I know, I know. It's a bad idea but my options are limited.

My 2 yr old male German Shorthaired Pointer, Coco, and I moved in with my girlfriend. She has 2 dogs living with her. She has an 8 yr old male Mini Dashhound and a 1 1/2 yr old female boxer. The dogs get along great for the most part.

The two younger dogs are very affectionate with each other but at times, when let outside to do their business, the male GSP will somewhat agressively grab the boxer by the skin on the back of her neck and flip or drag the boxer to the ground. Sometimes he'll pin her down for awhile. He releases her when I yell.

They chase each other around the yard playing chase, but sometimes it gets too rough. No growling or snarling or raised hair or any other agressive behaviour. Just pulling down and pinning.

This is upsetting for the family as we are the newbies around here. I would like to get a e-collar so that I can be quicker to correct. Any suggestions?

Simple Solution:
Teach the command "Break"

The idea is this:
They play rough, you say "break," they come to you, sit in front of you and get praise. (distraction, redirection, reward)

So when they play rough, you shout "break" as loudly as humanly possible. If you have emotionally sensitive dogs that cannot be shouted at, use an air horn. (Big distraction)

Then call them to you in a happy tone (redirection or teaching desired behavior) and reward with treats. This is the only command that I use treats for.

I find it very simple and fast. You can of course relate it to cues your dog already knows - enough, stop, come, sit - for faster learning.

Do you use crates to seperate the dogs? A lot of what they are doing sounds like pack behavior to me, trying to sort out who the boss is.

I agree with you that it sounds like pack behaviour. Ed has some info in the articles section about how to introduce a dog into a home that already has a dog. I followed Ed's advice when I brought our new GSD puppy home to live with our 2 yr. old Golden Ret. It worked fabulously and my two dogs get along great. The GR is the lead dog and the GSD puppy knows it.
Good Luck
Terry
Treat them like they are animals
Train them like they are animals
Love them like they are people ....................... Louis Grant

Thanks Mike! You explained that much better than I did!

QUOTING Mike: Along the lines of other posts, I use a word to break-up the attention of my dogs when I want them to stop what they are doing, kind of like a quick time out or distractor. I use the word 'enough' with a volume appropriate to the moment. END

I agree with Anne that Mike's post describes exactly what I find works best. I use a different word ("hey!"), but it's the same idea; that word means "Turn your attention to me!" and "You're starting to go over the line!" Just that alone is usually enough to lower the level of whatever they're doing.

 Quote:

My 2 yr old male German Shorthaired Pointer, Coco, and I moved in with my girlfriend. She has 2 dogs living with her. She has an 8 yr old male Mini Dashhound and a 1 1/2 yr old female boxer.

Bruce,
Have u ever wondered about the outcome of the mating between the male German Pointer and the female Boxer-- would be puppies be part pointer and part boxer or some puppies will be boxer and some will be Pointers?Both are intelligent dogs and their puppies should become intelligent dogs too.Any input on this matter by you or other friends who are professional breeders would help all members here.
Badrul

I use the word "Knock-it-off" and they both usually respond. I say "they" because the boxer is usually the aggressor or at least more verbal.

There is constant chasing and playing tag and ear nibbling. Always quite harmless, just that it can get out of hand at times. During these "episodes" when the GSP pins the boxer down by the scruff of the neck and runs in circles, spinning her like a top, is disturbing for the whole family.

I'm the only one who has done more than a few minutes of training (8 wks basic ob, 26 wks advanced, 8 wks hunt training only with GSP). This causes problems when I'm not home to make the proper corrections. What usually happens is that Coco is sent to his crate and stays there until I get home and rescue him from his confinement.

My problem is that sometimes I'm not home to correct the dogs correctly, or I'm inside and see it through the window and can't respond fast enough to my liking.

There may be some packing up of these dogs. I'm not sure and I'll look into that on the site. I do crate the dogs separately while sleeping, during dinner and anytime they are unattended. All 3 dogs, IMO, know who the boss is. I'm unsure how the rest of the family fits in. Any advice on that? (Girlfriend, 5yr old girl, 14yr old girl)

All dogs are fixed, although there's certainly a lot of flirting going on (boxer once again the instigator).

My fist post, how exciting. I have a GSP and Gaint Schnauzer who play exactly like you discribe Bruce. My GSP does most of the pinning of the other dog also. I really could not tell you if it is a pack behaviour thing or not. I don't think so but then again I am no expert. I agree you need to get a hold of this behaviour, mine would try it in the house from time to time, not cool at all when things go flying!

If you are worried about the timing of the correction and not being there to do it correctly, you may have to resort to going out with them or even only letting them out one at a time. I had my sister in law living with us for a bit and we made the rule that only one dog out at a time until she got comfortable with them and confident in giving them a command. (I think one of Ed's video's mentioned that dogs can get "doggie" with each other and would rather play then listen?)

As an aside Bruce, would love to talk to you more about your training with your GSP, I rescued mine from a shelter at 11 months old and will have him one year in Sept 05 and I have yet to "figure" him out. At times I think he thinks faster then me and keeping him on track has been a challange. Good luck and talk to you soon