[PetiteFleur]

Hello!

I'm here because I have few questions about a 2 years old German Sheperd. Maybe somebody can help me to understand his behaviour...

It's a really nice dog, but when he plays with other dogs it can become really agressive and noisy. He won't hurt the others, but somebody has to stop him. He seems to decide the rules of the game for all the dogs who are playing.

Sometimes, he just runs to the others (humans or dogs) and barks, I don't know why...?

And the last thing, when he's waiting under the table at a restaurant for example, if someone leaves the table he will try to follow and bark.

Can you help me?

Thanks for reading!

 

[Samson5261]

My 2 year old GSD mix Rocky gets very vocal in his play. He sounds absoulty horrible, like he is trying to kill the other dog but I can tell that he is jusy playing. His actual aggressive growl sounds much difference. He can sometimes get to worked up but I usually intervene before then if I can tell he is getting to worked up. Your dog could just be very vocal when he play's and is not actually being aggressive. I do know that some dogs can get freaked out by all that noise so I would just watch to make sure the other dog is ok with your dogs playing style.

The running up to people/dogs and barking is probably just him wanting attention or someone to play with. Rocky will do this to dogs especially when he wants them to chase him.I can't really help with the other stuff but it could just be that you have a very vocal dog. Rocky barks at pretty much everything, the joys of owning a dog that likes to speak the language of his people! Lol

 

[PetiteFleur]

Thank you so much for sharing your experience !

 

[Samson5261]

No problem?. It can be an adjustment getting use to a dog that talks a lot especially if you have never had a vocal dog like me. It can be kind of scary at first but you will learn the differences in his vocalizations and be able to tell what is play and what is not. You will also have a lot of other dog owners tell you he is being aggressive(happens all the time to me) as most see any form of growling as being aggressive. I use to have a video of rocky playing that I wish I could find to show what he sounds like.

 

[annageckos]

Some dogs are just vocal when they play. But it can also be they are getting over stimulated, you want to give them a break once in a while to calm down if this happens. My dane, Freyja gets this way sometimes, over stimulated. She will look almost frantic and get really mouthy if I let it get that far. But when I see the signs I step in and get her attention on me and do a few easy commands. Sit, paw, look at me. That kind of thing. It works well for her. But my boy, Vegas if he gets over stimulated then it's the end of play time for him.

Barking at people, he could just want attention and has found that barking works. They also use barking to alert to things.

 

[PetiteFleur]

Thank you for your advices