4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[xChicken04x]

Hey guys, I'm having some real problems with Zara my German Shepherd at the moment. For the first 9 or 10 months of having her she was an absolute angel, but in the last 3 months or so, she has started to become a real pain when we are out walking and it's getting to be an awful strain for me .

I take her for three walks daily, a couple of short 20 minute walks on lead and a big walk for about an hour/hour and a half off lead. Plus regular play time and mental stimulation.

But, for some reason, she has taken to completely ignoring my commands and I'm finding it really hard. She has this weird fascination with other dogs, when we are out walking (with Zara off lead) if she sees another dog then she will bolt after it, completely ignoring my calls, even if I turn and go the other way, she will completely loose interest continue playing. I really don't have a problem with her playing with other dogs, but their owners tend to be wary of her because she's so big. From their point of view I wouldn't be at all pleased with a massive German Shepherd bolting full force towards me with her hackles raised, it's completely unnecessary and unfair on them. But what am I supposed to do? Put her on her lead EVERY time we go past someone? She'll never gets the run she needs if I do that. I decided today to leave her off lead when walking past a man (without a dog) I called "Zara, stay with me" which she did, but at the last minute she went storming up to this old man, barking and had her hackles raised. I was very sorry and embarrassed and told Zara off, but she didn't seem to care. I really have no idea what to do with her, I feel like I've tried everything.

Should I confront these issues, or just keep putting her on her lead? She is absolutely fine at home, but I feel that she is trying to dominate me sometimes. For example, if she has a toy in her mouth, and I say 'leave' she won't. But when she loses interest in that toy and I go to pick it up, she'll quickly snatch it back from me, even though she doesn't really want to play with it. Maybe I should put her toys out of her reach so she has to 'ask' for one?

 

Any help please, I want my Zara back .

[Chucky Mama]

have sent you a pm

[Redwing]

How old is Zara? I read once that at about 12-18 months old a dog will seem to 'forget' all its training and will push the boundaries but should come back in hand when its a little older

 

This turned out to be the case with our dog, he is no angel but seems to remember his training now he is two

[Patricia W]

We've just lost our 15 year old German Shepherd and went through all the phases you're going through. The thing is that they do have a bad reputation with some people, so you do need to take her in hand now. She may be bored as they are very intelligent and meant to be working dogs, but whatever the reason, I'd enrol in a training class again. She'd love them.

 

Tricia

[xScrunchee]

Just my opinion but until the problem is sorted I would strongly advise to keep her on a lead at ALL times, especially given the fact that she was barking and had her hackles raised at a man who didn't even have a dog with him

If I was walking with my children-I would be very angry at an owner letting their dog run at us in a threatening way. I don't mean it to sound horrible but I think prevention is better than cure for the time being so I would 100% keep her on a lead.

 

Secondly, my dog is very aggressive to other dogs. We keep her on a short lead and try to avoid bumping into other dogs. The only time we ever have problems is when someone else lets their dog run about off lead and their dog runs up to our dog

 

If a dog is not 100% obedient and under full control it is actually illegal to allow it off of the lead.

 

Good luck and I hope that you get the problems sorted easily

[xChicken04x]

Hey guys, thanks for your replies. I have taken all of your comments on board.

xScrunchee- I definitely will be keeping her on lead. Her barking at the man was completely unacceptable. It's no excuse but, the last few times we walked past someone without a dog, she'd been fine, just not this time. Although I will say, if there are kiddies around I ALWAYS keep her on lead, no matter how good she is.

When people have dogs with them it's slightly different, but still, she should come back to me no matter how tempted she is to run and play.

 

I have no idea what caused this barking and bolting towards people with her hackles up, because when she gets there, she just wants to say hello.

 

Tomorrow I'm taking her into town. When there’s lots of people, she tends to be Ok, but she gets suspicious of people walking by themselves. I'll see how she goes. Worst comes to the worst, I'll just take her home if she becomes a pain.

 

Redwing- Zara's 12 months old, still very puppyish, but very big and boisterous. I suppose she's just a typical teenaged dog, but I'm going to nip her behaviour in the bud before it becomes a bad habit.

 

Patricia- I did take her to puppy classes for her first 6 months, but to be honest, because she was the best behaved there (hard to believe now!) she never got any attention and I spent every lesson just sitting at the sides whilst the trainer was with the naughty dogs! Then she came into season and hurt her leg, so she was out of class for about four months. By the time we were going to back there was no point as we were so far behind we didn't bother.

