Aggressive German Shepherds

[anon135]

Just need a rant really.

I own a golden retriever and he's the most placid dog, very friendly with all other dogs. He's normally off lead and heels very well. Obviously when there are other dogs on leads i am responsible and don't let him approach them in case the owner doesn't want him to.

I don't know why, but i find the majority of GSDs we come into contact with are quite aggressive and want to intimidate my dog when they go past. I have one woman in particular with a GSD that we have passed twice in 2 days. Each time her dog has been off lead and will chase my dog snarling, while mine backs off as much as possible feeling scared. Both times the woman feebly shouts at her dog, while not doing much about it and then apologises afterwards. She obviously knows her dog is aggressive, so why have him off the lead around other dogs! I find it so irresponsible. If she doesn't want to discipline him then she could at least muzzle him and eliminate the potential for damage.

Maybe i am generalising, but in my experience i find the majority of GSD owners to have very poor control over their dogs. They are a dominant breed and require an experienced handler, and i find most people fail at owning these dogs. They are not exactly chosen by the police for their submissive, passive nature!

I just wish people would do a bit more research on temperament before choosing a breed. The very reason i chose a golden retriever is that he was my first dog and i wanted a passive, friendly breed that i could control. I feel that most people get GSDs because they 'look cool' and are a status dog, as opposed to acknowledging the personality of one.

Sorry if i've offended any good GSD owners, i'm sure there must be some good ones somewhere! I just needed to get it off my chest.

I'm another one who has had incidents with labradors - two separate incidents with a previous dog, one of which required my dog's head to be stitched back together under general anaesthetic, and one incident with current dog a few days ago where the owner didn't even bother to apologise after I'd hauled his dog off mine - I got the distinct impression that this had happened on a number of previous occasions, but he had still chosen to take his dog to a children's play area (I had a few choice words for him)

I seem to remember finding an article a few months ago which said dachshunds were the breed most likely to bite of all (JRTs were third), regardless of severity. I'll try and find the link.

mustbemad17 i won't slap her (as much as i do want to do that), but i may have to say something if it happens again. I just think if she can't be bothered to train him, then at least she should muzzle him and eliminate the risk to others

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2254479/Sausage-dogs-are-the-most-aggressive-dogs.html

1. Dachshunds
2. Chihuahua
3. Jack Russells

For bite risk according to this article (lucky me has a cross between 1 and 3)

FWIW @anon it's very, very difficult for the untrained eye to see the difference between a dog that's inherently aggressive towards a particular trigger and one that's scared of that trigger but has a fear that manifests itself as something looking like aggression.

I'd liken the latter to someone being scared of wasps, and so screaming and flapping when one gets too near - like a scared dog, they're really just trying to get the scary thing to go away from them

I'm far more wary of smaller dogs than bigger dogs, i find bigger dogs far more predictable. Little dogs have far too much attitude for my liking 😂😂

avocadosbeforemortgages thanks for the link.

I think on the whole smaller dogs do tend to be more snappy then bigger dogs, but i can afford to not worry about them because they wouldn't do a lot of damage to my retriever. Again, it likely goes back to the fault of the owner as they also don't take the behaviour seriously (as they are too small to cause much damage) so the dogs behaviour is reinforced through lack of punishment.

Oh without doubt it is again the owners. I used to own a Shih Tzu & people couldn't understand the level of training he was 'put through' because he was cute & fluffy 🤔 the way i see it, if my hulking staffy isn't allowed to get away with certain behaviours then neither should the Shih Tzu have been allowed. Had more injuries off a JRT than i did when i got jumped by a mastiff the bruising was fairly impressive tho

I love German Shepherds, I’ve always found them to be friendly well behaved dogs. I love to see my mini Schnauzer playing with them - she’s very confident

Op badly behaved owners often have badly behaved dogs I’ve noticed, aggressive owners = aggressive dogs, grumpy owners = grumpy dogs! Honestly it’s like kids, the apple never falls far from the tree! You can’t blame the dog.

missyB1 haha yes i have noticed that. Sometimes they even look alike!

