Dog training in Wheatridge

Guys, I need urgent help here:
Two days ago we adopted a 3 years old Dutch Shepard mix from a rescue.

Very smart and incredibly loving dog, she took to us instantly, trusting us from the get go, following commands, cuddling and basically melting on us at any chance given.

Will not attack other dogs on the street when we have her on a leash, will watch them from across the street but makes no move.

We took her to the pet store for a harness and she let the people fit it on her with no problem.

As long as we are outside she is fine but she is very territorial and barked a serious warning to a neighbor approaching our yard fence to talk to my wife (although she made no aggressive moves, she stayed by my wife, protecting her).

Today my stepdaughter came to meet the dog and all hell broke loose.

She showed up with treats and toys and, although the dog was a little tense, she ate the treats (did not want to play though).

Then, as they were getting ready to walk the dog, stepdaughter went into the restroom.

The moment she stepped out the dog attacked her, going for her face.

Maybe, with the sun behind the window the dog did not recognize her.

Maybe she got confused and thought the bathroom door was an exterior door and somebody was breaking in.

Luckily my wife could sense the dog tension and had her on the leash and there was no injury.

She pretty much threw the dog in her crate and the dog went in immediately, without turning on my wife or anything.

The dog was upset for the rest of the day and did not want to go outdoors, constantly scanning the house.

Again, no aggression towards my wife at all.

So now my wife is (understandably) freaked out.

She loves the dog but she is worried about liabilities and she is upset that her family may not be able to visit.

Now, I don't necessarily mind the idea of relatives staying away...

And I cannot blame the dog for being antisocial (God knows I am).

We could return her to the shelter but they told me that the dog has a history (they did not quite explain that when we adopted her) and that they will have to put her down.

In her mind the dog was protecting us and her territory!

I assume the dog can be trained by the right person to be less territorial.

I need to find someone in the area that has experience with this kind of behavior.

Can somebody please help???
We're supposed to return her tomorrow but I really want to give her a chance...

And before someone suggests it, no, I will not fight my wife of 25 years over this.

My puppy just graduated from K9 Revolution. Amazing!!!!!!!! I'd call them right away and see if they can help. EVERYONE that works there is amazing, like minded, and have become like family to me and my family!! Tell them Andy Z referred you. Wishing you the best of luck with the pup. Shelter dogs with "history" have almost always had a rough prior life and were not treated well. Professional training is a must.

Not cheap, but they are incredible at what they do!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
https://www.k9revolution.net/

I've been hoping for an update on the status of this pup.

Anything you can/are willing to share?

Lilith is still with us.
We decided to keep her and get her some training.
My wife is now officially in love with her and we are taking our time getting to know her.
She has not shown any aggression towards other people when we walk her, but she does, understandably, bark back when some other dog show territorial aggression from behind their fence.
We contacted a local training service, the Front Range K9 Academy, and frankly they sounded a little too pushy to get her in right away for a $125 "evaluation", that just happened to be on a "special" for the next week...
Surprisingly the most reasonable advice we got was from the trainer at our local Petco:
She told us that it sounds like Lilith has a lot of anxiety, probably due to the change in her life, and to wait a couple of weeks to allow her to settle in her new home and her real personality to come out.
ONLY THEN to bring her in for a $40 one on one evaluation to get a better sense of what is going on.
So, that's what we're doing: we're learning the dog and she's learning us.
Meanwhile...
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Working residential construction I've run in to a lot of shepherds over the years, one trait I've seen in them more than other breeds is that they will lock on to one family member and as you've seen outdoors they can be fine but get inside of their space/home and anywhere near that family member and they turn in to another dog.

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Originally Posted by def90

Working residential construction I've run in to a lot of shepherds over the years, one trait I've seen in them more than other breeds is that they will lock on to one family member and as you've seen outdoors they can be fine but get inside of their space/home and anywhere near that family member and they turn in to another dog.

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Well, we're lucky that she seems equally affectionate to both of us.
As far as guests in the house I am more likely to attack them than the dog is, so I guess she fits right in...
We'll try to get her to be more tolerant of "vetted" guests and other dogs.
She is a shelter dog so I don't know that a board and training facility would be the best fit, she would just feel abandoned, again.

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Originally Posted by bellavite1

We'll try to get her to be more tolerant of "vetted" guests and other dogs.
She is a shelter dog so I don't know that a board and training facility would be the best fit, she would just feel abandoned, again.

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I'm really glad you're giving her a chance. It will be stressful, but I think (hope) you'll be able to get her to understand acceptable and unacceptable behavior and she'll make a great addition to your family.

