Excitable German Shepherd.

[DRJ5150]

Hi all.

First post. I have 2/3 year old male German Shepherd. I rescued him from the pound about a year ago. When I got him he was all bones, kind of timid and had had no training. In the last year he has learnt all the basic commands, ie sit stay etc, can work on hand signals, and in the last couple of weeks he has figured out heel. He hardly barks. He gets on very well with my other dog, a female 4 month shepherd x staffi (another death row rescue) and before her a 12 year old female shepherd who is no longer with us. Overall I'm pretty happy with his behavior and he has come along way from when I first met him.

Now, the one behavior he has that I can't quite figure out how to change is he 'lunges' at other dogs when on the lead. If I am running or walking him, as soon as he sees another dog his attention just switches to them. Depending on the dog, he will race of towards them. A quick check on the chain does little to snap him out of it. Its not that he wants to attack the dog, he's happy to see them. He is just so keen to meet them that he focuses on nothing else. He will go to the point of the leash where it is tight and even end up on his hind legs in his efforts to get there. Once I get him back we continue our run.

He gets at least an hour walk/run everyday so I don't think its an issue caused by lack of exercise. Even on the end of an hour run when he is getting tired, he can still muster up enough energy to get as excitable as if we had just started.

I have just starting taking him to the dog park. I am leaving him on the leash and just letting him watch the other (better behaved) dogs before I'm going to let him off. I am going to a distance where I can make him lie down and stay, so he can calmly watch without getting himself worked up. Once he's calm I'll take him a bit closer. Once he is calm, I'll take him to fence and let other dogs approach him where they can sniff each other through the fence. If he starts getting exciting, jumping or barking etc, I walk him away and make him lie back down till his calm and we start again. I also walk him along the fence in heel position so he can get used to seeing other dogs without trying to drag me.

I don't think he is aggressive and he definitely isn't trying to attack the other dog. He doesn't bite or growl. I think he overwhelms the other dog who might snarl at him out of fear, because he is a bit 'full on' as he introduces himself.

Can anyone see problems with this approach or have a similar experience? I am aiming to get rid of this behavior so that I can safely walk both my dogs together when my X is old enough to go on bigger walks.

Thanks for reading.

Cheers

[megan_]

Hi DR,

I'd recommend getting a behaviourist who can see what he's doing first hand and can recommend an approach to solving this issue. Where are you located as someone here might be able to recommend one?

A common technique (and I'm not recommending this in leui of seeing a professional) is the "Look at That" game for reactive dogs (whether they are friendly or not). If you do a search on the forum it has been discussed many times. It is a handy way of getting your dog to focus on you rather that something else.

WRT taking him to the dog park - I wouldn't until I had seen someone. Other dogs might run up to him (it happens a lot at parks!) and this might cause him to react. Also, once let off leash he might run up to strange dogs to say "hi" and get in their face. He might be friendly but there are many dogs who don't like this lack of manners and will retaliate. My girl, for example, would not put up with that.

The other issue with your approach (sorry to sound blunt, I don't mean to be!) is that you're waiting for him to react before taking him away. This is a common mistake that people make. Every time he reacts his behaviour is being re-inforced. Dogs are creatures of habit and soon it could just become second nature to him. The trick is to keep him below the reaction threshold so that being calm becomes his new way of life if that makes sense.

[DRJ5150]

Blunt is fine. Its the best way to make sure people understand.

What I should say, though. Is I don't wait until he is dragging on the lead till I address the problem. When running I'll see a dog coming up, I'll tell him to leave it,check his chain, keeping him at heel etc. Even though he is looking at the dog he won't always try and chase it. I guess him ending up on his hind legs would be the most extreme example I could give. I probably should also clarify that it's when he starts showing signs he's getting excited that I move him away and we start again. Having only one attempt at the dog park so far. His behavior was a lot better just watching the dogs. I do understand that him bounding up to other dogs can cause them to retaliate, and thats why I want to sort this issue out before he is off the leash. I just picked the dog park because I wanted somewhere to train where I knew there would be dogs.

I'll be reading up on the look at that game.

Thanks

[Salukifan]

Have you ever considered that constant exposure to dogs he cannot meet is building his frustration?

When you correct his behaviour, you're possibly compounding it. Last person I saw "correct" his big exciteable dog for such behaviour got a nasty bite.

Seriously, get some professional help. You don't know the dog's background and you don't know what the trigger for this excitement is. For all you know you could be witnessing dominance displays or a predatory response.

Find out what's going on and get some knowledgeable assistance with this before even considering letting him off lead for both your dog's protection and the safety of others.

[persephone]

Find out what's going on and get some knowledgeable assistance with this before even considering letting him off lead for both your dog's protection and the safety of others.

I agree here - especially in this day & age , where people can instigate legal action etc for all sorts of things

It would be well worth your while to get him professionally assessed, and then get a plan tailor- made to suit you and the circumstances.

If you say where you are , a reputable person can be recommended for you to contact :)

[Weasels]

IMHO excellent advice given already (as usual :) ), I just wanted to add that keep in mind you've got a GSD at the end of the leash. Although dog-savvy people might understand he is reacting out of excitement or fear, most people will just view it as a large aggressive dog, and might start freaking out and escalate the situation. As Megan said, working under threshold is very important, every time he reacts it is setting your progress back.

Edit: also agree with TW that using a correction in this circumstance is risky; if the behaviour is fear-based it could be making it worse, and if it's excitement he probably won't even feel it. Another reason why professional assessment is so helpful in this situation :)

Edited February 9, 2012 by Weasels

[bianca.a]

Just my 2 cents worth, from my limited experience with my girl. She was much the same as what you describe and then that turned into barrier frustration = reactiveness. We have come a long way but still not perfect yet, slowly slowly! (oh and I did engage a great behaviourist).

[Guest Arcane]

It's impossible to give accurate assessment/advice over the net, but I would be wondering if he is displaying frustrated herding instinct. Have someone assess the dog bearing in mind he is a herding breed. If it's a frustrated desire to herd, i'd look at doing herding training/ classes as an outlet and also so you have correct direction for controlling any herding behaviour.

Of course it may be none of that. It was just another angle that I thought you should explore.

Good luck

[Kadbury]

To DOL

I am sure you will get lots of advice on your particular problem.

Look forward to hearing your progress with your Dog.

[Nekhbet]

Have you ever considered that constant exposure to dogs he cannot meet is building his frustration?

yes and I think the OP is getting there ... DRJ1510 what you are missing is when you tell him to leave, you dont offer him an alternative behaviour you want and keep rewarding for. He's still learning. Now you've told him no, but in the dogs head, given no reason why and nothing else to do. So you simply become a barrier to what he wants which is why he ramps up.

Take food or a toy on the walk with you. There needs to be greater incentive to not bother about those dogs. Walk him quite far from playing dogs, if at all until you build focus, as they will still be more then your rewards at the moment.