Can GSP's be mean?

Ranger Rick

Ranger Rick

Member
A question that arises from a local tragedy. This past week a family was heading for an annual pheasant hunt in SD. The elder son, age 22, climbed into the tow-behind travel trailer to sleep after having put in an 16 hour shift. While driving, his Dad saw smoked coming out of the trailer and pulled over. Smoke and flames kept them from getting into the trailer and the son died.

Dad had acquired 3 GSP pups from the same litter earlier this year. One for himself, one for his brother and one for the son who died. Saturday, at their home, with a lot of family coming through, a young child was playing with a ball in the yard when the three puppies attacked the child. If not for the quick response from an adult who witnessed the attack, the child would certainly have been killed.

I've had setters all my life and the only mean one I ever met was a rescue dog. I've hunted with a couple GSP's and always emjoyed the experience. I've also never had the impression they could be mean, especially to the level seen in this tragic attack. Any thoughts from you guys who own the breed?
 
Sad story for the family and prayers to them. I have had one GSP rescue that went off the reservation and would fight anything or anybody. Eventually we put him down. With the puppy experience as described; the pac mentality took over and they pounced. Hope things turn OK for the child and the pups as well.
 
The question can GSP's be mean? we'll that can depend on many factors, but no more so than many other breeds. I do know that how they are raised and socialized in combination with their breeding plays a big part in how they turn out as adults. I have had 2 males (one currently) and neither would hurt anyone nor have they ever shown any aggressive behavior towards children or adults ever. But I made sure when I was looking that I selected from the breeding that met my criteria. I'm sure it's not only possible but likely that breeding dominant aggressive animals with poor temperaments can certainly produce offspring with those tendencies. Without knowing the specifics in this case it would be speculating at best.

Curious, how young or old of pups are we talking about?
 
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This is one of the reasons I have stayed away from GSP's. Our neighbor growing up had a few and they were all mean. Ive heard too many stories about GSP's pulling these types of things to ever want one in my house. Now, most of them will be just fine, but it only takes one. BTW.. On another hunting forum from back home, A guy is having a problem with his older GSP attacking other dogs. Sounds like he's going to put it down. Too much personal experience and too many stories for me to own one.
 
GSP's being mean

Hi all, I noticed the thread about GSP's being mean and I can't help but respond. I have been dog training virtually my whole life mostly for people that have issues with their dogs. Many of those are aggression issues. I've also trained attack dogs so I do have a lot of experience with aggressiveness in all breeds. The one thing that always surfices is how the dog was brought up, socialized and how the owners respond to the first sign of aggressiveness from the time the dog was a young puppy.
One rule I've always believed in is that a dog that has a strong assertive pack leader (us the owners) will never show aggressiveness toward another dog or person. Without that strong assertive pack leader a dog often feels that he has to step up to control all situations and that he must defend his pack.
I've had Rottweilers, Dobermans, Pits, Bouviers, and many other breeds that are considered aggressive and have never had a single issue of aggressiveness from them. I now raise GSP's and couldn't even imagine them being aggressive.
Just my two cents.
 
I was surprised by the title myself. First thought, "Wow, someone has a mean GSP?" I've personally never seen one, but if I did, I would never blame it on the breed. I currently own a pit. Sorry, I just don't buy into the generalization that any breed of dog is mean by nature....except maybe some of the yappy ankle-biting dogs. I've seen them raised in the right conditions, with a "pack-leader" in the house and still bite every person that walked through the door...fish bait:D

Anyway, large young dogs and little kids don't mix w/o supervision. A giggling child, turns crying child sounds like a toy the entire time. Add in a couple of other young dogs to really get things goin' and ya got serious trouble:(
 
4binks said:
Hi all, I noticed the thread about GSP's being mean and I can't help but respond. I have been dog training virtually my whole life mostly for people that have issues with their dogs. Many of those are aggression issues. I've also trained attack dogs so I do have a lot of experience with aggressiveness in all breeds. The one thing that always surfices is how the dog was brought up, socialized and how the owners respond to the first sign of aggressiveness from the time the dog was a young puppy.
One rule I've always believed in is that a dog that has a strong assertive pack leader (us the owners) will never show aggressiveness toward another dog or person. Without that strong assertive pack leader a dog often feels that he has to step up to control all situations and that he must defend his pack.
I've had Rottweilers, Dobermans, Pits, Bouviers, and many other breeds that are considered aggressive and have never had a single issue of aggressiveness from them. I now raise GSP's and couldn't even imagine them being aggressive.
Just my two cents.
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First let me say that this is a very unfortunate situation and I hope the child is okay and recovers. This is sad.

4Binks is right on the mark. I also own & train GSP's, how pups are raised and socialized is a key issue with any dog. Dogs are no different than children, they need to be socialized at an early age where authority is established and instilled in them at an early age. Pack mentality exist in every breed! It can turn into a frenzy and that appears to be the case. In all most all incidents like this, the owner’s absence or establishment of being the alpha causes the aggressiveness. And that happens with any breed!

If the owner was present this incident should not have happened. If the owner was present during this attack then the owner is not the pack Alpha.

Thanks 4Binks for sharing your experience, seems to me that we have a few here that need to read your post.
 