 

 

I really am at a loss with what to do with her. How will she learn if she doesn't get exposed to situations? I can't keep her on lead for the rest of her life, but at the same time, she can't go running off like she does. I'll just take it one day at a time. I'll also be taking her to our local pet food store, were they allow dogs. As I said, if she plays up, then she'll be straight back in the car.

 

Thanks for the help guys! I'll update you on our town trip tomorrow.

[xScrunchee]

Pleased you took no offence to my comments as no offence was intended

 

Really hope it all settles for you although it does sound like an age thing .

Just hope for your sake that she passes through this phase quickly

[Chucky Mama]

another pm sent!

[henriette]

Sorry about all the problems you are having with Zara. I have no real experience with German Shepherds but do find we have to constantly top up the training with our 2 border collies (7 years) and huntaway cross (13 years). They frequently have cloth ears when they want to ignore us, so we have to have a go at them a bit. I don't like letting them off the lead when there are other dogs around just incase , but I am a bit of a worrier. I used to have a sheltie who was the sweetest dog ever until he came anywhere near a man he didn't know, then he would nip him. It all started when he was a tiny, "handknitted" puppy who wanted to play with a guy from BT who came to repair the phone line. He was wearing quite flared trousers and Pippin thought they were fun. The BT man's view was different and he kicked him from one end of our landing to the other.

Anyway, all the best with Zara. I am sure it will all work out, but maybe you will have to do more training. They are amazing dogs.

[xChicken04x]

Hi everyone, thanks so much for all your help. I just took Zara into town and she was a little angel . I'm so pleased with her! She walked by my side, we were very close to people and she didn't bark at any of them. Although at first she was very alert, she soon relaxed.

The only time she played up was when a dog started barking and snarling at her. This made her bark in return, the man was very apologetic, but of course, I'm well used to it! Other than that though she was fine, she sat at the curb of every road and waited for me to tell her to go and she stood patiently when an old man stopped and commented on how beautiful she was as I'm sure you can tell, I'm bursting with pride .

 

I was thinking last night what might have started this behaviour, when Henriette’s post reminded me. A couple of months ago, when we where out walking, there was a man stood by himself with a pair of binoculars, he seemed a bit odd to me. Zara was off her lead and was trotting ahead of me quite happily. She got just before the man and turned around to see where I was, once satisfied that she could see me, she turned back around to carry on walking and suddenly this man kicked out at her and shouted "AAAAARRRRGGGGHHHHH IT'S GOING TO ATTACK ME!!!" I have no idea what his problem was, because she wasn't the slightest bit interested in him. She barked and ran back to me. I think this may have triggered her reaction to men by themselves now. She doesn't mind women at all.

 

Anyway, I'm going to carry on working with her to try and get her back to the way she was. I'll keep you all updated on her progress.

[Chucky Mama]

If you have male friends you could get them to meet up with you and her in the park or come over to the house at intervals so that she doesn't devlop a man phobia. My old dog had a hat phobia so had to wear a hat for months to get her over it

[xChicken04x]

Just an update on Zara:

 

Well we've had our ups and downs over the past few days. One day she is the best dog that ever walked the planet, the next she is the naughtiest.

Yesterday I took her to the park. As we were walking there, I turned a corner and saw a lady with a Staffie approaching. I kept Zara on a tight lead and carried on walking. As we got closer the lady made no attempt to move out of my way or cross the road, so I assumed her dog was Ok. However as we got about four metres away from them the dog lunged forward, barking and snarling. The lady apologised and walked off. I was left feeling very proud of Zara for not retaliating and keeping her mouth shut!

 

We got to the park and were having great fun, lots of toy throwing and stick finding! However, I could hear a bizzare snarling noise behind me, I turned around and saw the Staffie at the gate of the park with his owner. I went to grab Zara but as soon as I did, she darted past me to go and greet said Staffie, obviously unaware of his temperament. She got to him and suddenly realized he wasn't as friendly as he looked and starting barking at him and jumping around like an idiot (which is what she does when she doesn't know how to react to something). I called her back but she ignored me. I called her again another three times and she came hurtling back, got half way, then turned around and headed back to the Staffie, convinced he would be up for a game this time . I gave up at that point, as I didn't want her to get hurt so ran after her, put her on her lead a apologised to the owner. She was lovely insited it was her dog's fault. He was the aggresive one, but Zara was still naughty. We then went home.

 

Today, still annoyed from yesterday's events I wasn't sure whether to take her to our local pet store. However, after a lot of thinking I came to the coclusion that if she was naughty she could go back to the car. I needed to bite the bullet and get her problems sorted. I took her for a long run and a few hours later we headed to the pet store.

