My 6mos. old female GSD

Question
QUESTION: I bought my 6mos. old female white GSD from a breeder. I got her when she was 7wks old. she is a very beautiful, smart girl, except I have two major problems with her. The 1st on is that she afraid of going out of the house, every time we go out for walks or the pet store she will become aggressive towards every stranger that passes by specially with dogs. she wont let anyone near us and is always being very cautious of her Surroundings and it always seems that she cant wait to get in side our home. its like home is the only place she feels safe.and I'm saying this because i have a toddler and another dog and she's never showed any aggression towards them or anyone else that comes over to our house.  the 2nd thing is that she gets into everything at home. i used to have her loose at night, but she gets into any thing that i have in my kitchen counters and drops it to the floor either to destroy it or eat it. I've tried tieing her up away from the counters but know she gets to the things on the stove top and even some of my small appliances. I've told her no, tried the newspaper but nothing works. I don't know what else to do, Please help.!!!

ANSWER: You may not have managed to expose her to enough people when you first had her.  It is difficult to undo the results of that now.  One thing that helps is having people give her treats.  Better leadership helps too.  The key to most behavior problems is approaching things using the dog's natural instincts. Dogs see all the people and dogs in the household as a pack with each having their own rank in the pack and a top dog. Life is much easier if the 2 legged pack members outrank the 4 legged ones. You can learn to play the role of top dog by reading some books or going to a good obedience class. A good obedience class or book is about you being top dog, not about rewarding standard commands with a treat. Start at http://www.dogsbestfriend.com/ For more on being top dog, see http://www.dogbreedinfo.com./topdogrules.htm

Other dogs may not be as bad as the young Labs I am plagued with. Still your house and dog will be much safer with the dog in a crate when you are away. The dog may be happier in its den than loose in the house. It relaxes, it feels safe in its den. It rests, the body slows down reducing the need for water and relieving its self. Dogs that have been crated all along do very well. Many of them will rest in their crates even when the door is open. I think the plastic ones give the dog more of a safe, enclosed den feeling. They are harder for dogs to open too. Metal ones can be put in a corner or covered with something the dog can't pull in and chew. Select a crate just big enough for the full grown dog to stretch out in.

Leave it some toys. Perhaps a Kong filled with peanut butter. Don't leave anything in the crate the dog might chew up. It will do fine without even any bedding. You will come home to a safe dog and a house you can enjoy.

A dog that has not been crated since it was little, make take some work. Start out just putting its toys and treats in the crate. Praise it for going in. If you have been able to trust it with any bedding, put that in the crate. Feed it in the crate. This is also an easy way to maintain order at feeding time for more than one dog.


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QUESTION: So are you pretty much saying that she is a lost cost and she will never be able to corect this behavior

Answer
Not completely.  As strangers to her give her treats, she will accept others better.  She may never do as well as she might have, but you should be able to make a big improvement.  You can never undo breeding and early socialization problems completely.