I could sure use some help from you folks.

I adopted a GSD bitch from a shelter to be a companion for my Schutzhund candidate, a male GSD out of Asko von der Lutter. They are kenneled separately during the day, and crated separately at night. I let them play together when I'm home. They are both about a year old; the bitch is spayed, about 65 pounds, the male is entire, about 85 pounds.

They get along fine as long as I'm not actually with them, playing quite happily, but as soon as I show up, trouble starts. What appears to be happening is that Luna, the bitch, does not fully accept Oka's dominance. She will push in between him and me, which infuriates him; but when he tries to put her in her place, although she screams and crouches down, she will not roll over and give an unequivocal sign of submission.

Other signs of her dominance problem are things like going through doors before Oka, and mounting him when he has a toy (which he pretty much ignores, since his prey drive is really high).

She was abandoned at the shelter when she was a year old, with some training but shows signs of poor socialization aside from this dominance problem.

My understanding is that I can't really decide which dog will be dominant, but is there anything I can do to speed up her adaptation? I always greet and feed Oka first--in fact, he gets everything first. And while Oka's "attacks" are not disproportionate (he has never actually hurt her), the situation really doesn't seem to be getting any better.

Because of the press of business and the change of seasons (it rains way too often here in the winter) I haven't been able to spend as much time with each of them separately as I'd like. Is that part of the problem? If so, what kind of things can I do to help? Is it possible that Luna is so wonky that she'll never settle in? How would I know?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I have similar issues with my two, a female BC mix, and a male Lab. I've been able to work it out, though. First, I let the female BC mix be the dominant dog. Her will to power with other dogs is so great, and the Lab didn't really seem to care too much about rank, so I just let her have it. I support it by feeding her first, letting her go through doors first, giving her treats first, etc. When she steals toys from the Lab, I don't intervene, as it is her right as the more dominant dog. However, if she attacks him, I do intervene, and send both of them to opposite ends of the room for a long downstay.
When I am giving the Lab attention, the female will try to horn in, but I don't let her. I am the supreme leader, after all, so I decide who I want to give attention to. When she tries to come over and horn in, I tell her to "go" in a stern voice while pointing away from me, then I continue giving the boy his attention. When I am done with him, I then call the girl over for her brief petting session. I always keep my attentions to her brief and on MY terms, never allowing her to demand attention from me, because she can get obnoxious about it.
Even though she is the dominant dog, I do give the boy more priveleges, just because he's less obnoxious about it. I support their dominance heirarchy, but at the same time, *I* decide who gets what priveleges.
It's a balance, and you'll find it what works for you.

Dave,

I too have a similar situation with my dogs, but in my case they are both alpha. I have 5 dogs in all and these two are a 2-1/2 yr old female (60 lbs), and a 3-1/2 yr old male (100 lbs) both GSD. We brought both home as 8 wk old pups, so of course the male has "seniority", but a year later when we brought the female home her dominance began right away! We kept expecting the "big bang" as she matured that she would eventually overthrow the male's position, but it never really happened in that way, they just both seemed to position themselves in the male and female alpha roles over the other dogs. The male will take the more dominant role of the two. We give the male more preferential treatment. They accept and respect each others position, but will still assert themselves periodically as a reminder. Like yours, my female will mount the male, to which he completely ignores her and goes about his business (actually pretty funny to watch). They have never engaged in an all-out fight, but frequently they will take cheap shots at each other around the neck, but they are reprimanded to a down-stay or their crates when that ever gets out of hand. Since you only have the the 2 dogs you can be fairly certain that one will prevail as the more dominant, but I don't think you can really speed up the process, so to speak. As in my case, we've just watched their interactions very closely over time and adapted to them by our own actions toward the dogs. We do make it a point to give each dog one-on-one time frequently, whether it be hiking, trips to the park, or just a car ride which they go bonkers over! But I also think a good obedience regime and more socialization will improve her bond with you and make her feel more comfortable at home. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I'm not sure I agree with the statements I have read so far in this thread. One of which basically states that a "PERSON" can influence the position (pack order) of any one dog in the pack. For example and I quote:

I support it by feeding her first, letting her go through doors first, giving her treats first, etc.

In my opinion the pack order will not be decided simply because of HUMAN intervention or their decision to support a particular dog. The idea or theory of giving you're support as stated in the above quote doesn't seem possible to me. I just can't believe that trying to support a particular dog would ever ensure their role as the dominant dog. Ok, now I'm ready for some comments! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Glenn,
I think I see what your getting at.
I don't think you can thrust a dog into a better position in the pack either. You can however, stop a dog from getting pounded on by another, and thereby keep his tail up. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Jason I would hope that anyone who sees a pup or dog being picked on or abused by another dog take control as the pack leader and put a quick stop to it. You know as well as I do that a pup or dog can be affected in a negative way for life if you let a more dominant dog bully other pack members. I think I might be off subject here I don't know.

Glenn,
When I say "getting pounded on", that includes some of the less psysical means that a dominant dog will use to keep another dog "in its place".

Glenn, I don't think that pack order can be decided by the human, but pack order can be supported by the human, thereby eliminating or reducing competition between the dogs for rank. If the human supports the structure, then the structure will be more stable. If the human does not, then the dogs will continue to compete. I see this all the time with companion dog owners who have no clue about rank, who unintentionally create competition between the dogs by trying to treat them as equals and expecting them to behave/treat each other as equals.

J, you cleared it up beautifully! I couldn't have said it better myself <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

J Parker, I appreciate you're comments. Jason I understand what you are saying also.