Why is my German Shepherd attacking friends and panting in the heat?

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This is certainly possible and recommended but this usually requires in person training by a qualified dog trainer. I recommend you consider contacting a qualified dog trainer to work with you in person. Good luck and have a good day!

Hello there, Sorry to hear about your situation. That sounds tough in this summer heat. It's normal for them to eat a little less when it is hot, but they should still be maintaining their body weight. If they are losing weight, then it may be too hot for them to thrive and you may need to find a situation to house them indoors. So tips for keeping them cool! There are a lot of warnings on the internet about not giving dogs cold water and frozen treats. This only applies to dogs that are severely heated and suffering heat stroke. As far as a healthy happy dog that's just hot, frozen treats and ice cubes are perfectly fine and can encourage appetite in the heat. Many dogs like to play with ice cubes! You can freeze kibble, chicken broth, and other fun things in the ice to make cheap, chilly toys. I also like to make big ice blocks in the freezer with tupperware containers, so that when I put the ice block in the water bowl, it takes several hours to melt instead of ice cubes that melt within a few minutes. You can also make mixtures of dog kibble and yogurt or peanut butter to stuff into Kong or other treat toys to make for a cold snack as well. If you can play with them with a water hose, or offer a kiddie pool, they may enjoy that as well. I would also try to keep on top of brushing your German Shepherd regularly to reduce the amount of the fluffy and warming undercoat. I hope this is helpful! Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

Hello, German Shepherds are commonly aggressive and may require intense training and socialization to be good companion animals. It sounds like he has become quite a dangerous animal, especially to your mother. Please take his aggression seriously and do not allow small children or animals to be around him, as he has a history of severely hurting people. He also needs to maintain his rabies vaccinations to ensure he is not able to spread a fatal disease with his bites. I would recommend seeing a veterinary behaviorist, a good dog trainer, as well as pursuing neutering him. This will be the best way to try to make him a safe animal to live with. I hope this is helpful. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. I am sorry to hear that this has happened. This behavior is certainly concerning as you don't want Boston to cause serious harm to your wife or anyone else for that matter. I would recommend taking Boston to a behaviorist for training and other recommendations. There are trainers that will take Boston for several weeks for the training or trainers that will come to your house for in home training. At 4 months of age, this is easier to correct than when he is 4 years old. Now is the time to take action as it is much easier to train a puppy. I hope this helps and for now, please take the necessary precautions and keep Boston away from anyone until he is appropriately trained.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Poor guy! You can have a fan just for him, spray him down with a garden hose, provide a baby pool of water for him to go in when he wants or you can shave him down during the hot season. Be sure to provide shade and plenty of water. I wish you both the best!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! These types of behavior can improve though this does require in person training with the help of a qualified dog trainer. I would encourage you to contact a dog trainer that can work with you and Bruno in person to really take care of this behavior. The sooner these behaviors are dealt with, the more likely it is that you can improve and resolve them. Good luck and have a great day!

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! German Shepherds are highly intelligent an highly trainable dogs. I recommend hiring a trainer and nipping this in the bud now. German Shepherds are also very large and can be aggressive to strangers as adults so being able to control Bentley is very important. I would start with sit, stay, and leave it. Purchase the gentle leader harness that goes on the muzzle. Use that for all walks. Bring treats on the walk and when he tries to jump have him sit. Once he sits he gets a treat. Jumping is unacceptable in a dog his size and is one of the hardest bad habits to break. He should not be allowed to jump on people. The gentle leader allows great control of the head. I hope this helps and I wish you the very best!