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Fear Aggression
We have a 24 month old German Shepard named Asher that we purchased from an owner about 3 months ago that we believe abused him. When I went to get Asher I was surprised to see the owner who is a self-proclaimed dog trainer bring him out with both a choke collar and an remote electric collar. I had initially requested that he display the commands he was trained in and each command was followed by a firm tug of the choke collar or a shock from the electric collar and even when I was kneeling down to pet him I noticed him twitching and whimpering I then realized that the owner was shocking Asher each time he looked like he had interest in something other than being pet by me. The man was all business when I paid him and he handed Asher to me, there was no goodbyes or even a second look at Asher - he obviously did not care that much about Asher. I took Asher home for a trial basis and quickly discovered that he was a very loving and fun dog. Our family quickly took to him and when I did some training with him, he responded great (without shock collars or choke chains or force or threat of force). We decided to keep him. However, one night when it was dark, my 9 year old son tried to sneak up on me and scare me, Asher saw him and growled protectively, my first response was to jump up and correct Asher by yelling at him in an attempt to convey the seriousness and to show dominance (I know - bad move), Asher immediately growled at me, and I ignorantly thought I could control the situation by yelling louder. He ended up running away and when I approached him, he growled more. He did not bite that night, but we had not had that problem with a dog before and our first thought was he was an aggressive dog that posed a threat to our family, and we were just about to find him a shelter or new home when I read about fear aggression and realized that #1 - Asher's first response was to protect my wife and I from an unknown figure sneaking in a hunting/menacing fashion (Asher sometimes does not recognize me when it is dark - I don't know if it's because of an eyesight issue, even though he seems to have perfect eyesight during the day) which is why he growled at my son, then #2, he probably had no clue why I was yelling at him, considering he probably thought he was doing right by protecting the family from some unknown threat and finally #3, it was the first time he had been corrected like that by any of us, and he was most likely mistreated when he did something bad enough to get yelled at by his previous owner....I tested this theory later on and would yell NO! at him when he would do something wrong (our normal approach is to firmly tell him "no, no, no" - without yelling, but I wanted to see his reaction and to ensure that what I had saw was fear aggression) and he would run and hide and the moment you approach him he would growl. So, we confirmed it was fear aggression - he would never show aggression at all except under 2 circumstances - 1. when he believed there was an intruder or 2. he was about to be disciplined with more than just a "No, No, No" or if he was yelled at. So, we made sure that when he was disciplined, we only used the "No, No, No" response which he always responded well too and much of the time, that's all it took. However, last night (about 2 1/2 months) after the last fear aggression incident, he had gotten into the trash while we were gone - a repeat offense. I decided that just telling him "no, no, no" was not enough and he needed to be brought to the trash and made aware that he did wrong and that it was not ok, so, I put on his short leash and begun to walk to the kitchen with him, when we got near the kitchen, he immediately realized that he was going to be in trouble for what he had done and begun to try to run away, but I would not allow it and I begun forcing him towards the spilled trash, finally he begun to thrash and pull back so much, he nearly worked his way out of his collar so I pulled the collar back on him while holding him from underneath (to stabilize him enough to be able to put the collar back on) and he turned on me and bit me on my arm and ran away. I understand the philosophy here about don't take on a fight that you don't think you can win - but, I honestly believed he was ready for this and he had handled being corrected via "no, no, no's" or put on a short leash and lead outside well for quite some time and I thought that this repeated offense warranted a more direct approach of correction, when he was nearly out of his collar and I begun to put it back on, I was beginning to consider if perhaps he wasn't ready, but by then, it was too late. I need suggestions about how to best address this with him. Overall he is a very well behaved dog and seldom needs correction, but with repeated offenses like the trash - he is not getting the point or just feels it's worth the consequences which have been pretty mild so a new approach needs to be taken that is more than just being put outside or told "no, no, no". I would really like for him to overcome this fear aggression - but we understand it will take more time, but in the mean time, I need an effective approach to repeated offenses that both addresses the behavior and works with his fear aggression. Just another note regarding why him getting into the trash is so serious, the last time he had gotten into the trash, there were chicken bones - most of us know the risks that chicken bones can pose to a dog's health (choking and digestive problems).
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