How Do You Get Your German Shepherd To Stop Aggression Toward Other Dogs
Preventing dog attacks is a priority to avoid any damage your German Shepherd may cause other dogs or the people around trying to stop the attack.
Consider the following to help your German Shepherd with better behaviors around other dogs.
- Counter Conditioning using treats and rewards to positively associate other dogs with good things your Shepherd likes and enjoys
- Desensitizationtraining having your German Shepherd around other dogs in short spurts to get them used to other dogs
- Shaping your dogs behavior rewarding tiny steps toward good behaviors
- Training competing behaviors teaching your dog basic commands so you have a different behavior that competes with their aggression or attacking;
- Visiting your vet a checkup can rule out any underlying medical conditions
- Finding an animal behaviorist a dog behaviorist can help you build a program to treat the aggression
- Getting the right exercise aggressive dogs do better with their behaviors when their physical fitness needs are met
Its important to remember to stay calm and to not yell, jerk, or cause your dog any more anxiety than they already have around your other dog.
Instead, stay focused on signs that your dog is about to become aggressive to other dogs or attack them.
Use Rewards To Increase Positive Behaviors Around Other Dogs
Another option you want to use is to train your German Shepherd to enjoy being around other dogs more by using positive reinforcement training and counter-conditioning.
Counter conditioning teaches your German Shepherd that it will receive good things when other dogs are around it.
Basically, youre training your dog to like other dogs through rewards. You might think that training your Shepherd this way would reinforce bad behavior, but counter-conditioning creates a powerful positive connection with other dogs.
This strong association outweighs their bad behavior.
Whenever your dog is around other dogs they might show aggression to, offer them small bits of cooked bacon or the Ferrari of training treats
Set aside special treats that you only give your dog when other dogs are nearby so your German Shepherd makes a strong connection between the treat and giving you their attention.
Stop German Shepherd Barking Problems Once And For All
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German Shepherd barking can become a problem for a variety of reasons.
But as dog owners, we’d be unreasonable to expect our dogs never to bark.
Dogs are made to bark, it’s an essential method of communication that dogs can’t do without.
The trick is rather to get excessive barking under control.
Before we can work on how to get German Shepherd barking under control
Let’s first wrap our heads around the reasons why dogs bark.
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Why Your Dog Barks At Certain Dogs
Below are some common reasons why your dog might bark at certain dogs and not others.
Excitement
The reason why it does it might be that it is excited. This would be more likely if it does it when the other dogs are not being threatening and if your own dog shows signs of excitement in its body language.
Signs of excitement could include wagging its tail, licking and having wide-open eyes.
It would also be more likely if it does it when the other dogs are dogs that it has played with in the past or if the other dogs are showing signs of excitement around it themselves.
Mistreatment
The cause might be that it was mistreated by those dogs in the past. This would be more likely if it only barks at dogs that it has interacted with before and if it shows threatening body language towards them. These signs could include showing its teeth, a curled nose, pulling its lips back and a stiff tail.
It feels threatened by them
Another possible cause is that it considers the other dogs as being threatening. This would be more likely if it does it when the other dogs are showing threatening body language, if they are large dogs and if your dog is showing threatening body language towards them itself.
Prey drive
Its being protective
The cause might also be that it is being protective. This would be more likely if it does it when the other dogs are approaching yourself, when they are on its territory or when they are showing threatening body language.
Some Things To Keep In Mind
Dont use any physical methods to train your dog. Like an electric collar, it will frighten the dog. Dont force your dog to bark. Not every dogs nature is same.
Some like to be quiet. If it does not want to bark try other ways to get your thing done. For example, if it poops without barking, you can set a bell. Train it to ring the bell when it needs to poop.
Train it the right way so that it does not cause excessive barking. Train it to bark only when you want to, otherwise soon new training will be needed to reduce barking.
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My German Shepherd Puppy Is Over
German Shepherds are very friendly and loving animals. But not all time the friendliness is good. There are some people who do not like dogs, if they lick them that will be a problem.
Also, those strangers that are bad and can cause harm to your puppy if it does not bark at this situation, it will be a matter of concern.
Why Does My Dog Bark At Other Dogs
Whether its yaps at your new puppy or woofs at the dog across the street, dogs bark at other dogs for a variety of reasons.
