Hi

Our 6 month old German shepherd male puppy is showing aggressive behavior
toward our 2 sons. They are 19 and 21. He will bark at the sound of our
older son moving around in his room in the basement of our home. While
barking he will also back away as if he is afraid. We have tried yanking on
his choke chain and correcting him as advised by his breeder, but he still
carries on with the barking. He will let our son get close to him and pet
him, and while he has never bitten him, we are concerned. He is doing
somewhat better with our younger son, since he is around him more. The
strange thing is that he doesn't show any sign of this behavior around any
other males. We have taken him around other family members and their dogs,
and to the pet store with no problems. He is fine with other men that come
to the house and he is fine with my wife and our 17 year old daughter. He
was raised for the first 6 months by a single 60ish woman, who decided he
was too much for her. He is a good dog otherwise, seems to be pretty
intelligent and eager to learn. We don't know how to correct this behavior
and are open to suggestions. Thanks

Sort of interesting Bill.
Is there anything about your son which somehow spooks him? Does he wear a
hat - some dogs are wierd about certain hats. I had a dog who hated one
particular friend. Turned out it was his cowboy hat. Hat removed - dog
greeted him happily.
Does he appear suddenly from the door to the basement as opposed to those
who might knock at the front door and be greeted as friends by you? Consider
anything that makes him very different from your other son. Does he carry a
brief case or guitar or something which spooks the dog? I'm really grasping
at straws here but there are many things which could be the problem. Is he
tall and bends "over" the dog when trying to make friends? Dog's often don't
like this. Does he "like" the dog? Would he be willing to take over the
dog's feeding, walking, complete care etc. for a while. Does the dog spend
any time in the basement with your son? That might help.
Could even be that somewhere during his life he had a bad experience with
someone very like your son.
Can't be much more help with this but something else might come to me and
others will probably also have ideas.
Funny little creatures these dogs. They get ideas in their heads and it's up
to us to try to sort them out and understand. Make sure that you are not
contributing to the dog's worry over your son, by treating him differently
when your son appears as opposed to when others are around him. Your
unwitting nervousness would be quite apparent to the dog who would then have
his ideas about your son confirmed in his mind.
EGD

"Bill Zimmerman" wrote in message
...
Hi

Our 6 month old German shepherd male puppy is showing aggressive behavior
toward our 2 sons. They are 19 and 21. He will bark at the sound of our
older son moving around in his room in the basement of our home. While
barking he will also back away as if he is afraid. We have tried yanking
on
his choke chain and correcting him as advised by his breeder, but he still
carries on with the barking. He will let our son get close to him and pet
him, and while he has never bitten him, we are concerned. He is doing
somewhat better with our younger son, since he is around him more. The
strange thing is that he doesn't show any sign of this behavior around any
other males. We have taken him around other family members and their dogs,
and to the pet store with no problems. He is fine with other men that
come
to the house and he is fine with my wife and our 17 year old daughter.
He
was raised for the first 6 months by a single 60ish woman, who decided he
was too much for her. He is a good dog otherwise, seems to be pretty
intelligent and eager to learn. We don't know how to correct this
behavior
and are open to suggestions. Thanks

"Bill Zimmerman" wrote in message
...
Hi

Our 6 month old German shepherd male puppy is showing aggressive behavior
toward our 2 sons. They are 19 and 21. He will bark at the sound of our
older son moving around in his room in the basement of our home. While
barking he will also back away as if he is afraid. We have tried yanking
on
his choke chain and correcting him as advised by his breeder, but he still
carries on with the barking. He will let our son get close to him and pet
him, and while he has never bitten him, we are concerned. He is doing
somewhat better with our younger son, since he is around him more. The
strange thing is that he doesn't show any sign of this behavior around any
other males. We have taken him around other family members and their dogs,
and to the pet store with no problems. He is fine with other men that
come
to the house and he is fine with my wife and our 17 year old daughter.
He
was raised for the first 6 months by a single 60ish woman, who decided he
was too much for her. He is a good dog otherwise, seems to be pretty
intelligent and eager to learn. We don't know how to correct this
behavior
and are open to suggestions. Thanks




- Yanking him when he is barking at your son might not be such a good
idea that might agitate him more. The best thing will be for your son to
ignore the dog when he comes in and continue ignoring him, by that I mean no
looking at, no speaking to or touching the dog until he calms down. It will
be best if you ignore the dog too. Let the dog be until he seeks contact
with your son. When he seeks contact your son can pet him. A good thing will
be for your son to have a pocket full of treats to give your dog when he
behaves good, as in no barking, no acting out. When your dog has gotten a
bit more comfortable around your son it will be good if your son could do
something with him that he likes, like playing fetch, going for a walk etc.
Your dog sounds lovely and I am sure he will come around and that you have
nothing to worry about. he just needs to get to know your son and be
comfortable around him.

