9 month old puppy behavior problems

Question

I have a 9 month old German Shepherd Dog (GSD)/Belgian Malinois and he is the second GSD puppy I've had in the past three years, so I am a little bit experienced in some areas, but I need some help with dog-dog behavior.

I socialized him with other people and dogs and he is super friendly, too friendly. At the dog park, he spends over 95% of the time licking and trying to sniff other dogs genitals which has been leading to attempts to mount. (I know this is considered normal dog behavior, but this appears to be borderline obsessive). He usually singles out a smaller dog and then just chases them around with the above behavior. The dogs sometimes snap back, but he keeps at it.

Several owners have taken their dogs and left as they end up snarling and growling and he continues to try and lick/sniff their genitals. I'm having his neutered in several weeks, but he has displayed this behavior since he was 12-weeks old. I don't know if this is a dominance issue or etiquette as he was taken away from his litter at 6.5 weeks. I keep hoping a dog will react in a way to discourage him, but it is getting worse.

I just want to reiterate that this isn't an occasional thing, he will zero in on a dog and his face wont leave their genitals until we leave, even after pulling him away and trying to reward good behavior. He will even continue as the dogs try to go to the bathroom.

Please help. My previous dog was very submissive and this sort of issue never came up.

Answer 1

Sounds pretty normal to me. Possibly a tad bit too "obsessive", but certainly nothing new.

I'd definitely wait with neutering. The dog is still not fully grown up and getting it fixed now might keep him as active/playful/sniffing forever.

I know several dog owners who were sold on the "neutering fixes everything" approach and they're left with partially hyperactive dogs still acting like puppies despite their age.

Just give it some time, possibly try to use a long set line so you're still in control (for the time being). Your dog is just growing up and trying to find it's place (plus trying to determine how far it may go). One of our Huskies was similar, minus the excessive mounting, and it pretty much disappeared completely over the following year.

Answer 2

This could be a problem that could be partially due to not being neutered but it sounds more like an etiquette issue. The dogs growling and snarling are performing checks on him and letting him know that they do not approve of what he is doing. Eventually he will come to understand that other dogs do not like it when he oversteps their boundaries. This seems like it mostly has to do with his young age. I would keep socializing him so that he is able to understand what is okay and what is not okay. If you keep him separated, he will never learn that other dogs do not like what he is doing. In the meantime, I would keep trying to reprimand him. Pull him away and tell him no in a firm voice. If he understands what no means, he will learn that you don't like what he is doing either.