You take your dog for a walk and across the street he spots the neighbor’s German shepherd. Your dog slows his pace, his ears prick up, his tail begins to rise up and wag, and then a boom of loud woofs erupts. You struggle to keep walking as he is determined to stand there and bark for as long as possible. This continues until your dog can no longer see the neighbor dog, but you know that as soon as his eyes land on that Golden retriever ahead of you, it will happen again. So what gives? Is your dog unfriendly? Scared or anxious? Or does he just think every dog he sees is a new opportunity to warm up his vocal chords?
Barking is a complex series of behaviors that serves myriad functions. Dogs bark at new people, at fast-moving creatures, and, yes, at other dogs. Not every barking dog has real intent other than to say “hello,” and the context, frequency, and intensity of your dog’s barks are critical factors in determining why your dog feels the need to be vocal. It’s important to pay close attention to your dog’s body language whenever she starts to “yell.” Without being there to witness it, a behavior expert can’t say with 100% surity why your dog is barking at other dogs in every situation. However these are the three most common reasons I explain to clients why a dog may bark at other dogs.
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What Does Not Cause It:
Unfortunately, many experts are extremely misinformed about this and most other behavioral issues. Here are the most common and incorrect explanations they provide:
- The dog is dominant and wants to fight every other dog.
- Dogs have been selectively bred over many generations to avoid conflict a species that is genetically predisposed to fighting tends to make itself extinct. Also, if the dog was a natural born fighter, he wouldnt be an angel at the off leash dog park.
- The dog doesnt respect you as the leader or alpha or whatever and therefore is protecting you.
- There is a behavioral issue called resource guarding where dogs guard their owners, but it is far more rare and typically occurs on or off-leash.
- On-leash reactive dogs can be extremely well trained in obedience, and do everything their handler asks, and still lunge and bark.
- You are not calm and assertive.
- You could be totally oblivious to the fact theres a dog approaching and the leash-reactive dog would still bark and lunge if they see the other dog first.
Step 7: Use Sight Barriers To Prevent Your German Shepherd From Barking At Strangers
Territorial and alarm barking arise when your dog sees or hears something that excites them. This is why your German Shepherd barks at the living room window or along the fence as strangers walk by.;
The fastest method to stop barking at the window or in the yard is to control their environment. Block your dogs view of potential barking triggers, like strangers or neighbors, by physically making it harder for them to see the excitement.
In your yard, install privacy fencing or place reed fencing to fill in the gaps in the fence and cut off views to adjoining yards or activity in the street. Indoors, leave the curtains or blinds closed.;
Keep your dog away from the areas where strangers walk past, like your front door and rooms near the street or sidewalk. If your dog barks at strange noises, then install a white noise machine to help blur the background sounds that cause them to bark.;
If you arent meeting your dogs energy needs on a daily basis, they are more prone to barking at strangers. Use this guide to exercise your German Shepherd and meet their physical needsto reduce unwanted behavior.
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Age Of Your German Shepherd
When your German Shepherd becomes 4 months old it starts to bark at sounds or things. Some may be late or some may be early in that case.
Also when your German Shepherd is old, it does not react to things that it used to be. It may develop a hearing problem with the age as a result it will not bark. Your German Shepherds age can be a big reason for not barking.
>> Why Does German Shepherd Bark So Much
There are some reasons for their barking. They bark to express their feelings, emotions. Sometimes they bark to protect their owner. As intelligent creatures, they were kept to be a herder so that they could warn of danger.
Also, they bark to communicate with others. Sometimes they bark a lot that owners want to reduce barking. Barking is like an important tool for the German Shepherds.
Police train their German Shepherd to bark when it senses danger, drugs, or other things that can cause danger.
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Prevent Your Dog From Barking And Lunging
This is an integral first step. Make sure you know exactly what causes your dog to bark and lunge. Is it kids, dogs, men in hats, bikes, cars?
Then make sure you know how intense that thing has to be to cause problems. For some dogs, a sleeping dog across the street is no biggie, but a running dog in agility class is a Very Big Deal. Distance, speed, number, and volume of the bad things can all change how your dog thinks about them.
Now its time to avoid those things. Exposing your dog to them over and over wont cut it. This isnt about socialization. Its a bit late for that!
