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5 month GSD barking at strangers! HELP!

2K views 1 reply 2 participants last post by  HappyGoLucky 
#1 ·
Hello!!

I'm new to this website, and am hoping for some advice from fellow GSD mama/papa's. I have a 5 month old GSD named Axel. He just graduated obedience puppy classes on Sunday (woohoo!). I have an almost 2 year old border collie/cattle dog mix as well and they're best friends. I've taken Axel to the dog parks, to my friends house and he doesn't so much play with the other dogs, he just likes to follow them around and jump around. Sunday, on his last day of puppy classes, as we were working on some review, people would come up to him and he would immediately start barking. Today, I took him and my other fur baby for a walk, and as we were walking, he started barking at people who weren't even interacting with us. He got upset and his hair started to stick up while he barked at a few people which is the first time he's ever done that. Is this normal and is there a way that it can be stopped? We do work on the whole "focus" and "leave it" command but today he just got so worked up!

Any advice and any tips are very appreciated!
 
#2 ·
Hi!:) Let's see if I can sneak in a post before heading out to work.. hehe.

The hair getting up is probably he is not sure/worried/concerned/feel threatened for you or himself. Try paying attention to his body language. When you walk casually, he should be relaxed counting his steps :) When they focus on something, the body will stiffen up and either the head will be up and tight or the upper body contour will be a straight line, but in both cases the body will get tense and stiff. The second this happens, correct him. If you catch it at the right moment, it should be easier to snap him out of this state before it escalates and he won't be paying much attention to you anymore.

Try getting him out on walks alone, just him - this way you could focus more on adjusting this behavior.

If he doesn't respond to the correction, just turn right around and walk in the direction opposite distraction. If need be - run slightly a few steps to distract him. As soon as he lost interest, turn around and keep walking in the same direction that you were. Rinse and repeat as needed until either the distraction is gone or he doesn't react to it (looking is ok, they are curious and should be aware of surroundings, as long as the body is not tense).

Mine used to bark at occasional "oh how cute your puppy is, can i pet him?" kind of folk. Just a light version of yours. But we worked a lot on handling distractions including passing people, bikes, skateboards and etc.

Once you get better at catching the moment, take him to crowded places like around shopping malls/strips where there is a lot of foot traffic and the same thing - watch his reactions and correct as needed.

They learn very quick, just get the timing right and be consistent with lots of love and praises:)

Good luck!!
 
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