April 26, 2011
Our 7 year old female attacked our new GS puppy and broke it’s jaw. What should we do?
Full Question:
I have a problem I hope you can help me with. I have a 7-year old female GSD and a 14 week old male GSD. About 4 weeks ago my 7-year old attacked the pup over a rawhide and broke his jaw. I normally don?t give my animals rawhide, but the pup has a biting/mouthing problem and this helped. (He was taken away from the mother at 3 weeks of age by the breeder with a bad injury and left at an emergency vet. That is where I adopted him). My female showed no signs of bite inhibitors during this incident. My husband had to pull her off him. Prior to this the 7 year old would play with the pup and tolerated him. Since this episode we have separated both dogs behind gates and by using crates. I read your article on bringing home a new dog to a house that already has a dog prior to writing you. Do you believe we can get these 2 dogs to get along and live together?My 7-year old was raised with a male dog and they got along well. She was the obvious alpha to the two. She does show aggression towards other dogs, but not all dogs. Since I have separated them there has been no signs of aggression from her, but the stress in this house is beyond belief! Can you please help me? Thanks for listening!!!
Sincerely,
Barbara
Ed's Answer:
The issue was over food. The dogs can never be fed together or you will have a dog fight. This same thing could happen over a toy. I would be very careful.
If the dogs must come into contact then get one of the Jafco Muzzles that we sell, they are very inexpensive. Make the bitch wear it all the time they are together. If she shows aggression then you need to do some serious training with both dogs. I would recommend that you read what I have to say about Basic Obedience. This work establishes the pack leader. You would need to work the bitch in a prong collar and leave it on when it’s around the pup. If it shows aggression (even in a muzzle) then correct it so hard that it thinks it's going to die. It must learn that this behavior is unacceptable.
If the dogs must come into contact then get one of the Jafco Muzzles that we sell, they are very inexpensive. Make the bitch wear it all the time they are together. If she shows aggression then you need to do some serious training with both dogs. I would recommend that you read what I have to say about Basic Obedience. This work establishes the pack leader. You would need to work the bitch in a prong collar and leave it on when it’s around the pup. If it shows aggression (even in a muzzle) then correct it so hard that it thinks it's going to die. It must learn that this behavior is unacceptable.
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