Dog Aggresive 5 Month Old Gsd

[laeral]

Hi,

A friend of mine has a 5 month old male GSD. He is the nicest little fellow, very friendly and relaxed, LOVES people and to play with the other dogs at his home. The problem is that lately hes exhibited quite a bit of fear and aggression towards other dogs. He is totaly fine with dogs he already knows and is happy to play with them but coming into contact with new dogs is very stressful for him.

When he met my dog last week he barged straight up to her growled bared his teeth and immeditalety went to bite, if he was older and bigger and knew what do with his teeth it might have been a bad outcome. we were a bit surprised as he had met her just over a month ago but obviously forgot. He was like this the whole hour we were at her place (obviously they werent together but he could see her in the other yard and each time she made eye contact off he went again barking with teeth bared) He does this to other dogs he meets for the first time too and according to his owner is getting worse.

I have never had a dog with aggression issues so dont know how to approach this. I have suggested to her she should see a behaviourist and soon as obviously its not a behaviour that can be allowed to continue and as hes such a young dog it would be good to begin addressing this now. She was open to this idea HOWEVER she takes him to a trainer (group class) every week. This trainer has told her that this behaviour is nothing to overly stress about and that it will get better with time (never go away) and she will learn how to manage him. What this trainer suggests is that every time he goes near another dog and starts growling she is to tell him to LEAVE IT, give him a correction with the lead and take him off in another direction. Then try again and repeat the process if he growls again. Does this sound right? What do other people suggest would a be a good course of action here?

I should add that apparently about a month ago he met another dog while out being walked who bit Kaiser on the nose quite hard and with little warning. Could his fear stem from this or is this something that may have come up anyway?

Thanks

[Kavik]

I would try to get this person to see a behaviourist. At this age it can probably be fixed or at least greatly improved. This is the age Zoe started showing aggression towards other dogs, and I wish I had seen a behaviourist then instead of trying to deal with it myself. I would also stop group lessons with this dog until they see a behaviourist as it will likely only make the behaviour worse.

[laeral]

I would try to get this person to see a behaviourist. At this age it can probably be fixed or at least greatly improved. This is the age Zoe started showing aggression towards other dogs, and I wish I had seen a behaviourist then instead of trying to deal with it myself. I would also stop group lessons with this dog until they see a behaviourist as it will likely only make the behaviour worse.

I agree abouth seeing someone, dont know that she will as this trainer is telling her that he can deel with it -I hope he can, he does seem to know some stuff about training and dog behaviour.

Hes actualy really good in the group lessons now as he knows all the dogs there and gets on well with them, if anything he gets too relaxed and lazy I suppose if a new dog joins in then yes there could be a problem

I get the sense (and I am no animal behaviourist here) that his aggression seems a little feer based as he growls, snarls and backs away but if the dog stands its ground he will go to bite. Im wondering if its a leadership thing if he doesnt feel secure and feels the need to defend himself from some percieved threat?

[Teebs]

I would try to get this person to see a behaviourist. At this age it can probably be fixed or at least greatly improved. This is the age Zoe started showing aggression towards other dogs, and I wish I had seen a behaviourist then instead of trying to deal with it myself. I would also stop group lessons with this dog until they see a behaviourist as it will likely only make the behaviour worse.

Ditto

I wish i had the money, and the knowledge i would have done the exact same thing for my girl, who was 4 months old when she showed her aggression (i got her at 4 months old) but i didnt think it was a big deal, and thought i could handle it. *sigh*

Good luck to your friend.