First off. How do you spot the difference of a dog's will to either play or just try to kill you . Every once and awhile over the past year i walk past a house that normally has their german shepard outside and every occasion it barks at me. But i notice it gallops in a way towards the fence instead of flat out running. Does that mean it would rather want to play or rip my throat out.

Now today for some reason as im walking back home on that same side of the street as the house (I never walk on the same side of their house for obvious reasons) it didnt bark at me. It literally saw me. Walked towards me and paced alongside of me along the fence without making a peep. Did it finally just get used to me? Get friendly if it was otherwise hostile at first? Or sick?

When it doesn't bark, i find it adorable which concerned me today and would love to be able to finally walk past in peace and maybe even in the future play with it.

No, seriously - unless you've known the animal for a long time (and it knows you) it'll be hard for you to guess their temperament. Heck, we've got a rottweiler and no one can still predict how it'll react. Most of the time he'll be fine, but occationally he goes all bonkers and bites us all. I stopped loving dogs after him.

As for your situation - stay away!

How do you spot a dog's intent? Well there's no answer that applies to all dogs because there's no such thing as a generic dog, they're complex individuals influenced over the course of their life by other complex beings, primarily their owners. A valid generalisation, however, is that dogs are not mindless killing machines. They can be trained (read: tortured) to be, but they aren't born that way, none of them regardless of their race.

Assumptions as to what prompted the change in behaviour are pointless, could have been something you did, could have been something not related to you at all.

For starters, you could just talk to it and gauge the reaction. Some need authority (and a strong vocal apparatus, which can be a problem for girls), some react better to kindness. However, if you really want to know something about that particular dog, you're gonna have to ring the bell and get acquainted "nose to nose", with the dog and the owners.

Oh and I hope I don't have to tell you not to put your hand through the fence

It's difficult to judge how a dog will react, especially if they are on their own turf or on a lead or tied up outside a shop or whatever they tend to get pretty territorial in those situations.

Just leave the thing alone. It might be being friendly but it might not, and you don't want to find out by seeing whether it will give you your arm back.

Speak to the dog every time you go past it. Say hallo, etc...
Don't do anything more than that though until you've had a chance to speak to the owners and if they tell you the dog is friendly, then they can introduce you to the dog properly.

Some dogs can look aggressive, even when they are friendly. (my brother's German Shepherd is a good example of that, all he wants to do is play, but he just looks aggressive because he gets soo wound up)
And other's can look friendly right up to the point when they attack. (a Border Collie I meet when out walking looks really friendly, tail walking, etc... till he gets within 2 feet of another dog, then he goes for them, he's friendly with people though)
So it's always best to play it safe until you know for sure what temperament any particular dog has.

bottom line is, the dog don't know whether you are there to play with it or kill it either, most of the time accidents happens when the human do something the dog don't understand, and it attacks out of self protective instinct.

so playing with a dog you don't know is really not the best idea, especially when it is a german shepard.

Quote from need :

Speak to the dog every time you go past it. Say hallo, etc...
Don't do anything more than that though until you've had a chance to speak to the owners and if they tell you the dog is friendly, then they can introduce you to the dog properly.

Even then, don't go poking your hands where they're not wanted.

I used to know a kid whose parents ran a pub, and they had a german shepherd. We were out the back playing football one day, dog was there hanging out with us just fine, then the ball went over the wall and one of my mates hopped over to get it. When he came back over the wall the dog went for him, wouldn't let go of his arm. It stopped short of actually trying to hurt him and it let him go when called forcefully enough but he went home with some bloody tooth marks on his forearm regardless.

If its running to a fence line that you are on the other side of, its not being friendly. Its defending its territory. Some dappy dogs will, on reaching the fence, turn into 'food for me?' mode, which can appear as being friendly, but its not really, they just want food.

The behaviour described by the OP is classic terrirtory defending and is aggressive behaviour. The 'half run' is not indicative of anything other than the dog knows it can scare away people without running flat out. The fact that when you came back, and it didnt bark, doesnt tell you alot. The dog might not be so anxious or might be more comfortable that you are not going to 'invade' its territory, so isnt barking. If you climbed over the fence or stuck a hand through it, it might be a different matter.

In general a dog which crouches right down on its front, front legs straight out, leaving its back end up in the air, is in 'play' mode. I would only make this assumption if you are in possession of a ball, with a dog that you know and have played with before though!

