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We adopted Lilly back in mid-March from our local shelter. Our whole family visited her there (as required), and while my teen son was not too excited about getting a dog, he agreed. At first he gave Lilly some attention, but over the summer, and especially recently, he has made it clear that he doesn't like "the dog" and he doesn't always like me, his mom (he's a teen, right?). Lilly (our dog) has seen me argue w/ my son in raised voices.
He's refused to come to training classes with Lilly, and when I try to correct what he does with her, he just says "forget it." Lilly had been jumping up on him in the mornings recently, mainly because she was happy to see him. It didn't seem like agression. Clearly this is not OK, and I've now leashed her in the morning, and only let her greet my son when she is calm and has four paws on the floor. I use treats too. My son doesn't like to feed Lilly treats because then his hand is "slimy." (Sigh...remember, he is a teen).
I believe part of why he doesn't like the dog is that I love her (gotta rebel against mom, right), and also he may have a latent fear of dogs from when he was young (and knocked over/run over by a big dog off leash).
The past few days Lilly has taken to barking at him. Sharp short barks while she backs up. Tonight my son lept up on our hearth right near Lilly (certainly could be threatening) and she snapped at him. I've asked him not to do this type of movement around her.
I don't think Lilly understand my son and her place in the family relative to him. My son is very inconsistent in his interactions with Lilly, but his interactions tend to be minimal. Once in awhile he'll play with her, but not very often. He never walks her.
We have a total of four of us in the house, myself, my husband, 15 yr old son and 11 yr old daughter. Daughter loves dog and husband is good with Lilly, but not around much. I'm the one who walks Lilly 2 hours/day, feeds her, plays w/ her, etc. 90% of the time.
I've finally insisted that our son have a session w/ a private trainer with whom I've been working. No choice I told him. We have one hour tomorrow and one hour Sunday.
What I'm wondering is Lilly getting aggressive towards my son? Is he in danger of being bitten. In general, she is a very submissive dog, and until the past month or so, rarely barked at anything.
She is our first dog so I'm still learning. I'm open to ideas and suggestions. Please don't bash me for getting a German shepherd for our first dog...I've read tons, have done multiple training classes, exercise her a lot....and in general, think I've done an OK job.
He's refused to come to training classes with Lilly, and when I try to correct what he does with her, he just says "forget it." Lilly had been jumping up on him in the mornings recently, mainly because she was happy to see him. It didn't seem like agression. Clearly this is not OK, and I've now leashed her in the morning, and only let her greet my son when she is calm and has four paws on the floor. I use treats too. My son doesn't like to feed Lilly treats because then his hand is "slimy." (Sigh...remember, he is a teen).
I believe part of why he doesn't like the dog is that I love her (gotta rebel against mom, right), and also he may have a latent fear of dogs from when he was young (and knocked over/run over by a big dog off leash).
The past few days Lilly has taken to barking at him. Sharp short barks while she backs up. Tonight my son lept up on our hearth right near Lilly (certainly could be threatening) and she snapped at him. I've asked him not to do this type of movement around her.
I don't think Lilly understand my son and her place in the family relative to him. My son is very inconsistent in his interactions with Lilly, but his interactions tend to be minimal. Once in awhile he'll play with her, but not very often. He never walks her.
We have a total of four of us in the house, myself, my husband, 15 yr old son and 11 yr old daughter. Daughter loves dog and husband is good with Lilly, but not around much. I'm the one who walks Lilly 2 hours/day, feeds her, plays w/ her, etc. 90% of the time.
I've finally insisted that our son have a session w/ a private trainer with whom I've been working. No choice I told him. We have one hour tomorrow and one hour Sunday.
What I'm wondering is Lilly getting aggressive towards my son? Is he in danger of being bitten. In general, she is a very submissive dog, and until the past month or so, rarely barked at anything.
She is our first dog so I'm still learning. I'm open to ideas and suggestions. Please don't bash me for getting a German shepherd for our first dog...I've read tons, have done multiple training classes, exercise her a lot....and in general, think I've done an OK job.