Just adopted a 5 year old German Shepard

[deedeearmstrong1961]

Hi , I am new , in May I adopted a 5 year old German Shepard.She was a police dog from Czechoslovakia and failed a test. A couple brought her to the states and bred her to their GSD. She had to have a C section, that was botched and she swallowed 2 balls before I got her. She has problems with her bowel movements. The vet and I are working on that, but the real problem is her fear aggression to other dogs. Big or small it doesn't matter, she goes ballistic when sees another dog and we were at the river and she was playing chuck it, there were no dogs there, all the sudden I heard a splash and my shepard went after the other do getting his ball. Thankfully the dog was alright. I have 6 cats and she is fine with them. Zoya my GSD is all black, I looked up her AKC , when I got her the previous used a shock collar on her , so much and at a high level that she has a white collar of hair where the shock collar was, they said that they are dog trainers. I think that between them breeding her to their king sized shepard (I think that he did probably attacked her) and the shock collar, they damaged this poor girl. Even though I take her for walks and dogs bark at her and she goes nuts, she is much better then when I first got her 4 months ago.

I also notice that when we walk some where new, she is high alert and seems very nervous. I just want her to be a dog that can go to the river and dog park and play with other dogs. Before I got her My 12 year old Shepard mix died of Cushings Disease, Giselle and I went to dog park and the river where I made friends, that I can't see because they have dog and I am afraid what she would do to their dogs. I am so hoping that Brain Train will help her to become the calm dog that she should be.

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Hello and welcome to the forum,

Congrats on your new acquisition! Zoya sounds like a marvelous dog with great potential in the right hands. It's unfortunate that she has had such a sad history. The good thing though is that now she is in a home where she can feels safe and start gaining trust. She is lucky to have you to help her out and bloom to her full potential.

 

Although you claim she has fear aggression, the fact that she went after the little dog going after her ball, that may have been an instance of resource guarding. However, we can't never know really 100 percent for sure what may trigger dogs to behave certain ways. It may be a mix of various emotions ranging from fear, possessiveness, protectiveness to simple intolerance of other dogs. What we know for sure though is that the other dogs seem to trigger the behavior regardless of size/breed/color. So let's aim on working on this issue rather than trying to give it label.

 

I wouldn't aim too high though as far as expecting her to go to the dog park/river and mingle with potentially unruly dogs, at least as of yet. This could spell disaster. You own a serious dog that likely isn't ready to accept certain behaviors from other dogs and this may lead to problems. Some dogs will never be the social butterflies we would hope them to be and although this may be hard to accept, we must respect their essence. Now, of course, there are exceptions, but I woud suggest not to start experimenting (for safety sake) at least until she has proven to be better under control upon seeing other dogs on walks and seeing a positive emotional response that has been solid for some time.

 

I am sorry you have lost your former shepherd mix to Cushing's. It's important to realize though you have a different dog now. When we lose a pet we often hope that our next pet will be similar to fill the gap. It's often a coping mechanism that seems to make the loss less painful. Unfortunately, though these projections may only lead to heartaches and frustration once we realize that we are dealing with a very different dog.

 

The primary first goal should be to teach her to better tolerate seeing other dogs while she is on leash. Off leash adventures should be out of the question at this time for both preventing rehearsal of the problem behavior (the more your dog attacks other dogs, the more she'll want to do that because it's highly reinforcing) and for obvious liability reasons.

 

I am going to suggest some reads to get you started on how to work on changing emotions which will then reduce the outward manifestations of her internal turmoil (barking, lunging etc).

 

1) Learn about your dog's threshold levels and work your best on keeping her below them:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/

 

2) Familiarize yourself with the process of desensitization:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/desensitization/

 

3) Familiarize yourself with with process of counterconditioning:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/counterconditioning/

 

4) Here are other helpful behavior modification terms/methods to get accustomed to:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/overview-behavior-modification/

 

5) Practice "look at that" first by looking at dogs passing by a window, and then progress to walks:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/university/look-at-that/

 

6) Practice attention heeling first at home, then yard, then on walks, then at a distance from other dogs:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/heeling-attention-heeling/

 

7) Train an emergency u-turn in those cases where another dog is coming your way. You can use this strategy as a management option temporary until you have progressed towars attaining a good level of attention heeling in spite of distractions (other dogs).