I kept every thing calm and low key and she reacted very positivly to this. As we arrived I notices a lot of cars in the car park- lots of cars, lots of people and other dogs *gulp.*

 

I kept her on her lead and Halti. Went straight to the chook food section, so far so good. We had passed three people and although she was interested, she didn't bark. Turned the corner to get the Hemcore and as I did I heared a huge gasp. It made Zara jump and she let out a single bark. I relized that the lady to the right of me was stood stone still staring at Zara. I sat Zara down and said "Don't worry, she's fine, she's just got a big gob!" The lady let out a small sigh and told me she "hated" big dogs . I collected the Hemcore and went on my way, with Zara glancing backwards at 'statue lady'.

 

Zara chose a toy for herself and we went to the tills. I sat her down so I could pay. The man came round from behind the counter to scan the chook food and hemcore, as he bent down to reach the bar code, I thought 'that's it, she's going to kick off now!' but she didn't . Infact as he bent over, she proceded to lick the back of his head A quick 'NO' and she stopped, I don't think the man noticed . At this point we where surround by people, some behind me and to the side of me at the other tills. I turned around and noticed a big dog behind me . Zara then turned to see what I was looking at, then stood up excitedly and let out a woof. Although I wasn't overly impressed with the bark, it wasn't half as bad as the usual long

drawn out bark, with her fur up. I tugged her lead and told her 'no' and she stopped.

She was starting to get impatient at this point and started shuffling and attempting to sniff the people around us. The till was playing up. Oh dear. After another 2-3 minutes of waiting Zara let out another bark, just one though. Again I told her 'no' and she was Ok after that. I walked out of the shop absolutely beaming. She was so good, only barked three times, and they weren't nasty barks. The last one was a "Muuuuuuuum can we go now?!" .

 

So there we go, she has good days and bad days. I wonder what tomorrow will bring?! I've been on various German Shepherd forums and apparently every German Shepherd owner has been through the naughty teenager stage! They tend to calm down at about 18 months, she is 16 months now, so I'm hoping if I keep up with her training, she will calm down soon.

 

 

Wish me Luck!

[Patricia W]

GSD are very vocal! Hence the barking and that lovely high pitched woo woo when they are excited. OH has now said 3 times in front of witnesses, " You should get another one"..... Notice the phrase is " YOU should....

 

Tricia

[xChicken04x]

Hi guys, just another update.

 

Well, over the past few days Zara has been fairly good. She was naughty yesterday when we were out doing a local walk, she barked at an old lady. But- to be fair, and I know this sounds slightly harsh, but the lady was walking with a limp. Zara doesn't quite understand people with disabilities and doesn't know how to react when somebody is behaving differently. She only barked once, no hackles up or anything like that, so compared to what she would normally do, she was a perfect angel.

 

I took her to the shore, for her normal daily run. She started off fine and it was a very quiet day. We passed several people on bikes and just walking by themselves. I called Zara to me each time and held onto her collar, so she didn't go to greet them. She was perfect, no barking and not that interested in the people. We were walking along the path that leads to the beach. There is a wall to the left and beyond that wall is lots of fields. Zara put her too front paws on the wall and looked over, two dogs saw her and hurried over to say hello. I stood next to her to make sure she didn't get over the wall. The dogs came over and started sniffing at her, she was wagging her tail and was very happy with all the attention she was getting, she only kicked off when the other dog's owner called her dogs back. Zara wanted to continue sniffing, so let out a small 'puppy bark' when we had to go.

 

On the way back, however, she was a bit naughty. We always go to the pond in the fields to see the ducks (Zara's favourite part) and as we were approaching, Zara's ears pricked up and she bolted off . I was desperately looking around to see what she was after, when she came hurtling back around the corner with a black lab in hot pursuit . I called her and good enough, she came too me. I couldn't see the lab's owner so stood and waited. I then heard 'FRANK, COME HERE!' Frank, however, wasn't having any of it and enticed Zara for round two of the game, to which Zara happily obliged . As Frank wasn't responding to his owner, I decided to head in the opposite direction and hope that Frank would go back to his owner. Eventually he did, but as we were heading up the field, I heard 'FRANK, COME HERE NOW!!!!' I turned around and saw Frank playing with two new dogs . His poor owner couldn't get him to come back. This made me feel much better about Zara's behaviour .

