Rescued GSD

Question
QUESTION: I have a male GSD Kodiak.
Allegedly he is a purebred - I think almost but not quite...
He was owner surrendered at age 7 months to a kill shelter....They said they could not handle him...
He was sitting on their grandchildren. Never bit anyone or acted vicious..just sat on them...We have been working on the dog dominance issues and he is improving. He plays now with my friends 11 year old. He still is less respectful than I like.
Kodi is my 9th GSD. All the others were purchased from breders at 8 weeks. By 3 months they were perimeter trained and obedient...What a comeupance I have had with this guy!!!
The vet feels Kodiak has been signifigantly abused.
He backs into some rooms but will walk forward into others. If he backs in..he backs out, and vice versa. He will enter the kitchen from the garage facing forward. He then spins with his rear facing the kitchen and backs into the room. He cannot be enticed or coerced into facing the room and entering forward. If he enters the frong door he wals straight on in forward and the backing in is confined to the kitchen area.
Unfortunatly in a freak training accident he broke 3 of my fingers and damaged the collateral ligaments. He was not being horrid when it happened or even bad really. We entered the garage and I had not unleashed him. I turned to lock the back door and he lunged ahead to go toward the entry door between the house and garage.
He just lunged at the wrong angle as I turned to lock the door and the nylon lead crused my index, 3rd and 4th fingers together. I am just getting healed up well enough to begin walking him again. Kodi weighed 97 pounds(not fat) at 7 months of age. He is now about 120's at 17 months.
He has high prey drive and initially tried to chase cars on lead. That thankfully he has stopped with work.
I have always used a Gentle leader face collar if the dog was pushy on lead but Kodi goes absolutely berserk if one attempts to apply one to him.
Not mean no growling ever. He is just frantic and wild.
Do you have experience with the Gentle leader chest harness? Any tips?
He seems to be adapting to it well but it is a new concept to me!
Does one use it in the same way as a neck or face collar?
If I can get him walking well on lead and quiet his anxiety I will be well on the way!!!
Kodi is a 8 out of 10 when it comes to anxiety.
It has taken 11 months just for him to finally lie down in the house.
He is on the move nearly 100 % of the time.
The vet wanted us to drug him
I tried Benadryl as ordered but he was a space cadet!
Kodi has an outdoor kennel for when we are at work.
It is 24x36. He barks early in the morning when people are leaving and then when it begins to get dark he just looses it and will not settle until he is brought inside. If I feed him in his kennel cage and bring him in after he eats he is a bit more calm.
If he is muddy and is not brought inside from the kennel cage he is content to lie quietly in the kennel cage for a long time even until the following day. The only sound will be howling if he hears a siren so I cannot say he totally lacks patience.
He sometimes vocalizes like a Husky. I remember Nickki who was a Husky I had owned a long time ago did that.

Although it has decreased. Kodi is a mouther. Any tips for this?


ANSWER: Wow a lot of material to cover in a short post, We may have to break this into chapters :).
Let me immediately say well done for saving this beautiful, amazing boy and being willing to put the work into him in order to reap the rewards that you will definitely reap in the future.
Beyond that, GREAT job laying off the drugs for your boy. Drugs will only complicate his situation and confuse him, they certainly won't build trust.
YOu're doing a lot of the right things already. Some other suggestions, and questions. How far do you walk him every day? Do you keep him at heel? Do you give him free form controlled exercise at least three times per week? Like at a dog park, or on a treadmill, playing fetch, anything that will run him until his tongue hangs out. Have you gotten him involved in any basic obedience classes? If not, let me highly recommend that asap. If you've never been to the website alpha boot camp, please type it into your search engine and read and study as often as you can. Their ideas are absolutely spectacular for building confidence, establishing and maintaining pack order.  I am not very familiar with a gentle leader harness, but I LOVE haltis once a dog has become used to them. I'll do some research on that time of training aid and get back to you about them.
Some suggestions for early in the morning and when Kodi is alone in his kennel. Give him toys with treats stuffed inside, the ones that he will need to use both his mind and his mouth and paws to get the treats out of. Change them out often.  Give them to him also in the evenings when he begans to become uncomfortable in his run. You must be in control of when he comes and goes at all times, and not allow yourself to be manipulated into being controlled by him, Never allow him out of his run if he is demanding or asking to be let out.
Treadmills are a wonderful form of exercise for a dog. It might take some getting used to on his part, but you can make it happen with patience and lots of rewards. Go slowly, break things down into very tiny increments for him with lots of praise and rewards. By being mouthy I am assuming you mean that he mouths your arms, clothes etc when you're trying to handle him. Revert to a puppy/sibling/alpha dog behavior by making a very highpitched loud OUCH when he so much as touches you with his teeth. Remove him, or remove yourself emotionally simply by turning your back on him immediately if you can't do anything else. Don't turn back until he is sitting and behaving. Try putting a tether ball on a pole in your  guys' kennel, he'll love it. Also what food are you feeding? You might want to cut down on the protein content for now.
Be sure and give this dog a LOT of praise when he is still even for a moment. With him clicker training might be helpful. He sounds like a Euro bred really serious working type dog. Another thing you might try is putting packs on him when you're walking him to give him a 'job' let him carry water bottles etc for you. Get him involved in a doggie sport as soon as you can get him through basic obedience. Fly ball, tracking, anything to give his mind and body something to do.
The backing behavior sounds like an OCD type behavior to me, right now I would simply ignore it and work on getting rid of some of his endless boundless energy and helping him to feel safe and secure in your position as pack leader. If you can,. pick up Cesar Milan's Be the Pack Leader. That should be every dog owner's bible.
Blessings,
Cindi

