, doing the right things. I was reacting mostly to this:
As for no "face kissing" or to the one who couldn't believe we were "face kissing" well....we are ALL face kissing and LOVING it again. Seig is probably the one loving it most. (You'll see that in the pics we posted). We all get kisses from him again and it is consistent and just like it was.
Well it will be doomsday if the dog attacks their son and scars him for life
No one is having a go at anybody.....some have simply pointed out and rightly so that a neuter is not going to have fixed this issue immediately.
Other people read these threads who may be in similar circumstances and it is misleading to imply that the neuter is a magic bullet for these kind of issues.
It never ceases to amaze me how blaz'e (sp) some can be about a dog threatening members of its own family......if I am to be called "doomsday Knickers" what ever that means because I can see a real threat and the possibility of something tragic happening then.....so be it....
What is happening is that ten people are dissecting every word the person says to prove them wrong. When they wrote the post, they probably did not think of weighing every word because they did not expect to be subjected to this kind of cross examination and they don't seem to be familiar with the techical jargon.
They sound well aware that their dog can bite, which is why they are taking the measures theyvare taking. The way they are treated will just harass them away.
I don't see anyone mocking, or putting down these people for wanting to rehab their dog. I was NOT mocking you , it was a freaking joke to lighten the mood.
I just don't want to see them fall into a false sense of security thinking that neutering a dog will change behavior dramatically within a day. It pays to be cautious.
I'm glad they have a trainer and are working on the issue and hopefully it can be resolved.
Usually people who mock and make fun of others consider it funny. You and others pulled the neuter issue out of context, ganged up on the OP to prove that the dog could not have improved. Then you ganged up on me and mocked me for daring to comment that it is possible that neuter helps with behavioral issues pretty soon. It is not helpful or funny the way you treated the OP. Everybody conveniently "forgot" all the other measures the owners took to help themselves and their dog.
I would be surprised if the OP comes back after the way he/she was treated. Whatever you people wanted to accomplish backfired because of the way to do it. It is sad that you are unable understand it.
To the OP Im so glad things have worked out for you. This has been a very informative thread. As having a young GSD myself and many others like me may come across something like this in the future. Im hoping not as I would hate to be stalked by my own dog. I feel for you.
This forum is a very good forum but sometimes its sad to see people who love animals so much, treat each other as humans so badly.. I hope the OP returns.
It's late...I believe in earlier posts we'd mentioned buying a home...moving. So, we've done that and are settled. In a real, true nutshell, Sieg is doing WONDERFULLY. He has not once been aggressive to mom (me) since the neutering. Everyone has a different experience and unlike others, I am NOT an expert but our EXPERIENCE was that Sieg was a 180 degree change IMMEDIATELY. I am NOT offering or suggesting that as a fix...I'm telling you what OUR experience was. Second, he has also not been aggressive to our son AT ALL since. He is completely different from that "different" boy we saw...in other words, back to himself. I gotta say...like it or not...we will FACE KISS OUR GS ALL DAY LONG. I do agree and understand after spending nearly $1000 for 3 hours of therapy that Sieg DID AND DOES expect me to be number one...protector, provider, boss, etc. otherwise as another poster mentioned, he is forced to do so and does not want that role. I get it. Thanks for everyone who listened without the bs comments. It's a learning curve for me and with dad gone at work 6 mos/yr...it's a tougher learning curve. We got it though and those who care will appreciate the update. Also...our new home is on 2+ acres in the country, just built Sieg a fence so life is grand!
Thanks again to all. OUR experience was the neutering DID help; the help WAS immediate; behaviourist is expensive but WAS THE ABSOLUTE difference in deciding to lose a beloved member of our family or getting to keep him; and face kissing is JUST FINE.
Take care all and thanks again for what was a very scary, sad time. Sieg is phenomenal and truly the most wonderful pup in the world!
Just a thanks. And clearly you get we missed some things, we searched, we tried, we love our pup.....bottom line is it's too bad forums are for those seeking nothing more than to b*tch and belittle. A little help like yours was well appreciated. For the most part, the majority of posts were like minded and truth be told, we needed the help and so we thank all.
I wish this behaviorist could help me train my girlfriend as fast as your dog.
I hope all goes well and am glad things are going better, but please remain vigilant in protecting your family. This just put a lot of worry in my head about my dog even though he's never shown any of these signs.
I could never accept an unprovoked attack from a pet and feel fully confident it won't happen again.
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