My German Shepherd female is aggressive with small dogs, very aggressive.?

Question

My german shepherd female is very mindful of the rules (leaving the yard and ect.) but when the neighbors little dogs are let out it doesnt matter if she is with me or not she disregards all commands and will immediately go right for the dogs, how can i beat this habit, this is not a trait that I want from my dog and really nobody should.

I have a golden retreiver male and she is inseperable with him they have never had a tiff sense the day we got her, which i understand is probably because golden retrievers are naturally friendly and do not enjoy confrontations. I wonder if it has something do do with only small dogs, because when we have other dogs over she will always show dominance but never attack, she looms over them at all times but never vicious, only with small dogs.

Answer 1

Remember that dogs are predators and descendants of the wolf and still show posses' instincts, and behavior traits that is normal for the dog pile. Thus, growling, snarling, baring teeth, snapping and biting is a part of dog communication. Although aggressive dog behavior is normal for a dog, it is unacceptable toward humans.
For a dog, there is always a reason for aggressive behavior. Because humans and dogs have different communication systems, misunderstandings can occur between them.
A person may intend to be friendly, but a dog may perceive that persons behavior as threatening or intimidating.
A dog is not psychotic, crazy, or vicious when displaying aggressive behavior. The most common reason for aggressive dog behavior is instability in the dominance hierarchy of the dog pack, your family.


Dominant Aggressive Dog Behavior:
Dominant aggressive behavior is motivated by a challenge to a dogs social status in the pack, or to control a social interaction.
Dominant aggressive dogs defend their food, dog toys, or other valued objects. Whatever the reason, and whatever the object, the point is that the guarded object is of significance to the dog, and he is willing to fight for it. Even toward his owner.

Fear Aggressive Dog Behavior:
Fear-aggressive dog behavior is a defensive reaction and occurs when a dog believes he is in danger of being harmed. It is your dogs perception of the situation, not your actual intent, which determines your dogs response. For example, you may raise your arm to throw a toy, but your dog distinguishes this as a threat and may bite you, because the dog wants to protect himself from being hurt.

Protective and Territorial Aggressive Dog Behavior:
Territorial aggressive dog behavior is usually associated with defense of property.
Protective aggressive behavior usually is directed toward people or animals that a dog perceives as threats to his pack. Territorial aggressive dog behavior includes territorial investigation, territorial marking (urine, scratch marks, etc.), and defensive and offensive territorial aggression.

Redirected Aggressive Dog Behavior:
A common example occurs when two family dogs become excited, bark, and growl in response to another dog passing by outside their place. (outside the car, outside the restaurant...) The two dogs, confined behind a "wall", may turn and attack each other because they can not attack the intruder. Predation is usually considered as a unique kind of aggressive dog behavior, because it is motivated by the intent to obtain food, and not primarily by the intent to harm or intimidate.

Pain Induced Aggressive Behavior:
This is a natural form of aggressive dog behavior in the pack that occurs when a dog experiences or is threatened with pain, or physical punishment, for defending itself from being hurt or attacked.

Aggressive dog behavior is very complex and potential consequences are serious.

Punishment will not help - it makes the problem worse
Punishing a Fear-Biter will make him more fearful, and therefore a more aggressive dog. Attempting to punish a dominant aggressive dog is likely to cause him to escalate his behavior in order to retain his dominant position. This might result in a severe attack. Punishing a territorial, possessive, or protective aggressive dog is likely to elicit additional defensive aggression.
Seek professional help. An aggression problem will not go away by itself. Working with aggressive dogs requires an animal behavior specialist who understands animal learning theory and behavior.





Dogsites Navigation Menu-------------------------Dogsites HomeClientsAdvertising InformationSign our GuestbookEmail DogsitesDogsites Mini-IndexSitemap-------------------------About DogsitesBreed ProfilesBreeders DirectoryBreeding KennelsBooklistsCanine BragsCanine Search EngineClassifiedsClubs DirectoryDiscussion BoardsHelpInternet LibraryJudges DirectoryLost and FoundNames for your DogProducts and ServicesPublicationsRescue OrganisationsShow EventsShow ResultsStud Dogs and Brood BitchesDogsites WebringWhats New on Dogsites-------------------------Copyright/DisclaimerWeb Site Awards




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Understanding Aggressive Behaviour In Dogs

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Based on a handout written by the Denver Dumb Friends League with the assistance of Suzanne Hetts, Ph.D., Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist. Copyright owned by the Denver Dumb Friends League.


