"Charlie" is an aggressive Purebred GSD. Previousely he has bitten 2 people while "protecting" his yard. He is super loyal however, but only to my uncle "his owner" and my grandma. To everyone else he is aggressive. Now, my uncle needs to move into my grandmas tiny apartment due to medical reasons and the dog is not allowed to come with because of his aggressive nature and size. I have tried to contact local German Shepherd Rescues and such but noone will take on the challenge, which is understandable... We dont want to put a good dog down for no reason whatsoever. I would take him but I have a small dog and I fear for his safety and mine also. My question to you is "Is there anything I can do to help this dog" If I take him off his property will that help? I dont know...
Please keep in mind that this isnt my dog and nothing can be done to prevent the whole moving situation...what do you guys think I should do?
Thanks so much!
Answers:
I own a GSD imported from Germany and I have owned GSD my whole life and have competed in protection, agility, and scent trailing competitions for the last 10 years. I have done all the training for all my dogs learning from my breeder initially who is a 30 year retired K9 officer from Chicago. First off, is he nuetered? If not, this could deffinately help out a lot. GSD's are very protective of there property and you can curve this behavior but it is impossible to get rid of it. Moving him off his property might work for a day or two but he will quickly "take over" any property you move him to and will guard it like his own. To retrain him, it cant be done at the house he is at now. He will need to be taken somewhere else. As far as you and your little dog go, it depends on your personallity. If you are seen as the Alpha female and the one in charge it could work. This is something that you can't do on your own though because dogs like Charlie will only respond to agression with agression. You should get the help of a professional dog trainer to attempt this. You will need to use a variety of positive reinforcement and training to curve his agressivness. Your little dog more then likely would be ok, GSD's are not normally predatory twords other dogs, they are dominant. Which means as long as your dog accepts its place as the #2 dog It would be extremely abnomal for Charlie to just attack it. If your dog tries to challenge Charlie though you would have BIG problems. GSD's also dont normally become agressive like you have stated without some external factors. GSD's are some of the most energetic dogs in the world and need an extrodanary amount of mental and physical exercise and if they dont recieve this they ofter can turn agressive like Charlie has. A GSD needs to be taken on long walks everyday as well as all out runs as much as possible. In addition to this they need a lot of mental stimulation such as constinately learning new commands and activities. If the only commands Charlies knows are Sit, Stay, Lay down, shake, and heel, that is a huge problem. If i were you and you cant get anyone to help you, I would start off by nuetering Charlie if he isnt, and then make sure Charlie gets all the mental and physical exersise he can handle. Remember to use huge amounts of positive reinforcement (high pitched verbal praise and small treats work wonders) These two things could make a big difference. In the end though, it sounds like you will need to get a professional dog trainer to come help you. I hate to hear stories like this and wish you nothing but the best. Good luck, let us know what happens.
P.S. If you are thinking about introducing you dog to Charlie it is absolutely important that you do it at a nuetral site and with supervision. If you take your dog to Charlies "territory" he could respond very poorly, like wise, your dog might not respond well to a strange dog comming on "his territory"
depending on his age he may make an excellent police dog so try them.
otherwise you will have to bring that dog to an obedience school if you are going to keep him.
the dog has issues and i would say its kinder and safer to have it put to sleep you see in papers all the time a dog that bites a couple of times either kills or seriously hurts a child.
you should watch the dog whisperer. go to google and type dog whispere in search box. This guy called Cesar Millan knows dogs.
Charlie sounds like he's very protective, but please keep in mind, most people are not going to want a dog that already has a past aggression issue. You are talking about a possible major lawsuit. It might be something you want to consider when trying to find a resolution to this situation.
I would ask an obedience instructor their opinion, You need to think about the possibilities that might occur to other adults, children, and animals by finding this dog a new home.
put up a fence to surround the dog from ppl and put up a warning signs around the fence you yourself try to let the dog see you more often to get use to you then gain his respect feed him everyday and make sure hes sees u do it and try to play games with him such as fetch to make him like you in return he should like you back
I am not a dog trainer, but have owned several German Shepards, over the years.
German Shepards, especially older ones, do not adjust well
to moves of any kind, even when the original owner is present.
When I relocated with a 10 year old German Shepard, his behavior could best be described as manic depessive for almost a year.
Try advertising in the local paper. Someone might be willing to take him on. Be very up front about the biting issue.
Do not allow him to go to a home with children under age 12, other dogs or cats. Insist on a fenced yard.
I have a 5 1/2 year old female sheperd. She does not like the majority of dogs, Just recently, about 2 months ago, adopted a 18lb, Pug. Kept them seperated for a while. Just to let my sheperd adjust. Slowly, let them get to know each other. Kept them seperated, when not home. Now, there fine, leave them alone, doing great.
I Use to work with a German Shepherd Rescue myself, and I will tell you that we would never take a dog that has bitten someone because of the risk of someone getting bitten if we adopted the dog out. However, I have taken in dogs that are aggressive and it is possible to work through the problem, but it is difficult and by the sounds of it, you are a small dog person and may not be able to take on this task. This is a difficult task that requires alot of work and a strong person. You are going to have to re establish who is dominate figure, Charlie seems to think that he is the one in charge. Food is one of the key factors in re establishing dominance. Is the dog often given food and allowed to eat at his leasure? IF he is, then he is the one that feels that he is the alpha, the alpha can always proved for himself. I recommend one of three things. One seek a professional dog trainer in your area. Two, check out and read some books on the issues. Or if neither of these seems to be an option. Email me, and I can give you some tips in solving the issue. Also, if you email me, let me know where you are from, and we will see if there is someone in your arrea that can help. Good Luck
http://www.leerburg.com -- Greatest website on Shepherds - or any dog. I'm sure Ed Frawley will have the answers you're looking for. If not, you can email him and he will write back within a couple days.
It might be a problem that could be worked through but I do not think you could do it because you are afraid of the dog and he will sense that. You will need to find someone that is experienced with dogs and with behavior.
"We dont want to put a good dog down for no reason whatsoever".
Well there is reason you can not place the dog, you are afraid of him and he has proved himself to be a dangerous dog. All of these are good reasons to put the dog down.
It is better to put a dog down then to take a chance on the dog harming someone else.
I think the dog should be euthanized. A 2 bite history is NOT "no reason whatsoever." It's serious stuff...serious enough that euthanasia should be considered as an option even if the move wasn't going to happen. Your uncle's dog is not only aggressive, he is also unsocialized. The socialization issue alone would make it difficult to find a suitable home for him. Because you KNOW that the dog is aggressive and has a bite history it would be irresponsible for you to rehome this dog with another family. There are very few people out there who would have the time and resources to take on a dog with this many problems, the chances of you finding one of these people are very slim.
It would be far kinder for the dog to be euthanized now, in the presence of those who love him, than to be euthanized later, when he bites someone for a third time and the county takes him away and locks him in a cage in the pound for 10 days before euthanizing him. Plus, as others have mentioned, if you rehome the dog and it bites another person then you could be held responible for the bite as well as the new owner. The new owner would probably be able to sue you, even if you tell them about the bite history and aggression issues.
Euthanasia is never an easy decision. When the reason that it is needed is not physical it becomes even more difficult. I understand that it is hard to come to terms with the fact that a physically healthy dog should be euthanized, but it is the responsible and ethical thing to do.
The good news is that you CAN rehab an aggressive dog.
Read Cesar Millan's books. Contact him if you must.
He might just actually take the GS from you if you have to surrender him.
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