My six month old GSD pup is driving me nuts. She seems to be getting more agressive as she gets older. Firstly to other dogs when we are out walking and she is on lead but also around the house. She has always disliked the Hoover and at first I just put her in her crate whilst doing it. I thought it may be fear and she would feel safer in there. She would make a terrible racket and it obviously was not working. So I tried leaving her out and she would just play bark at the thing but keep a safe distance away, but have just had a scary experience with it. As soon as I started to pick her toys up off the floor she started barking in anticipation and when I got the Hoover out she started barking in earnest. Growling and snarling and trying to bite it. It scared me to death so I put her in her crate where she went bannanas untill I had finished. Has anyone out there any ideas?
She also goes for dusters cleaning cloths (narrowly missing my hand most of the time) mops, brushes, hoses. This means that I can't do any housework exept at the weekend when my husband is at home and can take her out whilst I swiftly clean up. She has not been very distructive in the  house as she will stop chewing anything when we say No but this does not work when trying to clean, or when she spots another dog.  

Hi there.  I have a 2 and a half year old male GSD and a puppy also and our male has been really hard work.  He is high drive and probably would have been better off as a working dog so we have had to work through lots of problems with him so maybe I can help a bit.

Firstly, the hoover.  For the moment when you hoover can you pop her in another room just to keep her out of the way while you don't have time to sort things out with her.  Ossie (my male) also has a thing for the hoover and we have had to spend a lot of time working with him on it but we came to understand that it was the symptom of something much deeper as may be with your girl.  I think that the growling / barking is also to do with this.

At 6 months shepherds are just starting to enter the adolescent 'I can't hear you mum' stage and you really need to work hard with her.  Can I ask a few questions?
What sort of exercise does she get during the day?
What sort of food is she on?
Is she left alone at all?
Do you go to training classes?
What sort of privileges does she get (where does she sleep?, is she allowed on the sofa, walking through doors first etc?)

Without knowing more details it is hard to give you any in depth advice but please feel free to pm if you want to have a good chat as I know how demoralising and sometimes scary it can be.

One piece of advice I can give straight away is if you aren't going to a local training club please find one straight away.  This a breed that needs firm but fair guidance as they grow up along with MASSES of socialisation and then normally you get a wonderful loyal companion.

Looking forward to hearing from you
Jayne

As Jayne said, they do need masses of socialisation. I have  a Belgian shepherd and she was just the same with the hoover. It was partly due to fear and partly due to excitement.

The way i changed my dog's attitude was to get her hooked on to a special toy - maybe a ball or a tuggie  - so that it was very important to her. Next i switched on the hoover and (whatever she did) chucked the toy away from the hoover,being very excited and using usual play words such as "ooh look, what have i got" and so on. I kept doing this with very tiny movements of hoover and then. once she started to get more accepting and expecting her toy, i would hoover a bit more thus gradually building up the time. Sorry i'm a bit tired and possibly not making myself very clear, but basically i got her associating the hoover with playtime.

She then started to grab her toy and offer it to me whilst i was hoovering, and now she has maybe  one throw or sometimes just lies down and doesn't worry.

Re the other dogs, you need to socialise and keep on doing it all the time, making it as positive as possible. If she is OK off lead try to let her socialise off lead as much as possible.

