I am new to the German Shepherd world...but not to the world of large breed dogs, having raised 3 dobermans. BUT I am finding that German Shepherds are different!!!

I have a male GSD puppy, 13 weeks old today...and while he seems to have a great personality and a lot of intelligence...I am having a huge problem with him "herding" our 11 year old mixed breed dog. I don't think there is any aggression in what he is doing...in fact, he may be more playing than even herding, but I am sure I see that herding action - biting at her hind legs (sometimes knocking them out from under her, which is not great for an 11 year old dog), running along her side and biting at her face, and worst of all of these, stopping her at the top of the stairs, in the backyard, preventing her from entering the house, all the time barking at her.

Now, I have read a great deal here and realize that most of you suggest that the puppy be tethered to the owner when he is awake, but that is not possible in the case of the backyard because I am disabled and cannot access the backyard. I have, however, trained him to the sit, stay, down, and leave-it commands, which he learned quickly and easily...to my surprise. He is also crate-trained (that was not as easy) and house-broken. He is walked regularly by my husband (now up to about 3-4 miles a night - and the dog is still not completely tired) and has a fairly large fenced backyard to play in. He has every toy imaginable, including pull toys, squeek toys, toys that you put food into for him to try to get the food out of, and chew toys.

I would appreciate any help you can provide on what I might do with the "herding" issue. I will do whatever you suggest. I want this dog to be the best dog he can be..and a best friend for me.

I know this is a long email, but I wanted to make sure I covered all of the bases.

Thank you for your help.

Hi Susan and welcome!

Can you keep the older dog inside while the pup is in the back yard, and vice versa? If you can't directly supervise their interactions, it's best to keep them separated.