GSD Jealous of disabled wife. Cries, snaps, pushes... Training

Max learned nothing in his first year of life. We took him in and he’s learning how to behave and have people love him. He doesn’t bite! But, snaps in the air, pushes between us and cries when I am trying to help my disabled wife walk. Fixing that behavior is my next challenge. He learns quickly. I just don’t want him to equate my wife to someone he can bully.
My Police K9 trainer has, and will be gone for quite a few weeks. I don’t have a clue on how to handle this. It’s a touchy situation. Any suggestions?
Don

Without seeing it’s hard to determine if he’s being jealous / or excited.
Air snapping is quite common with the Gsd .it is thought to be just over the top excitement.
All my Gsds have got excited if I was messing around with OH and try to push in-between us,when they start that behaviour ,I would firmly say ‘no’ pack it in' and put them in a ‘down stay’ or I would just put them in another room.

I like to teach impulse control by putting them in a down-stay, throw their not so favorite toy and make them wait to be released to fetch it,favorite toy gets used as their control increases.
The Karen Overall Relaxation protocol is another way of teaching, https://journeydogtraining.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/ProtocolforRelaxation.pdf
On the surface it looks like a tedious obedience exercise, but you are rewarding the dog for relaxation NOT for sit/down stays. Do not release the dog between exercises you simply praise softly, give the treat.
Here is a video of a dog doing the Day 1 Protocol:

Thanks. Max needs that! Settle down. I’m still working on “settle”. He’s great with “stay”, but won’t settle. I can tell him to get in his cage. That settles him down. Otherwise I think at least some inherited herding thing may be going on.
I’m sure (hope) his trainer will figure out what’s going on. If I was my wife, I think I’d be a little scared at how close his air bites are. Plus he’s strong. That overgrown puppy could accidentally knock both of us down and have a hiyo time doing it.
Oh well, give us another six months of training and growing up, I’m sure he’ll be fine. (I keep telling myself that)

Changing the subject, but max has us baffled. His trainer is out of town.
I think I’ve mentioned this before, somewhere on the site....
wife is in bed 23.5 hrs a day. She’s always been a dog person and doesn’t scare easy. When she gets up at night to use the washroom, Max acts the fool. She has to walk past his bed. She gets within about three feet and he charges her with a real high barking sound, and, of course he’s snapping in the air. Then he’s all tail wagging and rubbing around her like a cat. Now, if he knocks her down, getting up is a real treat too.
Meanwhile my wife is thinking “Oh boy , here comes the BIG bite!” Even though she’s pretty sure he’s not going to bite, It’s got to be unnerving at the least.
For some reason max thinks it’s something he’s just supposed to do. I think we somehow trained him to feel it’s expected of him. You know a Gsd can mess with our brains without us knowing it. Anyway, he’s not dangerous, but this attack-and-pet business is got to stop! I’m afraid if I handle this wrong I could make being around her a bad experience for max. Then there would be trouble for us all.
Any suggestions please?
Thank you,
Don

To be perfectly honest, if your wife is worried, then it would probably be best if you put Max in another room at night. A dog gate or the door closed would ensure that Max couldn't get to her when she needs the loo during the night. I'd also be tempted to put him in another room whenever your wife needs to get up.

Your wife needs to feel safe otherwise she will try to avoid getting up at all and that could lead to all kinds of medical problems if she tries to hold on too long

You just may be right about keeping Max away at night. When we got him, he was perfectly happy to sleep in his cage. We let him sleep in our room. Maybe I’ll be able to get that started again. (Maybe)
I’d much rather break him of this dumb habit. The first year of his life kind of turned him into a juvenile delinquent. He’s around two now.
P.S. I see you are in the UK. My wife was born there. U.S. citizen now. Her mother was a war bride, WWII

This behaviour is unacceptable and not fair on your wife, I would crate him at night it won't do him any harm.

I know you are right. I tried last night, but after a while my wife wouldn’t have it. I wish his trainer would hurry up and get back in town. My wife keeps telling me not to worry about it. She’s always had and loved dogs. Even had a bad bite with emergency room and a bunch of stitches from a lost dog we tried to help.
I don’t like this whole thing one little bit. But thanks, you are right.