“Maybe these owners are going to the same places to buy the dogs and the breeders have chosen poor GSDs (in terms of temperament) to breed from.”

That’s what I was just going to say, if there’s a few GSDs bear you with similar behavioural issues then I’d assume someone fairly nearby is breeding them.

so the dogs behaviour is reinforced through lack of punishment.

Punishment is considered a very old hat and ultimately often counterproductive training method nowadays. Positive reinforcement is the way to go. Ultimately, do you want your dog to do the right thing because it wants to and has been supported to make the right choices, or because it's scared of the consequences of not doing so?

Op badly behaved owners often have badly behaved dogs I’ve noticed, aggressive owners = aggressive dogs, grumpy owners = grumpy dogs! Honestly it’s like kids, the apple never falls far from the tree! You can’t blame the dog.

I'll agree with your last statement about not blaming the dog, but please spare a thought for those of us working with rescue dogs that came to us with issues. Mine is vastly improved from where he started (he was like an advert to scare people into socialising and training their dog), but will occasionally have a bit of a meltdown in public - most recently on a bus due to an unusual combination of circumstances and a brief bit of complacency on my part. The public judgement, loud tutting and rude comments were something to behold - with apparently no one but a very cheery bus driver considering that there might be more to the situation than meets the eye. I'm sure it's roughly the same public reception that parents of children with invisible disabilities like autism receive.

I think a lot of issues with particular breeds can be traced back to the popularity of that breed. Once a breed is in demand - more people breed more of them and consideration for breeding well goes out the window.

I've owned 2 GSDs. One died at 13, having lived a blameless life marked by her love of cats and other dogs. The other, a show line bred dog, I had put down at four because she was so mentally unstable. I've fostered two others. One was a nice dog who just needed some manners and she went happily to her new home. The other was a beautiful dog who had been ruined by abusive handling. I could tell he had started out a good dog, but he was terrified of people. He was also sick with a genetic disease associated with GSDs. In the end we decided that euthanasia was kinder than the intensive handling he was going to require for treatment. I'm still angry about him, because, even in his terror, he showed no aggression.

They are a popular breed. They are intended to be highly intelligent, confident and sharp. Badly bred and/or poorly handled they can be fearful and hence, aggressive.

So the more popular a breed, the more of them are bred, the chances of more poorly bred ones in the community increases. And if you have someone in the area breeding badly, those dogs will be the ones you are likely to see.

But that's the same for any breed which gets popular. Breeding good dogs is an art and a skill. It's not the biological equivalent of IKEA furniture.

Of course, there's always confirmation bias: you don't notice the good GSDs just going about their business. It makes perfect sense that you pay more attention to the ones behaving badly.

I think gsd have a much shorter socialisation window than lots of other breeds, so there is less time to get socialisation right.

I would also report her to dog warden.

I agree and have owned a GSD myself. People do not have them fully trained and controlled and I have to be honest it is the female owners who do not seem to realise the potential of these dogs and do not have them under control and treat them like spaniels. Some states in a US have flat out banned them and in Ireland they request they are muzzled at all times in public.

We have recently seen progress with our council stating that large breed dogs rotties etc are to be kept under strict control.

Any dog has the capability to be aggressive, it's down to the breeding and how the dog has been raised and socialized.

My poodle met a couple of aggressive gsds and was fearful of them for a while. Met a lovely one and now my dog is ok. One gsd round here is so aggressive I feel sorry for the owner who has to work so hard to keep it away, on lead.

PP are being very restrained on here, I'm not sure I could be. People like you are the reason Breed Specific Legislation is killing innocent family pets, and why Ireland have such stupid restrictive laws that mean bull terriers, German shepherds, ridgebacks, Dobermans etc have to be muzzled in public.

My GSD was attacked by a Labrador, I had the police round who had decided it must have been my dogs fault as she was the 'aggressive breed'. Luckily I had several witnesses who stood up for me. But I dread to think what would have happened if no one else had witnessed it. Makes me shake just thinking about it.

