Hello
Can someone please suggest something.  An hour ago I was playing in front garden with my older gsd (12yr) and my youngster Prince 9 months. Prince was playing fetch when a group of men walked past from the pub down the road shouting and prince started to ignore me and ran to the fence jumping up and down barking at them.  I called him and went to get him back telling him not to he seems to think this is a game.  About five minutes later a lady walked past with a spaniel, Prince went mad before I could get to him he jumped the wall trying tobark and send the dog away.  I grabbed him as he and the dog were dancing round one anotherand took him indoors.  this could so easily ended in tradegy though as the lady could have panicked - prince is 40 kg and nearl y full grown if the lady was not used to seeing him and new he was friendly ; the other dog and everyone could have end in the middle of the road being killed.  My front garden is fenced but only about 3 1/2 4 foot tall it is about 100ft square. 
I live on a main road and so people always walking past he has always barked when allowed in the front garden in which he is never left alone because of this normally only allowed in back but this is very small.
he is very friendly outgoing dog who goes to puppy training twice a week and has lots of doggy and people friends but seems to have a possessiveness about thing s walking past front of garden.
Has anyone any suggestions to make him less territorial when in front garden. Sorry this post so long. Thanks
Jane

Both of mine (GSD) have always done this but never got out, my 6yr old is so laid back youcan leave the drive gates open and she will just sit there watching the world go by, wheres as my pup also 9 months will run to my freinds house a couple of doors down (she has another dog) rings the door bell to wait for her to come out (complete shock when she done it the first time).
But when gets are she she just bounce at them if she sees anyone or a dog. The only thing i would say is either have him on a long line whilst your playing ao that you can stand on it to retrieve him at any time always treat when he comes back toyou after you have called his name. You could also try a squeaky toy to get his attention. Or try and secure the garden more.
Every time i see a person or dog i normally say to her 'what have i got' she looks at me for treats until we get past a person, for dogs its a bit more difficult as every dog she meets she want to play with.

Good luck

Cordelia

Ensure that your fence is 6ft high with an inward wire at the top if possible to ensure your dog cannot escape.  You are right this could have ended in tragedy for all concerned.  This will not address his territorial issues but it will address safety.

Thanks
For your replies we are already looking into making the fence higher.  Has anyone any suggestions about territorial issues,  I did wonder if I or my dad sat outside with him for an afternoon or morning every day so he could get used to things going by? Do you think this might work?
Thanks
Jane

not quite sure how i done it with my adult GSD it just happened :-), so not sure of any tips.

Sorry

I think the problem does need to be tackled from several areas; ideally you do need a bigger/safer fence because even if he runs towards someone and just scares them by barking, he and you could be in trouble with the law :(

Secondly, you can train him to respond to you (my personal recommendation would be to invest in some training,maybe even one to one for this situation, with a reward based trainer. Dont  whatever you do use the one who advertises in dog magazines. Heard some very bad reports about him.

The more a dog which has guarding instincts is socialised and rewarded for calm behaviour, the more he will be controllable in this situation :) Your idea about sitting outside with him is great :) but do make sure he can't reach anyone or run to scare them....you could reward him with food treats or a toy and a game each time he behaves the way you want. It should at least help :)

Good luck

Lindsay

This is just to update on the situation with Prince he is now a Year old and much better although not totally cured.  The idea about the fence was tried but our local council said we could not have a higher fence as it is on a twisting part of main road going down hill and would restrict sight vision to drivers going past.  -As they all go to fast any way to actually look at one another I dont see the difference but there you go. 

I have also  had a one to one trainer come and give advise and see me and Prince in action ,  She was there when another dog went past and it took both of us to hold prince and stop him going after  the other dog.  The trainer explained this was because we own propewrties on both sides of the road the dog thinks everything is his including road and path.  She suggested because he is so strong and that the other people in the house are elderly and he could easily push past them or pull them over getting an Instant fence or some type of invisible electric fence to go across the front of the drive garden it is around 60 metres of road frontage.  She suggested this two weeks ago and I have been doing eresearch into this and I do not like the idea but this morning when putting him in the car he managed to pull his lead from my hand and run to fence and nearly climb over beacause a man was going past on the opposite side with a trolley now if he had not come back to my recall because we are on a brow of a hill nd the property at this point is 10foot above road level he could of been badly injured or worse.  i am imagining what he would do if he saw a dog! 
I do not want one of these systems but cannot think of any alternative can anyone suggest anything.  The trainer before you ask is is fully qualified and uses the clicker method of training and does not like any type of animal cruelty I found this lady as several near me  suggested hittting was a good way of dealing with the problem or tying him up round the back in 10ft by 10ft area.  The lady was at one time a breeder of Belgium shepherds and is next year going to judge at Crufts.
Before any one says he goes out for 3 daily 1 hour walks most days so is not under exercised he just seems to think that all the property is his because everything in sight along it is ours.
Any suggestions welcome?

