When my boyfriend and I started dating, he got a German Shepherd puppy from the pound. His name is Hercules and he’s almost 4 years old. We now live together in his parents’s house with several other dogs (all other dogs are below 30 pounds).
My boyfriend has not been a great dog owner thus far. He promised to take him out and walk him every day, to socialize him, to spend hours with him every day. He does none of that.
Hercules has now bitten two of the other dogs that live here. The first one was a male chihuahua who bit him first. When Hercules bit him back, the damage was severe, but the dog survived. That was two years ago. Today, he bit an elderly female dog. No one saw what happened, but she was likely in his space when he didn’t want her to be, and he snapped at her and bit her. She got stitches, but she’ll be okay.
My boyfriend wants to wash his hands of this dog. I have now taken full responsibility of him because I worry that giving him away would lead to him being in the pound again. We are currently working on leash pulling and obeying commands like “down”, “drop it”, and “with me”
Hercules also seems to dislike when the other dogs bark at the front door. He tries to sort of control them by barking/ pushing with his nose/ or snapping at the other dogs to get them to stop. My father in law has suggested muzzle training. As in, wait for him to do that, and then put the muzzle on to try and associate those behaviors with getting the muzzle on. But I don’t know if that will help or make it worse.
He seems to be really bored as well. He’s kind of too big to play with the other dogs as they are much smaller and much older. I ordered him some dog puzzles to try and keep his mind active on top of the hour walks I’ll be taking him on every day.
TLDR: I have no idea how to even begin to address resource guarding, fear of strangers and new dogs due to lack of socialization, fearful and aggressive behavior at the vet, he bars his teeth at me when I touch his nails (not due to injury, he just doesn’t like it) and they’re way too long. I’m scared to take him to a groomer because I don’t want him to bite another person.
Any advise, videos, articles, dog trainer suggestions in the San Diego, CA area are all highly appreciated. I have never trained a dog before and I’m in way over my head. I just don’t want him to end up in the pound again.
My boyfriend has not been a great dog owner thus far. He promised to take him out and walk him every day, to socialize him, to spend hours with him every day. He does none of that.
Hercules has now bitten two of the other dogs that live here. The first one was a male chihuahua who bit him first. When Hercules bit him back, the damage was severe, but the dog survived. That was two years ago. Today, he bit an elderly female dog. No one saw what happened, but she was likely in his space when he didn’t want her to be, and he snapped at her and bit her. She got stitches, but she’ll be okay.
My boyfriend wants to wash his hands of this dog. I have now taken full responsibility of him because I worry that giving him away would lead to him being in the pound again. We are currently working on leash pulling and obeying commands like “down”, “drop it”, and “with me”
Hercules also seems to dislike when the other dogs bark at the front door. He tries to sort of control them by barking/ pushing with his nose/ or snapping at the other dogs to get them to stop. My father in law has suggested muzzle training. As in, wait for him to do that, and then put the muzzle on to try and associate those behaviors with getting the muzzle on. But I don’t know if that will help or make it worse.
He seems to be really bored as well. He’s kind of too big to play with the other dogs as they are much smaller and much older. I ordered him some dog puzzles to try and keep his mind active on top of the hour walks I’ll be taking him on every day.
TLDR: I have no idea how to even begin to address resource guarding, fear of strangers and new dogs due to lack of socialization, fearful and aggressive behavior at the vet, he bars his teeth at me when I touch his nails (not due to injury, he just doesn’t like it) and they’re way too long. I’m scared to take him to a groomer because I don’t want him to bite another person.
Any advise, videos, articles, dog trainer suggestions in the San Diego, CA area are all highly appreciated. I have never trained a dog before and I’m in way over my head. I just don’t want him to end up in the pound again.
