help, charlies being overly aggressive

hi guys, yes its me. i dont know where i went wrong with this girl but she has a very boisterous personality. if you dont know charlie is a 9yo germ shep mix. she is excersised daily for a fair amount of time and is entertained by me through the day, she is very very attached to me which is expected and great, i love her so much, she is my baby girl. she is also very gentle to her friends and family esp her children friends.

now in the past we have spoken about her barking problems when ppl visit. well its gotten a hell of alot worse since ive been preggers. now dont get me wrong, she is a right little angel and everyone loves her, that is when they meet her. now where we live is very much in the bush, we get a visitor to the house about once a week, and they are friends that she knows but its no bus stop ehre for sure.

heres the jist- usually she carries on barking when ppl visit, but she shuts up after a minute and i tell her to, i did all that 'enough' barking training, which does work but i must keep right on top of her.

so now this is what is happening- someone comes to the door and she goes burko, literally off her head. i put her in the yard when ppl arive, and she stands at that door barking her head of, if i say 'enough' she sort of mumur barks and then builds back up to the top.

now she is not aggressive when meeting ppl, she jsut barks when they are inside and arrive. she will be happy to come in and sniff and then shes your best mate. but its the bit before that is the problem, and ppl think she is a psycho due to the barking. this is becoming a big problem as she is scaring ppl away from her due to the loud germ shep bark.

and i need this sorted before baby comes as we will have alot more visitors. we have never had a violent break ibn, i have never been hurt and she has a normal stable home (well if ya think im norm and stable that is:D )

please believe me she is a lovely dog, when she goes of i tell ppl she is nice and jsut loud, no volume and that she wont hurt them. she comes in and everyone is great mates. its just the entrance that is becoming a real issue and it is not complimentry to her loveliness.

see even older dogs have their issues in life, and boy is she having one, crap its like a mid life crisis or something. so if you have any ideas please let me know. she is fully trained in the general stuff, no trickster but hey neither am i, ive done 'enough' training with her with varying success daily.

oh please help if you can, i hat her giving such a yuck image to ppl, it really does inhibit their realtionships with her.

thanks guys, you know i appreciate the help with my wonderful girl....:grouphug:

This is what I read from what you wrote (but I've been known to totally misunderstand Mel often enough)...

I think she's just protecting you from strangers... I think by putting her in the yard, she feels defenseless and can't help you if the person should attack you. In my opinion, she thinks you're vulnerable right now and I think she needs more understanding and validation... You know? Like say "It's ok, it's (name). She's a good (name)." Don't yell at her or punish her because that won't get to the root. She needs to be reassured that you are not a weakling that needs constant protection (although... maybe you are and you do...:D ).

oh i totally agree with you, and i am totally empathetic to her cause. she is a very protective girl of me and always has been (you should see her when i get too friendly with another dog i can but no full on stuff she dont like her woman doin that, hey she aint risking loosing this meal ticket:D ).

if someone appears i do try and say its so and so and their our frineds, and if she knows the person i get them to say hello charlie straight away which generally settles her down.

and i know she has no volume control, she just scares ppl, i just wish i could get a bit more control of it is all. i just wish she would bark a bit and then slow down with it, maybe i jsut need to do the 'enough' training again.

but i will try and remember to let her know it is friend or foe more often, i suppose there are occassions wehre im busy atthe door and forget a bit, not always but sometimes. she is very protective, this poor baby wont be able to move without super charlie on the case, which i think is great i just need to control it a bit more so she dont scare everyone...

and yes i am a weakling that needs protection (from myself that is), you smart hiney, hey thier your words:D :D gosh your cheeky:p

My doggies know people's names and I think it helps because they know what to expect...

Like if I say "uncle Jon is here" they "perform" the appropriate reaction for Uncle Jon (which for Jemma is screaming and for Boo is getting out of Jemma's way). If I say "Alyssa's coming" then it's Boo's turn to go nuts... They change from watch doggies to waiting doggies... You know? So nobody is a stranger anymore and nobody is unexpected.:)

During both my pregnancies, my dog at the time, Selena was very protective of me. She would stand at the door and grumble/growl at anyone who came by. I would say "it's ok beans, I'm letting them in" and she would lie down in plain view of the visitors. If it was friends, she would relax and greet them. If it was someone she didn't know, she remained in alert until they left. She only did this once I became pregnant and continued it after the girls arrived. Somehow she felt her new position was to protect mom and babies. Perhaps your Charlie is doing the same thing?

thanks guys, now that youve both said it it makes heaps of sense, duh mel. yes she is trying to be a bit more protective i can see it now, she has always been very protective but not like this, shes going over the top. but i see her point, im her human and im not smelling the same so its all understandable.

i think i will re do her 'enough' traiing and perhaps when ppl come i will explain how she is feeling, well i doubt i can curb it too much, she does have her own personality even if its a strong one, i think if i start there and get ppl to understand maybe she wont freak them out so much.

she does know ppl names, but onyl those she loves, such as aunty, kids and grandmothers and such (funny though if she is barking and i say hey thats a kid and we dont bark at them, she stops straight away:angel: ).

and it seems mostly men she reacts to, which has always been the case of this ladys dog, it was a male visitor yesterday that sparked the thread, she just didnt like him being in her house and he got very freaked by her.

thanks guys, i wil ltry as you have suggested, and i wil lredo that 'enough' stuff as well, maybe practicing a few old routines will help her to, jsut as a gentle reminder of what we are doing here.

what a good dog ive got, this baby will be so lucky to have such a family member, she truly loves her human and i her:D :angel:

If its just the barking thats bothering ya, why not try and teach her speak and quiet. Tucker barks a little when someone comes to the door as we taught him to speak for the door and then he is told quiet and he stops. My last dog that was a GSD and BMD cross had a big bark that scared the crap out of people, but he was a big pussy cat if you knew him. Actually he would run away from people if confronted, unless you tried to touch one of us, then he got upset, as for children other mothers couldn't punish their children in front of him or he would push his way inbetween them and the mothers thought he was being agressive. Tucker just kisses everyone that comes to the door.