You might need to change the time and route of your daily walk. Start paying attention and crossing the street when you see the triggers. Turn around if you have to.
Basically, do everything that you can to avoid putting your dog in a situation where shell bark and lunge.
How To Reduce Barking
A German Shepherd will typically bark as often as its owner allows, or in other words, how much it is trained to bark.
Barking can still be an important tool for German Shepherds. Many policemen or other servicemen train their German Shepherds to bark when it senses drugs, danger, or anything else it may need to alert others about.
German Shepherds take time to train, but they are intelligent and able to pick things up quickly, so long as training is consistent.
There are a few things to try when training a dog to reduce its barking. One method is to train it to bark on command and from there to stop barking on command.
To do this, get your dog energized and excited so that it barks. The open and close one hand as if your hand is speaking, and say the command word, such as speak to your dog. When your dog barks, give it a treat. After it starts to get it, dont reward it for barking more than once so that it understands you only want one bark.
After your dog understand what your command and hand signal means, you can now do the opposite. Get your dog energized and excited again, and get it to bark. Put your hand in front of its face so that it sees, and make a sign for quiet while saying the word quiet, or stop, or whichever command you choose.
Once your German Shepherd stops barking, reward it with a treat. Eventually, it will understand what both of your hand signals and commands mean, and it wont bark when you dont want it to.
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How To Make It Stop
Hearing a dog bark constantly is very annoying and totally unbearable. When you get the first complaint from your neighbors telling you that your dog couldnt let them sleep, act immediately. Take notice of the situation and try to figure out what pin-pointed this behavior. If you continue to get complaints from other people, try the following techniques.
- Try to understand what your GSD really mean when it barks.
- Is it angry or just wants to play? This will help you deal with the situation in a more effective way.
- If your GSD starts barking whenever you have a visitor at the door, take help from voice commands.
- The commands you can use to tell your dog that barking is not appropriate are; No, Stop, and Quiet.
- If your dog continues to bark, try to distract it.
- When a GSD barks at visitors, this usually means that it is trying to protect its family and territory.
- If so, let your dog know that it is in a safe environment.
- If your GSD stops barking once you let the visitors in, offer it a treat as a sign of appreciation.
- Repeat this for several times until your dog creates the connection and learns to stay calm whenever someone rings the doorbell.
Why Doesnt My German Shepherd Bark
While having a German Shepherd that doesnt bark may seem like a good thing, it can be a bit worrisome when it doesnt bark at all.
This post will give you a number of reasons why your German Shepherd might not be barking and will show you a number of things that you can do about it.
So, why isnt your German Shepherd barking? The main reasons are a timid personality, needing time to become comfortable in its new surroundings, an illness, age , bad past experiences and previous training to stop it from barking.;
While an overly;quiet German Shepherd isnt something to be too concerned with by itself. It would still be worthwhile to figure out why it isnt barking. Also having your dog learn to bark in certain situations so that you can help it such as when it wants to come inside.
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Your German Shepherd Is Bored
A bored dog of any breed is often a barking dog. Dogs can get bored just like people get bored.
While this may not be as much of a problem in some dog breeds that are more like couch potatoes, in a true working dog breed like the German Shepherd, boredom can be a huge trigger to bark.
Barking is a way your dog communicates to let you know they are bored and want some activity or a job to do. This type of barking is unlikely to resolve on its own.
Get Your German Shepherds Attention Before They Have A Chance To Bark At Strangers
Timing is everything, so have your treats readily available to offer your dog.
You are looking to get their attention away from the distraction.
If your dog is so focused on the stranger they cant pay attention to the super tasty treat right in front of their nose, then move away from the stranger because youve surpassed your dogs threshold.
Many times, I have my German Shepherd perform the sit when were coming upon strangers and I think shes about to bark. I take a few feet back from the sidewalk with her and this distracts her to perform another activity, walking away and the sit, while she eats the treats and the stranger walks past.
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Remember that learning a new behavior takes time, especially a self-rewarding behavior like barking. This means your dog may take weeks and weeks of training to curb its desire to bark at strangers.
Keep rewarding them with pea-size pieces of soft treats when outdoors and when they look at you and sit , instead of barking.
Have patience and dont lose your temper.
Eventually, youll be able to have your dog closer and closer to strangers without them barking.
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