Protective?

[LEM]

Keanu, my now 3 year old GSD, has been doing well socially, and i'm proud of him for it. However, just recently, he's been doing something....and i'm not sure if its protective or aggression that needs working on. I'm hoping its a protective thing. Anyhow, just today, as an example, my 27 year old brother was rough housing with my 15 year old brother, in the garage/second den, and Keanu was in there. He might have been trying to stop them, but he jumped up behind my 15 year old brother and nipped him in the back. I'm just not sure what to make if it or how to get him to stop doing it, just short of asking them not to rough house with him in the room. Any ideas?

[Red Chrome]

You should be in the room with them, that way you can see whst he is doing exactly.

That said, some dogs don't like aggressive play. And will try and sstop it. However,you need to let him know that is not his place to step in and "discipline" the offenders.

Easiest thing to do.is not allow rough play when he is in the same room.

[LEM]

Thats exactly what I tell my two brothers. Dont rough house infront of him. He also has this thing where if the kids (my 15 year old brother & and my friend's 9 year old son) are running in the house (no they arent supposed to), Keanu will not only chase them, but tackle them.

[crazedACD]

Yelling, rough housing, abnormal running and chasing between humans gets my dogs nervous and Romeo and Zoie both might nip. Zoie does it more in a playful, stressed way but Romeo does not like it and tries to control the situation. Could be a herding breed thing.

Anyways, I don't allow this around the dogs.

[release the hounds]

without seeing it's hard to tell, he could also just be trying to join in on the action and have some fun. Either way, teeth on skin isn't really a good thing. It hurts

[Maxy24]

You'd really need to see the body language of the dog to know. It could easily be the dog joining in to play or it could be him trying to stop it, or even a reactive overstimulated type behavior (similar to a prey drive type reaction...excitement but not really play).

I agree with everybody that rough housing is just something you can't do in front of many dogs. Either playing or protecting they can misinterpret too easily. Sophie just watches the kids wrestle around...but if someone tries to pull me in on the fun...well at least I know she would defend me if need be...better to fool around in another room.

[Greenmagick]

IMO, stopping rough housing in front of dogs is just management. The underlying issue is still there and needs to be worked on. I don't think it is safe to have a dog that will "tackle" or "nip" when children are being, well children. Its too easy for them to forget and someone to get seriously hurt.

[Red Chrome]

I agree with you GreenMajik. But it will stop the issue until they can have a trainer evaluate tthe dog. My dogs know that rough play is allowed here and it is not their job to stop it. Sounds like that tthe dog in the OP needs to knownit isn't his job to be the warden.

[Greenmagick]

Oh definitely MANAGE at first but then some serious work needs to go into the dog to get them to understand their "help" is neither needed nor wanted. Ivy went through a phase of this, trying to "help" when my daughter had a tantrum. A BT I fostered for a bit was VERY bad at it, caused a pretty serious injury in the family who had him before me. Its definitely not something to ignore.