[virginiawoolf]

it used to be that on walks, my gsd mix would bark mainly at men, and not necessarily every single one. i began taking her on bike rides a few weeks ago, sprinkling in some walks here and there, and she has begun barking at every single person we come across. she has also begun mixing in some growling. i'm getting dirty looks constantly, and was told on another forum to get bitter apple spray to quickly spray her gums immediately after she barks. is that effective? i just have no idea why she has begun barking at EVERYONE, when it used to just be select males. it was an issue before, but now it is worse.

any ideas as to why this has escalated or what i can do?

[CaseLogic]

I'm not even close to an expert, but I think it'd be better to determine the cause of the problem as opposed to just training them not to bark.

There's some reason they're barking, whether they feel uncomfortable outside, insecure, etc. But just teaching them not to bark will not make them feel any more comfortable, they just won't have a way of communicating it.

As for WHY she's barking, maybe you should have a brave friend walk by as you're walking, and when she starts barking, have him slowly approach, show a treat and feed it to her? Maybe she needs to know that strangers aren't necessarily evil.

Sorry, that's the best advice I can give

[Alpha]

I advise that you seek professional help before this worsens to her biting and injuring someone, or to the point where your too embarassed to walk your dog.

I can assure you that if you don't get professional help, it will only get worse and more unmanageable that it is now.

There are many things you can do and many things that you shouldn't do.

It's *likely* (I don't know your dog, how she was raised or if she does have any reason to fear strangers) that due to her breed, or breed in part GSD, that it's protective. In which case you need to control and manage her behaviours. It's not like fear aggression, where you gently help them get over the fear with treats and praise.

Roxy is protective "aggressive". She does many of the same behaviours you've mentioned, and used to do much worse. She was/is not fearful of strangers, she just does not like them near me or my belongings (like our Jeep).

Working in obedience gives you commands and gives your dog a strong desire to comply with those commands. Therego, managing her protective tendencies. Instead of barking/growling at the man coming, you give her a command, sit/stay, watch me etc., you condition her compliance with those commands so when you apply them in real life, she's so used to listening in training, that she'll comply in real life.

Find a reputable trainer in your area, and just start working in basic obedience. If you think it's fearful aggression, or something different than being protective, find a behaviourist.

But please don't leave it be, or try to fix it on your own.

[woof2u2]

ditto to Alphas reply. You do mention you have started taking your dog on bike rides, maybe an additional problem has started here as the barking has escalted. If you are riding a bike and she is walking or running alongside, she is presumably on a leash or tied to the bike somehow, he may have a fear of the bike, the wheels going around close to him or just generally struggling to keep up ? I dont know the situation obviously so it is hard to tell. We had a problem initially with our dog and a fear of bicycles, motorbikes, cars anything with wheels turning. Slowly, we stopped him running at everything in sight to 'attack or grab' the wheels, by obedience training and praising him when he stayed put when asked or just sniffed politely at the respective wheels !

[virginiawoolf]

thanks so much to everyone for your helpful responses.

i found a trainer, who was recommended to me through a few people who had aggressive adopted dogs, and who he really helped with. we scheduled our first training session for this coming sunday. i'm really excited! he's bringing two of his dogs, who he said react differently to aggressive dogs, so that we can begin fixing the problem from the first day of training. it makes me a little nervous, but i am really hoping this is going to be the beginning of reforming her aggressive behavior.

woof,
yesterday on our bike ride, we encountered quite a few people and i realized that if i get her attention on me before we pass, and keep it there, and then praise her after we pass them, that is a really good deterrent from her barking. she <b>is</b> scared of big trucks/cars/bikes when they pass on walks, but i don't know if our bike is on that list.

alpha,
she is very protective. i think her aggression stems from that, but i can also tell in certain situations that she is afraid as well. so i believe it's a mixture of both fear and protectiveness. she was raised very lovingly by her foster family, but they found her wandering the streets, with mange, fleas, worms, etc. when she was only around 5 weeks old. i don't know if she is able to remember being that young if any abuse occurred before they found her, but i'm sure not having a mother to raise her when she was that young really did some damage. she is as sweet as can be most of the time, but she has an alter personalit. i'm so glad this trainer is coming sunday, and i really hope we can start to remedy the problems.

Case,
i felt the same way. treating a problem superficially isn't actually solving it, and i felt that the bitter apple spray was a superficial treatment.

thank you again everyone, and wish us luck with training!

[woof2u2]

glad you found a trainer and good luck, you sound like you want to work with your dog to find a solution which is GREAT.

[Alpha]

I'm so glad you've found a trainer! Good for you for getting the ball rolling!

Some minor fear issues can easily be resolved when you "work" together. By "work" I don't mean, going on walks, or five minutes of practicing sit, I mean like you'll do this Sunday, a full hour of working together, building your bond. YOU will earn HER trust, so perhaps next time she feels scared, instead of reacting, she'll look to you.

Same goes for the "aggression". (it's such a heavy word that I don't like to throw around). Instead of deciding for herself what's a threat and what isn't, she'll look to YOU to see YOUR reaction and how you feel about the situation.

Another reason why we have to control our fears of the dogs reacting. For awhile, 80% of Roxy's reactiveness stemmed from me. I was worried that she was going to react, all she felt was that I was nervous, so she attributed it to the oncoming stranger and scared them off for me.

My trainer always says our emotions are like neon signs on our heads for our dogs. Whatever your feeling, angry, sad, scared etc. our dogs know. And often enough their reactions to situations are in part, due to our own worries/feelings.

Good luck and let us know how Sunday goes!