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you SO much for your response. Great thoughts!
I purchased the back pack 5 months ago and he is adjusting well to it. He was curious but not threatened by it at all. I have never used them ..How do you know how tight to make it for walks? If adjusted wrong,  where will it rub ? How do you know it is adjusted properly?
Because I have had the problem of allowing the broken fingers to heal the walks have not been frequent. I have walked with he and my husband, allowing my husband to lead him. His family had Springers and GSDs are a world away! Also I have bronchospastic asthma and will not be outside till the weather here in Ohio improves.
I walked my previous GSD a mile or more a day . Great Bonding time!
I try to play fetch with Kodi at least an hour or more each night. Kodi pants a lot and at least part I believe is anxiety. No matter how long you throw the ball he does not ever just flop down to rest he will go as long as you ask him to!
He has bones to hide treats in and he gets a peanut butter bone to go to sleep with
He has a loose basket ball in his kennel along with bones and rope toys and a big ole chew bone. He will demolish softer balls if allowed access when unsupervised.
Funny you should mention the ouch thing! I USED it for my friends rabbit but never needed to for a dog I WILL enlist it immediately! WORKED for the rabbit!
Our treadmill is in the basement and it is huge! Kodi does not do stairs.  We have discussed utilizing it but my husband uses it daily.
I have developed a game where Kodi lies at the top of the stairs while I am doing loads of laundry. He is given a ball his favorite..he now trusts that I will give it back and will drop it and allow it to plunk down the stairs,,I toss it back and praise him as he catches it in his mouth while lying on the kitchen floor at the top of the stairs...
He has progressed over the past 9 months to stepping down 2 stairs to reach a ball placed just out of reach.
I have put favorite treats on the steps but he will reach only to the third step with feet on the second.
It is an open stairway and he, though curious, is still way too scared to come down. I just decided!....I will watch the garage sales this spring and get him one for the garage!
I will order a clicker as well. I have never used them is there a good resource for training the trainer?
Initially I tried food rewards but felt the hand to mouth thing was not a good plan with the mouthing issue.
His hand feeding is either tightly held treats to insist on gentle retrieval or tossed and caught treats.
Kodi is kenneled only while we are at work
We leave early AM before light and return around 5PM
His other neurosis is darkness (outside only). He is content in the garage in his cage even if it is dark and never barks. When placed outside in the early morning darkness or when we come home in the the early evening darkness he frantically barks and cannot be voice calmed.
No amount of "No Kodi Quiet" will stop it. His back legs are over developed muscularly from fence hopping
The kennel is 5 ft. He will stand on his back legs and kangaroo hop along the fence! No high pitched yips just insistent frantic bark bark bark!
I try to wait till there is a lull and a few moments of quiet before bringing him in. I have tried approaching and if he barks backing up a few steps till he quiets and it has had mixed results. If he is in overdrive it never works. Back turning incites him more it seems. I have had to return to the house till he calmed and then return to release him.
In the summer spritzing with water from the hose stopped his barking when I was working in the front yard I had him tied within 10 -15 feet of where I was weeding. He was eventually agreeable to being tied within sight of me and lying quietly.
He never barks inside the house or on lead even if someone comes to the door. He is not fearful and just goes to the door with ears up and curious. He seems to be about 6-9 months delayed developmentally to me.
Most of my other dogs who were undamaged emotionally were property protective of knocks or strangers by 6-10 months
Kodi though clearly damaged by abuse loves everyone.
He is tolerant to the vets checkups and friendly to all.
When in close quarters with cats he is tolerant but the prey drive is high and I feel certain if they would run he would chase if off lead outdoors.
He has chased a rabbit or two in the past 2 months when he exited the kennel on ice and I was too slow!
Kodi has learned to sit, and to lay. Even on lead, stay is not in his vocabulary yet but he is heavily praised for the 45 seconds to 90 seconds he has managed!
He is learning "Wait" but imprinting patience and trust takes monumental time with this one!
I have Cesars books and am reading them currently. I watch him all the time! Why on earth he has detractors is beyond me! I wrote to him but though they invite questions on his site they sent a note they do not answer questions! If I lived near him Kodi WOULD go there!!!!

