Why is my German Shepherd suddenly aggressive and growling at his mom?

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.

Before assuming this is a behavior issue, I would want to rule out a possible medical issue first. When I hear about sudden changes resulting in aggressiveness, the possibility of pain or discomfort in one of the dogs could be the root of the problem. When a dog is not feeling well, it is only natural for it to react in a negative way if one of its buddies is trying to get it to act normally. A thorough physical exam should be performed by a veterinarian in order to rule out any sort of orthopedic or neurologic pain. Thyroid conditions can also be responsible for behavior changes as well. If it turns out that no medical issue can be be identified, you will have to start considering what may have started this sudden change of heart by Mill. You will have to think back to when it started, when the problem occurs most, where it occurs most, who is around when it is occurring, who ISN'T around when it is occurring, so on and so forth. These types of issues can be long and complicated to resolve, but usually as soon as the issue is identified the road forward becomes much easier.

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.

I'm sorry to hear that you're having this problem! If this has been a fairly sudden behavior change for Elsa, the first thing I would suggest would be to have her examined by a vet to see if there may be a medial reason for the aggression - many illnesses including thyroid problems and neurologic issues can cause sudden mood swings and behavior changes like this, as well as anything that may be painful such as an injury of some kind, arthritis, etc. If your vet determines that Elsa is healthy, then I would strongly recommend making an appointment with a veterinary behaviorist as the next step. Aggression towards humans is a serious and complex behavior issue that needs to be handled by a professional who can work with your dog in person. The behaviorist will evaluate your dog and help you determine what is triggering the aggression, then put together a detailed training plan to work on the problem. You can search for a board-certified veterinary behaviorist in your area here: www.dacvb.org

Hi and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Sorry to hear about Bruno. When a puppy shows aggression, I immediately advise neutering him to remove the male hormone-driven behaviors. I would advise taking him to your veterinarian for their opinion also. He may have some medical reason for his sudden onset of aggression. Your vet can gather a history, perform an exam and then offer a diagnostic/treatment plan based on their findings. Possible tests include fecal/blood/urine tests and x-rays to look for underlying medical problems that could cause aggression. If a behavioral problem is suspected, then neutering, behavior modification, and drug therapy can be tried. I wish you good luck with Bruno

Hello. I’m sorry to hear about the trouble you’re having with Little Miss Blue. Is there any chance she could be pregnant? I noticed that you listed her as not spayed. Pregnancy can cause aggression especially if they are close to having puppies. If she is not pregnant sometimes dogs that are painful will start showing aggressive behavior suddenly. I would have your vet examine her and make sure that she is OK and not suffering from any thing painful, also it may be good to have them run for blood work and make sure nothing else is wrong. I would start there and if she’s healthy and not pregnant I would try to find a behaviorist to work with to alter these aggressive tendencies.

I'm sorry that Von is having some issues. If its definitely gotten worse recently, I recommend that you have him examined by a vet. He may be painful somewhere, or not feeling well, both of which could make him more "guarded" and irritable. I am concerned by what you are saying that he is going to end up hurting the other dog (his mom). I would recommend that you not leave the 2 of them loose together unattended. separate them when they are not supervised. Call your vet and ask for a recommendation for a trainer local to you. This could provide invaluable insight and perspective into some of the dynamics that may be contributing to his behavior. Here is some info you may find very helpful. https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/dog-care/common-dog-behavior-issues/aggression thank you for asking PetCoach!