Thank you

Linda, I just wanted to say thank you. It's not easy responding to these posts because I'm always concerned my words will insult someone or someone may feel attacked. This is definitely not my intent, I'm just trying to help.
Thank you again for supporting my beliefs.:)
Ron
 
I've had two and they've been extremly friendly and every other one I've ever been around have been also. I also believe that with all breeds its all how well a person socializes the pup.
 
4binks said:
Hi all, I noticed the thread about GSP's being mean and I can't help but respond. I have been dog training virtually my whole life mostly for people that have issues with their dogs. Many of those are aggression issues. I've also trained attack dogs so I do have a lot of experience with aggressiveness in all breeds. The one thing that always surfices is how the dog was brought up, socialized and how the owners respond to the first sign of aggressiveness from the time the dog was a young puppy.
One rule I've always believed in is that a dog that has a strong assertive pack leader (us the owners) will never show aggressiveness toward another dog or person. Without that strong assertive pack leader a dog often feels that he has to step up to control all situations and that he must defend his pack.
I've had Rottweilers, Dobermans, Pits, Bouviers, and many other breeds that are considered aggressive and have never had a single issue of aggressiveness from them. I now raise GSP's and couldn't even imagine them being aggressive.
Just my two cents.
Click to expand...

Nice post.

All dogs can be mean.
 
It's all in the dog not the breed. Now I do believe that some of that can come from genetics and be handed down to other generations. Agressive or fearfull dogs should not be bred.
 
Large or powerful dogs with a strong prey drive that don't understand what a child is (I would guess the puppies didn't have small children in their homes) can certainly be trouble if the alpha isn't around.

I wouldn't think you could generalize about the breed and aggressiveness, but if a dog is bred to hunt, the instincts can be strong in situations that are unfamiliar. Like everyone has said socialization is key, so that they have been exposed to many situations and understand how to act.
 
I'm on my second gsp and don't any problems with it being aggressive.The only time I've had problems is when one lady that used to come around took a swing at my first gsp with her purse to hit it because she don't like animals. The dog reacted by snapping at her. It did get because she was out of reach.I keep an eye on my second one when my brother is around because he don't like big dogs which is wierd because he used to have big dogs for more than 30 years.She never done anything to him she just keeps her distance from him and I stay with her as long as he is around.
 
How old were the "pups"? Generally GSP are not "mean'' in the human sense. Heed the comments re socialization as they are absolutely on point. Puppies must be from cooperative, well breed stock and benefit from exposure to other dogs and humans from the point their eyes open.
Popular breeds always tend to end up getting bred in the backyard because "both parents are good hunters". That could be true or not, but is not a good prediction on how the pups will relate to humans or other dogs, even if they are champs in the field.

Good to see the positve comments on socialization.
 
The male we had when I was in jr high/high school was as friendly as could be if my family was around. If a strange vehicle showed up that wasn't my parents, sisters, myself or grandpa, he went into full on mean dog. Growling, snarling, barking, hair bristled up. He never once snapped at anybody, but he damn sure made it known they were on the property. As soon as we acknowledged the visitor, he was like a long lost friend. Extremely protective.

My brother in laws male is friendly as can be, lets my niece and nephew climb all over him, just as even a temperament as you could ask for, that is unless my old GSP (that died last winter) came around him. He'd bristle up, they'd tangle for a little bit and figure out who was boss for the day, then they'd be fine for the rest of the hunt. Never had a hunt with the two of them that he didn't start a fight though.

Current female I've got is snoring on the floor beside me. She is a bit over 2 years old and I've never even heard her bark. My 11 month old thinks she is a jungle gym and she just lays there and takes it.
 
Thanks for all the comments guys. I know the people involved, but we are not close friends. From what I know of the guy, I would guess his pups weren't well socialized. I think they're just under a year old and wonder what he's done with them for training, etc.. In fact, I don't know if I would want to hunt with them, thinking ahead of time that his dogs wouldn't be well trained. Just my impression of the guy. After my first post someone told me that these same pups killed a raccoon a week before. No socialization, little training, a pack running the farm with little supervision. Not an ideal situation.

A follow-up question... knowing what you know based on the information provided, what would you do with these dogs?
 
If that is truly their background then I'm not surprised at their aggressive nature. Without ever having seen these dogs firsthand it's hard to say if this could ever be fixed. Once you've lost that socialization process at a young age it's very hard to get that back. One thing is for sure I would not let them near children or strangers unsupervised.
 
more information

I talked to someone close to the family that owns these dogs. They are now 9 months old. As I suspected, they received little or no training. The owner had done a lot of landscaping and remodeled the deck on the back of the house.

When the puppies came home, he installed an underground electric border fence. The dogs then had free reign of the back yard. They tore up all of the landscaping, the yard and have chewed the hell out of the deck. All trees in the yard are dying after the dogs have chewed off the bark as high as they can reach. The person I talked to says the damage they've done is ubelievable, the deck is ruined and he figures $25,000 in damage.

I guess now hearing more, I'm not surprised with what happened. Some people should not be allowed to own pets.
 
This is looking more and more like a clear case of lack of attention and commitment to these dogs during an important time in their lives (the molding and shaping period). Shorthairs as with many gundogs are generally high energy dogs and left unattended or ignored can and will channel all that energy into something destructive. With discipline, training and above all else regular exercise he quite possibly could have avoided all these problems early on.

Just goes to show you if you haven't the time to commit to a young dog and a hunting breed at that, then your better off not having one until you do.
 
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