Do the citronella collars or the radio frequency noise emitting systems work to deter barking?
My poor neighbors have not complained and they have dogs too, but I feel soooo badly!
He settles and quiets by 8 AM when the kids are off to school and the adults have all left for work and is quiet unless he sees a specific reason to alert.
He always howls with sirens..if not on lead ...whether he is indoors or outside. None of my others have done that.
Our lots are large here like 100 x 300 so he is not just right under someone's window! I have most often lived on 7-72 acres so never raised one in town outside before.
Is there a difference between alpha behavior that is clearly a dog wants to be boss behavior and overbearing attention seeking. Kodi rarely tries to climb on ones lap but you CANNOT sit on the floor with him or he does try to climb and sit on people. He is rough in play and gets really pushy at times. His toys are removed when this happens.
I do not allow the floor sitting with him by myself or others,  but test it once in awhile to see if there is improvement as he learns more. Since he is only now after nearly 11 months starting to lie down when inside that improvement may be a long way off!
He is gentle with my girlfriends son but I would never allow him around small children as he is high impact..maybe from the abuse. He would be likely to knock small children or the elderly down if not supervised.
He has knocked both my husband and I down in the early months!
By the way he rarely ever chews anything or intentionally destroys things other than an occasional Kleenex but he Chewed one of the the Haltis into tiny pieces!
One strap that looked like a collar he allowed to live!
Kodi looks like a mixed breed or perhaps a line I am unfamiliar with. Ears just a little shorter than purebreds, nose a little shorter. Small eyes ( I have wondered if there could be night blindness or diminished night vision as part of the neurotic fear of the dark issues). Though his body is black with typical facial markings he has a strange reddish cast to his undercoat..particularly toward his mid to rear and tail.
I wondered if there was a nutritional issue as I have never seen this color before in my other blacks...
He is thick bodied. He is finally growing into the massive rear and developing the forequarters but initially I was certain he was part quarter horse!
Again thank you.
I will go to the web site you mentioned and learn!!!