I understand you love your dog, but loving them isn’t enough, your wife isn’t doing him any favours by allowing him to get away with unwanted behaviours, they can be a challenging breed that needs boundaries / structure, and firm leadership. Bad behaviors need to be corrected as soon as the come out, or one can end up with an, out of control dog.

Hence why many end up in rescue.

What all happened to him or where he really came from will always be a mystery. But when we got him he was a mess. He had no rules to fall back on, so he just acted crazy. God knows his trainer and I been working with him a lot. He is so much different now. He’s civilized, acts almost like he’s supposed to. He just hasn’t quite lost some of his horrible self-taught behavior. He must be almost two years old, so still a big puppy. Getting better all the time. Have to fix this soon though I know.
Thanks

Max’s trainer just texted me from wherever “out of town” is.
He told me the same thing you did. I just didn’t know what the proper reaction should be. He said somehow somebody may have made a mistake with treats and he thinks he’s doing what he’s supposed to then asking for confirmation by being so loving.
He told me if it’s not a startled response, I should immediately take him by the collar and pull him out of his happy place in our bedroom. I asked if I should cage him in his safe cage and for how long. I haven’t heard back, but I plan on caging him the next time.
I just didn’t want something coming between max and my wife (like teeth). But this seems like the answer. Wish me luck.
Thank you. don

Gghjnngfgh

Hence why Max was in a rescue for being out of control. All the stories we were given, like this dog cost $10,000 in Europe...I’m a little sceptical.. somebody let him get out of control! He may be a rescued puppy mill dog for all I know. He’s getting retrained and he seems more civilized, cooperative and loving now. It’s a slow process but worth it. Thanks, don
P.S. I may be speaking too soon, but max snapping at my wife seems over. Long story, but we feel this is behind us. Max learns quickly I’m happy to say.

Hi—
Max is slowly coming around. One of his big problems is still in the car. When I get out, it’s separation anxiety all over the place. He barks, crashes around the car, opens the trunk unlocks doors, knocks the rear view mirror, the electric mirrors, opens glove boxes, etc. He doesn’t chew things, so far.
Any suggestions to break this behaviour? I like having him with me. I don’t want to leave him at home. Strangely, he never has sep. anxiety when left alone to roam the house.
Thanks

A miracle seems to have happened! My trainer has been having a true life and death emergency. That’s why communication has not been so good. He contacted me after the finger biting.
Trainer: “Have you been following the instruction sheet I gave you?”
Me: “What instruction sheet?”
I’m an idiot! He gave it to me and being absent minded, I didn’t even remember he gave it to me.
Anyway—-it has all his commands, reasons, what to do, etc. ONE DAY following his written instructions, and Max is a new gsd. He follows instructions the way his trainer taught him. I wasn’t following the rules. I needed training as much as Max!!!!!!!!!!!
If I’d even read the paper....
It’s the second or third day of following the written instructions. Max is calm, is on the schedule his trainer put him on. He’s under control, he’s doing what he was taught. Completely calm!
I can’t believe I’m getting so stupid!
All seems well now! It’s not carved in stone, but I think we’re okay. If I’d only read what I was supposed to be doing....well, all the confusion, frustration, pain, and almost death row for Max, was caused by my forgetting and losing the instructions. The policeman trainer is still involved in his emergency. He had it all on paper. He expected me to be smarter than I turned out to be. I guess being ancient, my memory slips. I’m really hoping senility isn’t setting in already!
Thank you all for seeing me through this! If I could send this to all who encouraged me, I would. I don’t know how to send posts to multiple people. I feel a great weight starting to lift. I almost euthanized a completely confused, good, smart GSD because of a memory lapse. Live and learn, I guess.

Training is as much for the person as the dog. It’s about learning how to communicate with each other

P.S. His trainer had him for a month. He learned well and is smart enough to remember well! Thank God!!!

I hope you manage to sort things out for max, from what I can gather he doesn’t appear to be a nasty boy, just needs someone who can give him the time and commitment that he needs.

Yes, I’m trying as hard as I can. Thanks

I can’t help thinking....How many animal rescue, shelters, etc. could Bloomberg have financed with the half BILLION dollars he’s spent of his own money?