German Shepherds Forum banner

Please help- Male 20 month GSD bite the dog walker!

16K views 124 replies 28 participants last post by  wyoung2153 
#1 ·
Hi all

My dog is 20 month old, 90lb pure bred male GSD (not neutered). I did some training for him earlier when he was a puppy, but not much after her got age 6-7 month, me and my ex boyfriend were together since he was 8 weeks, my ex was spoiling him over the weekends, I broke up with the BF 2 month back and two days later my sister came to my house in which the dog have not seen here in like 10 month, he blasted from the garage inside the house, chased her and bite her arm, we had to take her to urgent care and she got 2 stitches and luckily animal control was not called.
I immediately started to look for solutions and contacted several trainers here in LA and was referred to someone like 30 mile away in which they were very recommended, I signed him up on same day for 3 weeks boot camp (around $3500) and he stayed there for 3 weeks and I would go there every 4-5 days to get trained with him as well, they trained him good on obedience like sit, down, place, come, heel ... and since I brought him home 2 weeks I have been doing what they trained me to do with food of course.

Chase have a dog walker since he was 6 month old, he comes every day walk him for 30 min, sometimes twice a day while I'm at work except the weekends. Yesterday I was playing a ball catch with him in the backyard just before the dog walker time to come in as he seemed bored and I wanted to exercise him and I was home anyway, the dog walker showed up in the backyard like that I did not hear him coming and Chase went to him barking and was on high alert, then he was happy and the dog walker played a bit with him and took out for a walk. Today again I was staying home sitting room when dog walker opened the door (he has a key) and chase was happy to see him, the dog walker got in the kitchen to get the leash and came close to Chase food plate which was on the floor and chase started to growl at him, I immediately got up and said NO NO and tried to hold his pinch collar to correct him the way how's the trainers taught me but Chase just snapped and looked like he wanted to bite me then dog walker started to stop him by holding his collar and he just was mad and bite him on his hand, we pushed him back in the yard, closed the door and rushed the walker to the urgent care, he got few stitches on his hand and the dr gave him med, he didn't fill out the animal control papers.

I called the trainers at the boot camp and they told me not to call the animal control and they will give him more training but seemed to want to make more money, I then called another trainer who initially didn't agree to take him before I sign up to the bootcamp because the dog was not fixed. He was nice and promised to called the bootcamp people so they give me more free training, I then took him to the vet to check him out to roll out any issue causing this aggression, signed him up to be neutered next week and I asked the vet to give me some med to calm him down until next week and they advised me to call a behaviorist they know.

My dog is very sweet boy however he is full of energy alpha male, when I walk him outside he is always on major alert, he looks around and is very alerted to every single person or dog walk by, he used to bark at other dogs but the training fixed this problem a lot but he still kind of like: I'm in control, I'm the master type of attitude that he always in! I'm working on showing him that I'm the one who control everything and he needs to respect and listen, I have been training him all day long like sit, down, NO, stay ...

I'm very upset, I love him so much, I don't want him to hurt anyone else, I don't want them to put him down, I feel very bad, I don't know what went wrong and I have been crying all day, this is costing me so much money and I'm not sure if the below plans will work or should I make the decision that Chase is just aggressive and he wont be a normal dog and do something about it?

Here is the plan:
1- He is on some calming med now until next week, he usually sleep in my bedroom but I'm going to keep him out of the bedroom from now on and lock the door, as I don't want him to snap at me while I'm sleeping!
2- neuter him next week and I hope after 2-4 weeks this would calm him down? is it too late? have anyone here neutered his/her male GSD and saw improvements?
3- Go see the behaviorist as soon as he passes his post op time, may be a week or two
4- take him back to the bootcamp trainers or go to a different one here in LA? what else would they train him for?

Chase is very protective and I'm very concerned that is not seeing a difference between a stranger that showing sign to hurt me or family/ dog walker ..., is there any hope for him, please enlighten me, give me everything you have learned that helped your dogs, I don't want to give up on him but again I have responsibility here and I need to be realistic if a dog bite twice in a month and half period, then what are his chances of ever changing that? how does anyone can make a heart breaking decision to let him go because such dog is just a dominant alpha police line type of GSD as per boot camp trainers!

