Dealing With German Shepherd Aggression
06 Dec 2009
While German Shepherds may not inspire the ill-placed fear of such breeds as Rottweilers and Pit Bulls, they do land on many banned breed lists.
In fact, it is more of a reputation of being aggressive that German Shepherds have acquired. Owners of these dogs will mostly deny that German Shepherd aggression is a concern, but, unfortunately, the number of incidents of these dogs attacking people and other dogs can’t be ignored. However, whilst genetics are a factor, the biggest problem is mis-training, or even no training, by their owners.
It would be wrong to think that this trait of inappropriate aggressive behavior is displayed by all, or even most, German Shepherds.It is unfair to pin the label of “aggressive” or “dangerous” on this entire wonderful breed.Still, all owners of these dogs should be aware that it may potentially be a problem and, as such, should learn about and try to recognize the signs of German shepherd aggression.
So, what forms can aggression take?Some German Shepherds only act aggressively towards other dogs. Some will display aggression only if they are approached whilst they are chewing a bone or eating. Others are aggressive toward strangers, and others even show aggression to some human members of the household in which they live.
No aggressive behavior should be ignored as it has the potential to escalate to the attack of an animal or person and any time. At the first sign of aggression being displayed, or even before this, you need to embark on a course of proper training. Not only could is save injury to other people and animals, it could also save your own dog’s life.
Simply yelling at or hitting your dog when it acts aggressively is a faulty approach to take.In almost every case, this is only going to make the behavior worse.Also, a person is not going to win a “fight” with a German Shepherd. If he attacks you, you are going to be seriously hurt, and he is probably going to be put to sleep.
For German Shepherd aggression, the one course of action that should be taken is obedience training. The best results are seen with younger dogs, but don’t let the age of your dog put you off from trying it at any time. Even old dogs can learn to be obedient, it just takes a little more time.
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