Neighboors German Shepherd Mouthed My Hand

Question
My Neighbor has a 3yo Male German Shepherd. He's a beautiful dog and is not aggressive but he is poorly trained and is hard for my neighbor to control. The wife (who is the only one I ever see with the dog) is maybe 5 feet tall and  when the dog is on leash with her he pulls her and has knocked her over. We see this dog at the bus stop with the wife and on one or two occasions I've had to help her control the dog by taking the leash for her or grabbing his collar. I'm a 45 yo male, 6ft and about 200lbs. Normally when she has him on leash and he is behaving I give him a lot of attention, petting him, patting him and speaking to him in a positive way like I would my own dog, giving him "good boy" praise and trying to engage his attention and get him to focus a bit. He has never shown any overt aggressive behavior but he is also not necessarily a submissive dog.

The other day I was at the neighbors front door picking up my daughter from a play date and the dog was barking at me from inside. I think my neighbor had him by the collar.
When the door opened he tried to bolt out and I stopped him with my leg and had my hands near his face and went for his collar. It was a little chaotic. The dog did not bite me, but he seemed to "mouth" my hand. He basically put his mouth around my hand but did not bite down or growl. He did this twice as he was trying to get past me to get outside so it was definitely a deliberate behavior.

I mentioned it to my neighbor and it worried her. I'm not sure whether this was an aggressive behavior or submissive behavior toward me from the dog. I've had many dogs in the past and interact with dogs all the time and always establish a natural pack dominant position with dogs, especially intelligent ones which this dog is.

I realize that although I have a natural affinity for this dog (I love big German Shepherds) he doesn't really know me from a hole in the wall and has no reason to accept me as dominant.

Do you think that this was an aggressive behavior? And if so can you suggest some ways that the owners can correct it. This is a truly beautiful and intelligent dog. I feel the owners haven't put in the needed training for him and I'd hate to see him bite someone, or See him destroyed because he bit some one. It would be a shame either way to see the dog suffer for what amounts to lack of training by his owners.

Thanks

Answer
Hi Adrian,

It doesn't sound that your neighbor's dog was being aggressive with you, when you grabbed for his collar.  It sounds like you surprised him, and his knee-jerk reaction was to grab your hand with his mouth.  If he wanted to, he would have certainly bitten you at that time. Like you said, he was trying to get past you to get outside.

You neighbor should take this as a big ol' wake up call. If their dog ever attacks a child or another person's pet they can have a boatload of legal trouble, and possibly lose their dog in the process.

Enrolling in an obedience class, is probably the best thing your neighbors could do for their dog, and themselves. If you are particularly saintly, and want to help,  you can buy your neighbor a Gentle Leader, or Halti head harnesses to use instead of a neck collar or shoulder harness when walking their dog.
These head harnesses are worn on the head, like a halter a horse would wear. They are not a muzzle.  They offer a huge degree of control, but the catch is the dog has to be trained to accept a head harness. This takes some time, dedication, and patience and your neighbor part. They have to be willing to do this, or it won't work.

You're right, it's a shame to see the dog suffer for what amounts to lack of training by his owners. Have you considered using a rolled up newspaper, and firming rapping your neighbor's head?

Best of luck,

Patti