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/emergency-u-turn/

 

8) And of course, invest in brain games and stop by the obedience 101 section to help increase your bond with her, instill more confidence and create a foundation of behaviors that will turn helpful in many situations.

 

Keep in mind the golden rule that when you have setbacks in behavior modification, that's often because you have progressed too fast or your dog was acidentally exposed to a level of intensity of the trigger that she wasn't ready for yet. Thos often entails taking a step back, increasing distance and resume working from there.

 

Disclaimer: Behavior modification comes with risks. The above behavior modification methods should be implemented under the guidance of a professional for correct implementation and for safety.

 

Hope this helps!

Bless your heart for rescuing this girl.

Adrienne

Edited August 3, 2018 by Adrienne Farricelli

[deedeearmstrong1961]

Thank you, last night after the river we sat outside of the dog park and she did bark at the dogs, but I just wanted her to watch the other dogs play. We did creep up to the fence, but I was right there with her. She did get wound up and I put her in a down position and when she was calmer, she played Chuck it with me as a reward. When I first got her, we went over to my neighbors across the street and has a Boarder collie that is really good, I had her on the leash and everything was good, they were wagging tails they were nose to nose until he turned, she ripped a big chunk of his tail fur out. And I know what you are saying a different dog, I had a Great Dane Gueniveer for 16 years (she had parvo,lymes disease, spilt her paw open, got a thorn lodged in her eye,had arthritis and had congenital heart failure) Guennie was my everything and I even had to go to the doctors because I couldn't eat or sleep. I got Giselle , she was 8 months old and she was going to put her down because they were moving to Oregon. I went from a very well mannered , docile great Dane to a dog that was Shepard, rottie,hound and lab.Her Nick name was "Daughter of Satan". I was comparing her to Guennie. I took Giselle to obedience classes and they did a world of good for her, I even trained her not to go after deers and bunnies. My neighbor even told me that when I first got Giselle , he wouldn't have given me a penny for her. But she turned out to be a great dog. So I am not giving up hope, Zoya is sweet heart. I do have one question, should I stop sitting with her outside of dog park? I thought it might descensetize her. But that more harm please let me know. I just her to relax and not feel threatened. Thank you so much.

Dee Dee

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Thank you, last night after the river we sat outside of the dog park and she did bark at the dogs, but I just wanted her to watch the other dogs play. We did creep up to the fence, but I was right there with her. She did get wound up and I put her in a down position and when she was calmer, she played Chuck it with me as a reward. When I first got her, we went over to my neighbors across the street and has a Boarder collie that is really good, I had her on the leash and everything was good, they were wagging tails they were nose to nose until he turned, she ripped a big chunk of his tail fur out. And I know what you are saying a different dog, I had a Great Dane Gueniveer for 16 years (she had parvo,lymes disease, spilt her paw open, got a thorn lodged in her eye,had arthritis and had congenital heart failure) Guennie was my everything and I even had to go to the doctors because I couldn't eat or sleep. I got Giselle , she was 8 months old and she was going to put her down because they were moving to Oregon. I went from a very well mannered , docile great Dane to a dog that was Shepard, rottie,hound and lab.Her Nick name was "Daughter of Satan". I was comparing her to Guennie. I took Giselle to obedience classes and they did a world of good for her, I even trained her not to go after deers and bunnies. My neighbor even told me that when I first got Giselle , he wouldn't have given me a penny for her. But she turned out to be a great dog. So I am not giving up hope, Zoya is sweet heart. I do have one question, should I stop sitting with her outside of dog park? I thought it might descensetize her. But that more harm please let me know. I just her to relax and not feel threatened. Thank you so much.

Dee Dee

 

Zoya is in very good hands! It is wonderful and very rewarding to see behavior changes after all the hard work.

