[peter.shattuck]

We have a 21 month old GSD - male ( fixed )

Most of the day he is with me in my office as I work [ I have the door closed as I have the AC running ] but does go downstairs multiple times during the day with the wife and our older dog ( 8 year old Husky mix - male - fixed ). I exercise him 4 times a week for 30-35 minute going full bore with the frisbee or until he is pooped and stops chasing the frisbee. He has been trained and knows sit/down/stay/place. He seems very play driven ( always has to have a toy )

2 issues :

1) He loses his mind when our older dog is let outside to go to the bathroom. He gets very aggressive and snaps when approached to calm/distract him. I try to be pro-active and distract him before the older dog needs to go out but the older dog has tells that he needs to go and the younger dog has picked up on those tells. He responds to training and learns real quick but I am at a loss to this behavior with the older dog leaving to go to the bathroom and the only thing I can think of is distraction

When he is alone with the older dog ( without the wife being around ) , all is calm. they lie down and chill. When he is with me on the sofa, he will come up with a toy and chew on it. He will try to wrestle with me once in a while but I say no and leave the sofa to let him know we are done.

2) But when it comes to my wife, he cant stay off of her, even when I am not around. He acts likes a big bully with a lot of barking when she is ignoring him which gets the older dog upset ( its her dog ) and he tries to intervene and things spiral from there which means she sends him back in to my office to chill out.

When we are both together, he is very anxious and cant stay still and is always on her which leads to many corrections ( place/sit /down/ stay ) but while he responds correctly to the corrections he will balk at the stay ( which he normally will obey ) and go back to confronting her. We also use toys as a distraction ( including peanut butter in the kong )



Any suggestions or insight?

 

[WNGD]

At a very first response, exercising him just 4 times a week for 30-35 minutes is woefully inadequate. I have a male just a few months older than yours and we're out in varying degrees of walking/hiking and tongue hanging out exercise/training for 1.5 to 2 hours every day including OB and brain work.

Does your wife train/work him at all? That goes a long way to the respect angle imo. I'm a fan of clear, effective, age appropriate corrections when necessary but only when his basic needs are being met. Barking, pushing a toy, "can't stay off her" is indicative of that not being done.

Off leash if possible, flirt pole, 2 ball fetch, brain games, agility; wear that dog out for a few weeks and watch the difference!

 

[Civil DNA]

When we are both together, he is very anxious and cant stay still and is always on her which leads to many corrections ( place/sit /down/ stay ) but while he responds correctly to the corrections he will balk at the stay ( which he normally will obey ) and go back to confronting her. We also use toys as a distraction ( including peanut butter in the kong )



Any suggestions or insight?

This makes no sense to me. You need to be consistent. How do you correct your dog when he disobeys your command?

 

[Apex1]

He will try to wrestle with me once in a while but I say no and leave the sofa to let him know we are done

Oh heavens please tell me you tell the dog to leave the sofa. It's not you leaving the sofa right?

 

[herojig]

At a very first response, exercising him just 4 times a week for 30-35 minutes is woefully inadequate.

Ha! Woeful is a bit harsh. But yes, any GSD needs twice-daily walks and play every day, at a min. But there is such a variation in personalities, no? For non-working dogs, many seem to be lazy as Bleep. Throw a ball a few times and they are done. I've even had one lazy GSD (55kg) want to turn ME around on walks when he got "tired." We had none of that, but I did think his behavior hilarious. But you do influence what you want your dog child to become, lazy or working, sleeping or playing, sugar over veggies, idiocracy over democracy. Which do you want?

 

[Sunflowers]

Up the exercise to every day, at least an hour total, daily.
That’s what worked for me.

 

[herojig]

Up the exercise to every day, at least an hour total, daily.
That’s what worked for me.

true, perfect for senior citizens of the human variety as well!

