Charging neighbors at the fence.

[ann g]

We live on the end townhouse unit so we have neighbors with small kids who walk past the back fence several times a day and and their kids will play with toys back and forth between our building and the next all the time. Frodo will charge the fence and bark menacingly every time. We have lived here for over a year and have tried positive reinforcement every day since. I will put him in a sit say and he'll listen only until they get right to fence, then he'll go crazy. If they stop and talk to me, he'll calm down but the second they move, crazy mean dog again. When the neighbor kids (all under 4yrs, 6 of them) run back and forth they get scared and cry. The woods are behind our house so in order to get to eachothers homes, they have to walk right by our fence.

Frodo is friendly when people come into the house and he is properly introduced but is mega protective of yard. The other day, he was really mad barking when my one neighbor walked by, while he was charging she reached over the fence and he bit her. Not bad, a scratch but a bite just the same. Now the same thing happened to me when my direct neighbors had there shepherd, she was barking and I reached over to pet her and the same thing happened. I never said anything about it because I believed I was at fault and she was friendly to me when she would come over to play with Frodo.

Now, the neighbor he bit said everything was fine, that she shouldn't have reached over when he was in that state, because she's petted him all the time when he's calm. But now I'm extremely worried. She could have pressed charges. It's been over a year of trying to stop this behavior with no positve results, its actually gotten worse. We live in an area where pet behaviorists are nonexistant, only trainers for general obedience. Even after walks and running at the park, he can be totally wore out and it doesn't make a difference

My husband wants to try a shock collar or something along those lines but I dont, any suggestions?

[Muck]

Well for the time being you could put up an easy to see sign that says "do not pet" on your fence.

I dont know very much about this but if you could have someone he does have a reaction to come and stand for as long as it takes for him to settle down then throw a treat into the yard.

I dont know if the shock collar would make it better or worse because it could make them think that the person coming near the fence is causing the pain because every time they come near he gets zapped.

[RawFedDogs]

I dont know if the shock collar would make it better or worse because it could make them think that the person coming near the fence is causing the pain because every time they come near he gets zapped.

Yes, exactly correct.

[Tarielle]

Ann, this must be incredibly frustrating for you and your dog.

I think the shock collar would make things worse for your dog and I'm glad you aren't going to use one.

Short of putting up a new, higher fence the only thing I can think of is to contact a dog behavourist by phone. Most of them will do phone consultations to try to help you fix the problem.

I can give you the number of an excellent dog behavourist/trainer who used to train police dogs in the US (and has helped me train my dogs) but he is now in Australia so you would have to call internationally.
In the meantime, you could check out his website Welcome to In home dog training. There might be something there that can help.

[ann g]

Yes, its extremely frustrating because everyone who meets him in the house says what a sweet dog he is. We've tried the method with neighbors feeding him treats thru fence and also throwing them over, the problem is he's not food motivated, never has been, even tried with the tennis ball, his favorite, still no luck. When we have guests over, they always go to the fence 1st and he acts like he's gonna kill them then we bring them inside (with his muzzle on, just to be safe) after about 5 minutes of sniffing, we take muzzle off and Frodo will be your best friend. He has no aggression issues toward anyone in the house at all, just outside in yard and in car.

[Unosmom]

Maybe its just me, but most of the dogs are territorial, especially when theres a fence present, its just in their nature to protect their home, I wouldnt discourage that, it'll only confuse the dog. I personally dont have a problem with that, if anyone reaches over the fence and Uno bites the person, its their fault.
You can get one of these signs or theres several companies that'll make a custom made one to make it less threatening

[Tarielle]

My youngest jack russell, Abbey, is extremely territorial as well. If I have her in the front yard and anyone dares to walk past, she goes off her head. Barking and carrying on, tail up in the air and literally bouncing up and down to try to ward them off.

I have metal gates, the dog can't get out but people can reach in, although with Abbey going mental I don't think anyone would try to stick their hand in. I even had to put chicken wire at the bottom half of the gate so that she could never accidentally bite someone or someone's dog.

I am lucky because she is such a small dog and I use a hand held ultrasonic device on her which works really well but I have to be there to use it on her. I am thinking of getting an ultrasonic collar as I'm sure that would have the same effect. Not sure if it would work on your dog. You could try it and see what happens. I only bought it because Abbey barks too much for all the wrong reasons as well as the right ones. I know it won't hurt her and it's the only thing that has made any difference at all because training hasn't worked and distraction hasn't worked.
She just totally zones me out when someone is walking past my house.

[luvMyBRT]

I am totally with Uno on this one. A German Shepherd dog is a naturally protective breed. He is just doing what his instincts are telling him. He is keeping his yard, house and you safe in his eyes.

Your Frodo sounds a lot like my Duncan. He is a slobbery goobery puppy when we are inside and introduce people through the front door. We are there and he knows that everything is okay. When outside in the back he is a totally different dog when we aren't out there with him. He has a job and he takes it very seriously. And to tell you the truth I don't mind a bit. When I'm home alone with my two kids (which can happen often do to my hubby's job) I want a robber or intruder to think twice about coming into my yard or house.

I know that with Duncan guarding and protecting is what the breed was bred for. I expect him to protect his yard and house...and at 7 months he does this very well. I would never discourage him from doing what he was bred to do, I just need to make sure that others are aware of him in our yard and that I do have control over him (through obedience, etc) if need be. If he is carrying on and I come outside all I have to do is tell him "Duncan leave it" and he turns and comes right to me.

We have a 8 ft wall and a sign on both gates that say "Dog In Yard". I also had our local electric company put an electronic meter in so that the meter reader could remotely get our reading and doesn't have to mess with trying to come into my backyard....cause that's not gonna happen...LOL.

I hope you can find something that will be helpful. How is Frodo with obedience commands? Does he do this when he is outback alone? When your there?

[ann g]

I am totally with Uno on this one. A German Shepherd dog is a naturally protective breed. He is just doing what his instincts are telling him. He is keeping his yard, house and you safe in his eyes.

Your Frodo sounds a lot like my Duncan. He is a slobbery goobery puppy when we are inside and introduce people through the front door. We are there and he knows that everything is okay. When outside in the back he is a totally different dog when we aren't out there with him. He has a job and he takes it very seriously. And to tell you the truth I don't mind a bit. When I'm home alone with my two kids (which can happen often do to my hubby's job) I want a robber or intruder to think twice about coming into my yard or house.

I know that with Duncan guarding and protecting is what the breed was bred for. I expect him to protect his yard and house...and at 7 months he does this very well. I would never discourage him from doing what he was bred to do, I just need to make sure that others are aware of him in our yard and that I do have control over him (through obedience, etc) if need be. If he is carrying on and I come outside all I have to do is tell him "Duncan leave it" and he turns and comes right to me.

We have a 8 ft wall and a sign on both gates that say "Dog In Yard". I also had our local electric company put an electronic meter in so that the meter reader could remotely get our reading and doesn't have to mess with trying to come into my backyard....cause that's not gonna happen...LOL.

I hope you can find something that will be helpful. How is Frodo with obedience commands? Does he do this when he is outback alone? When your there?

Yes, he knows all his commands. He just gets into a zone thats hard to interupt when someone comes near. If they stand there and talk, I can get him to lay down but any movement at all, its over. Usually when he's out, I'm out with him so if I see someone about to walk past I'm putting him in a sit stay on patio till they pass by. I'm hoping this will work. My husband doesn't really worry about it because he's a gsd, thats what there suppose to do. We're a military family so its good he's protective, guess I dont have to worry about anyone breaking in with all my husbands absences. Were gonna get a sign put on the fence.