 

Desensitization works best along with counterconditioning. Behavior modification, in order to work, must be gradual, setting the dog up for success and then increasing criteria a little at a time. I would therefore start desensitization and counterconditioning first with less "intense" versions of dogs, that is, first watching dogs behind a window, then outside watching dogs just walking around on leash at a distance. Then, once you start seeing a conditioned positive emotional response to those dogs (dog's eyes brighten at the sight of dogs, maybe a little tail wag, and turning towards you for treats upon spotting a dog), you can start raising criteria and move on to dogs who are moving more (like dogs runnng along with joggers) then, perhaps a couple of dogs playing at the park on a quiet day from a distance, then a bit closer, then with more dogs etc.

 

You will always have to watch for signs of her being over threshold. Any time there are setbacks, you must take a mental note and gauge future sessions based on what may triggered the set back and adjust accordingly. Did a dog's barking at a certain pitch set her over threshold? Was it a dog who was panting heavily? Do small fluffy dogs excite her more? Forewarned is forearmed goes the saying, which means know your triggers so that you can work on them with more diligency in future sessions.

 

However, although she would appear fine at some point watching dogs at the park, there is a big difference between watching them play and putting her inside there and allowing her to interact. Things get far more interactive at that point and that may be the equivalant of flooding rather than desensitization which is the opposite of what we would be trying to accomplish.

 

Learning to interact properly with dogs to the point of playing at a dog park in a dog with a history of being reactive is something with many risks at stake. In dogs with a history of being reactive, all the progress made in behavior modification can be lost in a split second. It's important to protect the work done. Certain things dogs do may be perceived as a challenge and cause reactions. For some dogs, it's like if they have to learn a totally new language. Meta-communication is misinterpreted. For others, the "fun police" instinct kicks in (my dog was one, had to work on that) k and they will get in the middle of dogs playing rowdy in an attempt to stop them causing trouble. I know many trainers who refuse to take their dogs to dog parks personally even with their non-reactive dogs because exposure to rude and rowdy dogs may cause hard-to-fix changes and even risk ruining their dogs.

 

One of the biggest mistakes in behavior modification is getting excited about the results (I have been a victim of that personally several times in the past) and then progressing too fast. As the saying goes, slow and steady wins the race.

 

Should a day come where you feel like Zoya may be "ready" to meet and greet or play with a dog, I would lower the risks and protect the work by finding a dog trainer/ behavior consultant who can asess your dog's behavior and owns a mellow dog (stimulus dog) who is expert in dog-to-dog interactions. Such dogs are expert mediators and give out lots of calming signals and can help up the chances for a positive experience.

 

On a side note, dog parks can be excellent for proofing. Not inside them, but around the perimeter. Once, you have obtained a good emotional response to dogs in various settings (walking by a window or property fence, walking on leash, running/playing), asking the dog to perform various behaviors despite all the hustle and bustle of a dog park is a wonderful opportunity for distraction training. I personally have taken potential service dogs and trained them right in front of the dog park.

 

Disclaimer: Behavior modification comes with risks. The above behavior modification methods should be implemented under the guidance of a professional for correct implementation and for safety.

Edited August 5, 2018 by Adrienne Farricelli

[deedeearmstrong1961]

Zoya goes ballistic at the sight of any dog, no matter if it's a puppy , full grown dog, fluffy, short coat. She will do a whining thing , then barks bearing her teeth and if we are walking and she see a dog She does the back and forth thing. She is always searching, she is barking at home now when I am not home and if I have her in the car and I stop at the store she barks at people. People on the German Shepard site on face book says she is bonding to me, she never barked at home or the car for the first month that I had her, Maybe she was figuring things out. I will do all of the exercises that you have provided for me and I have a trainer on mind. I thank you for commenting about Zoya with me. I wish I lived close to where you teach classes but I live in Montana. Thank you so much.

[Adrienne Farricelli]

You bet! Many dogs will bark at strangers when in the car. She likely has bonded to you and feels secure when you are around and more vulnerable when on her own when left alone, although just briefly. Sometimes using a dog crate in the car may reduce this type of barking. Many dogs automatically settle once in the crate. It may be worth covering the crate on one side with a blanket or towel if seeing strangers causes her to bark from inside the crate. Best wishes,

Adrienne

[deedeearmstrong1961]

Thank you🐕

[JMFS]

"Daughter of Satan" cracked me up, especially because I can imagine all those breeds in one dog, and what the personality might be if left unchecked. :D Thank you for the laugh!