 

[WNGD]

Ha! Woeful is a bit harsh. But yes, any GSD needs twice-daily walks and play every day, at a min. But there is such a variation in personalities, no? For non-working dogs, many seem to be lazy as Bleep. Throw a ball a few times and they are done. I've even had one lazy GSD (55kg) want to turn ME around on walks when he got "tired." We had none of that, but I did think his behavior hilarious. But you do influence what you want your dog child to become, lazy or working, sleeping or playing, sugar over veggies, idiocracy over democracy. Which do you want?

For HIS dog (as behaviour described) and every GSD I've ever had, it's woefully inadequate to have a happy healthy well adjusted dog.

 

[peachygeorgia]

Yeah, 4 times a week is not nearly enough, as well as the time you're doing every day. I exercise and train 6 days a week, with one relaxation day that still involves some running around outside to potty and puzzle toys.

Your wife needs to give a correction if he won't get off of her, and make sure he listens. I'm sure more exercise would help out a lot, it sounds like he has too much energy and not enough stimulation.

 

[peter.shattuck]

So nothing helpful just some trolling, well I thought i give it a try

 

[David Winners]

1) He loses his mind when our older dog is let outside to go to the bathroom. He gets very aggressive and snaps when approached to calm/distract him.

This is an easy to solve problem with obedience. Down or place. Done

It's a matter of training these behaviors thoroughly and then proofing them. You (and anyone else dealing with the dog) have to be 100% consistent.

He acts likes a big bully with a lot of barking when she is ignoring him which gets the older dog upset

Same answer as above. Down or place.

which leads to many corrections ( place/sit /down/ stay ) but while he responds correctly to the corrections he will balk at the stay

This shows either incomplete understanding of the command or incomplete/inconsistent proofing. The bad behavior can't be worth the correction. The good behavior needs to be heavily rewarded. It has to be worth it to the dog.

No trolls here so stop the accusations. Everyone is trying to help. I also agree that some more opportunities to blow off energy could be useful. I suggest you start your day with some hard exercise. It doesn't need to be a long period. Giving that energy a place to go is helpful with manners.

 

[Jax08]

I wish I was one of those people who have successfully trained one dog to chill while I worked another. But I'm an utter failure in that regard.

 

[peachygeorgia]

So nothing helpful just some trolling, well I thought i give it a try

Its not trolling just because you don't like the answer lol

 

[Jax08]

So nothing helpful just some trolling, well I thought i give it a try

Wow.

So here is something useful. From what I'm reading, corrections work but you haven't properly taught and proofed commands so he's breaking them. You are using distractions rather than obedience. You have a young male dog coming into his own and being a bully towards your wife. It doesn't sound like he's aggressive, more of a pest wanting attention but then it riles up the senior dog. and there WILL be a fight over that eventually where your wife will be in the middle and could get hurt.

99% of the people on this board can not help you online. David may be the only one capable of that. And even then, the best advice it to get a trainer to properly eval the situation in person and teach you how to teach the dog. Timing of commands, rewards and corrections are everything and that can only be taught in person. Not only that, but you need someone capable of setting up the scenario where the younger dog loses his mind in order to correct the behavior and reward the right behavior. That's hard to do when you are taking one dog out to set up the scenario. It really requires a 2nd hand unless you are a pro trainer who has done it all before.

And the reason I've never been successful is I have never really tried to fix it. Now that I have a puppy along with my older two, I will need to because Faren is going to drive me insane. Platz means platz. It doesn't mean throw yourself around in the crate screaming like a banshee.