Aggressive behavior is part of the normal behavioral repertoire of almost any animal species, including dogs. Owners are sometimes confused as to whether or not their dogs are displaying aggressive behavior. What is aggression? Behaviorally, aggression is any behavior whose intent is to intimidate or harm another animal. Thus, growling, baring teeth, snarling, and snapping are all aggressive behaviors, just as is biting. Although aggressive behaviors are normal for any dog, they are generally unacceptable in most situations. From the dog's perspective, there is always a reason or motivation for aggressive behavior.

Because humans and dogs have different communication systems, misunderstandings may occur between the two species. A person may intend to be friendly toward a dog, or at least not threatening, but the dog may perceive the person's behavior as threatening or intimidating. Dogs are not schizophrenic, psychotic, crazy, or necessarily "vicious" when they display aggressive behavior. Dogs show aggression for many different reasons and often for more than one reason.

Dominance aggression is motivated by a challenge to a dog's social status or to its control of a social interaction. Dogs are social animals and normally live in groups or packs. Dogs view their human families as their social group. Based on the outcomes of social challenges among group members, a dominance hierarchy or "pecking order" is established. If a dog perceives its own ranking in the hierarchy to be higher than that of its owners, it is likely the dog will challenge the owner in certain situations.

Because people do not always understand canine communication, they may challenge the dog's social position inadvertently, without even being aware they are doing so. Dominantly aggressive dogs may growl when disturbed when resting or sleeping, especially from a favorite spot such as the couch or the bed. Physical restraint, even when done in a friendly manner like hugging may also cause the dog to respond aggressively. Reaching for the dog's collar or reaching out over its head to pet it can be interpreted by the dog to be dominance challenges.

Dominantly aggressive dogs are often described as "Jekyll and Hydes" because they can be very friendly when not challenged. Dominance aggression can be directed at people or at other animals. The most common reason dogs in the same family fight with each other is because of an instability in the dominance hierarchy. More information about fighting problems between dogs in the same family can be found in the DDFL's handout "Explaining Canine Rivalry".

Fear motivated aggression is a defensive reaction and occurs when the dog believes it is in danger of being harmed. Remember it is the dog's perception of the situation, not the intent of the human which determines whether the situation is potentially harmful. For example, you may be raising your arm to throw a ball, but a dog may perceive this to be a threatening arm movement, and bite you because he believes he is protecting himself from being hit or struck. A dog may also be fearfully aggressive when approached by other dogs.

Protective, territorial, and possessive aggression are all very similar, and involve the defence of valuable resources. Territorial aggression is usually associated with defence of property. However, a dog's sense of territory may extend well past the boundaries of his yard. For example, if a dog is walked regularly around the neighbourhood, and is allowed to urine-mark, to him, his territory may be the entire block! Protective aggression usually refers to aggression directed toward people or animals whom the dog perceives as threats to his family, or pack. Dogs become possessively aggressive when defending their food, toys, or other valued objects such as Kleenex stolen from the trash!

Redirected aggression is relatively common but is behavior that pet owners may not always understand. If a dog is aroused into an aggressive response by a person or animal whom it is prevented from attacking, it may then redirect this aggression onto someone else. A common example occurs when two family dogs become excited, bark, and growl in response to another dog passing through the front yard. The two dogs, confined behind a fence, may turn and attack each other because they cannot attack the intruder.

Predation is usually considered to be a unique kind of aggressive behavior, because it is motivated by the intent to obtain food, and not primarily by the intent to harm or intimidate.

Individual Variation

Dogs differ in their likelihood to show aggressive behavior in any particular situation. Some dogs tend to respond aggressively with very little stimulation. Others may be subjected to all kinds of threatening stimuli and events, and never attempt to bite. The difference in this threshold at which a dog displays aggressive behavior is influenced by both environmental and genetic factors. If this threshold is lowered, a dog will be more likely to bite. Raising the threshold makes a dog less likely to respond aggressively. This threshold can be raised or lowered using behavior modification techniques. How easily this threshold can be changed is influenced by the dog's gender, age, breed, general temperament, and by whether the appropriate behavior modification techniques are chosen and correctly implemented. Working with aggressive animals can be a potentially dangerous undertaking, and should be done only by, or under the guidance of, an experienced animal behavior professional who understands animal learning theory and behavior.

