Why did my dog attack?
First, thanks for reviewing my question.
-Note my female dog is not pregnant and is not in her menstruation period cycle I believe.
One 3yr old female GSD 80lb +-10lb. She has everything taken care of medically. Has been socially acceptable towards people. Also towards dogs both male and female. Large and small. Never once have witnessed hostile body language or audible cue's towards another dog.
Some relevant information regarding the incident. The children taunt her on a regular basis only to get her to respond to either growling or barking once. Then leave her alone. I believe they want to see how much they can get away with before she reacts. This behavior is not observed when myself or any other adult walks by her bowl. I assume because we have no interest in bothering her when she is eating, but when we do approach her bowl she seemingly knows not to express that behavior towards us. That could be the "pecking" order of her perception of how the house is. Adults, female dog and then the children. She has never bit anyone. Aside from playful bites toward the children only. She has be introduced to the neighbor's dogs. 2 male dogs both younger than her. It went smoothly. She knows to stay within our yard even though there is no physical barrier. Boy, did that take a lot of positive training with her to establish an imaginary line that she knows not to cross.
Incident 10/29/20 08:45 The female dog was eating her morning breakfast. Kibble and one egg. The children were actively challenging her for her breakfast. Aggressive behavior, body language, and an audible bark was observed. Wife was outside getting into the car leaving the door open but the screen door closed. The windows were open and the neighbor's male dog was heard outside in our yard. The male dog got loose from their backyard. When she heard this it was "DEFCON 1" for her. Ears up and that GSD stance. The children opened the screen door unknown to them that the male dog was outside. She regularly escorts my wife and children to and from the car whenever they leave or come back. This is all second hand information by the way. I was on the opposite side of the house in another room listening to Tears for Fears - Everybody wants to rule the world. Only did I witness what I'd always fantasied what she would do to a wild rabbit if she ever caught one when we go on our daily walks in the desert together. It was over in 5 sec. She came back submissive and looked like she knew she F@#$%* up.
Could this incident be the result of all the wrong factors happening at the worst moment? Is she over protective? Early signs of rabid? Wild instincts. Feedback would be appreciated. Thanks!
She reacted perfectly, she did a German Shepard's job. A German Shepard protects their pack, in human words who they live with, family. No human was there so she protected your kids. You were not there and your wife was not there. Think of someone trying to hurt your family that with a dog though.