Lone

The dog sleeps in the basement in a cage. He also eats down there and we
let him in and out from the basement. (basement door leads outside)

Reese (my dog's name) will be upstairs in the family room and as soon as he
hears my son's bedroom door open , he goes nuts. He will bark his head off
for ten minutes. If I put the leash on him he will usually stop. Sometimes
I will put the leash on him and hand it to my son. Reese will sit and let
him pet him. 30 minutes later he hears my son's door open and he's going
nuts again.

I'm going crazy trying to figure out what to do..


"Bill Zimmerman" wrote in message
...
Hi

Our 6 month old German shepherd male puppy is showing aggressive behavior
toward our 2 sons. They are 19 and 21. He will bark at the sound of our
older son moving around in his room in the basement of our home. While
barking he will also back away as if he is afraid. We have tried yanking
on
his choke chain and correcting him as advised by his breeder, but he still
carries on with the barking. He will let our son get close to him and pet
him, and while he has never bitten him, we are concerned. He is doing
somewhat better with our younger son, since he is around him more. The
strange thing is that he doesn't show any sign of this behavior around any
other males. We have taken him around other family members and their dogs,
and to the pet store with no problems. He is fine with other men that
come
to the house and he is fine with my wife and our 17 year old daughter.
He
was raised for the first 6 months by a single 60ish woman, who decided he
was too much for her. He is a good dog otherwise, seems to be pretty
intelligent and eager to learn. We don't know how to correct this
behavior
and are open to suggestions. Thanks

Some thoughts... for what they are worth, no more, no less... no
accusations being made...

1. Your dog is a puppy with very little life experience. He is making
a judgement based on darn little... perhaps.

2. Boys in their adolescent years sometimes make shaky decisions, too.
Both of them are in the basement... Same area? Kinda makes me wonder if
your son has done something out of your sight, based on his immaturity
(even if he's normally mature for his age) that has frightened the pup.
This does not mean that he has done it intentionally or that he has hurt
the pup... only that it has effected the pup to produce the behavior you
see.

3. GSDs tend to go through very pronounced fear stages.... several of
them... and one is often around this general age... so his reaction may
be based only on this developmental stage and his selection of your son
to react to in this way.

4. One approach might be to have your son do all or almost all of the
pup's daily care, especially his feeding. This will make the kid very
special to the pup.

5. The confidence-building effect of a basic obedience class, around
other well-controlled dogs, not directly interacting with them, just
learning to understand that he is safe with you, and earns all sorts of
praise and rewards for learning to work with you, may be extremely
helpful in developing strategies to work through the last couple of fear
stages... as well as this one. Classes will be starting right after New
Years...so I'd ask at your vet clinic for which schools/clubs/trainers
are the best, and enroll now.

Jo Wolf
Martinez, Georgia

"Bill Zimmerman" wrote in message . ..
Hi

Our 6 month old German shepherd male puppy is showing aggressive behavior
toward our 2 sons. They are 19 and 21. He will bark at the sound of our
older son moving around in his room in the basement of our home.

I know of no breed that goes through as extreme a developmental fear
period (usually at 7-9 months) as GSDs. The sound of unknown activity
is probably what is setting him off, rather than anything about your
sons. Don't force him to confront his fears right now. Ignore him or
laugh at him to tell him that this is a perfectly normal activity and
nothing to be upset about. Chances are good that it will go way as
quickly as it began.

Lynn K.

"Bill Zimmerman" wrote in message
.. .
The dog sleeps in the basement in a cage. He also eats down there and we
let him in and out from the basement. (basement door leads outside)

Reese (my dog's name) will be upstairs in the family room and as soon as
he
hears my son's bedroom door open , he goes nuts. He will bark his head off
for ten minutes. If I put the leash on him he will usually stop.
Sometimes
I will put the leash on him and hand it to my son. Reese will sit and let
him pet him. 30 minutes later he hears my son's door open and he's going
nuts again.

I'm going crazy trying to figure out what to do..


So what does he do if your "basement" son is upstairs with him and he hears
the basement door?
Sounds to me as though it's the basement which could be making the problem
and not particularly the son.
Maybe he thinks of the basement as "his" place and is guarding it when he
thinks someone is entering etc.
A test would be to have the "basement" son hold him, and you go out the
front door and come up through the basement entrance.
EGD

If my sons walk into the room and sit down, the dog will bark and lunge at
them and even bit them. The treats don't work. He tries to bit them while
they are trying to give him a treat.
If I put the dog on a lead and hand the lead to my son, the dog will calm
down. But, 30 minutes later if my son comes back in the room it starts all
over again.