how can i stop my rescued 18 month old gsd from lunging & Barking in fear?

my 18 month old gsd is a resce dog who has been very badly treated at the hands of a man so he is frightened of men we have only had him for a month but we know he is not a nasty dog he barked growled and made a lunging move towards my dad this has now caused problems in the family because they dont trust him i dont want to give him up but i dont want my parents to stop coming and to learn to trust him and let him learn to trust them help.i would just like to add that i have an 8 year old female gsd as well they get on fine together and my new boy loves my grandchildren

An obedience class would be a great idea. The trainer can help you with individual problems, and teach you how to train your dog. It will also be good to help socialize him.

Firstly well done to you for rescuing this mis- treated dog. If only he could tell you what he has been through, poor thing...I would advise you contact a professional trainer who would be willing to come to your house rather than you take your GSD to classes. It would be scary for him for all those people & other dogs in one enclosed place. I think it would freak him out too much....

I would never get a damaged dog. I find good, quality breeders. I meet the "parents" and then go and pick the puppy I want.Maybe you can take your mistake back and use my advice.... You are probably going to have to do so sooner or later..

ignore them.

It seems that most answers you will get will be of "train her now" type.However, think about your dog as of your computer :you can't run software properly on messed up hardware.1. trust is "earned"2. it's you or your dad who are "the alphas"....and alphas don't get questioned or "lunged towards"Have patience, be firm and get an advice and tips from your local dog trainer/behaviorist.Best of luck to you and your dog!!!

He will feel more nervous if he meets men in the house e.g in a small room as he will feel cornered and unable to escape. Try to introduce him to any male family members etc whilst he is out on a walk, maybe in his favourite place like the park. Get them to throw him a treat and then walk away, keep doing this as often as possible and he may relate seeing them as something good. Try not to feel nervous yourself as he will sense this. Obedience classes may be a good idea but I would wait till he is more confident, try introducing him to other dogs as he may learn from them. Good luck

We once had rescued a GSD from the neighborhood along with several other animals that were left behind when family moved out. She was the sweetest dog you could imagine. She had once been a seeing eye puppy even. Well one day we had a neighborhood party and she attacked one of the neighbors. She tried to take his arm off, we did get her in time before she bit him. It turns out that he used to take a baseball bat to her. If your dad looks anything like the person who had previously abused her then it will take time and effort on his part to make your dog realize that he does not want to harm her.

take him to an obedience school,, i just watched a documentary on HBO about shelter dogs,, sooo sad . if he has tendency to lunge at your father , i don't think I would want to be around the dog either,, he could snap and cause serious damage to someone,, I was against euthanasia, but after seeing some of what these dogs could do , it is in the best interest of the dogs to be put down humanly, instead of living the rest of their lives in a tiny cage. most of the time the damage done to the dogs are irreversible, but I dont think i would want to take even the slightest of chances , dog bites really hurt and most bites are to the faces,,necks, and shoulders,,usually to children that dont know the dog was abused

Ask your Dad to please ignore the dog completely. It's your job to keep people safe around your dog - so be sure to increase the distance between you + your dog and the things that make him lunge and bark.When humans reach out towards dogs (patting them on the head, "being friendly", etc) it can be seen as a threat, especially to a dog who has been abused. The poor guy's reflexes tell him : This is a threat, so scare them first so that you don't get hit!Seek the help of a pro. You really do not want a trainer who recommends punishing techniques - rather, you want a positive trainer who will show you how to change your dog's mind about people. Please do this asap.Here's how to find a positive trainer:http://www.ccpdt.org/and a bookhttp://www.dogwise.com/itemdetails.cfm?ID=DTB464

