Snapping at me

[NDrugerGSD]

Went to take a bone away from my 3 month male GSD and he barked and snapped at my hand. First time owner. Should I be worried about him being aggressive?


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[Raintheshepherd]

Make sure when you are feeding him any food that you stay with him whilst he is eating. Take the food off him then give it back to him. Pick up his legs, play with his ears whilst he is eating. And when you have bones same deal, best get ontop of that NOW while he is small enough to deal with. If not you could have some serious issues later on.


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[NDrugerGSD]

It's weird cause two minutes before that I was grabbing his ears, pulling and touching everything even lifted up his gums to see his teeth and he was just chewing away on the bone.


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[MadLab]

That's him resource guarding. I wouldn't be worried about it but i would plan to learn why they do this and how to stop it in the future.

You can practice a leave it command or a drop it command. It depends on the dog and what stage of training you are at. Some dogs will be perfectly behaved but when they have a bone the wolf in them shows its fangs.

Practice a leave it with a toy or ball. And when the dog responds to this try it with food or a bone.

[Trotter]

I'm told you can damage the ear cartilage by grabbing the ears when they're that young, and risk their not standing up properly later on.

[NDrugerGSD]

Not grabbing and pulling them literally. Rather have floppy ears then an aggressive dog lol


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[Cascade crawler]

Originally Posted by Trotter

I'm told you can damage the ear cartilage by grabbing the ears when they're that young, and risk their not standing up properly later on.

I think this is a load of crap, I would tend to disagree with this statement. If this were true then anyone who has ever brought two pups home at once would never get their dogs ears to stand as the pups are all over each other. Just my opinion. Cliff

[msvette2u]

Don't "play" with your dog while he's eating. Don't take his food.

Food Aggression Rehabilitation - YouTube

Food Aggression Rehabilitation - YouTube

Instead of taking his food, or trying to, simply get him to look forward to having you approach, by adding some nice things to his kibble.
We need to be seen as GIVERS, not takers.

[Trotter]

Originally Posted by Cascade crawler

I think this is a load of crap, I would tend to disagree with this statement. If this were true then anyone who has ever brought two pups home at once would never get their dogs ears to stand as the pups are all over each other. Just my opinion. Cliff

From von Waldberg:
Q: Will their ears stand up or is there something you have to do for them to stay up?
A: The ears will naturally go up on there own. It is very important to not play with your puppy's ears as it is growing. There is cartilage forming and playing with the ears can break the cartilage causing the ears to not stand properly. Our dogs' ears will stand up on their own by 6-9 months of age. If you have concerns about your dog's ears not standing properly, please contact us.

From von SchraderhausK9:
DON'T massage the pup's ears or the ear cartilage thinking this will help them to stand… This can cause the opposite, breaking down the ear cartilage. Petting them between the ears, or loving them on their cheeks
is a better way of showing affection to them, until their ears are
fully standing by 6 months.

[msvette2u]

Regardless of what you're doing to the ears, why do you feel the need to harass him while he's eating
There is no need to do so and doing so, as you've seen, will make him stressed and make him resource guard.