Problem with my Dog

My 2 1/2 year old female White German Shepherd attacked my female Cocker Spaniel last night. She was given to me a year ago by some people that bought her from a breeder as a gift. She ended up unwanted, so I took her.

This is the second time it has happened. She collects things like wood and other objects and guards them. She had a log laying on the lawn that she had found. My Cocker Spaniel was laying on the grass near the log. Without warning, she growled ferociously and pinned her with her teeth! I sprayed her with water to get her off Scarlett.

The other time she attacked her, it was over a pillow that she had stolen from inside the house and put on the lawn. I got the pillow and was taking it back in the house. Scarlett was sitting on the patio. When I walked past Scarlett with the pillow, Sabra (the WGS) turned and attacked Scarlett. She didn't want the pillow near Scarlett.

She also growled and pinned a little female Chiweenie about a week ago. The Chiweenie is displaced by the tornado and staying with me right now.

Sabra loves my male Cocker Spaniel. She also gets along great with the 2 male Chiweenies staying with me.

I think she has an issue with females. I had someone that works for a rescue tell me that it is common that female GS dogs do not like other female dogs. I was hoping there is someone knowledgable about dogs that could give me some advice? Have any of you ever had this happen? I don't know what to do. I don't want her to hurt other dogs.

Time to call the "Dog Whisperer".

Two witches going after each other. Its normal.

No really, thats what my sister's vet told her because her two female dogs go at it all of a sudden. They never actually sink teeths into each other, but growl and "box" and then they stop and pretend they love each other.

It seems though, this is a little one sided.

Have you tried telling her NO, WITH AUTHORITY? BUST OUT THE BELT? Show her who really is BOSS.

I went on the German Shepherd dog forum. Someone posted that their GS and pug were not getting along. The 2 dogs had some scuffles, but nothing that serious. They came home and found the Pug dead. The German Shepherd killed the smaller dog. People on that forum said that the warning signs were there that the fighting could escalate and she should have never left them alone together. I was standing outside when the attack happened. Now, I am worried it will escalate. Scarlett doesn't stand a chance against a 100 lb German Shepherd. I don't want to take that chance. I am now thinking I want to rehome the German Shepherd. She needs to be in a home with no female dogs.

BlueStar3398;5102710 said:

I went on the German Shepherd dog forum. Someone posted that their GS and pug were not getting along. The 2 dogs had some scuffles, but nothing that serious. They came home and found the Pug dead. The German Shepherd killed the smaller dog. People on that forum said that the warning signs were there that the fighting could escalate and she should have never left them alone together. I was standing outside when the attack happened. Now, I am worried it will escalate. Scarlett doesn't stand a chance against a 100 lb German Shepherd. I don't want to take that chance. I am now thinking I want to rehome the German Shepherd. She needs to be in a home with no female dogs.

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I had a female boxer that would get after a female spaniel mix. I'm not a dog expert, but all the things I found on the matter weren't very helpful. A lot of times the advice I received was to 'keep them away from each other' which doesn't really solve anything.

The other advice was basically to train them to have manners-- rewarding polite behavior and punishing/not rewarding even the slightest bit of impolite behavior (cutting in front of the other one for attention, etc.)

It sucks, but the proposed solution in the quoted post may be the best solution. It's what I had to do.

It looks like you are going to have to face a tough decision but one that needs to be made very soon.

Rowdy and ntegrase, I think you may be right.

When I got her a year ago, I had never had more than one dog. My other dog was a female German Shepherd. She was a wonderful dog, but she was my only one (she died in 2011). I thought that maybe they would "get used to each other". I was told the issues would resolve on their own.

Then, after reading on the German Shepherd forum that the members there were scolding the lady whose GS killed the Pug, I realized that the warning signs are there. These 2 are never going to like each other. I can never leave them alone. I can't be home all the time to make sure the GS doesn't kill my Cocker Spaniel.

BlueStar3398;5102710 said:

I am now thinking I want to rehome the German Shepherd. She needs to be in a home with no female dogs.

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Sadly, I think this is the best solution. You just can't trust a dog that has shown any aggressive tendencies like you describe.

Short story example:

I have always had a dog in my house. My younger brother who lives away, never had one but always wanted to.

So he finally gets a rescue dog, about 2 1/2 or so yrs old.

Shortly after that, he is excited for all of the family to meet his dog, so he brings the dog in, when he comes to visit my parents. The dog is cool, until I bring my dog up to my parents house. (I bring my dog to my parents house a lot since I live nearby.)

My dog comes bouncing in all happy to be at Grandma & Grandpa's, like he always does, ... Trooper loves everybody, and everybody loves Trooper.

Instantly, my brothers dog goes after Trooper. It was ugly. We tried a few times to give it another chance. Took them both outside in open space, away from family, etc.

Well that didn't change anything. His dog is bigger than my dog so this little experiment was over as far as I was concerned. My dog handled it well, .. he just bobbed and weaved as my brother's dog lunged at him and growled. Trooper would just avoid him and look at him like, .. "dude, chill." (that part was funny)

So now my brother is trying to think of ways for them to be friends. He wants to have them meet again at the local dog park. I am not really interested, .. it's not important. He only comes in to visit every 3 months or so, they do not have to be friends. I will leave Trooper at home, it's fine.

So, based on what I said at the top of this post, I don't want my dog around his, because I don't trust his dog. With a rescue dog, you never know what bad experiences they have had, .. with other dogs, with kids, etc.

This is pretty common with female GSD’s.
How do you react when it happens? Are you the unquestioned leader of the pack?

Show the GSD that this behavior is not acceptable in terms that she will understand. Basically the equivalent of what she does to the other dogs. The alpha roll should be used sparingly but this sounds like a situation that calls for it.