You have to re-socialize him. Most puppies are socialized before they are 4 months old, so you have some work on your hands. 1. Find a location where the dog is not freaked out.2. Find some friendly folks who have a dog such as a Lab or Golden. See if your dog will play with them.3. Get some cheap hotdogs and cut them into small bites and give them to the owner of the other dog.4. Have the owner toss the treats to your dog (Toss, don't hand... I wouldn't trust your dog yet).5. Keep doing this for a few months and increase the number of people.6. You might also try intelligent teenagers, and smaller males.GSDs can be fear biters - bite first and ask questions later. Your goal is to try to convince your dog, through very gentle means, that the world is a safe place. Unfortunately, you have an uphill battle, because his previous owner already convinced him otherwise.Sometimes, Mans Best Friend can help with these cases... You can also ask PetsMart, if they have some professional trainers ... You don't want one of thier in-store trainers, unless they've had 5 or more years of experience. You might also look up books by Ian Dunbar and Turid Rugaas to get get a better insight into your dog.

You need to get him to a trainer. Lunging is not good.

He needs some really intense obedience training. Fortunately he's smart - and can learn. Speak with your rescue group, veterinarian, and professional handlers about some good techniques and trainers. Even your local police K-9 folks may be able to at least recommend resources. At least they're worth asking.But it will take time and patience. Lots of time and patience.Couple of things the all the humans - especially the men - and children - can do in the meantime. 1. allow the dog to come to them - not the other way 'round - otherwise, ignore him. 2. act in a calm, deliberate manner - avoid sudden movements such as standing quickly, grabbing around the middle, etc. 3. speak gently - big booming voices will trigger the scare reaction - and pet gently - approaching him from the side as opposed to coming from above... The idea is gentle quiet deliberate movements etc. As you have noted - fear attack is a learned behavior - and that habit can be overcome - with time and patience.Funny thing - once your dog learns how truly nice your dad is - if he's patient enough to work with him, the dog will stick to him like Velcro forever.

i was told if you put along lead or piece of rope tied to his collar its a form of reassurance for the dog,when your dad comes over he should ignore the dog let the dog come to him after a while the dog will come round, maybe whilst using the long lead your dad could pick the lead up ( at a distance ) and take the dog for a walk give the dog time to get to know him after all the dog has been abused by a man.

Years ago we had a rescued GSD b1tch who was exactly the same. She would let people come in and sit down then, every time they moved she growled at them! My father in law sat very still for about 4 hours on one visit!Anyway, your dog is acting this way because he is very scared. It will take time to build up his confidence, don't push him into anything he doesn't want to do at the moment, he has to learn to trust. Try getting dog-minded people to come to your house, maybe just in the garden to start with. Tell them to take no notice whatsoever of the dog. Eventually, the dog will probably approach them - most GSDs prefer to take their time with people anyway.Meanwhile, you can increase his confidence by doing basic obedience exercises with him. Obedience really does build up a dog's confidence. Get some advice from your nearest experienced dog trainer:http://www.apdt.co.uk/list_trainers.aspIf you don't find one on this list, make sure the trainer has long experience of training - some so-called trainers have had no more than a 6 week course and can do more harm than good.Good luck

I've just read through the answers on your post and it's all obedience class this and train the dog that.As in all these cases it's the owner who needs training first.Don't forget that a dog lives in the moment,not in the past or the future,let me explain.The dog may have been treated badly in his previous life but he is now in your life and all it is thinking about is "where do i fit into this new pack"if it doesn't know where it stands then it becomes frustrated and frustration in a dog is shown as anger.The first thing that needs doing is to create a pecking order in your family and the dog is always at the bottom.So if you decide to be the top dog then you have to assert yourself when dealing with the dog so that it knows where it stands.There are a lot of things to do,to achieve this,in short,there are small things like every time you walk through a door you make sure that the dog comes in after you,When you have the dog on the lead then it walks beside you and not in front of you,as this is a pack leaders job,but the dog isn't,also when your feeding it make sure that the dog allways does something that you want it to do before you put the food on the floor,like sitting or giving a paw,this again shows that you are the leader.When your father comes to visit , allways make sure that you are between him and the dog and any movement by the dog at all is checked by you,it is always to either sit or lie down,and after a few visits and constant training then you can slowly introduce the dog to your dad,but allways make sure that you are in between them for the first few times,when the dog has sussed out that your dad is also above it in the pack then it will realise that this behaviour is not on.This sort of handling is to be carried on all the time in all aspects of owning the dog.There is never a good reason to hit or harm a dog,it is a sign of poor handling.And lastly but not least, Exercise,Exercise,Exercise,if a dog doesn't get exercise then it gets frustrated and you know what that develops into!Good luck and stick to the rules.

