# 11 Month old Golden Attacks 3 month old German Shepard



## t58martin (Jun 21, 2016)

** I originally posted this in the puppy section. I thought perhaps it should be in the behavioral threads.

Our golden is almost a year old now. He is from a good breeder with a long history with the breed. 

Earlier today he started to attack a 3 month old German Shepard that we came across on our walk. Our dog was off leash walking with my wife and I through the woods. We rarely see anyone in this area, so he was off leash. When we saw the other dog, we told him to sit. he did sit until we were right next to him ready to put on his leash. He bolted after the German Shepard puppy that was on a leash and instead of sniffing and playing with him, he was growling and really going after the puppy that was crying terribly by this time. He was not playing.

The boy walking the puppy picked him up in his arms and our dog was still going after him. We've had him in training class and other social settings in the past. I thought he was fairly well socialized. I suppose not.

He will play rough with other dogs if they do, but has never shown this mean streak. I've never seen a Golden with this type of aggression. This is our third Golden, and we have been around the breed in general for the last 30 years, I've never seen one behave this way before.

Any thoughts, suggestions or ideas that we can use? 

Thanks in advance.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Keep your dog on leash for now on until he's 4-5 years old and well past any teenage/young dog hormonal phases. If that is too impossible, then you have to really make sure that you are not messing around with sits or other stuff. It's immediate "COME HERE" and grab the collar. 

No playtime with other dogs except for those your dog knows. 

I'll say this - I don't care what breed a dog is - if I had a puppy and had another dog come flying up to attack - I would have taken a defensive track, even kicking or going after your dog with a stick. And you have people today who are carrying guns as well. I don't, but I know people who carry guns with them while walking. It's really too scary for your dog to be out of control.


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## t58martin (Jun 21, 2016)

I don't disagree about the defensive part. We've always been on the defensive side of the equation in 30 years of owning Golden's. First time I saw this behavior in any of our dogs. We were mortified for the owner of the puppy. He won't be off leash any time soon, but we need to correct the behavior. All dogs are different, but in general I've always been around fairly social retrievers.


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## ceegee (Mar 26, 2015)

Aggression of any kind usually needs in-person advice by a specialist. It's very hard to "diagnose" a situation over the Internet. If you say where you're located (the general area), a Forum member may be able to recommend a trainer specialized in aggression issues.

My last golden wasn't particularly good with other dogs: she was reactive due to a couple of nasty attacks by other dogs when she was young. With my current pup, when we were walking on leash and we met another dog, I kept walking and just fed him loads of treats out of my pocket. He's six months old now, and when he sees another dog coming towards us, his reaction is to jump to heel and look at me to get his treats. You may be able to teach this kind of thing to change your dog's behaviour when he meets other dogs, but I strongly recommend a few sessions with a trainer, to diagnose and address the aggression itself.

Good luck, it's a tough problem to deal with.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

t58martin said:


> I don't disagree about the defensive part. We've always been on the defensive side of the equation in 30 years of owning Golden's. First time I saw this behavior in any of our dogs. We were mortified for the owner of the puppy. He won't be off leash any time soon, but we need to correct the behavior. All dogs are different, but in general I've always been around fairly social retrievers.


I'm going a different track than Ceegee on this....

I think you pick your battles. 

I don't think it's necessary to meet other dogs, or really do too much off leash stuff with strange dogs so this problem gets filed away in a "what you know about your own dog" slot and it's something to keep in mind going forward. 

He may grow out of it as he calms down. 

Right now it's not a huge "OMG MUST FIX IMMEDIATELY" thing. I don't even think it's worth calling a behaviorist about - because in all seriousness, this is something that's easy to control. Sometimes too much effort and stress in fixing something can exasperate it and make it worse. 

What I would do is go to classes with your dog. Be in a group situation where your dog is learning to ignore and work around other dogs. It will help build your relationship with your dog and help make him more sound in public. Less focused on other dogs.

Too many people right now think that dogs need to be like kids and all about the other dogs. And the problem here is dog relationships are weird unless you have a completely sound dog. 

You will probably find that most herding breeds and many of the shortnosed and big haired breeds will set your dog off. Best I can figure is they have problems reading the body language of these dogs. Even when they are puppies. <= My feeling is best to just take what you now know and make sure it never happens. Control the bubble around your dog in public. Most likely he will grow out of it and calm down. But you have to make sure this behavior does not get reinforced.


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## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

You are expecting too much from your puppy i.e. sit and stay while he is off lead and there is a big distraction. Also, what did you do with your puppy after this happened? After all, you did give a command and your puppy disobeyed it.

It is probably a good idea to always keep your puppy on leash. Also, talk to your obedience teacher.


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## Charliethree (Jul 18, 2010)

Take a moment to consider what could have been done differently. Cuing him to sit, left him able to focus on the pup, perhaps, calling him back to you might have been a better choice?

Consider what you want him to do in a situation such as seeing a strange/new dog, and teach him how to do it. It is not a safe practice for either dog, to allow an off leash dog to run up and greet an on- leash dog (or any dog) of any age. 
Management/prevention is the first step - keeping him on leash or a long line to start with so that he is under physical control.

Training- teach a reliable recall - consistently and highly rewarded, EVERY TIME he responds to the cue. Help him learn that 'checking in' (choosing to look to you) frequently is rewarded and what you want him to do. A dog that is 'checking in' often has less opportunity to be distracted by other things in their environment. Setting them up for success when they are off leash in a very distracting environment. Help him learn 'self-control' -(stay, Leave it, to remain on a mat in spite of very tempting distractions) highly rewarding for success - dogs are not born with it, but they can definitely learn it.

Consider his socialization history, has he had any experience with socially inept (often younger) dogs? Has he had opportunities to interact with well socialized dogs, to learn socially appropriate skills? 
Consider that since he plays rough with other dogs, that he may 'conclude' that is how he should play with every dog. Perhaps he needs 'play mates' that can show him how to play more appropriately? 
Consider that IF he truly intended to physically harm the pup, he would have caused some serious injuries (I am assuming (hoping) that he did not). 

You have a young dog, not quite ready to be given the 'choice', the responsibility, nor has he the education, to choose appropriately in a new and 'sudden' change in his environment - neither you nor he was expecting to encounter another person or dog in that location. 
We need to keep in mind that every dog is not 'our last dog', every dog is unique, learns at a different pace, some are able to handle the world with 'grace' others need more help, they all face the challenges of the world in their own way.


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