I thought everybody in LA had kids. Lots of 'em.....





lol

 

if your honestly that afraid, leave the dog at your moms and get a new puppy. it's not worth someone getting attacked. the dog already has the dominate mindset IMO.

 

What's wrong with your dog is: nothing. He's doing what comes naturally, protecting the pack. He's aggressive, true, but all that means is that he doesn't know when protecting you is appropriate. Also, he's a working dog. He needs a job. Right now, he thinks his job is protecting the pack. You want to reinforce that, but also to redirect it to "appropriate protection." He needs guidance. He needs you to be the alpha dog.

One thing that works wonders is to establish a place where he has full view of the main door that people (guests) come to -- it helps in the beginning to tape the area off with masking tape or something. The area should be much bigger than the dog and as square as you have room (so he can move, continue to watch as people come in, etc. and stretch out and be comfortable -- he'll be spending time there... For a big dog like a shepard, make it 5'x5' if you can, but at least 4'x4'. Make him go to that place on command (like 'place' or 'home' or 'spot'), but don't use that place as a punishment. The rule for place is simple: when you or your family say the word, he goes there -- no questions, no dithering. When he's there, he stays there unless you: 1) release him, 2) are in mortal danger. On that, you have to be very strict. He can do anything in place he wants -- bark, jump, snap, slobbery, lick his *****, whatever -- except leave until you say he's done, call him to you, or are attacked. Unless you plan on attack training the dog (which is a good idea for agressive dogs as it teaches them to stop when you say so), don't even worry about the attacked part -- he'll most likely get it anyway.

Once place is trained, use it EVERY time anyone comes to the door (and don't use it until he's fully trained with no one at the door). Don't let him out until he's calm. When the other dogs fight, place him to help reinforce what's appropriate aggression and what isn't.

When Megan moves in, he's going to treat her like a new packmate -- meaning she's low on the pecking order. Your (collective) job is to teach him that she's second to you and he's next.

To do that, she has:
1) to not be afraid of him
2) make him do everything she tells him to do

There's an easy of way to do this if he's leash trained. Go for a walk. She holds the leash. He will probably break rules during the walk. When he does, reach around behind her and leash correct him hard (so that he thinks she did it). I've used this method several times with multiple dogs -- it works very well (provided they are leash trained).

I did this once with a 130lb rottweiler and my 60 (at the time) yr old mother. I had to correct him once. From then on, if I was in the room and my Dad or someone gave him a command, he would look at me to check to see if he should do it. If I wasn't there and my Mom was, he looked to her.

On a younger dog who wasn't leash trained, I made him "girlfriend safe" (he was fine once she was inside but very aggressive when she tried to come in my house alone) by putting him on a 6 foot lead and having her stand 10 feet away facing me. I told her to walk towards me -- he leapt at her, I pulled hard on the lead a flipped him mid air. No more aggression towards her.

Megan can also do attention training with Bandit. To do that, get some small dog treats. Megan ignores him, but as she moves around in the house, she says his name and tosses a treat (not to him). The goal is for Bandit to keep eye contact with her, and to move with her room to room. This teaches him she's part of the pack, and the name calling business teaches him he should listen to her. As this progresses, have her start varying when the rewards come, and the distance Bandit can be from her before the treat arrives (farther away at the beginning, closer at the end).

To take this farther, you can use this technique to teach Bandit to sit when Megan says his name a certain way (softly, liltingly, whatever). All of this will establish Megan as a higher order packmate.

She should play with him as well (and to borrow from AKlowrider) start feeding him.

 

wow really good advice.

im not so worried about training him ti attack, i think if it comes to him needed to attack someone, he'll know. but i would like to teach him to stop when i say so.

also, hes about 5 years old, is it to late to train him?

 

No, it's not too late. Most police/military-trained dogs are adult dogs picked up from animal shelters that were deemed "bad" dogs.

 

Definitely not too late -- that old adage "You can't teach an old dog new tricks" only applies to humans.

Attack training is mostly teaching the dog to turn off. It should really be called "stop attacking training."

That said, a well trained dog generally doesn't need it -- it's just an option for your piece of mind. None of mine have been attacked trained, though I did "door train" one of 'em.

 

ok thats good to know. like said im not so much worried about teaching him to attack, i dont think he needs it. if he senses somethings wrong(someone breaking in, in danger etc) he will attack outta instink, right?
my main concern his getting him to listin to me and megan. also, germen sheapard owners.....are they extreamly hyper? bandit is, let him out his room or after he comes inside, he will run around for like 30 min nonstop, how do you calm them down?

 

It sounds like he'll go after someone - or at least put up a scary front. I wouldn't sweat it, although he will think attack training is work, and it will help with other things (then again, any kind of training will do the same thing).

The kind of hyper activity you mention is probably a good indication that he needs more attention. Dogs are SUPER social creatures, they need physical input, something to do, and to feel part of the pack. If they don't get those things, they get stressed and will let you know by their actions.

Throw some training at him and see if he calms down after a few weeks.

 

that sounds like a plan, ill keep you updated.
thanks agin for the great advice

 

Try having something that smells like her nearby so he can sniff it and get used to her smell. A shirt she slept in works well.