Hello from Arizona - meet Supai

[kristel]

I found my Dutch Shepard, Supai, at the Arizona Humane Society in Phoenix in January. She was a five year old girl surrendered by her prior owners due to her behavior towards a new baby in the house. They would only adopt her out to adult home with no children.They said she was a hiker and rock climber and could walk as far as nine miles. I totally fell in love with her, and really wanted her as a hiking buddy. The pound card said "She is very picky about her friends and needs to be introduced slowly to other dogs." I wish they had been more honest here. When I took her out for a walk, found that she is pretty leash aggressive towards other dogs. Fortunately, she has bonded with my boyfriend's (female) dog, and they are friends. I knew I would need a trainer to help me, so I found someone who specializes in aggressive dogs, and works with a German Shepard rescue. She is really great, and I am hopeful. I really want to be able to walk around the block with her, without incident, and eventually go for hikes. I am interested in hearing from other DS owners who have aggressive dogs, and what training methods have worked for them.
Thanks!

[Raven]

She's a cutie. Not sure I've ever seen a Dutch without a mask.

At least you got SOME information out of the shelter that you feel was somewhat useful--and even when shelters give information, it's sometimes not the case for a variety of reasons.

My adopted guy's aggression toward animals (except dogs) is better than it was (inasmuchas he can get called off), but his aggression toward other dogs came to be mostly a case of his behavior having to be managed. Tried everything...and found a prong amps his drive, he's better on flat collar yet is leash aggressive, is best off-lead but can't be trusted around dogs off-lead. Blah-blah-blah. Each dog is their own.

It might be helpful to start a thread under "Behavior" and include how you and the trainer are approaching it???? There's hope if she is capable of being around another dog, such as your boyfriends. If the shelter said she needs slow introductions, perhaps the intro to the dog on your walk--especially while on lead--wasn't enough on her terms... You might get more helpful replies if you post under the other section.

[kristel]

The shelter information was useful, but maybe they sugar coat it! They also said she was a mix of Dutch Shepard and Catahoula Leopard. That may explain no mask, and the fact that she can jump on the kitchen counters with ease. Then, add my boyfriends dog opening the fridge door, we have a real amusement park going on around here.
Supai is really smart, and I know that she can learn- already knows sit, stay, down, leave it. I am really interested to find out if this dog v dog aggression is common among the DS'0 I'll check the behavior threads before posting, maybe someone else has already started one. Thanks for the guidance, I'm new around here!

[deadrabbits]

Welcome. It's nice to see another DS owner in AZ

[Raven]

Counter-height is nothing for a Dutch; they'll scale 10-foot walls. (And I'm very happy to say that mine will not touch food or an object--ground-level, counter-level, coffee table-level, whatever--that isn't his...but he didn't come packaged that way. Soooooo didn't come packaged that way.)

Yes, read threads about DA on this site. There's at least one other member still on here who, while they had some initial success in DA training, found all future attempts resulted in the same amount of effort to keep their DS from acting aggressively when another dog was in sight. They manage the behavior, as I also do.

It's not terribly uncommon, you'll find, DS or not, and there can be reason-related experiences, not just breed-related causes. Welcome to the world of "Why, How, and WTH?"