Advice above on talking to it to see how it reacts is not good. Dogs dont understand talking, and have no comprehension of its intention. They understand body language and physical movements, perhaps tone of voice at a push. Commands are different and are trained, and are a dogs reaction to implied rewards or punishment.

Best advice is dont approach strange dogs unless their owner is with them, and even then, dont approach the dog, approach the owner first!

Quote from dynofiend :

If its running to a fence line that you are on the other side of, its not being friendly. Its defending its territory.

lolwut

my friends dog runs up to the door every time i walk towards it. does that mean he wants to eat me?

my dog also runs up to the gate when im out front. does my own dog want to eat me?

As others have said, dogs are not easy to predict unless you know them. All dogs will bite if provoked, some need not provication. The running at the fence barking is standard defence of teritory. Barking is a hard thing to determine meaning though.

Our largest dog is a NZ Huntaway (30Kg), a sheep dog breed based off a german shepard base mixed with other breeeds including ridgeback and rottie. It has a loud bark, loves to bark and once started will bark just for the sake of it. She will bark when happy, playfull or defence and it all sounds the same.

Our other dog is a gun dog, pointer based, and they are very quiet dogs. She will only bark in defence.

I think the key thing to look for is the eyes, followed by the back. If a dog has its hackles up you are in trouble. Also there is a very distinct look between agression and playful but can be hard to determine in some dogs.

Dogs also respond to how you present yourself around them, this helps determine how they are placed against you.

That said when down the river near us a few years back a set of pig dogs (pig hunting dogs) set on one of our dogs. The owners wife took them for a walk and had no control over them. 3 clamped onto one of my dogs back the last one circled us. No warning before the attack.

I should never have put myself at risk but fight/flight kicked in because my dogs life was at risk and the red mist dropped. I picked one up and chucked it away, kicked another in the head then was ready to start smashing skulls with a rock I found before they backed down.

I was real lucky and would never advise trying the same, it could have gone real bad.

Guess the moral is, wait to be introduced first

Ok thanks for the insight people.

A friendly dog: http://www.masternewmedia.org/ ... og_id184190_size450o2.jpg

An angry dog: http://www.ilovedogs.com/media/angry_dog.jpg

Isnt this quite obvious? I think u can see that just by looking at him/her (lol). They have facial expressions, just like homo-sapiens, dont they?

Quote from hazaky :

Isnt this quite obvious? I think u can see that just by looking at him/her

:nol2:

Whilst its obvious in your examples, thats hardly the case some of the time. There are certain breeds that are quite unpredicable. They do have facial expressions and you can sort of tell what mood they're in. But then again a tail-wagging German shepherd with a smiley-face could turn nasty in seconds; without you having a clue as to why.

Myea, but then u could always poke them to see whats up.

Edit: But not trough facebook since thats annoying like hell and will make them charge.

make sure u get ur rabies shots 1st
http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1944027

Quote from hazaky :

They have facial expressions, just like homo-sapiens, dont they?

No.

Quote from Klutch :

lolwut

my friends dog runs up to the door every time i walk towards it. does that mean he wants to eat me?

my dog also runs up to the gate when im out front. does my own dog want to eat me?

You are probably accepted members of those dogs 'packs', so once youve been identified, you dont pose a threat and you dont get barked at. Mind you, some dogs are just so passive that will never be aggressive unless severely provoked. Dont know about yours and your friends dogs, but they sound great

from some experiences as a postie, the tail can be a big give away.

an erect pointing tail to me says danger.

a drooping wagging tail says friendly.

usually, fast wagging also means friendly.

but at the end of the day, i think common sense should prevail...if at all in doubt, treat it as hostile.

then shoot the ****er.

Quote from Silverracer :

But then again a tail-wagging German shepherd with a smiley-face could turn nasty in seconds; without you having a clue as to why.

thats bs unless the owner is a nutter who has completely messed up his dog... most dogs are quite good mirrors of their owners and with the vast majority of well treated well educated dogs its easy to tell what theyre up to if you have any previous experience with dogs

Quote from dynofiend :

and you dont get barked at.

But i do get barked at occasionaly. I just put it down to excited to see me.

I've owned German shepherds for years, the one in the picture is my latest one her name is Cher.

My advice would be if the dog gets out of the garden and start running towards you stand your ground,
chances are the dog will stop and just start barking at you. If you run the dog will chase you down and that will increase
the chances of you being bitten.
German shepherds like nothing better than to chase something.