Gsd adolescent chase issue.

Lintel

Lintel

Well-Known Member
Joined
6 February 2012
Messages
3,067
Location
Scotland
Visit site
Cannot believe out fluffy pup is now one.. he is turning out a lovely well rounded dog but...
We had a little lead aggression begin I got our old trainer to come and talk us through techniques before it ended up "real, aggression and this is working well and it seems be under control.
He went to daycare once a week since he was 4 months old, they get to run about and generally socialise in a controlled environment and they report he is very well but he can chase and nip the other dogs when over excited( I didn't think of this as an issue at the time).
We have recently stopped daycare as i feel it has served it's time, I have never seen him.interact off lead with other dogs until yesterday...
Well he chased this poor lab mix on the beach and was nipping at her tail so I popped him back on the lead as she was clearly getting abit distressed by him chasing her.
But how on earth do I educate him to play nicely?
I know the smaller dogs at daycare used to nip and chase him, is this a habit he has picked up? Is it reversible?

Thank you!
 
This is why I don't like daycare where they just let a big bunch of dogs tear arse around together. That's not 'socialising'.

GSDs as a rule are rude and play too rough and overstep the mark. Running in a big pack of dogs does nothing to discourage this and you have been told by the staff that he has already done it and has probably got away with it.
I can't understand why anyone would think it appropriate to put a big bolshy dog in with smaller nippy dogs.

At his age I find it a bit concerning that you've never seen him interact with other dogs offlead until now...it's quite a big thing to leave in someone else's hands and the behaviour he learned first will be the one he will always revert to.
You've basically placed his learning on how to be around other dogs in the hands of someone else and now you have a big year old dog to have to train out of chasing down others.

If your trainer helped you the last time, give them a call and ask them to help you with this too.
Until then I would keep him on a lead with other dogs and step in when he is being a knob.
 
GSDs are renowned for their rough style of play and there aren’t many other breeds that are accepting of it.

Have you done any socialising with him when he was younger?

What’s his recall like in general?

Personally I don’t really allow my GSDs to interact with strange dogs. I’d much rather they interact with me and so from a young age build their drive for a special toy and reward their focus on me.

This is a brilliant article which is mainly about predatory chase drive but the methods work equally well for teaching a solid recall away from other dogs and distractions.

https://www.dog-secrets.co.uk/how-do-i-stop-my-dog-chasing/

In terms of play, I only let mine play with dogs I know.

Any recent pics of your floof monster? 😁
 
Herding is very carefully controlled prey drive. It's harnessing the instinct to chase without the catching and killing bit at the end.
GSDs haven't been used for herding, apart from very particular lines, for a long time so no need to select the calmer types.
So in a lot of lines you have prey drive with no outlet, add in a bit of bolshyness and potentially some insecurity - quite a lot of GSDs 'play' like this.

My older dog does not want to interact with other dogs and he will try to chase down and drive away others away in a similar manner. But I don't let the situation arise in the first place because it is rude and no one likes it.

OP having calmed down :p my rant was more a generalised one at daycare facilities which do nothing to try and divert or occupy client dogs which display this sort of behaviour so that their owners like yourselves then have to seek additional help.
 
Thanks all, our main issue in life is recall- hence why we have never seen him play with others off lead. I don't want him charging up to someone's dog with little control and I don't want to let him off lead for this reason. We have worked with the trainer on recall but it's a hard slog.... improving slightly but very difficult. He does not have many "drives" in life... he cares more about what the yorkie on the other side of the road is doing than he does about bacon, cheese... steak.. his toys- even his chase toy fails to motivate him away from distraction. We really need to find his "thing! we would have recall cracked then! If only we could attach the cat to a stick... he adores her, but the feeling isn't so mural.
He was "socialised" within good training classes along with being let to roam in daycare- we were trying to do the right thing by him but I now feel it might have been having a negative effect. Hence why it is now stopped.


It says my files are too big to upload how do I combat this?
 
It is hard to work with a dog with little drive or interest in the usual toys, food rewards etc. You hit the nail on the head when you said you need to find his thing. If he likes small furries do you think he’d respond well to a fur covered tug toy? Only bring it out for high energy tug games for a few minutes several times a day. Put it away, out of sight, before he gets fed up. Once he’s starting to get excited, anticipating a game, try taking it outside and play with him with varying degrees of distraction and then put a command to it so he knows when the game’s about to begin.
https://southwestagilitygoods.co.uk/index.php?route=product/category&path=59_76

I think you have to reduce the size of the pic on one of the photo sharing sites before you can share here - but hopefully someone more techy can explain how to do it.
 
Thanks WGSD, I'll have look on the websites you have provided. He has a fur covered toy item and also a toy at the end of my lunge whip.. which he will NEVER refuse at home or with "minimal" distraction but the minute you bring something different into the mix ie. Another dog he loses focus.
He is such a laid back chap- I had thought once he was old enough we could do low key agility together but both the trainer and I agreed he would need some rocket fuel first bless him!
... I shall tinker with the photos!
 
Was going to suggest flirt pole. You could also look up Craig Ogilvie who is great at teaching people to be more interesting and engaging with their dogs to promote play - the vast majority of us are insanely boring in the eyes of our dogs :p
He's been allowed to run with others and now he sees an other dog and is expecting to rough house with them and you try and stop him. Bo-ring.
What you have to offer is probably not as fun.

I had one a bit like yours Lintel, happy to chase small furries but no actual drive for a ball or rag. Food drive OK but other dogs were a big problem initially and zoning out on them was more interesting. It took a lot of work, long lining for recall and eventually he could play (roughly) with carefully selected pals and we did a bit of work together too.

As on Kats thread, you need to break the focus before he zones out. While he's thinking of eyeballing the other dog. Then you can teach him that you're much more fun.
 
Lintel said:
Thanks WGSD, I'll have look on the websites you have provided. He has a fur covered toy item and also a toy at the end of my lunge whip.. which he will NEVER refuse at home or with "minimal" distraction but the minute you bring something different into the mix ie. Another dog he loses focus.
He is such a laid back chap- I had thought once he was old enough we could do low key agility together but both the trainer and I agreed he would need some rocket fuel first bless him!
... I shall tinker with the photos!
Click to expand...
There's a really good bit in pippa mattinsons book total recall about proofing the recall with other dogs about and how to build it up, I've used my "dope on a rope" boy to help a friend with this and its worked well.
 
WorkingGSD said:
He’s gorgeous! Lovely photos 😁

I’ve just bought two new tugs from here for my imminent new arrival 😁

https://tug-e-nuff.co.uk/
Click to expand...

Thanks- this is where we bought his two tugs when he was young as he really likes the trainers tugs that were from here. Went down like a lead balloon so they now reside in the cupboard! But they are really good quality toys! Can't wait to see your newbie!
 
I have a rabbit skin tug which both of mine think is the dogs' ****s.

I also did a 6 week program of recall training which involved conditioning to a whistle, mostly praise/play reward with some food thrown in where it was helpful. you build in distractions as you go-the trainer is over in Pathhead but she does do individual sessions, I can PM you details if you like-it worked well and trained me at the same time!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top