Anyway, it was time to go after an hour and a half and we headed to the car park. She spotted two Jack Russels and bolted again. I called her, but she ignored me, so I shouted, 'Zara, I'm going this way' and ran in the other direction. She stopped dead in her tracks about 15ft from the dogs and turned around and came back to me . A major break through, she could have easily got to the dogs, as the were up for a game just as much as she was. So I'm really pleased with her. We went to the car park and she saw the same dogs, by the car next to ours. Zara was on her lead, and the Jack Russel's weren't I was expecting Zara to start barking, as she doesn't like dogs approaching her when she is on lead, but she didn't. She was interested in them, but she didn't say a word . Anyway I went home a very happy bunny. I have learned that I have to be patient with her, and she isn't the only dog that likes to meet other people/dogs. But her breed tends to let her down.

 

I'm going to take her to a completely new park later on, I'll let you know how she goes.

[Couperwife]

wow, sounds promising

 

ooh, poor Franks owner , sounds like they have a bit of a handful

 

cathy

x

[Patricia W]

GSD's are so intelligent, she will get it soon. Our Callie used to " supervise" the behaviour of our cocker spaniel, Holly. If she thought Holly was being too boisterous, she'd give her a real telling off!

 

Tricia

[xChicken04x]

Hi guys, just another update.

 

Well, for the past few days she has been wonderful. Very obidient etc. She has been leaving her toys when I say so and completing commands without as much fuss. I think not letting her on the couch and making a point of not letting her get away with misbehaving has helped a lot.

 

However, today she was slightly naughty . She was playing with four lab/retrivers, but she always goes over the top and because she is so big and doesn't know her own strenght she accidently made one yelp. I couldn't figure out whether it was a playful yelp but it seemed fine and the owner just laughed. I have noticed though, it is becoming more of a regular occurence for her to become too boistrous. She is very dominant, so will put her paws over the other dogs she is playing with, the owners aren't phased by this and tell me she is just playing, but I can't help but feel uncomfortable with how she plays. I don't mind her running and chasing, but when she is climbing on the other dogs, I don't like it. Any ideas? Do any of your dogs do this?

 

Another question I have is regarding her recall. As you know, she can be naughty when she sees other dogs and will bolt for them (usually before I have even seen them). This is something I will not tollerate and so I'm working on it. But when I see another dog heading my way, should I put her on lead, or is this just giving her the idea that she needs to be worried about them and the people? Or should I leave her off lead so she can play with them, or is this just giving her the idea that she is allowed to run after whoever she wants? I have been told by several people to leave her off lead, and the novelty of playing with other dogs will wear off? Is that true, or am I then just giving in to her? Any ideas?

[Chucky Mama]

She is a big girl and another dog yelping will tell her that she is being too rough. Some dogs will yelp just in case they get hurt, especially small dogs. If other owners aren't worried then don't worry. I would leave her off the lead as dogs on the lead, particularly a guarding breed such as yours will become protective and may become agressive if kept on the lead. Also she will pickup on your anxiety. Hiding on walks is a good way of making your dog keep an eye out for where you are. Obviously choose your moment so that she doesn't get into a complete panic and get lost I did it with all of my dogs when they were young and still do from time to time when my dog gets cocky. It makes they not let you get out of sight and stops them from going too far ahead or stay too far behind.

 

Sounds like things are very positive though. Keeping her off the sofa is something you should keep up. It will be 2 years before you are close to having her sorted so keep at it.

[xChicken04x]

Hi, thank you so much for your wonderful advice as always. Your right, she is getting much better. The changes are so subtle that sometimes I don't even notice, but thinking back on today, she was absolutely brilliant and I only heard her bark once, just from pure excitement.

 

I have tried the hiding thing, it works a treat, but I always feel so guilty! I always pick a place were I can see her, but she can't see me. Bless her, she is just trotting along and when she realizes that I'm not there, the look of panic just makes my heart melt as she frantically looks around for me, she always tracks my scent back to where I am and I give her lots of praise and fuss for coming back. I find she stays next to me more after she's had a little scare.

It back fired on me the other day though. Zara was being naughty and refusing to come back to me. She hadn't seen another dog or person, she just didn't want to . So the next oportunity I got, I hid behind a bush and watched her. About 30 seconds later I felt someone behind me, I turned around and saw a man standing over me and he asked if I was alright . I stood up quickly and said 'yes, I'm fine, I'm just hiding from my dog' after I'd said it I realized how stupid I sounded . Zara heard my voice and came running in a mixture of relief and protection and started barking at the man . I couldn't help but laugh at the whole situation . The poor man walked away very confused.

 

I also find stopping and turning the other way helps, so that she isn't in control of which direction we are walking. She now seems to stop and look behind much more often. She is just very head stong and independant, so has her own ideas about where she goes/who she sees/what dogs she can play with/how fast we walk, the list goes on.

 

Ho hum, I still love her .