Show the GSD that the other dog is loved by you and is part of the pack but not in a way that seems like it excludes her. Give them both treats and much lovies at the same time. Belly rubs for everyone!!!

Try and create situations that you can easily control which will give you a chance to correct the behavior. One thing I did was when my female got a bit too carried away with the possessiveness I would take all her toys away myself making a show of it.

My female GSD is possessive of “her” toys and will let the other critters know about it. We have an old cat that doesn’t give a crap about what the GSD thinks and will walk right in the GSD’s crate and try to take a toy!

The GSD will growl and snap but the cat flips her off cat style and carries on. This has been going on for 7 years.

Your GSD is not really attacking the other dog. If she was the other dog would be dead.

She is trying to sort out the pack hierarchy.

She just needs some help with that.

Vtwin;5103007 said:

Your GSD is not really attacking the other dog. If she was the other dog would be dead.

She is trying to sort out the pack hierarchy.

She just needs some help with that.

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All you say is absolutely right, but can he take the chance that it won't escalate that one time, and go very bad?

Never give up on your dogs:

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From day 1 with every dog I've ever owned, including 4 Great Danes (3 of which are rescues, 2 of which had aggression issues), I always make sure they never get too attached to bones, sticks, toys or food. I can always walk up to them and take that toy, bone, stick or food away from them at any time and they just look at me like it's no big deal. You gotta be the pack leader. That keeps every dog in line.

WV Cowboy;5103015 said:

All you say is absolutely right, but can he take the chance that it won't escalate that one time, and go very bad?

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Of course there are no guarantees but the odds are that it is the typical posturing that comes with a multi dog situation.

Generally speaking, if there is going to be a real problem there would have been blood and a vet bill already.

Sounds like the GSD is in a good home with people that care about her. It would be a shame to rehome her yet again without it being necessary.

I love this White German Shepherd. She came to me from a bad situation. She was bought from a breeder as a gift and ended up unloved and unwanted living in a 6x6 dog pen (they didn't want her messing up their yard). They gave her food and water and pretty much ignored her. She dug out of the pen and they got a $300 fine from the HOA for running loose. They were gone hunting or fishing most weekends and wanted to be rid of her.

She will let me remove her sticks, logs, toys, etc, but she doesn't want my female Cocker Spaniel near them. And my female Cocker Spaniel doesn't want her logs! She was just laying on the lawn near it!

The thing that really got me worried was reading on the German Shepherd forum that people have had situations like this that they thought would work themselves out and a smaller dog ended up dead.

This morning on the patio, I was talking to the female Chiweenie that is staying with me (displaced by the tornado). Sabra ran up and slapped her on the back.

Here's her picture:

[URL="http://i15.***BLOCKED***/albums/a375/tycin1/Doggies2012036.jpg"]http://i15.***BLOCKED***/albums/a375/tycin1/Doggies2012036.jpg[/URL]

BlueStar3398;5103151 said:

Here's her picture:

[URL="http://i15.***BLOCKED***/albums/a375/tycin1/Doggies2012036.jpg"]http://i15.***BLOCKED***/albums/a375/tycin1/Doggies2012036.jpg[/URL]

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Beautiful dog there. In Petco a few weeks ago, I saw someone there counseling two dogs together in a room working on obedience, etc. Maybe this could be an option or something of the like. The dog will always have that instinct but it could be possible to all but eliminate it with some work and patience. I wouldn't leave those two alone though for awhile.

BlueStar3398;5103144 said:

I love this White German Shepherd. She came to me from a bad situation. She was bought from a breeder as a gift and ended up unloved and unwanted living in a 6x6 dog pen (they didn't want her messing up their yard). They gave her food and water and pretty much ignored her. She dug out of the pen and they got a $300 fine from the HOA for running loose. They were gone hunting or fishing most weekends and wanted to be rid of her.

She will let me remove her sticks, logs, toys, etc, but she doesn't want my female Cocker Spaniel near them. And my female Cocker Spaniel doesn't want her logs! She was just laying on the lawn near it!

The thing that really got me worried was reading on the German Shepherd forum that people have had situations like this that they thought would work themselves out and a smaller dog ended up dead.

This morning on the patio, I was talking to the female Chiweenie that is staying with me (displaced by the tornado). Sabra ran up and slapped her on the back.

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And what was your reaction to that?

CowboyDan;5103192 said:

And what was your reaction to that?

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I told her "No". She clearly didn't like that I was giving the little female Chiweenie attention. It is only the female dogs that she has a problem with.

I'm not a professional, and I definitely recommend getting a professional involved with your situation to help you work through it, but in a situation like that when one dog shows aggression towards another, Cesar pins the aggressive dog and makes it submissive to the dog it "attacked." It shows that dog that he is the alpha and that it is not ok to display that type of behavior towards the other dog.

Bringing a professional over to your house for an hour or two to help you work through this issue is a worthwhile investment. If you're in the metroplex, I have a very good one I can recommend. Just let me know and I'll get you his info.

CowboyDan;5103274 said:

I'm not a professional, and I definitely recommend getting a professional involved with your situation to help you work through it, but in a situation like that when one dog shows aggression towards another, Cesar pins the aggressive dog and makes it submissive to the dog it "attacked." It shows that dog that he is the alpha and that it is not ok to display that type of behavior towards the other dog.

Bringing a professional over to your house for an hour or two to help you work through this issue is a worthwhile investment. If you're in the metroplex, I have a very good one I can recommend. Just let me know and I'll get you his info.

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I live in Granbury, just SW of Fort Worth.

Well I feel terrible now............I just went to this website to get his contact info for you and his site is no longer up! I'm really sorry. I don't know if he moved or what?