Have you tried a longish lead attached to prince and something he cant move like a conreate post? Before people jump on me the idea goes like this. Have him restricted to a lead long enough to roam garden not so long so he is at least 6 feet away from fence. Then be outside with him and get as many people to walk by the house at different intervals but arranged so you know what time they are going to walk by so you can be prepared to correct prince's behaviour. If you can recognise any pattern to it and can see at what point he goes to guard hopefully you should be able to anticipate his actions and get in there before it starts. When people walk by aviod dogs at first as he seems to be harder to control, correct him in the way that suits you. He should know when you mean no so use this method. I would start with the lead quite short to begin with it should be easier to hold him, get him to sit and reward all good behaviour even small bursts. If hes quick to learn then he will have more free reign on the lead hopefully progressing to the lead being compleatly removed. I do not agree with dogs being tied up and would never recommend leaving prince in the garden tied up on his own as this would not solve any problems however if this method is used always have someone there. i used this method on buster and the petrol lawn mower (i know its different) but buster would attack the lawn mover and it was dangerous as he was being very visous (sp) but he wouldn't hurt a fly so to speak and after 2 sessions he was fine. Now when we mow the lawns he lies in front of it with his ball so we have to play wev'e made a game of it . Thinking of it we did this with the hoover and anything else that made a noise and its worked every time with him.
HTH
sonya

I'm in a bit of a rush this morning, but one concern i would have over an invisible fence is that your shepherd will probably be full of adrenalin and therefore to an extent immune to the shock so it may well not stop him. He may then be unable  to return once the adrenalin has worn off. Or, he may start to associate passing dogs with the shock so it may make things worse - classical conditioning.

I can totally understand you are desperate and have to sort this out, i think the trainer is right about your dog thinking the whole area is his territory, but how is he with dogs normally? If he is OK with them normally it may be territorial but if he is not OK with them normally, it may be more  of a  defensive tupe reaction.

There are fences now, i believe, which work like the electric ones but use a spray collar ....this may be preferable and would work in the same way ... so again the same problems may be apparent. On the other hand the spray is more of a surprise/distraction so if conditioned correctly to this tupe of fence, it may work better.

I take it there is no type of see through but safe barrier that can be erected at this spot? I suppose it owuld not be strong enough.

How is your relationship with him in general, does he tend to understand and obey commands and have good manners roudn the house? :)

It is possible to train a dog to be better in the garden; my dog shows some territorial instinct out the back but not the front. For instance, (esp.  as he is still young) you may be able to use the clicker to get him to associate passers by with rewards or even to learn another behaviour instead.  Likewise, if lots of training was done to a high standard with your young shepherd, you could in all probability control him if you were in the garden with him.

Lindsay
X

The problem with the electric fences is that if the dog does go through it it will not be able to get back without being punished

They also use punishment to train the dog which is no way to train a dog

I had a beardie who liked to escape to mug people & dogs not nasty he just loved everyone & got stuck once on the top of my 6 foot wall whilst trying to get to play with some children.

I put him on a long line & flat collar & got the children to play loudly the other side of the wall

When he went to go over the wall & I stopped him using the line about six feet away from the wall & gave him the down command(which he already knew) I repeated this several times & then took the line off & replaced it with a very light climbing rope that he did not notice. repeated the kids playing over the wall(they loved being able to make noise & not get told off so were very willing)& reeated the down command at about the same place. Didn't need to use the line & he then had an instant down, I tried him off line & again it worked & after a few weeks he gave up trying & yes I rewarded him when he went down on command & went he ran up to the wall & didn't try to get over it.

I did get the children to play with him but in a different place so that he did not associate jumping the wall & playtime

You will need to enlist help to desensitize him to the people/dogs going past & always reward him when he doesn't react

Out of interest - what are these 'full qualifications' your trainer has - are they as a trainer or a behaviourist - the two are NOT the same.......

Having know of two dogs being killed (by cars) because they got out of those invisible fences I could not recommend them.

Can you put up a high internal fence maybe 6'-10' inside the existing fence.  This will have the added benefit of keeping him that much further from the dogs he can see going past.  You will also need to address his problem with other dogs but this should keep him safer in the meantime.

Thats an excellent idea Christine! Often the simplest idea we all overlook can manage the problem - agree you would still need to address the problem but it would keep him and passing dogs safe. Is that possible?

Lindsay :)
X

I was going to suggest something similar - but with maybe the added protection of the top 12" being angled intowards the dog.......

Hi Jane, I've sent you a private message.

Stacey

Thank you all for the replies I can put a higher fence inside the walled area and will do this we have several of those barricade fence post s which slot together and will try those unforunately the gate way is a public driveway entrance about 12 metres across and a gate cannot be placed here.  Try to visualise a 40 metre straight line with a 12 metre entrance at the end,  because this is a business the driveway cannot be blocked it has 24 hour use.

I will go back to sitting outside with him on a lead rewarding if any dogs go by .  How come when you want people to go by and have arranged time away for work no one ever goes by?
I have put the electric fence idea on the shelf at the moment and see how we go on. 
Jane