I am having a strange behavior problem with my GSP, his name is Zeke, all the sudden he seems to be reacting negatively  to young boys, its only a select few but he growls when greeted and acts almost scared, right now he is laying down at my feet since some of the boys are playing x box with my son and he never lays down this time of day, he seems threatened. He hasn't snapped yet but I am worried about it, he is primarily always happy and loves all dogs so I'm baffled?? I did catch the neighbor boy teasing him at the door once so I'm wondering if that could have anything to do with it? maybe he was being teased alot and we didn't realize it !?! any help would be appreciated, thankyou.

Im not good in this area either, but my boy went through the same thing. The neighbor kids were teasing him through the back fence and now when ever he heres a noise back there he charges the fence. I slowly got him used to teenagers again by letting him aproach them and take his time going at his pace. He is still a bit leary though. Good luck with him.

If you want a step-by-step method to fix this problem, this booklet will walk you through how to counter condition against fear-related behaviors:

www.amazon.com/Cautious-Canine-Patricia-B-McConnell/dp/1891767003/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3/002-4388503-7020001

  thanx for the help everyone, today I had the kids in question give Zeke a treat then leave him alone, he seems to be warming up to the larger of the two boys but is very scared of the younger one, his hair is up on his back and he growls quietly, it leads me to believe he would react if cornered by this individual. Scary!! He has always loved kids and all other people and dogs so this is a shock to us. Will keep you posted. thanks again.

Does Zeke love to play  tennis balls retrieve games? If he does you could have the boys do a ball toss fun session with Zeke and then he would associate the boys with fun time ball time be focused on the tennis ball around the boys .  GSP's love to be out fielders to catch a tennis ball that the boys could pitch and bat also.  That is how I started Rocky around Kids. Rocky loves t play ball and so do the kids. When Rocky sees a kid he thinks "Its Ball Time and fun"  I am so lucky with Rocky. He loves kids and he loves puppies.   But  not so lucky with the mail man, FED Ex UPS. He is terribly growly. So when he becomes barky and aggressive , I make Rocky get back and sit on a rug until he is calm in our house. Then I give him a treat after he is completely calm. Right now I am planning walks when the mail Lady is on our street and I walk Rocky beside her and when his face wrinkles I place my hand infront of his face and goe sheee and his wrinkle go away and we keep on going. Good luck.