I have 4 inside dogs. We have dog fights and when I tried to break up the fight I had 2 fingers that were badly bitten. Now my husband if afraid of our dogs. What can I do?

Question

Hi,

    I just registered. I was hoping to get some immediate info about a problem I'm having w/ my male german shepherd. I have 4 dogs male shepherd, 3 yrs old (sire is K-9 Police dog, from Netherlands) female shepherd, 6yrs old and the dame/mother to male shepherd labrador, 4 yrs old, shepherd/golden retriever mix. 7 yrs old. The male shepherd has always shown a high prey drive.. frequently stalking the male (neutered) lab. It has been just play.

    The female shepherd has on occasion, attacked the mixed dog. It is weird, when someone is crying or moaning with pain, she will attack the mixed dog. Now, for the last 6 - 7 months. The male shepherd has on occasion, growled and had a quick fight w/ the mixed dog. 2 nights ago, for no apparent reason at 11:30 pm, 3 dogs were in my bedroom, I called to the mixed dog to come back there with me. He stopped and did not want to go into the room. I coaxed him to come on. After entering the room, the male shepherd attacked the mixed dog with SUCH VIOLENCE, would not let go, seemed he would kill the mixed dog. Then the female shepherd attacked him also (neutered).. so now 2 on 1. I had just brushed and combed the shepherds so they were not wearing their choke/pinch collars. Husband got the female off, I was pulling and yelling. Reached down to pull the head, he let go but was in a frenzy and bit thru 2 of my fingers. I do not believe he knew he was biting me. We put a shock collar on the male shepherd and I also have pepper gas available. Is this going to modify his behavior?

    Should I do something else? If he attacks again and we cannot get him to stop ... I've been told to 'get rid of him. I love this dog... raised him since he was born. He is with me a lot I take him to my business, tie him up in my office... He is my dog. He follows me everywhere, even wakes up to follow me. He is very animal aggressive. He also barks and growls at people. I am the only person who has ever been bitten by him. He is very strong, weighs about 90 lbs.

    My husband is afraid of him now. I am not.... but I can guarantee I won't be in that same situation again. I have to watch him closely, keep him close, sometimes I just put him in a room and close the door. I am somewhat desperate for info, because, I do not want to lose this dog. I love all my dogs, but this male shepherd is my heart. I've loved on him.. petted him.. let him sleep in my bedroom... I just don't know if he can go from an affectionate master to a ? different master. He has had lots of love and attention, from me. If I am forced to give him away, I worry about him adapting to a new way of life.

    Please, if you have any info or suggestions, I would appreciate a reply.

    Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Accepted Answer

You have a dog pack and you don’t have a clue about pack behavior. Read my web site (YOU HAVE NOT DONE THIS) on dog fights. You got bit because you broke the fight up the wrong way. You had the dog fight because you are not keeping your dogs properly. (I would never allow this many dogs of the same sexes to live unrestricted – this is a handler error). Either get dog crates or keep them separated.

Read my articles on dominance, aggressive dogs – read the Q&A sections.

This GSD bit you in the heat of the battle. Not out of dominance. Your husband has nothing to worry about as long as you change your living arrangements with these dogs.

You also need to obedience train these dogs with a prong collar – they are not trained. If they were trained you would not be using the word “COAXED” – no one COAXES a trained dog.

If you would like to learn more about the principles of obedience training a dog, read the description for my Basic Dog Obedience video. You will probably find that you have not had the full picture on the steps of training a dog must go through before it can be considered fully trained. You can also read why I am not a fan of taking an untrained dog to obedience classes. I think if you read the testimonials on that tape you will see that my customers feel the same way.

Regards,
Ed Frawley