Answer
Kodi is a very lucky boy to have you as a master, you have wonderful instincts and are definitely on the right track. He doesn't sound like a mixed breed to me at all. Your description sounds like a German import, or a pure German line. They have shorter ears, shorter less defined muzzles, are not generally as low in the rear, are very powerful, slow to mature emotionally and physically. They have high prey drives but are very discerning when it comes to barking/alerting. The reddish cast is not unusual either. We had a beautiful male who was stolen out of our back yard not to terribly long ago who was exactly that color and he was a direct import. He was an East GErman bred DDR dog, which means that he was directly descended from the original shepherds, and  I truly believe that's what you have. Your description fits these dogs to the T. They are incredibly high energy, highly intelligent and again as I said before very much slower to mature than American bred dogs. The smaller eyes are also typical of a DDR dog.
I'll try to address your questions one at a time.
Fit the packs exactly as you would a collar, a fingerwidth underneath them but not loose enough so that they slide around. If you want you can always cover the parts that will be touching his skin with fleece or another soft material to protect him even more.
Anything that gets him to use more energy is a good thing.
The bones with treats in them are excellent, but there are actually 'smart' toys out there that you can stuff with treats that require brain work and skill on his part to figure out the different combinations and ways to remove the treats. I find them excellent for high energy dogs that are bored easily. CHange his toys out OFTEN.
DO get him on a treadmill if at all possible. I would like to see him with a forty five minute power walk twice per day somehow.
And in an obedience class as soon as possible.
The behavior that you were asking about in regards to alpha behavior is still alpha behavior. Pushiness, sitting on you etc, is just another way of asserting control without the respect you deserve. A lot of this is just puppy being puppy and some of it is puppy testing his boundaries. Be firm with him on these issues. The floor belongs to you not him, anyone who chooses should be able to sit there with Mr Kodi being respectful and doing as he is told. Since you have so many issues to deal with this may take awhile, but do remember that for every inch you give it will take you that much longer to reassert yourself in every area. He applies ALL wins to himself and ALL losses to you of boundaries. control or behavior, all of those incidents are added up to him to equal  Kodi is better than you. You are dead on in saying he is developementally behind but I am unconvinced that this is due to abuse and more convinced that it is due to his heritage. Treat him as you would a younger puppy and you will see the difference I believe. He needs to overcome his fear of the stairs at some point and I feel sure that you will work on that when the time comes. Now for the sirens. See if you can come up with a recording of sirens and start playing them when you are home at very low volumn. Gradually as he becomes used to the sound and begins to ignore it increase the volumn little by little over a period of days. If he howls/barks whatever just ignore him. When he's quiet reward him. Begin with the tape playing on for a few minutes at the same time every day and gradually increase the length of time. Ignore the sounds and him if he behaves in an unmannerly way and reward quiet and silence. Give him a favorite toy during these times or a treat stuffed toy that he is not allowed to play with any other time.
You might also try a soda can filled with some pennies or pebbles when he begins his jackrabbit jumping and barking in the kennel. Throw it near him along with a sharp NO and walk away. No matter how much worse he gets it's a reprimand. Don't come back into his sight until he settles. Use a command like SETTLE or QUIET , during those times and respond immediately if he does even for a moment. These dogs have VERY sensitive hearts and they are almost like ADHD children at this age. Catch that millisecond!
Another thing that works well believe it or not is to TEACH him to bark. Find a cue and use it when he's barking. Cue him to speak or whatever and reward him for doing it. Once you have him speaking on cue teach him quiet. Use a motion with your arms extended in front of you, move your hands in a sharp scissor like fashion and say QUIET, or SHHHHHHH, or whatever you choose., so, ask him to speak, reward him for speaking, then give the quiet command and reward him for that. He will soon learn what that command means. Right now he doesn't quiet get it and doesn't entirely speak your language., You have to teach him what the words mean.
A great way to teach wait is to put something he REALLY loves in your hand. Close your hand around it, liver is wonderful, great smell. Let him sniff lick whatever he wants to do and as SOON as he gives up , looks away or whatever say OK and drop the treat on the ground for him. When you approach him with the treat in your hand use the leave it, or wait command, again do not move your hand or open it or allow him to get it open. It'll take him a few minutes the first few times to give up on trying to dig that treat out of your hand but he WILL do it and in that instant when he looks away WHAM drop it and say OK, or GET IT, or TAKE IT or whatever you choose. This is a GREAT way to instill patience and to teach him to wait. Eventually you should be able to hold the treat in your open hand, give him the wait, or leave it command and then release him with the treat on the ground. From there you can go to putting the treat on the table, the arm of a chair, the floor, or even his nose and asking him to wait before touching it. I have a friend whose dog I trained to do this and a few days ago she dropped a treat on the floor told her dog to leave it, got ready for work, left, came home and the treat that she had forgotten to allow her dog to eat was still there! This is an excellent way to teach Kodi not to take food from a young child's hand, or a strangers as well. As well as reinforcing the wait command and the fact that you are in control.
BTW, I also suggest that people do not use their dogs name during a correction. Using the training terminology or a sharp CHHH is a much better idea. They need to always equate their names with positive things.
Here's a great website for clicker training.
http://www.clickertraining.com/

http://www.eastgermanshepherd.com/

And one on the east german german shepherds.
Good luck and happy training
Cindi