My German Shepherd growls at new rescue. How to stop dog aggression?

I recommend speaking to Sammie's vet about a referral to a professional behavioral expert. I never recommend owners work with aggressive behavior on their own due to the danger associated. A behavioral expert would be best to help with this behavior. Have her seen by her vet over the holidays. Best of luck, I hope this helps!

If you would like to keep Max, I strongly urge you to get him into a professional behavioral expert to work on his aggression. German Shepherds are very strong willed dogs, and need extensive training. Do not allow him alone at all with your chihuahuas for their safety. I would not pass him onto another family without training first, as if he's this aggressive with his possessions, I would be quite concerned this aggression could be directed toward a child that may try to touch one of his toys. Speak to his vet now about a referral to a professional behavioral expert.

Canine aggression is a complex behavior as it can stem from dominance, possessiveness, fear, anxiety, resource guarding or a combination. Most people are not capable of correctly interpreting dog body language. For that reason, your best option is to work with a professional trainer. Researching on your own will also be helpful. Familiarizing yourself with canine body language and dog training can help you to recognize what your pet is trying to say. You can find many books written on the topic and there is a trainer named Victoria Stilwell who I think is particularly helpful. Best of luck.

I'm sorry to hear that you're having these problems! Aggression or fighting between dogs in the same household is a complex behavior issue that's very difficult to address without evaluating the dogs in person, because there are so many factors to consider - it's important to assess both dogs' personalities, how they interact with each other when they're not fighting, how severe the fights are when they happen, what seems to trigger the aggressive behavior, etc. For this reason, I would strongly recommend getting in touch with a veterinary behaviorist or a good reward-based trainer who can work with you in person to help determine why the aggression is occurring and put together a detailed treatment plan to address the problem. In the meantime, I would recommend keeping the younger dog on-leash whenever he is around the older dog to prevent any bullying or harassment, or using a baby gate or other barrier to keep the dogs separated until you are able to get some hands-on guidance in how to help them.

This behavior can be hard to correct especially since she is an adult. I would talk to your vet about getting her started on an anti-anxiety medicine like fluoxetine or trazadone. These will help to calm her nerves, but you will also need to start a training program. This would be best started with an behaviorist or dog trainer. This will be a long road and unfortunately, there is no easy fix. I hope this helps and she starts to improve.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I am sorry you are going through this. To be brutally honest, this is NOT acceptable behavior from a pet. Regardless of his previous back ground, biting is serious and indicates a serious behavioral problem. Some breeds are more anxious (sadly both husky's and German Shepherds are in that group) and that can lead to aggressiveness. Also dogs reach their social/behavioral maturity around 2-3 years of age. You need professional help if you want to keep this dog and not have an injury happen to you or someone else. He is a liability at this point. I recommend a boarded veterinary behaviorist. Your Vet will likely know ones near you. I wish you the best!

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!