6 year old male GSD sudden behavior problems

by Colleen
(Philadelphia, PA)







Our male GSD (6 yrs) has been acting out of character lately. My husband walked him last week and two pitbulls approached them he cowered and put his put up his paw as in "I surrender " stance.

We always thought he would take charge if the a situation like this presented itself. My husband was pretty dumbfounded thinking he may have to deal with these two pitbulls himself. Thankfully, the owner ran up and grabbed his dogs.

This week he chewed up and ate an over-the-door net hamper. He has since threw up most of it but this is out of character for him. Does behavior start to change at a certain point? Is he considered an "older" dog?

This is our first family dog and we have had him since the age of 6 weeks. We have 3 children 13, 5, and 5 so he is a friendly family dog. We just feel his behavior is changing. Thank you.


Total German Shepherd:


First of all I would suggest you take your German Shepherd to the vet for a check up to find out exactly what is going on with him, health wise.

Could be many things but yes, he is courting senior citizen status and may be starting to feel his age such as arthritis or a host of other issues. And, yes, behavior can change as a result to aging in some dogs as they grow older.

So get him to the vet, have him checked out and ask the vet for advice based on your observations too. Good luck!

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May 03, 2012
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it is YOU who should protect the dog!
by: Anonymous

In case you are not familiar with how the dog's mind works, it is you who is the leader and as such should protect the dog! Next time step in front of your Shepherd and chase the pits off. You dog will asppreciate it.

By making him responsible you are putting a pressure on him that is most likely too much for him to cope with. And he is losing his confidence in you as a leader.

Two days ago a large off leash bullmastiff came running towards me and my hubby. I had my GSD with me, my hubby had his whippet mix. Our dogs were leashed, the bullmastiff was off leash and the owner started running away when he smelt trouble!

Had we not stepped in front of our dogs and persuaded the dog that in order to get to our dogs he'd have to get through us first, there would have been carnage. None of our dogs could survive such an attack.

This is why you have to PREVENT the attack from happening. Doing otherwise messes up your dog's head and can cost him his life.

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