As some of you might recall, for almost 2 years my two girls have been seperated from each other. My older gsd (Kilo) started to act aggressive and attack my younger gsd (Sonya, now 2 years old) when she was 4-6 months old. There have been incidences where Sonya got out when Kilo was having her out time and fights usually happened. When Kilo went after Sonya, Sonya rarely ever fought back. Now that Sonya is older I figured it's time to reintroduce them to each other.

I know this could go terribly wrong so I made sure I had a helper with me and instructed them how to properly seperate them if a fight happened. This person was bitten by Kilo before when a fight happened between them and he reached by her mouth trying to grab her collar.

We started by taking them on walks together, one person per dog, both on prongs. They got to the point where they could physically walk next to one another side by side and actually bumping into one another with no fighting. We got them to the point where they can go off lead with each other and play in a river together. One fight did happen on our way back over a stick and is was broken up within 10 seconds, the dogs were kept seperated for a few minutes then we took them on lead back home and they continued walking side by side. Kilo is causing the trouble and starting the fights. Sonya is rather submissive (she is also 15 lbs bigger than Kilo) with dogs and tends to ignore them as playmates when we go out to parks, she's there to play fetch and that's really all she's interested in.

My question is this, I know I cannot have them together loose in the house ever but what can be done with the older dog always trying to start something with the younger gsd?

Kimberly

Why do you feel they can never be around each other? I guess I don't understand..... because to me, if I want my dogs around each other then they have no choice but to be around each other. Is the one starting the fights the one that's in control or are you? What signs do you look for to stop the fight before it happens??

I would nip this in the bud by looking for the warning signs and busting ass when they appear. You don't have to alpha roll a dog to stop a fight before it happens. All you have to do is notice the warning signs and step in aggressively. Admonishing the one exhibiting the signs. It won't take much of that before the offender realizes who is the boss. I feel your pain... I see it alot. Just take control and fix the issue. Don't stop until you get what YOU want. Which is two dogs that want nothing more than to hang out with you.