I'm no dog trainer, but I have done training work with military working dogs in the past, and even tried learning from the actual trainers. That experience helped when my SIL and daughter adopted a dog that I'm fairly certain was raised to be a fighting dog. She clearly had a LOT of trauma before she came to them. Over time, she now almost never shows signs of misplaced aggression (she still has a few triggers that they have to watch out for).

I'd suggest getting the "vetted" guests and other dogs as much exposure to her as possible, with you and/or your wife right there to reassure her they'd "good". ALWAYS be careful getting too close to her face!

My former next door neighbor had 2 GSD's (Second one after the first died). He got both of them trained at the prison down in Canon City/Florence (one of those, not sure which one). He had to send the 2nd GSD back to go through the process again. This, and other boarding training sites, is something I personally dislike and wouldn't recommend. Lot's of love, encouraging the good traits with praise while scolding (never hitting) for the bad traits. Some folks will tell you to put her in a "time out" in a kennel if she misbehaves but I'd discourage that as there may be times you WANT her to go into one and she'll associate that with being punished.

Best of luck brother and keep us apprised of her progress.

Do you have any advice about getting her used to be alone for 1-2 hrs?

I don't. Leaving a dog alone is a necessity, but also one of the hardest things to work out successfully.

GSD's, in particular, are said to require lots of stimulation and exercise. If they can't get it from people, they'll find a way to get it - and this often involves being destructive (eating your shoes, your couch, etc). I know a lot of folks will kennel their dog (home kennel) while they are out to avoid the destruction (which is why you'll want to avoid associating kenneling with punishment).

The best I have is to simply offer you the best of luck on this aspect.

Kennel training

So we are going to train (ourselves and the dog) with Siobhan Flaherty.

She comes highly recommended by our vet and her reviews are stellar.

The dog, initially quite nervous, started acting like a soldier after just a few minutes on the leash with her.

After the initial (free) evaluation, the dog was so comfortable with her in the house that just passed out cold while we were still talking.

She will come to our house once a week for 8 weeks, 1 hour training sessions.

We're going to work on the territoriality, on pulling, on snapping the dog out of "hunting mode" tunnel vision when she sees a rabbit or a squirrel, and on teaching the dog to stay inside the fence.

Cost is going to be $200 per session, total $1600.

Not the cheapest, but since all of our concerns are related to the dog behavior on our property, we feel that having the training take place "in situ" is paramount.

I'll let you know how it goes...

Awesome Bellavite. I look forward to seeing how this training works out for your doggo!

I’d love to have a GSD but having free flying Macaws makes me real nervous having a dog in the same household

Or maybe not...
Now the wife has concerns:
This trainer recommended using a slip collar for the training and an electronic fence.
My wife is afraid these methods may hurt the dog and our relationship with her.
What are your thoughts about this?

Slip collar, or prong collar is a must! Doesn?t hurt the dog, but gets the point across. Same for an E collar, or ?shock? collar. Used correctly, it?s a hell of a tool. Same with the electronic fence. Doesn?t hurt the dog one bit when used correctly. , Let?s put it this way, when my 7 mo lab sees me grab her slip collar, she goes bonkers excited and sits right next to me with her tail wagging in a frenzy. Same when she sees me grab the remote to her electronic collar. Trust me, listen to the trainer. When training, a standard ?flat collar? is worthless and can actually cause harm and injury to the dog. Your relationship with the dog is going to be unreal and a solid bond developed from the training.

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Originally Posted by colorider

Slip collar, or prong collar is a must! Doesn?t hurt the dog, but gets the point across. Same for an E collar, or ?shock? collar. Used correctly, it?s a hell of a tool. Same with the electronic fence. Doesn?t hurt the dog one bit when used correctly. , Let?s put it this way, when my 7 mo lab sees me grab her slip collar, she goes bonkers excited and sits right next to me with her tail wagging in a frenzy. Same when she sees me grab the remote to her electronic collar. Trust me, listen to the trainer. When training, a standard ?flat collar? is worthless and can actually cause harm and injury to the dog. Your relationship with the dog is going to be unreal and a solid bond developed from the training.

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Thank you for that!
I had my wife read your post and it seemed to really help.

I’d be more than happy to chat w you and/or your wife if you would like, and please reach out with questions. I can also provide a lot of videos of training for ya.

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Originally Posted by colorider

I’d be more than happy to chat w you and/or your wife if you would like, and please reach out with questions. I can also provide a lot of videos of training for ya.

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Members helping members: This is part of what makes me proud to be a part of the COAR community. I love it!

Thank you guys!
It means a lot.