The Use of Punishment

Punishment alone will not make a dog less aggressive. If the aggression is motivated by fear, punishment will only make the dog more fearful, and therefore more aggressive. Attempting to punish or dominate a dominantly aggressive dog is likely to cause the dog to escalate his behavior in order to retain his dominant position. This is likely to result in a bite or severe attack. Even if one person can successfully intimidate the dog, it is highly unlikely that everyone else the dog encounters will be able to do the same. Punishing territorial, possessive, or protective aggression is likely to elicit additional defensive aggression.

Appropriate Behavior Modification Techniques

With the use of techniques called counter conditioning and desensitization it is possible to teach the dog a new, non-aggressive response, and significantly raise the threshold at which aggressive behavior is likely to occur. In order to be successful, these procedures must be implemented in a series of very small increments or steps. If done incorrectly, these techniques can make the problem worse, and may put people in danger. They should be implemented by, or under the direction of, an animal behavior professional who understands animal learning theory and behavior.

Preventing Problems

Because both environmental and genetic factors influence how readily any dog will display aggression, dog owners can take several steps to prevent aggressive behavior problems from developing. Dogs with aggressive behavior problems should NEVER be bred, as they can pass these behavioral tendencies along to their offspring.

Between the ages of 4 and 16 weeks, puppies experience a crucial developmental period during which time they form their first social bonds. Puppies exposed to many different people, places, animals, and environmental events during this time will be better able as adults to accept changes in their environment. This socialization process must be done gradually, and in such a way that a puppy has only positive experiences. Puppies socialized in this way will be less likely to be afraid, defensive, and aggressive. Puppies which are fearful and aggressive may need professional help.

Dog owners should NEVER encourage aggressive behavior. Playing tug-of-war or wrestling games encourages the dog to attempt to "best", or "win out" over the owner, which can result in the beginning of a dominance aggression problem. When dogs are encouraged to "go get 'em" or to bark and dash about in response to outside noises or the approach of a person, territorial and protective aggressive behavior may be the result.

Intact males dogs are more likely to display dominance, territorial, and protective aggressive behavior than are neutered males or females. Neutering a male dog will thus help to reduce the frequency of these types of aggressive behaviors. Neutering will not affect fear motivated, redirected or possessive aggression.

Here are my suggestions:

Your dog has dominance aggression, a behavior disorder that can be corrected with time and patience. It must learn to defer to you before you let it do anything-eat, go inside or outside, have a leash put on, sit on the sofa or bed, play with toys, even get your love and attention. Actually, all dogs should be raised this way, and no dog is too old to learn this behavior. It will not lessen your dog's spunk or individuality. It will allow you to have a better, more trusting relationship with your dog and help you control your dog, which is critical if it puts itself in a potentially harmful position.

So starting immediately, your dog must earn everything that it wants for the rest of its life. The dog does this by deferring to you, which means sitting quietly and staying for a few moments.

When teaching your dog to defer, be sure to work with it on a regular schedule of 15 to 20 minutes once or twice a day. Don't scream at or hit the dog; these are unacceptable methods of punishment. Let's review how you teach a dog to sit and stay

difficult and sometimes impossible to change his outlook. Through fear, he may allow one or two members of the family to dominate him but he may never be fully trustworthy around lower ranking members of the family and children. I personally think these dogs are unhappy in their roles and long to have more assertive owners.

Adult dogs should always receive rewards for good behavior and be denied rewards for bad behavior. Normal dogs love to be petted and have their heads patted. If you have a dog that is prone to aggression or bad behavior of any kind always have your dog sit and heel before petting, going outside, or entering and exiting the car. Dogs should be taught to sit calmly when you snap on their leash. These may not seem like important things but they help define the rules that apply to all activities that you and your pet will share. They also teach the dog that you set the rules. You must be totally consistent in your praise or criticisms. The dog will quickly learn that a given behavior always illicits a given positive or negative response from you. Never let him win a showdown or take charge. If you give an inch they will take a mile. Praising and loving a dog spontaneously out of the blue confuses the dog. It also elevates the dog’s social status and can lead to dominance aggression. It is much better to have him shake hands, sit or fetch and then give him all the praise you want. Neutering a dog in adolescence also decreases the likelihood that dominance aggression will be a problem.

