I just got my Mali pup, he's 7 weeks. He comes from great working lines and great drive. I understood going into this that with those two things comes a dominance and aggression which you want if you plan to work the dog. And I do want to work schutzhund with this guy.

So here is my issue, Its not the biting with my wife and I, we can redirect that with a toy. Its that I have a 2 year old female boxer. When the pup has had enough of her mothering or just doesn't want to be near her anymore. He will lift his lip, growl, and snap at her, continuously. She then leaves him alone, but he will continue to chase her out of the room and will do his best to get one good nip in. I can't even seem to redirect him with a toy because as long as she is within sight he is fixated on biting her.

I'd like to correct this without ruining his drive and I don't want to seperate the two.

Any ideas??

Thanks!!

Separate them till about 10 months old. Why don't you want to separate them? If you want to work the pup and have the pup look to you and not the boxer then separate. There is absolutely no reason not to separate them. Pups should be sleeping in their crates 80% of the day anyway.

On top of that, mali pups are really annoying in multi-dog environments. They don't stop. They will keep roughhousing till the end and the aggression is normal puppy play.

He is kept in a crate for a good part of the day. I'd say for a excluding the 7-8 hours at night when I wife takes him out to void every 2-3 hours, I have him in the crate about 4 times throughout the day for 1-2 hours sessions. He is doing well in there, he cries more at nighttime than during the day and during the day it only lasts about 20 minutes before he lays down.

I am home all day and my wife at night so we are able to have a costant watch over him and make sure he doesn't feel the need to mess in the crate.

As for not seperating them, I have always had two dogs and have always enjoyed the fact that they can get along together and can play outside together. They have been trained seperately, but they are given the opportunity to play together.

I know this is against some schools of thought for a working pup, but I'd like to find some sort of happy medium. If one exsists.

Let me know your thoughts, THANKS!

 Quote: William Dutton

When the pup has had enough of her mothering or just doesn't want to be near her anymore. He will lift his lip, growl, and snap at her, continuously. She then leaves him alone, but he will continue to chase her out of the room and will do his best to get one good nip in.

Besides Mike's points, this isn't right for the Boxer to have to live with.

The happy medium you mentioned may be down the road a bit. Not now.

JMO. I wouldn't let this happen to a dog in my house, and I have no problem separating dogs to make sure that it doesn't.

I agree with Connie. The Boxer didn't ask for a Mal puppy and didn't ask to be terrorized by him. It isn't fair for her to be expected to put up with it.

I have the same situation at home with a now 9 month puppy and 3 adult dogs. My puppy is kept separate because he annoys/terrorizes the adults. Though they are fairly patient, I don't feel it's right for the adults to have to put up with him just because I want them to.

If the Boxer learns this dog will be allowed to terorize her whenever he wants to, she may learn to dislike him. Then you WILL have to keep them separated to prevent serious fights.

Separation won't affect them being able to live together later. This is simply handler impatience. Mal pups are incredibly overbearing and difficult for older lazier dogs to want to deal with. When the pup is older you can put more control on the interaction at an age where the pup understands what you are asking.

A lot of people get hung up on their dogs having "doggie friends".

Really ask yourself WHY your dog needs other dogs to play with. You, as the Pack Leader, are the most interesting, fun, terrific and important person in the whole wide world (from your dog's point of view). You don't want your working pup to decide that other dogs are more fun to play with, than you are. That'll kill the dog's willingness to work for you.

Once your pup is older, and your pack is well established, your bond with the dog is well established, and the dog is well on it's way in it's training, you can begin teaching your dogs to coexist. Right now, your pup doesn't know commands like "Out", "Leave it" or "Phooie", which means you have no real way to verbally correct your pup for harrassing your older Boxer. You may find yourself establishing a bad pattern of telling your dog "No" every time it starts harrassing your Boxer, only to have it not listen- NOT very good ground work for your pup's obediance. Like everyone else has said- BOTH dogs would best benefit from being seperated right now.

A dog has certain basic rights-
The right to adequate food and water.
The right to not be abused.
The right to shelter from the weather.
The right to appropriate medical treatment.
The right to clear, consistant and firm leadership.
The right to age and health appropriate exercise.

Everything else, playing with other dogs, being allowed out in the house, etc- these are all PRIVILEGES. They are not automatic. The dog must prove it has EARNED these privileges. Every dog is different, but a good rule of thumb is to begin slowly increasing privileges around 9-10 months, and let the dog show you how much he/she is ready for.

BTW- I admire your bravery, I don't think I could keep up with a Boxer and a Mal in the same home. I used to have two Boxers (who, BTW, got along terrific once the youngest was around a year old), and they about ran me ragged. Brought a whole new meaning to the phrase "dog tired".

Thank you everyone... I spoke with the Schutzhund trainer in the area that I plan to work with and he also recommended seperation. He did however state that when they are together that the Mali pup be on a leash, this is something mentioned in the 8weeks to 8months Leerburg video that I hadn't been following.

So, today he's been crated for the majority of the day and when not crated he's been on the leash by my side. Seems good so far, haven't had one of his outbursts today and I will continue to keep on this schedule.

I appreciate the critisim and advise, it is well received and much needed. I will continue to update you.

Thanks again!!

You know what else might be helpful (and nice for you as one small activity involving both dogs)? Walks with one on each side of you. Hard to be snippy at the other dog while you are marching along with the pack leader in the middle.

 Quote: William Dutton

He did however state that when they are together that the Mali pup be on a leash, this is something mentioned in the 8weeks to 8months Leerburg video that I hadn't been following. .... So, today he's been crated for the majority of the day and when not crated he's been on the leash by my side. Seems good so far

Tethering is one of the best aids ever, for housetraining, for bonding, for pack structure......

JMO.