Please please help me, if you love your dog and have any advise to help me and Chase I would be forever grateful for you for spending the time to just type me an answer.

I'm willing to spend more on training and on the behaviorist and of course no more dog walker and I will do the walk/ jog with him.

They crated him at the boocamp but I have never crated him here, I guess I need to buy a huge crate :(.

Thanks
Linda
 
See less See more
#96 ·
I'm worried that the OP sounds desperate and we don't make good decisions when we are out of control. If she doesn't like that trainer, then find another one, but do it quickly. The longer this goes on, the more stress she is feeling and expressing to her dog. I'm more worried about the dog. The OP has options, the dog doesn't. He needs to be trained soon or she is going to want to give him up. I've been where she is with a dog that was out of control. I interviewed several trainers, talked to rescue people I respected, then chose the one with the most experience with our exact situation. The trainer isn't a warm, fuzzy type. I've talked to people who dislike his personality. I didn't care, he loves dogs and he is good with behavior problems and his methods work. That dog has passed on but I still use the methods I learned with the dogs I have now.
 
#97 · (Edited)
Consider me another vote for you to please keep working with this trainer, OP.

I don't get why so many are piling on over the fact that OP here has:

(1) found a trainer with a long track record of successfully making GSDs adoptable for the largest GSD rescue in So Cal -- no rescue bothers with a trainer who gets no results with difficult dogs because of the liability, so if they recommend him and trust him, it's because of success. Period.

(2) found a trainer who cared enough to help on a holiday, when most don't answer the phone--that says he lives for his work, and cares more about helping a dog than his time off

(3) found a trainer who seemed to "click" with what this dog needed instantly in the first session.

For what it's worth, he was one of two names *I* PM'd to her because of my GSD rescue contacts in So Cal. All the criticism of her for actually working with the guy who called her back is probably undermining her confidence and commitment in following through. That honestly SUCKS.

There are people here who could and would criticize ANY training style. They seem to loathe any style that they haven't used. Or that doesn't work for their personal dog. Or that their trainer has said bad stuff about, never mind if that person has ever used it. There are MANY training styles that get results, and some are better for this dog but not some other dog. The real magic happens when someone is fluent with enough different modalities and reading different dogs to be able to intuit what will work best for each dog in front of them.

His training style may not be YOUR cup of tea. It may not be what works for YOUR dog. He may not be YOUR personal friend. I don't know him personally either. All I know is the rescue people *who've worked with him* thinks he gets results.

Settle down and let them work together. He's there, looking at the dog in front of him. We aren't. What worked for YOUR dog may not be what THIS dog needs -- someone needs to make the judgment call based on the dog in front of him.

If after a few weeks, things aren't going better, OP can keep going down the list of names sent to her, and maybe someone else will call her back. For now, she's in the hands of someone who "gets" that a life is at stake. Let him work and please stop beating up the OP for not picking someone else. He may be the right trainer, or he may not be. But he's there, has helped other dogs with issues successfully, and has a real chance of doing something here.
 
#100 · (Edited)
Ya. As is typical with things like this people don't know the whole story.

I've tried to remain in a supportive tone here, but that doesn't mean I haven't ignored the underlying problems.

If anyone is undermining here it IS the OP, herself.

Just because the breeder didn't drop her holiday plans and fly out to California, all heck breaks loose. What would have been a lot less undermining would have been for the two people who actually know the dog in person had continued to work together as a team.

Instead Linda starts a thread bashing the breeder based on sayan's post which had to be deleted.

Yeah, Chip, probably I won't win a popularity poll posting this. But live long and prosper.

Further, in general, nothing against the trainer as people have stated he is NOT PO..

Positive only trainers have probably set more dog owners and dogs up to fail then any other dog training fad including Cesar Milan and the whole alpha business.

I've been burned by PO and I've witnessed too many dog owners disempowered and failing because they've been guilted into failure by the PO craze. A craze which thankfully seems to be finally waning.
 
