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Help! Is my dog anxious? Bratty? Aggressive?

1K views 6 replies 4 participants last post by  ChloeGSD 
#1 ·
Hey all, I'm pretty sure you're all annoyed by my posts constantly asking for help here. This site is such a great help thank you all so much.

My dog gives a half-moon eye whenever I approach him with a leash, a collar or when he's in his crate.
I try to go and tell him to sit to attach the leash, but he'll either turn and go away from me or/and expose his belly in a submissive state.
Same thing happens with a collar except he might bark at me or run away and think it's some kind of keep away game.

His crate is in a small room, I take him out of the crate and sit down beside him, he'll lie down. But sometimes he'll start to dig at the ground (even though they're tiles), circle around one spot, or go and chew the towels/blankets on the floor, I tell him 'No!' but he'll keep biting and chewing the towels. I press on his tongue and take the towel out, but he'll go over to it and repeat the chewing. He started growling ever so slightly while chewing the towel as I was trying to get it off him. I didn't drag him away from it, all I simply did was press on his tongue and get it out of his mouth.
He also stood over the towel and just tensed up, and I sensed a lot of tension. It felt like he was going to snap at me. What does this mean?

In the morning I tell him to 'down' before I let him outside, he'll get pretty vocal about it. - barking, sighing, a vocal yawn. He does lie down in the end and I have him wait before he goes out.

He gets over excited when greeting new people and especially new dogs. (Ears go up, very alert, will not listen/focus on me)

I don't want this whatever it is behavior to turn into aggression? How can I make him feel more 'safe' to eliminate this behavior?
Is this aggression, anxiety/fearfulness or just overall stubborn and bratty-ness?

Thanks guys
 
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#2 ·
You can start with full obedience training. your dog needs structure, rules, boundaries and guidance. This will fix all of your issues.

Why do you even let him play with a towel? This is part of the problem. Your own mindset has to change. Its great you know you need to make a change. Research balanced training and get to work.
 
#3 ·
I agree with the above. There are indications that you really need to work with someone to learn how to handle this dog. Have you done classes? Are you willing to learn. There is this tendency to blame the dog but it really sounds like it is you. And I'm not trying to be a jerk, I just think that we need to rise to the task the GSD puppy poses. That sometimes (often) means that we have to learn as much as they do and a good trainer is always worth their weight in gold. BTW how old is he?
 
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#6 ·
I have not done classes. He is 19 months now so I can't enroll him in any puppy training classes. I am learning online. I'm not blaming my dog for this as I and my family take 100% blame. Thanks for replying.
 
#4 ·
This sounds like an anxious dog and very possibly becoming hand shy.From looking back on your other posts IMO your dog is becoming increasingly confused and anxious.He has no clue what behavior you want from him.Either your family needs to come together with a consistent plan or leave his care and training 100% to you.If this doesn't happen immediately I just don't see a good outcome.
Folks on here can give you excellent advice but if it's never implemented or only sporadically implemented it won't help.
 
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