You can try to alter triggers in your home that lead to outbursts of dominance aggression. For instance, if a dog growls when you approach it on the sofa make the sofa off limits to the dog. Rather than limit the amount of contact that the family member(s) who are having the biggest problem with the dog have, make that person(s) the primary care giver for the dog. During this period have other family members ignore the dog. Dogs do not dominate people on whom they must rely.

Always reward these pets when they show signs of submission. These signs include laying their ears back on their heads, licking their lips, rolling over, sitting, avoiding eye contact and curling in their tails. Once a dog is displaying some of these activities begin slowly counter conditioning the dog to submission. This is done by getting the dog to allow you to handle its paws, hold it in a sitting or laying position and holding its head still. Make the dog lay down before it is allowed to fetch. Praise him and give him a food treat when he cooperates and gradually increase the length of his lessons.

Dogs that are severely dominant aggressive often stubbornly resist change to their status in the family. There are professional dog trainers who will attempt to modify your behavior toward the dog and the dog’s behavior toward you. But they are not always successful or they may only be moderately successful. Rather than martyr you and your family to a long term, unhappy situation I suggest that families in this situation find another home for their pet. It is amazing how much better a dog’s behavior can be in a new home.

Fear Biting Dogs
The Problem:
These dogs are very uncertain and tentative in their actions. They are sometimes called defensive - aggressive dogs. When faced with new situations with people or dogs they avoid direct eye contact and assume a low submissive stance. They stand with their ears flat against their heads and their tails tucked between their legs. They bend their head and neck toward any individual that seeks their attention while they lick their lips. They will often roll on their backs exposing their belly. Their expression is one of profound worry. They are very fearful about being touched and shy away from being petted stroked or brushed. At any instant they may snap and bite in fear. They strike out silently like a snake, never locking their jaws on another person or pet. They will often urinate and defecate in fear.

The Solution:
Most fear biting dogs were genetically born shy. It is highly unusual for a shy puppy to be born from gregarious, confident parents. One needs to do everything possible to build up these dog’s sense of confidence. Do this with verbal praise, petting and treats. Enlist your friends in this activity. In order not to get bitten, begin this process with a muzzled dog. Just remove the muzzle for the dog to eat. Only feed the dog from your hands. You can crate the dog and let the neighbors feed it when it gets very hungry. If a shy dog comes to you of its own free will it will not bit unless a sudden movement or loud sound is made. Sometimes the pets are so shy that the food treat needs to be put on a long stick at first. With the dog muzzled take him wherever you go to expose him to new people and situations. Begin slowly – no more than the mall parking lot. Try to calm and stroke the dog as you go. Take dog wherever you go. Keep the leash short and taunt. Calm and stroke the pet. Obedience training is very helpful for dogs that are not too shy to go to class.



Hope I was of help to you

Answer 2

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

Answer 3

My German Shepherd is just the opposite, she loves tiny dogs but can't stand large dogs!
You might just need to keep your dog on a leash when not in a fenced yard. That's what I had to do.
Hope this helps!

Answer 4

I have similar problem with my female shepherd. She does not like any female dogs period. She wants to be the only queen. She got along well with my male shepherd who I unfortunately had to have put down 2 weeks ago, and she also got along well with my sister male Boston Terrier, but never the female. I just keep her away, haven't found any cure for her. But she is very vicious when it comes to female dogs. She is so dependent on me, I am her rock. Good luck.

Answer 5

My German Shepard is too. I could never break him of it. I am just really careful about his whereabouts. I keep him inside or in a fenced backyard at all times, and when I walk him, I have a special leash with a handle closer to the dog so I can hold him well when passing other dogs. It sucks, but it works. I wish he played better with others...I can't let him in when my friends stay with me with their little dogs.

Answer 6

Your German Shepherd is territorial.

Any dog she sees is a threat. In her mind it is her duty to defend her territory!

Do you have a fence?

Have fun but be safe.

Answer 7

was she soicalize with dogs as a puppy?you should do research on the internet or pro trainers to see what they say because that is a big issue that can lead to not a very good ending hope you luck

Answer 8

punish her put here in lock down

Answer 9

call the dog whisperer