I have a 5 month old German Shepard female. Shows signs of aggression with people outside of the house. help?

Question

She is fine with people that come in the house but when we take her anywhere or she is out on the property she barks and growls at people. How can I train her not to do this

Answer 1

dogs are pack animals she is simply protecting you and the area around you. but if you want one of those softie type dogs that are friendly to any stranger than just discipline her when she starts to show signs of aggression. some signs are low growling fixed eyes high tail erect ears and raised hair on the back she will do all this before she starts barking and when you see any of those signs say no immediately

Answer 2

You need to show her that you are the Alpha Dog and get her to just sit and be quiet. Keep her on a leash when you have her outside so that you have control at all times. When she barks or growls, make a quick tug on her lead as a correction. If you want to say "No" in a firm voice, you can, that way she will learn the word and you won't have to always tug her lead, she will learn the word at the same time.

Make sure she knows You Are King At All Times. She should never be allowed to put her paws on you, jump on you, bite you in play, or pay tug of war. Teach her to sit before you feed her - every time.

I have 2 German Shepherd bitches and they look up to me for my every whim. They know I am the boss. You have become this to her because you have a breed that has aggressive tendancies, otherwise you will never know what she will do.

My dogs can go in my front yard, off lead, and I know they will not leave the yard as long as I am there with them. I would never trust them out there alone, however. They are dogs, they are not people. Never assume that your dog can understand like a human...not possible. Learn as much as you can about dog pack behavior and you will have a much easier job training her. I've had great luck using The Dog Whisperer's tips that I've seen on the National Geographic Channel. I've included the website.

Good luck!

Answer 3

Take your shepard out for more walks. When she growls at someone passing by, don't punish her, take her to meet the person instead! My dachshund (big difference, I know, hah!) barks and growls at people from a distance, but calms down if the passer-by pets her and gets closer.

Keep her on a short leash and slowly make your way toward the person. If she still shows alot of aggression when attempted to be pet or shows signs of 'ready to attack mode' (instense eye lock, stiff body language, etc.) then this is a job for professional obedience classes.

Answer 4

The very best thing you can do is find a trainer with German Shepherd experience and take some lessons. And practice, practice, practice. (A pinch collar might help). When she listens to you 100% of the time, and not a minute sooner, start taking her out for walks. Have people prearranged to meet you and have them give the dog treats. Best of luck!

Answer 5

There are simple to more elaborate ways to treat this , but try not to be aggressive to the dog , firstly is simple , No aggressive commands and less treats.A harsher , sterner tone of voice can sometimes work , Outside of that there are the "shock Collars" sounds harsh but i think there around 40 dollars not positive about that , Ive seen them used very very effectively , you place the collar on the dog with shock points or a cable buried around the garden , if the dog goes near the cable its receives a small shock from the collar ( no harm to the dog) Ive seen these things work for pitballs and other known "violent" breeds , hope this helps !!! good luck and hope nothing bad becomes of it

Answer 6

There are many reasons why a dog could be aggressive, without meeting the dog and asking questions the best advice anyone could give you would be to seek professional help.

-could be fear aggression/lack of socialization
-leash-induced aggression
-the dog could see you as one of her resources and "protect" you
or other forms of aggression....

I would bet money that you "comfort" the dog,(Like all well-meaning owners do). What I mean by that is when you dog shows signs of aggression you stroke her body and say "it's OK, calm down baby" this reinforces your dogs behavior and tells your dog that he is right to feel this way. and a "good boy" for acting this way.

This is what to do instead of that....
If you are on a walk and he starts acting this way, think of his aggession as on a scale of 1-10. One being when he starts looking at the other dog, or human, 10 being full-out aggressive barking.
Dont let him get to 10! At soon as he starts looking at the dog, say leave-it! with a LIGHT jerk on the leash (not hurtful, just to get his attention) and keep walking.
Walk quickly, if you are walking slowly you are giving her more time to think!


Let me give you an example of one theory:
1. your dog barks aggressively at the mailman.
2.The mailman walks away.
3.your dog then thinks that his barking caused the mailman to leave and in his mind, this is his reward for his behavior and he continues it.
Unless of course your problem is lack of socialization or poor breeding. then you should still see a professional especially since he shows aggression to people.

Here is an article that I read that works along the theory of changing your dogs behaiour by changing what he percieves as his reward.

Called the two reward system:

http://www.cappdt.ca/public/jpage/1/p/Article2RewardSystem/content.do

Like anything else, it takes hard work....

**Do not use harsh correction,(ie. shock collars, hitting, yelling, harsh leash jerking) this will create a more negative experience and could elevate the aggression, also it could communicate to your dog that being physical is OK.

**It is not ok for you dog to protect you as his resource, then he thinks he is the leader!

** a dog with a lack of socialization needs a leader too, it will make her more secure with herself and her environment.
see this artcle on dominant dogs, (good for becoming a leader)
http://www.broandtracy.org/articles/dominantdogs.shtml

**DO NOT put a halter on your dog, it will make it easier for her to pull you! Halters are desinged for SLED dogs!

** do not put your dog in obedience classes, too much stimulation, he needs to be worked with a private triainer and introduced slowly. Also it is not fair to the other dogs, they will not be able to concentrate let alone if they get attacked

Answer 7

first of all. i just read the other two answers so far.. sprayin her in the face WILL NOT help.
you need to let her know that is okay [like the other person said]. if shes agreesive around people, you need to make it a positive experience: talk to her in a nice, high pitch voice with alot of enthusiasm in your voice. take her for walks. take her to pet stores. she NEEDS to be socialized, if GSDs are not socialized properly they can become very territorial.
my girl is a Shiloh Sheperd [related to GSDs] and shes territorial too but its only because she's trying to protect us.
protection is a good thing but you need to have her see that people coming around the house arent a bad thing. tell her that shes good when she doesnt bark and when she does bark, say No in a firm voice [my dog only responds to German now so we have to tell her that in German].
if she tries to pull at them to go see them then get a harness, that will eleviate a good portion of the pulling.
some dogs are untrainable when it comes to this but if youre determined enough, you can do it and if you really wanna break this habit, hire a trainor - they really help!

Answer 8

Try using a spray bottle of water. Every time your dog goes to attack spray him/her in the face. even if you have to spray it a few times. you should eventually see a change.- one of my co workers is going through the same thing.

Answer 9

You need to re assure her that everything is ok. Shes just defending HER people.Remember dogs are pack animals and you become pack leader to her.

Answer 10

I recomend pawpersuasion.com