I have a german shepherd rescue dog I have had her for five years and she loves people and children and cats but hates dogs.
does anyone have any suggestions on how to control her?
we love her so much, before we had her she had had a terrible life never been played with and so skinny.
we have to be careful when we take her for walks because if she sees another dog all hell lets loose.
someone told me to get a zapper what do you think?

If a zapper is what i think it is the its definitely not a good idea, im not sure how giving the dog electric shocks would help, or how anyone could do this to any animal.
just watch this to see what effects they have on humans.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgFS4SMe0SY

Do not get a zapper. They are cruel and ineffective. Its also likely that she associate the zap with other sogs and itll make the situation worse. You need a behaviourist to work through her other dog issues, it'll take a long time and may never be perfect, but worth trying.

I agree with bazaar, don't get one of them.. it won't help. Also don't let her off the lead and if you have issues controlling her when you're out (i.e. she pulls and you have trouble holding on), have you tried using a halty (excuse spelling)/ body brace system rather than the usual collar and lead? really helps loads at controlling bigger dogs and safer for them.

Your dog may see other dog as threats to her pack leader (you) and is only doing what they think is o.k.

Ask your vet, they should have a list of people who can help you. Happens a LOT so don't worry!

Also, she WILL pick up on you getting stressed and worried when you see another dog so try and remain calm when you are out and start taking her places where there are few dogs around so you can build up your confidence as well. I had to learn to do this with my old doggie and she got tons better around other dogs the less stressed I was. Sending you hugs (and to your doggie as well)

Excellent advice, I forgot to say op, to keep her on the lead at all times, and I'd recommend a muzzle whilst out, it's better to be safe than sorry.

My dog is from a very similar background and shows very similar behaviour! I use a halti collar while out walking and do my best to keep him away from other dogs (like crossing roads and keeping a safe distance), and when we do come across other dogs I make him sit and give him treats as long as he stays calm. When he does kick off he gets told off and I try to refocus him. We've had him for two years now and although there has been a slight improvement we're a long way from being perfect! You just need a lot of patience and don't blame yourself (especially when you get dodgy looks from other dog owners!).

You need Cesar Milan on the case
http://www.cesarsway.com/channel/dog...dog-aggression
Seriously I would use a halti.
Then remain calm and in control when walking past other dogs as your dog will pick up on your attitude.
Praise when the dog has not dispayed aggression.

My German Shepherd is exactly the same. Fantastic with me and my children, fine with the cats (bit scared of one of them actually!) and tolerates my other dog, but taking her out for a walk is a nightmare. She absolutely hates other dogs ...... and to be honest, other people. I'm not if she is ultra-protective or ultra-jealous, but she hates anyone approaching us. She has leapt over my pushchair to try to attack a dog which jumped up at it (stupid owner who claimed her dog wouldn't harm my child when it ran towards us) in the past, and seems to think anyone approaching us is about to murder me.

I do what other people suggest - halti on for every walk, and keep her muzzled when out of the house. I also muzzle her (cage type muzzle she can drink and even eat through) whenever people come around the house, even people she has always known. She's 8 now and getting a bit funny. Will quietly growl at certain people she has known all her life if they are in the living room with us. But dotes on my children and whined all night last night, as she knew they were sleeping in the garden in a tent, and hated being away from them.

She's never bitten or attacked anyone, and absolutely adores my children, but I think its better to be safe than sorry. She doesn't mind the muzzle, and I take it off as soon as guests have left.

When my eldest sons walk her (they're 19 and 17), I make them go to place where they are unlikely to encounter other people or other dogs, which is better than having her stressed or trying to control the situation.

To show her other side, I was once walking her when a very agressive husky cornered me, and my dog kept it at bay all the way home. It followed me, and my dog went for it every time it growled at me, and lunged at it, if the husky lessened the distance between us. On another occasion, some older kids were shouting at my son's friend and picking on him - my dog immediately stood between the friend and the older kids and raised her hackles.

Its all about being responsible and trying to think ahead. My GS is incredibly stubborn and no amount of training (she's been to obedience training, puppy group and dog socialising classes) but she still tries to do what she wants, and really has to be spoken to sternly to make her realise that I am the boss!

I had a staffy that spent his whole life on a lead for that reason. I personally blame MY mistakes and lack of confidence for his behaviour. I now have 2 dogs, an American Bulldog and a Staffy. I went to puppy classes with the staffy and learned a completely new way of walking dogs. These two are absolutely fine with all other dogs. They know right from wrong and I am 100% confident in them.

I have a 6 year old Dobie who is exactly like this and TBH, I don't think she's going to change now.

She is an adorable, loving and very special dog with us in the home, but the minute she sets paw out the front door she is on high alert and total freaks out when she sees another dog or, for some inexplicable reason, tractors!

Like others we use a halti, excellent for drawing her attention away from what is stressing her, and we avoid going places where there will be other dogs etc. And she is always on the lead. She is only let off the lead when we go to one specific beach where the visibility is good ( so she doesn't get surprised) and practically empty for most of the year.

We are lucky in that we have a long garden that she runs up and down to her hearts content, but, to be honest, with rescue dogs ( as she was) it is an uphill struggle to counter the negative behaviours they learned as young pups, when it is SO, important to instill good behaviour.

One thing that does calm her is wearing a coat- no good in warm weather, but when it is cold it really does relax her.

You can buy thundershirts http://www.amazon.co.uk/Thundershirt...dershirt+large for stressed dogs, but I just use her sheepskin one and it really does help relax her.

