They would love to be able to ask people to their house without worrying about their German Shepherd, Indi.
Indi is now thirteen months old. The behaviour began a few months ago. She become very hostile to people coming to their house. She also reacts to certain people when they are out if they walk towards her, particularly men.
Indi lunges at them, barking fiercely.
The other day a man, being ‘friendly’, approached her in a direct fashion and put his hand out. She snapped at him.
She’s saying ‘back off’.
Apart from her reaction to people coming into the house, she’s ‘the perfect dog’ at home. The lady has put a lot of work into training her and she gets on beautifully with their young daughter.
However, upon questioning, there are things they could be doing. Things that will affect her state of mind when someone enters their house – or comes to the door.
She sometimes barks at passing people beyond their driveway. “Go Away”. This is reinforcing because they always move on.
As a German Shepherd it’s natural she should be guarding the house unless relieved of the job.
Behaviour work covers everyday life
By the time a caller enters the house, Indi is already highly aroused.
She may see them approach the door. She will then hear the bell. Things stack up. Indi’s bark sounds fierce. She even goes nuts if she hears a similar doorbell on TV.
The first necessity is to desensitise her to the doorbell and meanwhile ask people to text from the car. We worked out the best plan for Indi. Then to make the doorbell a cue for her to go to the kitchen.
There is a protocol for introducing visitors to the dog – and visa versa. They should be sitting down. At present Indi lunges and barks when she sees the person. We worked out the best approach.
They need a female friend to come to start with, to be their guinea pig. The person can stay a short while only.
Associating only good things with people
With a slip lead around her neck, when she barks and lunges it will hurt her neck. She may be so fired up she won’t notice it consciously at the time but we don’t want this.
From now on, whether at home or when out, people will only trigger only good stuff. The lady will act cheerful and relaxed with no scolding or ‘commands’. Indi needs to work things out for herself
When out, it’s easier to increase the necessary distance which is a component to eventual success. In the house it has to be done a different way.
The lady has taught Indi to settle on a mat. When she has calmed down sufficiently she can lie on the mat beside the lady, away from the guest. The lady can regularly drop bits of food to reinforce Indi remaining lying down. This way she will gradually replace unwanted behaviour with an alternative behaviour.
This is only possible when Indi isn’t too aroused and frantic.
People approaching when out
The lady will show Indi that approaching people are good news. Something good can happen at a distance Indi is happy with. What this is will be specific to Indi. The lady will be upbeat and cheerful.
Distracting or avoiding dogs altogether gets us nowhere but simply manages the situation.
A human, a man particularly, wants to show the dog he’s friendly and approaches in a direct manner with his hand out. The dog thinks ‘Oh-oh, threat!’
The lady should now protect Indi from direct approaches when out.
It’s not right to label Indi as ‘becoming aggressive’. Aggression is a symptom only. The root cause is the problem – fear, protection and possibly habit now. That’s what they will now deal with.
