Aggression(?) towards toddler

[vjspata]

Hi guys, hoping you can help out. Signed up for the site last week as I wanted to work with my girl that is what I believe to be fear aggressive towards strangers. I started watching the videos, but something happened tonight and need some quick advice. I have a soon to be 3 year old female GSD, american bloodlines. She is normally very tolerant of my two children, 5 and a 17 month old. Tonight I was eating dinner at the kitchen table and she was laying next to me. My son was walking around the kitchen coming to me getting a chip and then walking around eating some of it and then he throws it down for Mercy to eat. At one point he comes back just as he had been doing and he walked in front of her and she went for his face, but did not seem to bite down. Granted I grabbed her immediately, so I can't say 100% she wouldn't have bitten down, but I my guess is I am not fast enough to have stopped her if that was her intent. I put her on her side and yelled at her which is probably not the ideal thing to do, but I was angry and worried aout my son who my wife was checking, I then ordered her into her crate which she did with no aggression or protest towards me at all. My son is fine, red like scrape of his face, in fact once we checked him out I gave him another chip he took a bite and then took it in the living room and gave it to Mercy through the crate which she took. No growling or anything. This is the third incident like this, one a month or two back when he fell on her back legs, and then last week she did something similar to my daughter in the kitchen same location and she did something similar to my daughters stomach. My daughter later that night told me she stepped on Mercy. In all three instances there was no barking or growling, teeth bearing or any of the things I would associate with aggression. It almost reminds me of how an adult dog treats a puppy that has stepped over the line. Not excusing it by any means, but trying to give the most accurate description I can. I am completely confused and perplexed on what is going on, and how to address it without under or over reacting. My son can take the nylabone from her while she is chewing it, same with her ball and not even so much as her trying to grab it back or tug of war with him over it, completely submissive and just follows him around until he throws it down for her to take again. Trying to enforce that he is higher in the pack, I have given him treats and the bags of treats and allowed him to walk around with them and make sure that she doesn't take it until he gives it up. He feeds her all the time so much that we sometimes have to put up the gates and keep Mercy out of the kitchen because m son won't eat, instead preferring to feed his food to her. He practically lays on her head while she lying
down to hug her and he sits in between her paws and sits back right into her chest and never has she even growled.
Would really appreciate your opinions as to what is going on and how to handle it so it doesn't happen again or worse escalate. Thanks.

[Mike D'Abruzzo]

Hi vjspata!

There are a few things to consider and work on here, but the first thing is always going to be safety. Therefore, before putting a plan into place I would imagine every possible scenario that can trigger a bite and prepare to prevent it. This would include not having Mercy out of site with the children. Toddlers are statistically at the highest risk for bites out of any age group. They are clumsy, at eye level, and do not read dog body language very well. Also, I would start "party hat" training. Give Mercy a positive experience wearing a comfortable basket muzzle. This will be needed not only for work with the children, but also if you are working on fear aggression with strangers. There is a video in the members section, we also have this shorter version on youtube:

Next, what you will need to do is review the pack structure exercises in the "self-help" section and I would also review the "establishing the relationship" section in the aggression rehab. These are both very similar and based on the same concepts, but this MUST be drilled in as the details of how and why leadership is established is important. You will notice that things such as taking away bones or hugging a resting dog are NOT in there, and that is most likely the reason Mercy is somewhat reactive to the children. Generally we teach this to parents in our puppy classes because this can be considered a violation of respect toward the dog. Dogs do not understand this as normal social behavior and it becomes more like bullying to the dog and eventually the dog becomes more on guard with those who do not respect these natural boundaries. The fact that many dogs tolerate it doesn't mean they enjoy it.
The type of biting you are describing is sometimes called a "hit". It is exactly what you were sensing, a type of disciplinary bite. The problem is that Mercy is not growling first. Normally dogs WILL give a growl warning before doing this. Many American bred shepherds are known to be prone to this type of biting without the growl and there is most definitely a genetic factor at play and that is important to understand, since it is not something to be held against the dog. She will always be more prone to bite if stumbled upon as well. Understanding what the dog is prone to is an important part of the training plan.