Our dog used to be terrible. We would walk her n her lead around the village and I swear she knew where every other dog in the village lived and would bark as we walked passed, setting the dog in the house off barking. If anyone walked their dog at the same time she would start barking and twisting around, she really loved picking an argument.

It was really strange because she is a lurcher who otherwise barked very rarely. we thought she was letting other dogs know she had a new pack( us) and we knew we had to teach her that she was bottom of the pack.

The only dog she didn't do it too was a spaniel opposite, she used to put a paw on the spaniels head, who would then go submissive and roll on her back.

she was a rescue dog who had been returned by previous owners twice to the dogs home in her first 18 months of life. We knew we couldn't give up on her so had to do something.

We switched her to a halti and whenever we saw someone coming with a dog, we would cross over of we were on the same side of the road( if the others didn't do it first which they usually did). We would make our dog sit down and look at us. We had total control due to the halti and we would talk to her until the other dog passed, then providing she didn't start barking and gong mad, she got a big fuss and a treat.

All though she barked, she was never vicious.
It took some time, months and months but it worked. We found she was only like it when she was on a lead. Whenever we walked her at the beach( usually at silly o'clock in the morning) we would let her off her lead and she would be fine. It took a long time for us to get to that point and a lot of hard work and we were obviously nervous letting her off her lead for the first time, it was a case of being aware of what was going on around us.

It has been well worth the effort, she is a wonderfully behaved faithful dog who is one big softie.She can walk off lead( obviously away from any roads) and returns when called, although she doesn't like to be too far away
She is now about 14 and we have reaped the reward of the effort we put in when we got her all those years ago.

Please keep at it, don't give up, change to a halti and try what we did. ont expect things to change overnight, you have to be prepared to work with the dog to teach it the behaviour you want it to display. It will be worth it.

My dobe was exactly the same with tractors, she hated them. Would circle them and get many farmers worked up!

Problem with dobes is that they are one person dogs, and they don't share, with other people or other dogs, and being so big they make thier views clear!

A local behaviourist near me runs a course called reactive rovers. Here is a video of their latest course http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8GWjULw4gs - some useful tips you cold try.

Perhaps you could find a similar course near you, look on http://www.apdt.co.uk/dog-owners/local-dog-trainers for a reliable trainer who uses positive methods.

There are some great books on amazon as well. Have you read Scaredy Dog by Ali Brown or Feisty Fido by Patricia Mcconnell?

Yes, she is totally devoted to us.

We do have another dog - a dobie cross who is completely calm , sane and well behaved - and she ( the naughty dobie) loves her to bits, in fact she is as protective of her as us! Anything outside the family unit though, and she is a highly strung wreck.

Good to know the tractor thing isn't unique to her though! It drives us nuts.

No it's defiantly a dobe thing, my friend had one and she did the same thing. Our girl was the second dog in the household but took over in a big way. Wonderful dogs but would never have one again unless I could have them as an only dog and had no kids, sadly as she got older she got grumpier and grumpier and tried to bite my son. She's one of the reasons I am so passionate about positive reinforcement training, she was trained the cesar Milan way and it didn't work, leaving us with a strong willed, dominating dog, sadly we didn't kow of any other way back then. She was a fab dog and I'm I'd never regret having her, but she was a life changer!

I've said this too - I love her so much, but knowing what I know now , I wouldn't risk taking on another dobie.

And I agree with the last bit too - ours has definitelly been a life changer! Even though we are limited with where we can go with her, her character, daftness and 'joie de vivre' makes her adsolutely adorable.

( op- sorry for hijacking the thread with dobie chat )

Yes sorry op! they do make an impact like no other dog I've known!

I hope that's a joke.

OP, our dog was lead aggressive and we have used positive training methods to help her overcome this. It's not a fear of dogs so a little different to you.

Grisha Stewart has a wonderful book called BAT and a wesbite too. Using clicker training it's possible perhaps not to overcome this fear but at least find a way to manage it. A good strong 'watch me' command (try Kikopup on You Tube) will help massively with this. Clicker training will enable you to deliver rewards quickly by clicking and treating for any moments when she sees a dog and does not react.

For heaven's sake don't take the lazy way out and punish your dog for that's what that American idiot encourages. Aggression breeds aggression and you are likely to make it worse. You could also speak to your vet and get a behaviourist consultation and your insurance might well cover this.

http://functionalrewards.com

I hope it was a joke too but many people still think ceser is the master and the way to go.

Yes, too many believe in pain to get results, the lazy way out. I challenge anyone who thinks that zapping, shocking and chocking is progressive, to wear a collar like these and hand over the control to someone else. A complete stranger who then corrects them for a behaviour that they've no idea is wrong. The 'trainer' doesn't speak to them and the victim has to guess what it might be. The fear of the pain is such, that just like in dogs, they stop moving or interacting completely.

I often feel I'm rare in believing in positive treatment but it's nice to know there are other around

We had a GSD and we did everything right. We took him to puppy classes then training classes and we thought we'd cracked it. He grew into a beautiful,fiercly loyal but over-protective boy that coudln't be trusted around anyone. We had to shut him out when people came to the house and he could never have been allowed off-lead. Zapping him would have made him 10 times worse!!!

We gave him away to a man who'd had GSD's all his life and even he thought he was a bit unstable, but he kept him and he seemed to calm down when he lived with other dogs, as he didn't think he was totally responsible for guarding everyone and everything.

As I said in another post, no-one should have a dog that's more powerful than them.

That sounds exactly like my GSD, who also has been to all the puppy/training classes. It must be a genetic thing with the breed?