HELP!! Dog nips, barks, and lunges at everyone but me!

[Beo]

We have a 11 mo. German Shepherd who is pretty well behaved when he is just around my husband and me. But if anyone comes in the house, or if he goes out and there is any other dog or person out, he starts barking at them. If they come close (and yes, after all that, there have been a few that still want to pet him), he is just barking uncontrollably and trying to bite at them! I have had to put him in a crate and in another room because of this. Eventually he will quiet down. But as soon as they are gone and he is let out, he runs through the house barking and looking for them. I have tried to muzzle him. All he does is try to get the thing off. He will even go up to the other people in the house and try to rub up against them to get it off. But if they move, he goes back to the barking and growling. I have tried to have my company give him treats through his crate while I have him and is petting him..lots of good reassurance and eventually they can pet him with no problem. But once he is out, he goes back to the barking and trying to nip. He remembers my family members and at first starts barking, but then he is alright with them and we have NO problems. But anyone new, we have MAJOR problems. I live in an apartment, and I don't know what to do!?! He also does NOT like kids or babies!! He tries to bite them, and barks at them as soon as they move! We have tried a pinch collar on him, and that doesn't work. he will actually pull against it to go after whatever it is. He is really skiddish. He doesn't bite me, even when we play. When another person tried to pet him, he did bite down on them, but he put his mouth around there hand and just held it there. I don't know what to do

[GSKnight]

I am FAR from the expert here... but it sounds like your dog is ALPHA in your home and guarding you. There are people here who will post links to threads with information to help you.

[gsdraven]

Sounds like a scared puppy, not Alpha. How much socialization has he had from the time you brought him home where all things he sees are good?

A muzzle needs to be introduced slowly and as a very good thing in order to work right or it just stresses them out more as you saw. And corrections can back fire like you saw with the prong.

What you need to do is contact a trainer or behaviorist that has experience POSITIVELY working through these kinds of problems. If you post your location, maybe someone will have a recommendation for you.

Until then you can start working on the muzzle in a good way. Hold it out to him and hold a treat at the other end so he has to put his nose in it to get the treat. Say good, praise him and give him the treat when he puts his nose in it. Do that again and again without closing it on him until he is voluntarily putting his nose in it when he sees it.

[GSKnight]

Listen to Jamie... she knows more then me.

[MaggieRoseLee]

Did you just get him and this is how he came?

Or did you have him since he was young and he's done this from day one with all the dog classes and hours of weekly socialization?

What does the breeder say? How are the littermates doing?

What does your trainer recommend? Can you attend more classes or find another type of trainer to help with all your current classes?

I agree with gsdraven this seems like fear so dealing have to deal with the fear, continue on getting your dog to learn YOU are the leader in these scary situations and will take charge rather than leaving it up to them to over react.

Did you get to start clicker training? That should be ideal and if you are already using a clicker you can start adding things like

Surprise Party - Clicker Training: helping the reactive dog - YouTube

Surprise Party - Clicker Training: helping the reactive dog - YouTube

Intro to Clicker Training (perfect for puppies!)

[Beo]

I need to correct something. In my last post I put that he "did" bite down on the person, and it should be "didn't".
We got Beo when he was 7 weeks old. I have tried to socialize him as much as I could. We have taken him on long drives and have let him be outside to see how things are. I even took him down to my families house for the holidays, where there were 2 other dogs in the house and about 15 people from 1 yr old up. He was good with my 5 yr old nephew. But that was the only kid. When Beo was a puppy, my nephew came and stayed a weekend with me, and him and Beo kinda got along. As long as my nephew doesn't run, Beo won't try to get him. But my nephew can lay on him and everything and he is good. The other kids, he didn't get along with. But as far as everyone else in the house, he was good with them, and we don't see them very often. He just remembers them from other visits. When he has gone out, normally it was when there wasn't very many people outside. We did have to take a trip for a little while, and he stayed with the person I got him from, and he was very well behaved with her. I have tried to make sure I stay Alpha to him. I keep away from anything that will put him and me on the same level. The other dogs in the litter don't have these problems. I am just told to socialize him more. He is just really skiddish. During the day, he goes up to the window upstairs and barks at anything he sees moving outside. I have taught him to calm down when I put a certain hand signal, and tell him "calm". He doesn't bark as much. But I have to keep reiterating it over and over to him. Eventually he calms down after a bit when I have company over. But he has to stay in his kennel the entire time. If they walk up to him, he goes crazy again. They have a baby, and during the day I babysit him. And Beo is doing fine with him. He always starts barking, and then eventually calms down with the signals. And the baby can even walk by the kennel, and Beo doesn't even move. But if I let Beo out, that will be another story. When the parents come get the kid though. Beo goes crazy again. I have not put him in any classes. I am to afraid of what he will do to the other dogs. We have just taught him at the house. He is a really quick learning dog, and we don't use treats to train him. If I have his focus, he is great, we don't need the collar or anything. We can either use hand signals or words, be understands them both. But when he sees other dogs or people, getting his focus isn't happening. I have tried to take him out when one other person is out, and when I see he is going to start to bark, I just keep petting him, and reiterating that everything is fine, and keep giving him the hand signals. We do take him out with us in the car. He just barks at EVERYONE. He is fine in the car. He rides really well. He just scares everyone outside the car. I just don't know what else to do.

[wyominggrandma]

when you pet him while he is barking and trying to bite, you are telling him that it is okay to bark and bite. Having people give him treats , even in the crate when he is barking is telling him its okay. Pretty much you are telling him it is okay to bark and growl an bite because you tell him its okay and pet him. Its not okay and you should not try to soothe him while he is behaving aggressively.

[Beo]

Then how to I get him to stop using his own instinct and to rely on mine?

[chelle]

Work on the LAT game. It really helped us. I think you need to find a reactive dog class yesterday. My dog was (can still occasionally be) reactive to people. We spent many an afternoon at the city park, watching all the world walk/skate/jog/bike by. We started by just hanging out 10? foot back from the trail and moving closer.

[gsdraven]

Originally Posted by Beo

Then how to I get him to stop using his own instinct and to rely on mine?

Clicker training is great for that! It keeps them in the "now".

The advice is still to get a positive trainer who has dealt with fear issues to help give YOU the right tools to have a happy dog.