A starter plan for you:
- get started on "party hat" training
- teach the children to NOT remove anything from Mercy's mouth, hug, kiss, or disturb her while she is sleeping. Remember, this behavior may also be mimicked at a friends house with their dog and the bite can be worse. It is important to teach children how to behave around their own dog first so they are less prone to be bitten by all dogs.
- Be sure that Mercy is not in competition with the children over anything. This includes furniture, human beds, adult attention, and toys.
- Do not allow Mercy to lay in the path of the children. Give her a "place" out of direct traffic to lay that the children are taught to leave when she is there.
- Use a muzzle around the children until the children and Mercy are consistent with showing new behaviors
- Do continue with positive interactions with the children as them feeding her, tossing the ball, or participating in treat based training
- The adults will do all training that includes any type of corrections

Mercy does not sound like a horrible dog, but she is a german shepherd that most likely has a genetic based issue that makes her prone to skipping steps in the aggression cycle. Because of this you will need to be more diligent in training and management for at least the next three years if you want to prevent more bites. Even a "hit" can cause a tear on the face of our delicate skinned children, and a "hit" is one step from a full bite if certain behaviors from the children aren't discouraged and the dog isn't set up for success through proper management and continued positive associations.

Let me know what you think. We are here to help you. Remember, safety first.

[vjspata]

Thanks for the reply Mike. I think you hit on something with the genetics. Mercy's mom had aggression issues when the breeder was around we were told. Breeder told us that when mom was away from her she was friendly and easily handled, but when she (the breeder) was around mom was nasty with people. I only saw Mom once and it was through the Kennel and she was not happy to see me, which I partially attributed to the fact that I Was a stranger in her backyard by myself. I have been thinking about the two most recent situations taking out the one where my son fell on her back hip which I think was more of a survival type reaction, the other two had me eating alone, her laying at my feet and the kids pushing there way between her and me with food. Taking that into account in addition to what you have suggested we have put her on a more consistent feeding schedule. I have also stopped giving her food at the table which I would do near the end of each meal as a reward for staying in the down stay. I tried to find a basket muzzle earlier this year when she started with an Anal sac issue but was unable to find one in any of the local pet stores I'll have to try and find one online. On that note also am making a vet appointment to have her checked ( anal sacs removed after two infections earlier this year, but smell still there. We have been trying different foods on vet suggestion to see if it's dietary, but no luck so far), want to check again to see if there is something going on that may have her more on edge or more irritable than usual and to cover all the bases. Have a question for you, and maybe it's in the videos and self help but I haven't gotten there yet, but what is the appropriate correction for this type of aggression if it happens again despite the steps we are taking to prevent it? Thanks again for the reply.

[Mike D'Abruzzo]

Sounds like you are on the right track. Ruling out anything health wise is definitely worth looking into. We put the dogs here on Life's Abundance (good protein source for the brain and less ammonia by-products from poor protein which is not good for the brain) and we also may use a good fish oil supplement if the dog seems to have poor impulse control. We base this on an Italian study where they found aggressive German Shepherds to have a lower level of fatty acids in their system than the calmer German Shepherds. I will try to find the link if I can, but anything helps. I swear I have seen some big differences in some of our cases from using the supplementation.
I have found that correcting the dog after the fact rarely does anything to prevent it in the future unless you are slick enough to correct instantly (as you did). After that the dog will not make the association. Corrections come in many forms, but the best is quick, effective, and doesn't trigger the dog to think she is now in a fight for her life with you. Also, no grudges. That being said, I would never correct a dog for growling at a child as this is what you would want instead of the bite. This would fairly communicate they do not want to bite and would also give you a chance to guide the dog and the child.
We do a command here called "easy" which is mainly reserved for personal protection dogs. It means DO NOT BITE. It works best when you recognize that the dog is about to be in a position where it may bite and you are prepared to correct the dog if it does. But, you have to tell the dog "easy" BEFORE the dog bites to tap into the dogs brain and remind them to restrain themselves. For instance, your child approaches and you realize the dog is in a similar position that caused her to bite in the past. You say "easy" to remind her to NOT BITE and if she doesn't bite you would praise her. If she tries to bite she is corrected. To teach this and the proper correction is more complex than preventing it, but does give me an idea to add the exercise to the website for near future (I will put it on the agenda). We consider it advanced training.