Accepting a new master/loss of owner - Page 1

We recently acquired a 5 year old GSD female who has lost her owner (my brother) to a tragic accident. She was with her owner since 2 months old and was an outdoor dog Kennel dog.

Her living arrangement with us is indoors in a condo. She listens to my husband when she wants to and ignores him when she wants to. In other words, I dont think she has really accepted him as the alpha male or her new owner. Dogs are intuitive and I think she understands that her master is not coming back. How do we make her accept my husband as the alpha male? She has obidience training, she is smart, but avoids eye contact when her name is being called. She listens when you have food in your hand and will execute all her commands. Any tips?

Rushna, I'm sad to hear of the loss of your brother, How long ago is "recently acquired"?

This happened about 1.5 months ago. It is still all very new for her. The other disturbing thing we are noticing is agression towards other dogs. My brother had 3 GSDs so she is well socialized with dogs but now she wants to lunge and attack every dog. Major issue when you use elevators in a building with 200+ dogs. We have learned not to take her to dog park any more.

Sorry for your loss.

It can take anywhere from 4 to 6 mos for most dogs to up to a year for others.  You need to enter an obedience class(small) with her.  I hate obedience classes but you're not there for obedience.  Your husband (who should take her) is there to spend time with her and develop a bond.  She has lost her anchor and more than likely what is being established right now is a conflictory relationship.  You tell her what to do, she doesn't listen.  She does bad things, you don't like that.....

Get out of that rut and find ways to play with her and make her feel comfortable and part of your pack because she doesn't feel that way now.  If she isn't now, I would definitely have her sleeping in the bedroom with you. 

Time, compassion, and building a bond will bring her around to being a good dog.  You just have to help.

I agree with bzcz. 4-6 mo. I would suggest to do nothing as far as obedience goes during this time. He should feed her and let her come to him rather then the other way around. He should do just positive things she likes to do. Like to play fetch, tug of war, go for ride in the car, hiking, sitting with her on the couch watching TV. Do all that one on one  with no other people or dogs present. Avoid  unnecessary corrections and talk to her with higher pitched voice especially if he has deep voice. Do not tower over here when she is laying down and do not approach here squarely but slightly sideways. Give her small pieces of KFC chicken  when she is little hungry just for kick and giggles and  then walk away. No drill training unless  she enjoys it like obedience for fetch. Be patient. Slow is fast, less is more. 

 Prager Hans

Poor dog.

Sorry for your loss.

It's called the bond.

Sorry for the loss both of you had 

Thank you for letting her come live with you

I would do some obedience training.  Not hard and not serious but you need to do something to change the path she's on.  She already knows obedience so it will just be review.  The real purpose of it is to help you learn to communicate with her.  No corrections and lots of short fun sessions to start with.

The bond really develops through communication and you need to find away to start that process more positively than what it is right now.

Hans has some suggestions for other activities that will help with that as well.

Good luck and I wish you all well.

Sorry for your loss.
I would consider giving all her food by hands for a month or two. This helps with bonding and also helps with her understanding who is the boss. You can ask for little tricks at this time, stuff like: sit, here, down, look (at me). This can be done without much pressure.

If she is showing aggression to other dogs, once she is good with the little tricks (especially look), you can work with this to teach her to pay attention to you and not the other dogs. She must completely understand the tricks.

For now, do your best to keep her far enoug away from other dogs so she is not worried. If you or your husband become stressed when you see other dogs, this will increase her negative behavior.

I am not an expert like some people here, but what helped my last rescue girl, who came from a rough start in life, was doing marker/clicker training. We also did fun games. No pressure whatsoever and lots of praise and encouragement.   Leerberg has a helpful DVD on marker training. Doing the marker training with my girl helped tremendously with both her confidence and our bond.