#101 ·
I think everyone is just to stuck on any one method of training. Positive can work well if done right, I've done it multiple times and my most obedient dog was trained with that method. Some dogs require more, some require a mix. I think that everyone's opinions are more confusing then anything. The bottom line is that the OP needs to find a trainer that they are comfortable with and it might not even be one, it might be two or three. The OP has to decide and take whatever they feel will work from each trainer. I've been down this road with trainers and I ended up using a method from each one and got a perfect dog. The most important thing is for the OP to find out by evaluation what they are dealing with so they know what they need to do.
 
#107 ·
yes, low doses of ace can cause the effect in which the OP has experienced - some describe this as "rage". with an "appropriate" or higher dose of ace the dogs still experiences the same (or increased) level of fear/anxiety/anger/stress/etc... however they can no longer express it physically. its a sedative/tranquilizer... appeases many owners since the dog appears calm but internally they are in agony and often confused which can then increase the fear etc.

that said, it has its place... this case is not it!
 
#108 ·
And you can plainly see that panic and fear in their eyes. We had to use something similar for a dog to get stitches once. Never again. It was traumatic for her. And seeing her panic as she came out of it was horrifying for us.

OP - if the behaviorist things the dog will benefit from anti-anxiety drugs then discuss those drugs with your vet. But not a sedative like Ace.
 
#109 ·
Depends on the information provided. If there is video of a behavior or a good explanation then the cause of the aggression can be determined.

If people want to discover something about there dogs behaviors and are persistent then they can get answers/ theories/ techniques which will help them.

Need help training your dog? Learn all the best methods!

This web site contains a lot on info from an x military handler/trainer with 30 years experience. I think if people read it all then they will be prepared to deal with a lot of scenarios.
Hey I got advice from an Ex Military handler ... worked out fine!
 
#111 ·
I mentioned about the Ace earlier as well.

IMO.

She doesn't have the time (complaining about costs of hiring a dog walker), hiring a dog walker when she is home.

She doesn't keep up with training and sends the dog to 'boot camp'.

Dog comes back somethings wrong, it's boot camp trainer's fault.

She is swinging between she failed the dog, then she's spending too much money on the dog and getting really bad advice (ace for one).

Then blaming the breeder, then when I post I know of the breeder she says loves the breeder and would recommend the breeder.

Then "sayan" posts the breeder is responsible and she agrees and starts threads bashing the breeder.

She's all over the place and the poor dog is stuck in the middle of this.

It probably would be best for the dog to go back to the breeder.

I don't think any trainer can help because I really don't think the problem is the dog here.
 
#113 ·
Ace can be a great option if it doesn't negatively affect the dog. I used with with my fear biter and it made him calm and approachable. I tried it once with another dog who had a fear of bathing based on the vet's suggestion and it was not a good experience. That dog will never get it again. I learned about meds from owning a very sick, elderly dog, years ago, that what works for one case won't work for another, and we shouldn't be prescribing or dissing any meds unless we are vets ourselves and trained in the use of them. It obviously isn't working for this dog and should be disposed of.

I said earlier the problem isn't with the trainer and I agree with Gwen, it's not with the dog or the breeder, either.
 
#114 ·
Ace is a very bad choice for stressed and fearful dogs. It is solely a sedative. So the dog is aware of all the fearful things happening but cannot physically react.

Xanax is a much better choice. It actually is an anti anxiety.
 
#123 ·
Imagine what this has been like for the dog, first.

He is the most innocent and most traumatized by all of this. It his life that is on the line here, literally. He's already bitten people.

Maybe, if everyone had said she needs to work with the breeder, find a trainer, with the breeder (which was my first and repeated suggestion) which would have been the best and safest course to validate, this thread wouldn't have turned into a tug of war of competing ideas and beliefs. The breeder is very good and cares about her dogs. The breeder offered to help! Isn't it logical when there are several people here who can vouch for the breeder, who know the breeder personally and the type of dogs she breeds that We shouldn't be undermine the breeder here?!

When she posted the thread bashing the breeder she lost her "benefit of the doubt" with me.

She didn't post for help, she posted to get validation that this wasn't her fault, "really". Yeah she said she takes responsibility but the second someone fed her an inch of "well not all your fault" she takes it and runs with it.

Poor dog, this poor dog. That's what I keep thinking. The human is going to be fine in the long run, no matter what.

"When someone shows you who they really are, believe them the first time". Maya Angelou.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top