For the last time, it is the owner not the breed. Sorry you've had bad experiences but it is not fair to label all. Your thread title is BS.

It is both the owner and breed. The GSD forum, if you care to take a look agrees that GSD's need to be treated respectfully and kept under control at all times as anything otherwise gives the breed a bad name they are different to having a cocker spaniel and to think otherwise is quite frankly nuts! The public do need to feel safe and feel that the owner has full control of that dog. If it does decide to get into a fight are you capable of lifting a GSD off another dog in the middle of a fight? Every dog friendly or not can turn aggressive but if you cannot control the dog then you shouldn't own it.There is a woman where I walk my dog who walks three ridgebacks off the lead that is completely irresponsible.

I am all for changing dog laws because from experience people are very anti social when walking large breed dogs.

People are anti social when walki large breed dogs.
What a sweeping generalisation.

I can only speak from experience. I applaud the ones that do as they care for their animals and also understand the potential of their dogs.

Every dog has potential. I had my leg shredded open by a JRT - required stitches. The bullmastiff that turned my arm black but never actually broke the skin would probably be the one more people are wary of. Which is what the owners of some breeds play to.
Imo the standards should be the same regardless of what dog you own. Just because your ratty little fluff ball can potentially be lifted if required, doesn't mean you shouldn't train it correctly. Just as it shouldn't be an expectation that certain breeds must be muzzled. I get cross with all this 'them & us' crap - if you own a dog, train the damn thing. If it isn't trained, has shit recall, is reactive to other animals, hates men, doesn't like kids etc etc then keep it on a lead & under control.

Can you tell i work with labelled breeds 🤔

I found the main problem with GSD is that they are such massive wimps. Lots of the behavioural problems are caused by them being a naturally wary and nervous breed and they tend to be badly handled by people who haven’t a clue.

I’ve had 5 GSD and only one has ever shown signs of aggression and even that one was terrified of life more than savage. It was also rescued and had not had the best start in life, such as can happen with any dog. The other 4 wouldn’t have hurt a fly.

My current two are absolutely lovely dogs however I find it hard to socialise them as most people are clueless and terrified of them so they don’t have many dog friends. Most people are wary of them and back away, not that my dogs care as they are too busy skipping along. They also love to wrestle like the hounds of the baskervilles together which scares people even more

I do think they are a breed that needs someone knowledgeable and the lines need to be carefully researched but I don’t think they are any more savage than any other breed if owned by someone with half a brain cell.

“GSD's need to be treated respectfully and kept under control at all times as anything otherwise gives the breed a bad name they are different to having a cocker spaniel”

They are and they aren’t though... every breed is different, or they’d never have been fit for their original purpose but actually the biggest difference between owning a breed that people are wary of and a cocker spaniel is the fact that people are wary of it.

You can’t wander round letting a GSD or rottie (I’m bringing them into it because that’s what I have) behave like a badly trained cocker because people do not see a dog running towards theirs wanting to play, they see a threat.

“If it does decide to get into a fight are you capable of lifting a GSD off another dog in the middle of a fight?”

I’ve seen people overpowered by JRTs or a westie...

I agree with what tabla is saying.

I can’t allow my GSD to behave in the same way as 90% of the dogs I see on a daily basis. It’s ‘cute’ or funny when a tiny poodle barks and jumps up but not when my 35kg GSD does it. I expect lots of dogs snap at yours more than you realise OP but you don’t see them as a threat so it registers less.

Grey I think my dog would love yours!
I really like GSD but do feel they need sensitive and consistent handling and really good socialisation. (Not the only breed that you could say that about!)
Not a dog for a lazy, clueless owner.
People are wary of a 35kg GSD? You should try walking a wolfiepup! Although I've been told she's "cute" quite a bit recently!!

I'm usually the idiot trying to catch the eye of walkers so i can plead for a stroke of their huuuge dog 🙈