[chay22]

Hi
I will try to give as much background as I can. I have had my male gsd since he was 5 months old. when he arrive he was fine, took him out socialised him etc, all was going fine. decided to take him to training classes.
Went to a class recommemned by the vet. Well didn't last long. Alfie was quite noisy with the other dogs,barking wanting to get to them etc, no aggresssion shown but the trainer wouldn't let him grret the other dogs so it got worse she then told me i have a problem dog.

Tried another trainer who took classes outside & Alfie was much better, now showing a little lead agression, I completed a 6 weeks course with some improvement but the trainer did not take another class so suggested i find another class next step up.

Third training class. This was in a hall with a trainer who had delt with dog aggressive dogs including her own. We started theses classes but Alfie was getting worse that I got banished to the kitchen away from the rest of the class. we tried for another couple of weeks until I decided enough was enough as when the trainer came toward us and alfie showed agression to her, I was really stressed going home from class virtually in tears.

Alfie was castrated 8 weeks ago as we have a female working dog at home.

I have stopped all classes since then & we have both seembed to have calmed down a little but I don't know where to go from here. I now have a dog that is agressive!

As far as I was concerned i had done the responsible thing by going to classes but have come out worse than when I started. I am wary of going to anymore classes as this started the problem but need help.

I hope this information helps, am happy to clarify anything and any help would be much appreciated as situation reduces me to tears regularly.

Rachel & Alfie (now 16 months old)

 

[Dogless]

I'd go to the vet to rule out physical causes for the behaviour and then get referred to a behaviourist I think. Lots of insurance policies pay for this.

 

[Phoolf]

I don't think putting a stressed out dog in an environment they found very stressful was the best idea ever, but I think your heart was in the right place. I would recommend finding a good behaviourist in your area who will come and assess Alfie and give you some guidance. I don't think at this point classes will be of any help, you need specialist advice in a one to one environment. I hope you find some good advice on here that will help.

 

[chay22]

Thanks for replying. Everybody says training from a young age is best, so thought I was doing the right thing as he's my first pup all my other dogs have been older rescues.

 

[Phoolf]

Thanks for replying. Everybody say training, traing so thought I was doing the right thing.

And amazingly none of the above trainers suggested it would be stressful to your dog! I think shame on them to be honest, I would have thought they'd have noticed that your dog was not enjoying being there. I think training classes can cause a lot of dogs to be lead aggressive due to being so frustrated, I wasn't sure with mine when we first started whether she was going the same way but thankfully she settled down after a couple of classes.