 

[LuvShepherds]

I have a different solution for your #1. Door fighting is a real problem with competitive or pushy dogs. My male also goes nuts if I take the older female out first. It happened when he was intact and still continued after he was neutered. Yes, I could get him to Place and Wait but place is supposed to be soothing way to chill and he is so intense, it defeats the purpose. So, instead, when he is very charged, usually in the morning, I leash then both then take him out first always. When he’s done, he goes quietly into house and let’s her peacefully go outside. I taught him that by making a very quick exchange. While he is still moving inside she is on the way out. By the time he turns around, she and I are outside with the door closed. Then I can unleash her and let her run around a while. After she’s done, I let her in and let him out then remove the leash so he can run around until he's tired. It seems to be worse the first time they go out in the morningl if he mouths her, then she snaps back and they are off into on upping the other. In the afternoon when they are less hyper I let them both out unleashed together but he pushes out first and I let them set their own pace. If we go away from home to exercise, I take them separately. I call that behavior door frustration because it’s very similar to other types of frustration. He is so excited to go outside that when he can’t he turns on her because she’s right there. Yes, I could train it out of him but he’s so enthusiastic and I use his drive to work with him when he’s off leash and I would rather not dampen his enthusiasm for going outdoors.

 

[David Winners]

I have a different solution for your #1. Door fighting is a real problem with competitive or pushy dogs. My male also goes nuts if I take the older female out first. It happened when he was intact and still continued after he was neutered. Yes, I could get him to Place and Wait but place is supposed to be soothing way to chill and he is so intense, it defeats the purpose. So, instead, when he is very charged, usually in the morning, I leash then both then take him out first always. When he’s done, he goes quietly into house and let’s her peacefully go outside. I taught him that by making a very quick exchange. While he is still moving inside she is on the way out. By the time he turns around, she and I are outside with the door closed. Then I can unleash her and let her run around a while. After she’s done, I let her in and let him out then remove the leash so he can run around until he's tired. It seems to be worse the first time they go out in the morningl if he mouths her, then she snaps back and they are off into on upping the other. In the afternoon when they are less hyper I let them both out unleashed together but he pushes out first and I let them set their own pace. If we go away from home to exercise, I take them separately. I call that behavior door frustration because it’s very similar to other types of frustration. He is so excited to go outside that when he can’t he turns on her because she’s right there. Yes, I could train it out of him but he’s so enthusiastic and I use his drive to work with him when he’s off leash and I would rather not dampen his enthusiasm for going outdoors.

He's trained you to let him out first.

 

[LuvShepherds]

He's trained you to let him out first.

And it’s fine. It works. I actually started them out with her going out first and he never could tolerate it. Just like with raising teenagers I like to pick my battles and I didn’t care that much. It only seems like he’s getting his way but actually she is. My older dog is a rescue and came with her own baggage. There are certain things I can’t do with her. She’s a scrapper and he’s playful. Not a good match when they get into it. She will go after him and he weighs double what she does. So if I can keep her patient it’s actually better for her.

 

[David Winners]

And it’s fine. It works. I actually started them out with her going out first and he never could tolerate it. Just like with raising teenagers I like to pick my battles and I didn’t care that much. It only seems like he’s getting his way but actually she is. My older dog is a rescue and came with her own baggage. There are certain things I can’t do with her. She’s a scrapper and he’s playful. Not a good match when they get into it. She will go after him and he weighs double what she does. So if I can keep her patient it’s actually better for her.

I'm sorry if my reply sounded derogatory. It was a bit curt.

I was just pointing out how things evolved, not saying that it is a mistake. I understand your choices! Whatever works is the right answer

 

[LuvShepherds]

I'm sorry if my reply sounded derogatory. It was a bit curt.

I was just pointing out how things evolved, not saying that it is a mistake. I understand your choices! Whatever works is the right answer

Its Ok. You already said today isn't your favorite day. You are allowed to be curt. It’s not great training, I will admit. But it solved a different problem. Also, my older dog is very senior and if he gets rowdy and bumps into her, even on accident, it hurts and she goes after him. I think we always give people the perfect advice when we don’t always do it ourselves. I almost gave the “right” response, then decided to just be honest. I’m also off subject, as my dogs aren’t aggressive toward us or toward each other. I didn’t attempt to answer the OPs #2. If I had potential aggression in my home, I would step back and do everything right.

 

[David Winners]

I appreciate your honesty. It works for you and your dogs and that's what really matters.