first off when the dog is in a nervous or frighten state. do not pet him to calm him. in his mind your saying its "OK" to bark and growl and nip at people. I'm glad you saved him to give him another chance at life. but dogs never look at the past, humans are the only mammels with that ability, they work in the now, they live in the now, they dont look into the future either, so he doesnt see the scary man in his past anymore, he sees this new pack leader, unfortantly the past DOES effect his outlook on life, he thinks all males are fearfull because thats all he learned, he never knew males can be nice as well, remember he is a dog not a child. so using human psychology is diffrent from dog psychology. dogs sense energy so if you feel sorry for him he feels that energy and it makes him nervous(they sense fear, aggression, and happiness, ever wonder why he knows your sad or angry? not just by your face espressions..) . if you go down to comfort him when he is in a growling mode your only saying its ok to act like this. while in your mind your simply calming him down. this is hard to teach by yahoo answers so i would hire professional to help you. to the fear of men. dont force him by walking towards him let him walk towards you. have the male human hold a treat and call him. or hold a treat and pretend his not there. the dog will come to you, as they always should. since your the pack leader, a follower should always come to his leader. ignore him, dont pet him until he gain your trust, this takes time and practice, so dont rush. good luck

Fear aggression is one of the most difficult behaviors to treat. They can be especially troublesome in 'guarding' breeds such as the GSD or dobies. You first need to establish trust, from which you will earn his respect. DO NOT feel sorry for him, do not let any of his 'past' affect how you treat him. He NEEDS to sense there is an 'alpha' he can trust...only then will be begin to give up his issues. You need to be his 'lookout', he will probably lunge at other dogs too, when walking him if you see possible trouble up ahead, don't telegraph that to him, simply stride more purposefully forward with a little tug to his collar and say, 'Mind your own business'. You need to pay very close attention to his body language and learn his 'cues'...GSDs are naturally always 'on alert'--the more YOU don't make a big deal of whatever he may be 'freaking' about, the better his rehabilitation will be. As to having him 'play' with other dogs--I would caution you here. Unless you trust him 110 percent, wait a bit. What you have to understand with fear aggression is the inborn 'fight or flight' instinct. Usually, if he picks up ANY weakness (fear, whatever) coming from someone, this will trigger it. First there is a milisecond of hesitation, and then he will 'feed' off of that and cycle up and respond with the barking and lunging. He senses fear from the other person and responds in kind, and then you have a 'standoff' and unless you can 'cut it off' before the 'switch' is thrown...you've got trouble..Sorry, this is hard to explain. You need to get him to the point of obeying you instantly w/out hesitation..(and NOT by yelling or relying on those nasty shock collars), you need to be calm but firm in your body language as well as your emotions. Get him to the point where he will stay in a 'down, wait' or sit, wait. Then you can have your Dad over to begin that part of the 'therapy'. Make sure you never 'force' him to greet someone, tell people not to look at him directly, and basically ignore him...give HIM the chance to choose whether he wants to come sniff them or not. If you sense him freaking, give him a command for distraction, or have a ball or favorite toy with you and redirect his focus on that. Make sure he has a crate (a safe place), and NO ONE can bother him when he is in there. Giving him free rein of the house can be stressful, think of it all as 'new puppy training', i guess. You let go of his prior history, and he will. You be firm and consistent, and patient---and you will be gifted with a wonderful companion for life. Remember--baby steps, patience, and confidence. Keep us posted. Woof.

muzzle him and keep him on a lead.... you will have to do a lot of work to earn his confidence. Get him to sit and let people approach him when he is sitting down and calm. PDF file from blue cross about nervous dogs...

Enrol in your local training class, apart from obedience they will deal with all sorts of problems.