German Shepherd Aggressive Behavior: 8 Ways To Control It

If your German Shepherd is always growling, snapping, or trying to bite other people or dogs, it is clear that your German Shepherd has a pretty serious German Shepherd Aggressive behavior.

When dogs get mean, it’s one of the main reasons why their owners take them to a professional.

Most of the time, they talk to a German Shepherd trainer or someone who studies how dogs act. Most of the time, it’s not just for big dogs.

Dogs that are more likely to be dangerous are also more likely to act weird.

But any dog, no matter what size or breed, can be aggressive.

It can be hard to deal with, especially if your dog is usually very calm and friendly but all of a sudden starts to bark, growl, or act very aggressively.

It might even bite someone it has known for a long time, even though it wouldn’t do that normally.

When your dog starts acting like this, it can be hard to know what to do, especially since things could get out of hand.

Even though German Shepherd Aggressive behavior won’t go away overnight, there are many things you can do to control it and help your dog behave better.

If you’re worried that your German Shepherd is getting too weird, this article will show you what you can do to stop it. Here are some ways to make it better.

Why is your German Shepherd acting so aggressively?

 

Here’s the cause of German Shepherd Aggressive behavior; 

Most of the time, when your German Shepherd acts aggressively, it is either getting ready to attack or trying to protect itself from an attack.

When a dog does something like this, it usually gets very stiff and tense.

It will also start to growl, snarl, and show its teeth. It might even lunge at the thing that is trying to attack it or bite it.

When you see this, the first thing you should do is try to figure out what is making your dog so scared.

If someone tries to get close to your dog while it is eating a bone or chewing on something it likes, it will probably growl at them.

Most German Shepherds will also act aggressively toward children and people they don’t know.

When a German Shepherd acts aggressively, it may not always be toward a person.

Most German Shepherds will actually start to be mean to other dogs and other animals.

Some of them are like this only with certain kinds of animals.

Maybe it only attacks cats, certain types of birds, or even cars, broomsticks, sports balls, and other specific things.

You need to keep in mind that you won’t be able to come up with a good plan to stop the dog from being mean until you know why it’s being mean.

Types of German Shepherd Aggressive behavior

A dog can be aggressive in many different ways. Here are some examples:

Here are types of German Shepherd Aggressive behavior;

1- Territorial Aggressive Behavior

This German Shepherd Aggressive behavior means that the dog is acting aggressively because it is trying to protect you, its home, or something it owns from a possible threat or intruder.

2- Protective Aggressive Behavior

This German Shepherd Aggressive behavior means that the dog is being aggressive to protect other dogs it is related to or to protect your family. This is very clear in dogs that are mothers.

They will be very protective of their young and may even attack anyone or anything that comes near them.

3- Possessive Aggressive Behavior

This type of German Shepherd Aggressive behavior means that the dog is being aggressive to protect anything that belongs to it.

For instance, food, dog toys, any kind of bone, or anything else that it likes.

4- Fear Related Aggressive Behavior

The German Shepherd is scared of something and wants to get away from what is making it scared. But if it feels trapped, it will go ahead and attack.

5- Defensive Aggressive Behavior

It is like aggression caused by fear. The dog will attack whatever is making it scared in order to protect itself, and then it will try to get away.

Dogs that do this usually show signs that they want to avoid trouble before they attack. For example, they might look the other way or move backward.

6- Socially Related Aggressive Behavior

This German Shepherd Aggressive behavior usually means that the dog doesn’t get along with other dogs when it’s out in public.

If you haven’t taught your German Shepherd how to act around other animals, it’s more likely to act aggressively toward other people and animals in social situations.

7- Frustration Related Aggressive Behavior

Dogs will also act more aggressively if they are in a frustrating situation, like being locked up, tied to a leash, or in a place where they can’t move around.

When it is limited in this way, it will show that it is upset.

When the dog is going for a walk or doing something else, it might also get too excited and bite.

9- Pain Related Aggressive Behavior

If there is a dog fight and your German Shepherd is in it, it might turn on you if you try to stop it.

This can also happen if the dog can’t get to the animal it wants to attack, so it attacks other animals in the area instead.

According to this article, aggression is bad for both the dog and other animals in the area.

9- Pain Related Aggressive Behavior

If the dog has been hurt or is in pain, it will also behave in a hostile or aggressive way.

10- Gender Aggressive Behavior

If two male or female dogs are both trying to get the attention of a possible mate, they may act aggressively toward each other to win.