Lindsay
X

Hi Jayne
I have thought of putting her in another room but scared she may herself an injury as she would just tear around wildly and worried that she may go through the glass windows. During the day she has two walks. One at 12.00am and one around 5.00pm. The first one to the park where lots of other dogs socialise and the other on the main road with lots of traffic, noise and people. Each one about 20 - 30 mins. Any later than 5.00pm is out of the question as our area is not very safe after this time. She is fed on Royal Canin and I have been told that this does not contain anything that might make her hypo. She is left alone for 2 1/2 hours each afternoon whilst I visit my daughter in hospital at the moment. I also pop her into her crate for half an hour whilst I shower and dress. This she accepts and is quiet so long as I'm out of sight. She started attending training classes last week at West Lancs K9 school. She is quite good in class and does not behave agressiveley towards all the other dogs. She seems fine while there is lots of dogs, her problem is when there is just one. When we walk on the main road she will even bark at a dog over the other side of the main road. Not encroaching on her space atall. My husband thinks that she is barking because she wants to get nearer and play but it can quite often get an agressive response from the other dog. She sleeps in her crate at night under the stairs. This she does not mind, she will often go in there and sleep during the day of her own accord. She is not allowed on sofa at any time and will waite for me to go through doors first most of the time.

Many Thanks
Pat   

I will probably get shot down in flames by the behaviourists on the forum for want I am going to advise & tell you

Firstly GSDs are a very vocal breed & the barking is not always aggression but attention seeking from other dogs for play, that is why training & socialization as soon as possible is needed. This is so the dog can learn what behaviour is acceptable. have a word which the trainer & try to arrange some controlled one on one dog encounters with non reactive dogs

As for the hoover again not aggressive or fear but possibly play. try pretending to use it without switching it on & treat for non reaction. also have it switched on but not moving & train her in the vicinty again treat & reward for non reaction. If these two work then try getting someone else to  move the hoover whilst you train they treat & reward again for non reaction. If this also works then you could repeat the moving by someone else with it switched on & again treat & reward for non reaction

I would also mention the problem to your trainer to see if they can help as well

I've only had GSDs since 1958 a short time I know & I have no behaviorial qualifications to show, just 46 years of GSD owning experience-which in the modern era of behaviourists counts for zilch

hi there

I have a 14 month old gsd, I have had her from 7 weeks old, she did exactly the same thing with the hoover at first showing real aggression towards it, I just carried on, every time I hoovered she tried the same thing, I would shout at her firmly to be quiet and leave it alone, having kids trailing in and out the house I hoover at least twice a day, and there was no way I was going to put her in another room or out in the garden just because she didn't like it.
Eventually the barking became less and now she just follows the hoover with me almost vacuuming her nose or feet she gets so close, but at least she's quiet and it's almost like a chase the hoover game now.  She knows that I wont pussy foot around her so it's up to her to jump out the way, that's why I think it's a sort of game to her now.
One of my neighbours even commented that she always knew when I was hoovering because she could hear macey barking.
So maybe it might be an idea to just carry on and be firm with her, let her know it's a case of you'll have to get used to it, unless of course she seems genuinely frightened.
good luck

What a great excuse to leave the housework!!!! I actually have the same problem with Leon but he is slowly getting used to it. I completely ignore him if he barks when I hoover (lots of patience required while he is trying to chew the hose) but every now and then I leave it out before or afterwards and scatter some treats or food around it for him to find. Not sure if this is how I should be doing it but it seems to be working.....

Shepherds and hoovers, seems to be a common combination.
My boy used to go nuts when he was younger, the hoover brush had teeth marks in, not only would he bark at it, he tried to pick it up and shake it too.
Strange to say I found it made a boring job more enjoyable and carried on regardless, he virtually ignores it these days or wanders off up stairs out of the way till it's finished.

Hi, first of all enjoy your puppy! They are ace!! My GSD does the same with the hoover, It isn't agression! Its play! He does the same with the lawn mower too so stand by for summer! We have to be a bit careful with the mower as he does like to pick it up and shake it! Just accept that he will do it, ignore him, and carry on hoovering. Quite often max will just lie down in front of it and almost get hoovered up. My old collie used to do the same. Remember GSD's were originally herding dogs, and will still try to herd whenever they can. Have fun!

The *pup* will now be almost 1 year old as this topic is from July :)

Hi my pup is 1year old on Xmas Eve. I tried all the tips on here with no success. She still barks and growls at the Hoover. Just have to live with it lucky I have understanding neighbours.