[Ben]

I had some similar stuff with my working line gsd. We live in a busy area so it was hard when he was a cute puppy to step outside and not have people wanting to pet him. You got a dog that is naturally suspicious and loves to chase and bite. It’s genetic and no amount of socialization will change that (and too much socialization can make it worse). My approach has been more about understanding and managing the desire to bite as opposed to removing it from the dog. That drive will always be there.

[Ed]

Seems that it was too much pressure for him. My female Rottie in a few occasions has gone for people, specially when she was young. No barking, no nothing, just lunge with a big open mouth. You have to read them. She got a lot better with time and training.

[Riggan]

It is always hard to tell what is going on just from a post, so I may be completely off base in this. I am going to be blunt here, not to criticize you or hurt your feelings but to try to help educate you and hopefully correct this situation. The impression I get is that you are pushing far too hard on the socialization and as a result, your dog is getting more and more fearful of these situations. Socialization does not mean letting lots of people pet your dog. It is about getting the dog confident in different situations and around different people. The key word here is “confident.” YOU are your dog’s advocate, and it is up to you to develop this confidence. By carefully controlling the types of situations the dog is exposed to and limiting interactions with other people to only those that are enjoyable to the dog, you teach the dog to trust that you are going to take care of them. This trust is further enhanced when you learn to recognize when you have over-faced the pup and then remove him from the situation.

It sounds to me like you are putting your dog in way too many stressful situations that are teaching him that the world is a scary place. By letting so many people pet him when by nature and breed he is not a super social dog, you are teaching him that people are scary. Since he is not able to trust you to manage these situations, he is learning that he has to take action in these situations himself, and that means using his teeth. Obviously, this is not what you want him to learn.

Also, around this age dogs frequently go through fear periods. This is part of a survival mechanism since in the wild, pups are beginning to explore their world a bit more independently without mom close by to protect them. Having a heightened fear response for a while helps prevent them from getting into too much trouble. During this period, you have to be very careful not to put the pup into scary situations since this can generate long-lasting fears of those situations.

So, how to proceed? Chill out on your socialization. Don’t take the pup into crowds or stressful situations. When you take him out, he should be your top priority and your attention should be 90% on him. Learn to watch his body language. If you decide you have made a mistake and gone a bit too far for him, leave. You’ll just need to tell your friends, family, or whoever to understand that at this point in his development, your dog’s best interests have to come first. Make sure that outings are fun for your dog, not something that has to be endured because he has no choice in the matter. There will be time later for you to take him with you to parties or other social activities.

Next, stop letting people pet him. Unfortunately, petting can easily turn into man-handling and is not at all enjoyable to the dog. Do not let people pat him on the top of the head or reach over his head. This is an extremely threatening behavior to dogs. If you want to learn more about how our human behaviors cause problems when interpreted through a canine mind, I highly recommend the book “The Other End of the Leash” by Patricia McConnell. Letting a few trusted individuals that he sees often (such as your mom) pet him is OK, but there is no reason to let strangers pet him just because they want to. You have a Belgian Malinois, not a Golden Retriever. His nature is likely going to be much more stand-offish and focused far more on you than on getting attention from other people. Yes, you want him to learn to let others handle him (such as the vet), but this is done through careful training with people you trust and who will follow instructions precisely rather than by letting random people pet him however they want.

Your pup is still young, so there is plenty of time to reverse course on this situation. Take things at his speed, which may be much slower than what you would like or expect. Make sure most of his outings are pure fun. Occasionally (maybe 1 out of 5 outings), push him just a TINY bit past his comfort zone for a brief period, and then go back to the fun stuff. Continue with your training to build your relationship with him. As he develops more trust and confidence both in his own skills / understanding of what you want and in your ability to protect the “pack”, I think you will start seeing positive changes in his reaction to the world. Good luck!

[Austin]

First off thanks for the replies.

Just to be clear this is not my first high drive dog that was suspicious of strangers. I’ve owned rotties, pits, mixed breeds, etc.. labs and poodles too once upon a time. All my previous dogs were either rescues or raised from birth aka bottle fed. I’m 100% committed to Hanks wellbeing, and the entire purpose of the party / parade outings / walks around public areas were for his benefit. I could have cared less about going for my own “fun”. I didn’t have a sip of alcohol or anything other than water at either occasion despite being surrounded by some tasty crawfish and tons of beer / liquor. My focus was 99% on him. While I’ve owned several other dogs in the past I will be and have been putting in a lot more work and time into Hank.

I was really on the fence about bringing him to the parade, but thought it would be a good opportunity for him to be around a diverse crowd of people. He appeared to me to be walking very confidently through the crowds that day. No tail tucking / wimpering / hair raising or any of the signs I’m familiar with. Leash was loose for 90% of the walk with an occasional pull to investigate something on the sidewalk. It was about 3/4 mile walk to my group. This group contained many of the same people he had met once before at the party. Two women and two kids approached and I waved them off before they got close. I could hear a low grumble. I had Hank go to a down and he was chilling. I was kneeling beside him slack leash when someone distracted me (totally my fault) and that’s when she reached towards him/me and he reacted. She pulled back and I gave a mild correction / just tried to prevent the bite with the leash quick enough with a “NO” that he didn’t get a grip. I didn’t make a big deal out of it and had him do some luring/shaping away from kind of away from the crowd. Also wasn’t a huge crowd like shoulder to shoulder; we had ample room in a parking lot for him to have 10’ space. We were only in this area for about another 30 minutes after the bite. During this time he was acting pretty normal / relaxed and focused on me.

To date only the vet / his assistant (he snapped at her on the second visit during shot) and a handful of family (just my wife and mother)and close friends (2 adult males, 2 adult females – 1 bit the on second meeting, and 2 of their children) have actually touched him. So I think around 8 people other than myself and breeder have touched him. I have zero problems telling strangers or anyone else not to touch my dog. I’m a very assertive person and really don’t care if I hurt feelings (I try not to be a dick though). He doesn’t bark or start lunging or anything. He just doesn’t seem to like people getting close enough to reach him or us I’m not sure yet. I’m fine with him being that way towards all strangers if that’s the way it’s gotta be, but like you said I need to have him be able to relax around people he could be around often. Just ordered an adjustable mesh muzzle for his next vet visit just in case. I really don’t want to have to use it if I don’t have to though.

I know this is a rambling post and I apologize. Hank is keeping me super busy and tired! I’m loving every minute though. I just want to do what’s right for him.