Science Direct says that this is most likely to happen with animals that are not spayed or neutered, but it can be fixed if the dogs are spayed or neutered.

11- Predatory Aggressive Behavior

When your dog is around a certain predator, it might start to act mean. When it’s chasing an animal, it usually gets mean because it sees the animal as a threat.

This is important to remember, because it can also happen to kids. Even if it’s just a game, a dog that often acts like a predator could bite the child.

How to control German Shepherd Aggressive behavior

 

When your German Shepherd is being mean, try to write down everything that happened before it became mean.

This will help you a lot when you are trying to decide what to do next.

You won’t be able to come up with a good solution until you figure out why this person is acting this way.

Science Direct says that you can also try to get a behavioral test done to find out more about how aggressive the dog is.

This is just one part of the problem as a whole. You can take charge of this and help your German Shepherd react in a better way in a number of ways.

But keep in mind that this will take time and hard work. You may also need to talk to a professional at some point.

Here, you can find out what you can do to make the world a better place.

1- Take your pet to a professional vet.

If your dog is usually pretty calm but starts acting aggressive, hostile, or doing other bad things, it could be a sign that he or she is sick.

This kind of German Shepherd Aggressive behavior can be caused by some health problems in dogs, like brain problems, hypothyroidism, or very painful wounds.

Try getting in touch with your vet to find out what might be wrong.

You might be given more than one drug or treatment, but this is what will make things better.

2- Get help from a professional

After seeing the vet, it might help even more to talk to an animal behaviorist.

This is a big problem for your dog, and it’s probably not something you can fix on your own.

A professional will straighten things out and help you figure out what’s wrong and how to stop it from happening again. Your vet might be able to give you some suggestions.

This article says that you might also be able to talk to a professional about behavior rehabilitation to help the dog behave.

3- Think of a plan

If you talk to a professional animal behaviorist or dog trainer, they can help you come up with a plan to deal with the dog’s aggression.

Most of the time, you can try to teach the dog a new way to act by giving it positive reinforcement.

For example, if your German Shepherd is usually nervous or aggressive around strangers, try to stay away from people your dog doesn’t know.

Make sure that you are far enough away that the dog isn’t about to start growling.

Once you see that this is working, start giving the dog treats and slowly move closer and closer to the person until the dog is no longer hostile.

Don’t forget to keep being nice to the dog and show it that this is the right thing to do.

Once this happens, it will start to understand that strangers can help it get treats, and it will slowly stop being so aggressive around them. This method can be used in any situation.

4- Don’t be mean to the dog

 

When your German Shepherd is being aggressive, it makes sense to try to punish the dog for being bad. But this usually backfires and makes things a lot worse.

If you try to stop the dog from being aggressive by being aggressive yourself, the dog might feel like it needs to defend itself and might even try to attack you.

Don’t hit the dog, yell at it, or do anything else that could make it act aggressively.

If you do this, your dog may also want to attack or bite other people who didn’t do anything wrong.

In one case. When your dog growls at other people in the area, it is trying to tell them that they make it feel bad.

5- Try out a few different medicines

You might have worked with both a vet and a professional behaviorist, but the problem is still there.

At this point, you might want to get your dog some medicine to help with the behavior problems.

One of the most important things to remember is that a dog won’t be able to learn anything you try to teach it if it is constantly worried, scared, or stressed out.

6- Do something about the environment

Make sure that your daily routine or environment can be changed so that you can avoid things that are bound to happen.

If your German Shepherd is always mean to kids, you might have to make some big changes if you have kids.

Or, you might have to figure out a way to move the dog to a place where it will only be around adults.

This study proved that a dog’s environment can affect its fear, aggression, stress, and many other things that can cause it to act badly.

7- Give the dog treats

Don’t take away the dog’s favorite toy or bone right away.

Instead, you should try to give the dog new things that it might like even more. Things like new bones, new toys, and more.

If the dog is holding it, playing with it, or guarding it, you can probably get it to drop it by giving it something else.

Once the dog stops guarding the items and gets the new one, this method can be used again and again.

After this routine has worked for a while, the dog may figure out that it doesn’t have to be so aggressive to keep valuable things in its possession.

8- Don’t let the dog see its favorite things.

When you first start the treatment, you should make sure that your dog’s favorite things are locked up somewhere. This will stop the dog from getting them when you aren’t looking.

What type of German Shepherd Aggressive behavior does your German Shepherd display? Share with us in the comment section.