[Chucky Mama]

You are now doing so many good things with her, it sounds like you are now much more in tune with her. It is so reassuring to know that you have a dog that will protect you when needs be. I am sure that whist you have some months of hard work ahead, you will get there and will at the end have a dog to be really proud of. Be tough though, you have to win any mind games (for instance, never play tug of war games with her unless you can win pretty much everytime - if you can't, don't play them)

[xChicken04x]

Another update:

 

Well, I'm in complete shock . She was absolutely wonderful today! I've started to take her to a new park (Royden Park, for the locals, absolutely beautiful) and she was MARVELOUS!!!! Over the past week, I've noticed small changes from how she was. I think the problem was that I was expecting her to be a naughty puppy for the fist eight months, then settle into an adult. It was very naive of me, but I wasn't aware of this 'teenage' stage they go through, stupid I know.

 

But, I taken her to the park, and I can judge how many people there will be there from the number of cars in the car park. There was LOTS of cars, so I was slightly worried. Still, we pressed on and wondered up to the woodlands. Zara is always on lead when we are in the car park and until we reach the field, to make sure there are no kiddies about etc. So we got to the woodland and as soon as we entered, she bolted . I quickly called her and she came straight back , hadn't even got to the other dog yet! I shouted to the man 'is your dog Ok to play?' and he said 'yes' so Zara and a huge Boxer played for a bit. All was going well, until further up the path she spotted another dog, she bolted again. I called her and she came back straight away, again before she even reached the dog . I thought the first one was a fluke, but no, this time she really wanted to come back to me . Lots of treats and fuss for her. Then as we were walking we wondered into a field, and saw a man with two women and another German shepherd. I was heading towards them when I realized that they were doing some sort of training class, so casually walked out .

I was walking back up the path (Zara off lead) when the man came running over. Oh dear, I thought, Zara wont like that. But I stayed calm and relaxed and left Zara off lead. The man came over to fuss with Zara, and surprisingly, she didn't bat an eyelid No hackles raised, no barking etc. She just stood next to me. He was talking about his dog for a while and was telling me how naughty and disobedient he was. He complimented Zara's behaviour and I was beaming.

 

The walk was pretty quiet until I saw two people and a pack of dogs. I held Zara's collar, but didn't put her on the lead, since the other dogs were running and playing together. I let go once we got chatting and Zara played happily with the other dogs. She let out a few excited yelps, but she was happily sniffing etc. Until, one of the dogs turned on her . It wasn't bad, she just got a bit of a bite, no blood drawn etc. The lady was very sorry, but to be honest, I think she needed putting in her place a bit. The lady said that this dog is very dominant and will bite, if she isn't getting any attention . Anyway, as a fluke, I actually caught it on video. I personally don't think Zara did anything wrong, but I'll post it later to see what you think.

After that we were walking back and we saw three greyhounds playing together. Again, Zara was off lead, she was fine, she didn't even bother running after them, she stayed with me . I was so proud of her.

As we were walking across the main field, three Rhodesian Ridge back's (sp?) were in front of us. Zara headed towards them, but came straight back when I called her. The lady shouted to me 'My dogs are ok to play if yours is?' so I let her play. Then out of no where four other dogs appeared and they all played together. It was wonderful to see her interacting with other dogs and she was really careful with the little Westie.

 

I'm in absolute shock at how well behaved she was. Just some simple changes has really helped and do you know what? It was never Zara's fault, my own insecurities were reflecting on Zara's behaviour and in that sense, I feel really guilty. I'm just glad I recognised it before she grew up too much and became set in her ways.

 

Thank you all for your wonderful advice. I'll post some (not very good) pictures of her in the park later.

[Chucky Mama]

Well done both of you. Don't sit back though, keep going with the training. She wont be the finished article for some time yet but you are on the right road now

[Chickvic]

Well done! I hadn't posted on here because I don't have a dog and wouldn't have a clue what to say but obviously what you've been doing has worked!

[xChicken04x]

Thanks guys, definately not the end of the road for her yet, still PLETNY of training left , but I'm sure we'll get there and it will all be worth it.

 

Here are some pics of her to show you how much she's growing. The mask on her face isn't a muzzle as most people think, it's a Halti to spop her pulling.

 

 

 

 

 

Action shot

 

 

 

 

 

One thing I am very worried about is my sudden broodyness for a Labrador. It's absolutely barmy but I would love to have a friend for Zara and reading about Lesley's new lab pup really hasn't helped . Maybe in a few years when Zara has settled a bit and I've won the lottery *sigh*........

[Chickvic]

She's gorgeous