German Shepherd rescue showing aggression to a specific family member

[segaz]

Hey everyone, sorry to be long-winded but I am struggling with my new rescue dog showing aggression to a specific family member.

I have 3 other Husky mixes and have a decent amount of knowledge about dog training. One of my dogs is very reactive and I have done a lot of counter-conditioning with him. I have also dealt with resource guarding & same-sex aggression. They are all trained and know basic commands.

We were done rescuing dogs but then we saw C. He is a purebred 3 - 5-year-old male German Shepard. It was an emergency rescue. He was a day away from being euthanized. He was found in a pin with two deceased dogs. He was 20 pounds underweight and had feces all over him. He was almost completely feral.
The people at the shelter said he growls and they expected him to be put down. At the last minute, they told me without any previous warning that he hates children, people, & cats. I still brought him home, he didn’t even know what stairs were or how to use them.

Fast forward 5 months and he is glued to my side. I have even gotten him and my other male reactive dog to coexist with each other. He has never tried to hurt my cats. I think the shelter environment was stressing him out. He has never growled or tried to bite me. I am working on his separation anxiety. But, he is still very scared of my other household members (two other adult females & a teenage male). He has learned to tolerate the other two female household members but the only person he shows affection to is me.

The main problem is he doesn’t trust my brother at all. My brother can feed C treats and pet him on the head without any problems. But, C tried to charge and nip him anytime he feels my brother is threatening someone. C tried to bite my brother because he thought my brother was hitting me. My brother plays with our other dogs and C will try to bite him if he thinks the other dogs are being hurt by him. C also dislikes male strangers too. Today I & my brother were in the backyard will all the dogs and when my brother grabbed one of our other dogs, C snuck up behind him and bit him in the butt. My brother turned around and C immediately ran away in fear. C tried to nip him again any time my brother's back was turned from him. I yelled at him when he was trying again and C immediately stopped trying to get to him.

The “bites” do not break the skin. They are just really hard nips. He doesn’t keep going after my brother after he nips, he just runs away in fear. But, C is a very powerful dog and I can not let this escalate any further. He is just so fearful of everyone but me. I have tried having my brother hand-feed C his dinner my brother has given C treats and my brother can touch C without any problems. They even sleep in the same room together. C only reacts when he thinks my brother is harming someone. C won’t even growl at our female vets when they handle him. He is way more scared than aggressive.

I don’t know what C has been through before we rescued him. Considering how he literally cowers when he is scared and dislikes men, I’m assuming he was abused. C didn’t know any basic commands whatsoever and he didn’t know what a leash was. I just now got him to learn the “sit” command. He is around 3 years old and has had no training or socialization at all. I don’t expect him to be perfect and he may always be fearful of strangers but I cannot have him trying to hurt my family members. I feel very frustrated from the nipping situation that happened today. I know this takes a lot of time but, I feel like I am making no progress. C literally will not show any affection or trust to anyone but me no matter how many treats or food they give him. All household members have made an effort to spend time with C and they all show him patience and love. If anyone has any advice on how to help with this situation it would be much appreciated!

 

[justjem]

@segaz I would try muzzle training/conditioning him to wear a good wire basket muzzle like a Leerburg one, and always leave a leash on him dragging for now. Can be just a slip leash in the house and a long line outside. Basically though he has to be allowed to never engage in this type of behavior. It's a resource guarding/protective instinct too, but since he has an unknown past and little to no socialization he can't control it. I would say a good balanced trainer would help, look at people like Tom Davis, Robert Cabral, and Ivan Balabanov. You don't want some crank and yank alpha trainer like a Cesar Milan type. This dog absolutely needs positive reinforcement and lots of slow build up, but also absolutely need more structure and boundaries and be told when his behavior isn't appropriate. For now I would start out with the leash, and the muzzle, and try distracting him by doing something like place work where he is tethered to a cot and cannot engage with your brother/other dogs when they are playing but just observe and get used to things as they are over time with lots of treats and praise too of course.

 

[segaz]

@justjem Thank you for the advice! I am struggling more with training C because all my other rescue dogs where never this fearful & shut down. I am struggling to maintain the balance of correcting non appropriate behavior & not scaring him where he is even more fearful & shutdown.

 

[lashan]

@segaz It's awesome you have rescued him and are working with him for a happier life! I can only say that the bond you have developed with him is causing/triggering a protection behaviour in him. His difficult beginnings make it hard for him to see the difference between play and real aggression. GSD's are always protective and can I say that a nip, although bad, isnt a proper bite so there is definitely room for improvement.

He has probably learnt early from your brother to be aware and this will take time to dissipate. It's always best to consider the dogs sensitivities when engaging around the dog in order to shape his reactions. It does take time to give the dog confidence in dealing with something he is uncomfortable with but it is important to consider his anxieties as you work thru them. Sometimes it's important to tell humans around certain dogs that there are actions that can trigger the dog so please keep this in mind. I believe you already do take the time with other aspects and this is just another area for that.

Keep going and well done.

 

[segaz]

@lashan Thank you for your advice & kind words. It really helps me feel better & have hope. Our three other Husky mixes are all rescues. Huskies are definitely more aloof so I don’t have much experience with German Shepards. We also have three cats and two of them where on deaths door when we found them. We also rescue & rehabilitate if possible geese & chickens. I think I’m just feeling a little burnt out right now. Being a 19 year old college student combined with everything else is overwhelming. I love all of my animals and spend thousands (I’m definitely not rich) on their veterinary care & training. I wish I could find a reputable trainer where I’m at but I’ve already tried two different ones for my reactive Husky mix. They made his reactions to strangers even worse. Multiple friends & family have asked me to “rescue this animal” or “can you take my pet” and I’ve learned to say no. I have a full house and unfortunately I can’t help everyone.

 

[lashan]

@segaz I understand. GSD's operate and behave best when they are completely sure of the boundaries. I dont know you but you seem so kind hearted that you may also give too much leeway to the boundaries. They love a strong leader. They will always test the boundary, like kids, but it's important they are wound back in very quickly. My wife tries to coax my GSD into misbehaviour because she thinks it's funny. Because he knows that's crossing the boundary, he will ignore her. I dont dominate, I just make sure the boundaries are well known. My wife knows this is the best way for him so we can take him anywhere and he is such a well behaved boy in all circumstances.

 

[alice96]

@segaz My mum rescued a dog years ago that loved everyone in our house except me, liked me after being in the room with her for quite awhile but at the beginning big each encounter she hated me… we were all perplexed by this, all our other animals loved me … the dog was rescued from someone mum knew, when she was vet checked she had a lot of old suspicious injury signs, which my mum struggled to believe her friend had done, when mum was out walking her one day and saw the ex-owner at park, the dog ran to her loved on her, then saw the sons gf who also lived there and lost her shit, sons girlfriend happened to be same age as me and very similar appearance…. Maybe similar thing with your brother?

 

[segaz]

@alice96 That is a very good theory. It is definitely possible. Did your relationship with the dog ever improve?

 

[alice96]

@segaz Yes but very slowly, I made sure to give her space and time to process who I was, things like I’d come into a room and stay away from her for awhile and I’d sing/him/talk, once she knew it was me she’d be on my knee getting love, but I was really careful about not triggering her fear response, it helped figuring out what it was so I knew that I was showing her that I wasn’t that scary person