Environmentally Engineered Aggression in German Shepherd Dogs

Frustration-Elicited Aggression in German Shepherd Dog

If you are a German Shepherd Dog enthusiast, chances are that you have always liked to meet new German Shepherd owners and mingle with new GSDs around. It is quite normal for a real lover of GSD breed to look for more information on GSD, which makes him or her develop a tendency to stay in close relation with the GSD breeders, and experienced owners. I am pretty sure that if you have been meeting new German Shepherds, you have, at least once in your lifetime, come across a German Shepherd Dog strange behavior - either too submissive or too aggressive. Large breed like German Shepherd Dog sometimes turn out to be really difficult for novice owners to keep, especially in apartments, or with a family where nobody has time to take him on walk or to play in the yard. German Shepherd Dog is a working breed and can hardly stay

calm without doing something. Frustrated dogs - especially for a breed like GSD sometimes become hyper aggressive under such situations. Gene has got nothing to do here. Even a dog descending from the coolest bloodline can exhibit strangest behavior out of frustration.

Hyper aggressiveness or overly aggression in many breeds, including German Shepherds may be the result of many factors and frustration can be one of them. Apart from aggression due to frustration some other types of aggressions in GSD are genetically engineered aggression, territorial aggression, social aggression, defensive aggression, fear-elicited aggression, protective aggression, sex related aggression, redirected aggression. Like redirected aggression, fear-elicited aggression and social aggression, the frustration elicited aggression is also an environmentally engineered aggression, i.e. the type of aggression influenced by environmental condition or situation.

Frustration-elicited aggression is too common in German Shepherd Dogs, especially if they are kept confined, without any work been assigned. GSD is a working breed, They are basically farm dogs and loves to be on any outdoor projects. Evidences are there that some friendly dogs suddenly become aggressive when put in a closed room or leashed. This kind of aggression can be controlled through heavy exercise. A tired dog is a content dog. Dogs with this problem usually exhibit aggression on things they are frustrated with. For instance, many German Shepherds get frustrated on their leash. Resolving this problem is hard but not impossible. Lots of patience and time are the keys to the success story. Alongside enough exercise, not creating the situation too frequently that frustrates him is a way. For instance if he becomes frustrated with confinement, do not confine him too frequently or for long hours. If you realize that your dog is starting to create problem in a given situation, you can turn his attention off. Provide him with a bone to chew, for example.

What is worth worrying about this is that in many cases the frustration-elicited aggression in dogs (irrespective of breed) can lead to redirected aggression, which can be more devastating. This means, since the dog is not able to get to what actually he is looking for and consequently gets frustrated, he will try to show his aggression on some other thing. For instance if he is frustrated of being leashed or confined for hours, he may show his aggression on the bed and pillow. Things turn out to be more dangerous when such frustration elicited aggression is redirected to his pack members or family members.

Reach out to a professional canine behaviorist or trainer. It is essentially necessary to teach your German Shepherd to calm down in stressful situations. German Shepherds, if well bred, usually have higher "stress threshold" compared to many other dog breeds. Still many good dogs are seen with lower "stress threshold", and they easily get frustrated.