I adopted a 2 year old St. Bernard female approximately a month ago. At home, she is an ideal pet. WHen I got her, she was not very obedience trained; however, is an incredibly trainable dog. In the month I have had her, she has learned or relearned "sit, lay down, wait, no, stay, come, go to bed (her crate), and treat". She is incredibly lovable, obedient and all is great for nearly everything.

THe problem:

She will not allow a stranger near the property or in the house. In order for her to accept strangers, she must meet them OFF the property on her leash. SHe seems to love all strangers as long as she is on her leash and off the property. A week or so ago, we had a few people over. She met everyone outside and happily allowed them into our home. Later, someone bumped the sofa and she immediately jumped up growling and snarling and made an attempt to bite. After calming down, the neighbors 3 year old stared her in the eye (a no-no) and the dog bit him in the ear (not breaking the skin). If she is in her crate when a stranger is here, they get one of two reactions.

1 = she growls, snarls, attcks the cage (or attacks the front door if they are simply walking by our house) and seems to want to eat them alive. She seems so viscious that people are afraid of the house.

2 = she lays quietly and appears very submissive and scared. We never know which reaction she is going to have.

2nd Problem:

Sophie HATES other dogs. She growls and goes into full-blown attack mode when she sees one. Her hair stands up and she tries with all her might to pull me so that she may get to them. The odd thing, is that once I remove her away from the area another dog is, she wimpers. When we first got her, we would make little barking noises or wimpering noises and she would see us making the noise, but would growl and walk to the door looking for the dog. Now, after having her a month, it no longer upsets her when we bark or wimper. WHen there are dogs on t.v. she seems a little upset she doesn't know where they are and runs up to the TV to see them. So we don't know if she likes or hates other dogs, but she certainly isn't behaving in an OK manner that we could take her to the local dog parks. What do we do?

A large, aggressive dog with 2 years of bad habits may be too much to solve over the net. I am afraid I have to recommend a professional dog trainer or behaviorist. Unfortunately I have no way of telling you how to find a good one, which can be tough.

The only other thing might be to find a Saint Bernard rescue and see if they can help. You may find a rescue starting at American Kennel Club - Breed Rescue dog dogs puppy puppies A good rescue has experience with difficult dogs, and may choose to help you save her.

I agree with labman.

Your dog needs specialized hands on training to desensitize her to people and other animals. It appears that she was not properly socialized as a puppy. Although at two years it will be a challenge, it is not something that cannot be undone, with the help of a highly skilled behaviorist trainer. This definitely won't be resolved overnight. You will also need to be trained in ensuring your family members all hold the Alpha position over her.

Since you mention dog parks, I am assuming you are in an area where there should be some decent help available to you. Start with the rescue from which you adopted her. They should have a list of all the behaviourists/trainers in your area. I think it would be extremely smart to stop by the dog park (without the dog) and speak to some of the owners. Maybe someone has a pitbull or rottie or another large dog that they had problems with and can give you a recommendation. Check with the all vets in the area. Talk to as many people as you can and gather names. There will be at least one or two trainers that will stick out as being someone who a number of people hold in high regard.

Thank you for choosing to adopt a dog, rather than purchasing one from a store or breeder. It sounds like you are truly dedicated to making her a happy and well adjusted member of your family. Please post back when you can and let us know how you and Sophie are doing. :)

Spread reped again. I wanted to put a comment in Ruby's answer saying she give some good alternatives I didn't.

Your female is a fear motivated animal. When she loses her cool she loses her mind. Distraction is the best tool for a mind like hers. You need to override the fear by MAKING her refocus on something else. The dog can only think of one thing at a time and must be redirected to focus on something that won't freak her out.

1-You need to train her perfectly to down stay and sit stay and any other commands you can think of for her. Train her with distractions so she responds the same way 100 out of 100 times. Praise her often.
2-Have friends ring the door bell and try to give her a command while they are at the door, practice until you get 100 out of 100 of your commands obeyed.
3-When strangers approach her put her in a sit stay and get into the habit of introducing them to your dog properly with the back of the hand outstretched and eyes averted but face forward. Always stand between your dog and them until the proper greeting has been done.
4-Now that your dog is more confident you must start to socialize with other dogs. Start with puppies and work your way up to really submissive dogs. When she is more comfortable introduce her to younger more energetic animals.

You must try to stay calm as your state of mind influences her state of mind. Ignore bad behavior and correct aggression by redirecting her attention. The sit-stay and down-stay are her lifeline to your protection. In her mind nothing bad can happen to her while she is obeying your commands. Meanwhile all of the positive attention she received when you were praising her will boost her confidence making her less fearful.

I developed my method with a timid Dobermann who evolved into a guard dog, and found it to be equally effective on a very aggressive German Sheppard who became a beloved family pet. It is highly effective for correcting timidity and aggression issues in dogs if done correctly. The handler is the key to all the training if you are impatient or blind to the body language, you must seek the help of a handler who is better at it than you.

Good luck!

Great advice, but this thread is really old, and the OP doesn't look like she has returned. There are lots of new posts that you could try!

Let me see out of the 1000's of posts, I would think a new poster could find one that is not 3 years old

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