How to Train a German Shepherd to be Friendly

Hello Ash, The article "How to Teach Your German Shepherd to Be Friendly" was written mostly for dogs that lack confidence or are still puppies and you are trying to prevent issues, so most of those methods will not help him. For Raj I would highly recommend a Private trainer who has extensive experience dealing with dominance type aggression. You are right to suspect that he has issues with it, and in his case I would not wait to address it. Obedience will be a very important part of his treatment but he needs more consistency, firmness, and leadership than a typical positive reinforcement or clicker training class will provide. He needs someone who can show you how to lead him intellectually and through consistency, boundaries, and structure. Look for a trainer who utilizes both positive reinforcement and fair corrections, who has extensive experience dealing with dominance related aggression, high drive breeds like German Shepherds, and who emphasizes gaining the dog's respect in an intellectual way and through the use of body language and consistency and boundaries and not just by doing physical things like pinning the dog down. Neutering is certainly not a bad idea in his case because it will help decrease some of the potential hormonal contributors, but it will not be enough by itself. He needs behavioral modification. He likely has some defensive drive, fear related aggression toward strangers after his incident with the teenagers, but his aggressive display toward you is even more concerning. That is not fear related and needs to be addressed immediately. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello Miranda, As a German Shepherd he is likely naturally prone toward protective and territorial behavior. If he is growling at you and your daughter that is a very different type of aggression, but the aggression toward guests is likely related to him getting comfortable enough in your home and with your family that he views it as his own now, and is trying to control the situation. That doesn't make it any less dangerous but lets you know it could be partially genetic, increased by the fact that he has an unknown history and may not have been socialized around strangers - so people are even more suspicious than they should be. If highly suggest hiring a trainer in your case. He may always have a tendency to want to protect but with a lot of training, building his respect for you, and improving his socialization around other people, you can often help a protective dog learn to look to their owner for direction and decision making instead of them trying to handle situations on their own. This can take a lot of training and long term management to accomplish and maintain though, so the outcome will often also depend on whether you have the ability and willingness to provide that. He will likely never be a dog that you can just let him do whatever he wants without worrying. Instead he might be able to become a dog who can stay on a Place bed (because you told him to) and focus on you while you let him know that he shouldn't worry about someone entering your home (when guests are coming and going). Opposed to him being loose and unsupervised while people are coming in and out of your home. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello Rayna, It sounds like she has become an inside dog after having been an outside dog in the past, so you are wanting to potty train her? If so, I suggest following the Crate Training method from the article I have linked below. Since she is an adult, you can adjust the times, taking her potty every 3-4 hours while home, giving up to 3 hours of freedom before crating again if she doesn't potty when you take her - until the next potty trip in 1-1.5 hours, repeated that often until she finally goes potty, and teaching the Go Potty command and rewarding her when she does go, like the method mentions. When you are away all day at work, she should be able to hold it in the crate for 6-8 hours, but take her potty more often when home. https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-german-shepherd-puppy-to-poop-outside For the socialization, check out the article linked below and the section on people: https://www.petful.com/behaviors/how-to-socialize-a-shy-dog/ If there are any signs of aggression, opposed to friendly over-excitement, I suggest hiring a professional trainer to help you, taking precautions like a basket muzzle and secure leash/training collar/harness type equipment setup that's secure. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden

Hello Genevieve, For the jumping, check out the article linked below and the Leash Pressure and Step Toward method. With yourself, you can do either, but I you can do the leash pressure method for guests without them having to step toward. https://wagwalking.com/training/train-australian-shepherds-to-not-jump Know that he doesn't have to play with other dogs to be happy at this age. Some dogs don't do well with that amount of arousal; however, socialization is important. For now I would pursue types of socialization that will build his confidence and calmness around other dogs. If he is aggressive toward other dogs, I suggest joining a G.R.O.W.L. class, which is a small dog dog reactive/aggressive dogs who wear basket muzzles during class and are intensively socialized together in a structured environment under the guidance of a trainer - this route should be a lot cheaper than one-on-one aggression help. Once pup is doing better, or if he is just unsure of other dogs but not truly aggression, you can do the following also when pup is safe around other dogs. Recruit friends with calm dogs and use the Passing Approach and the Walking together methods from the article linked below. After a few practice session of this, when the dogs can calmly walk side by side finally, take pups on walks together with both in a structured, focused heel. This gives both dogs something other than each other to focus on, keeps their energy calm, and helps them associate each other with the pleasant experience of a walk. Repeat this with lots of different dogs, one or two dogs at a time - you want other dogs to be associated with calmness, pleasant experiences, and boring things - not roughhousing, wrestling, nose-to-nose interactions always, or being rushed by them. https://wagwalking.com/training/greet-other-dogs When pup can handle that, structured activities around other dogs are good ways to further his socialization, give some fun and exercise, and improve even more. See if you have friends with well-mannered dogs, or find a local rescue, dog club, or safe meetup group that does group dog walks or dog hikes that are structured heeling. Join in on that activity. Classes like Canine Good Citizen or Intermediate Obedience, and some types of dog sports are also good ways to socialize. You can also create your own mini dog club by simply inviting friends with dog-social dogs over and hosting your own obedience class practice together at a local park, home, or yard. Use long training leashes for safety if not in a fenced area. While he is unsure of dogs, be picky about which dogs he greets. Avoid nose-to-nose greetings dogs who lack manners. A simple "He's in training" tends to work well. Be picky about who and how he meets other dogs. Avoid dogs that don't respect his space, pull their owners over to her, and generally are not listening well - those dogs are often friendly but they are rude and difficult for some to meet on leash. Also, avoid greeting dogs who look very tense around your dog, who stare him down, who give warning signs like a low growl or lip lift, who look very puffed up and proud - that type greeting with a dog is likely to end in a fight since your dog doesn't know how to diffuse that situation. A stiff wag is also a bad sign. A friendly wag looks relaxed and loose with relaxed body language overall. A tense dog with a very stiff wag, especially with a tail held high is a sign of arousal and not always a good thing. When he does greet another dog nose-to-nose, give slack in the leash, relax yourself, and keep the greeting to a max of 3 seconds, then happily tell him "Let's Go" or "Heel" and start walking away, giving him a treat when he follows so that she will learn to quickly respond to that command in the future. Keeping the greeting relaxed and short can diffuse tension and give the dogs enough time to say hi before competing starts. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden