I hope that someone is going to have some ideas to help me out with this ...

There is one weekday per week when neither I or my girlfriend are at home - so before we agreed to buy our puppy, we agreed with my sister that she would have him on that day.

My sister has a 6 month old German Shephard Dog.

I took all of the recommended precautions with introducing my 6-week old labrador dog by making the first meeting in neutral ground. Everything went fine, although the GSD was extremely excitable and quite boustrous, my lab coped fine and everything went well. We went back to my sister's house and everything was fine there too.

However, I have been to my sister's today and the GSD has 'gone for' my pup twice and we ended up putting them in separate rooms. The first time was because my pup went too near him when he had a treat and the second time was because my sister gave my pup one of his OWN toys (I was careful to take my pup's toys with me so there was no competition etc). When I say 'went for', I mean that he growled very loudly and 'bit' my pup.

I know that a lot of aggression in dogs is symbolic in order to establish hierarchy and I am aware that I am a bit paranoid because of the size difference. However, I am really worried about them being together now ...

Has anyone got any ideas what me and my sister can do to manage this??

Thanks is advance.
Darren.

Did he actually bite the pup, or snap, snarl and "go for" him without actually making contact?

He snarled / growled and went for him with an open mouth. My lab squeeled, but there was no sign of injury. I don't know whether he actually bit him or just made contact ... his mouth was definately open though (I felt BIG TEETH when I slipped my hand between them).

He's probably putting pup in his place. After all, it's his house, and his bone etc (even if it isn't, if you see what I mean). If pup is to be welcome he will have to be lower status there. Pet the big dog first etc - if he feels pushed out he is likely to retaliate the only way he knows.

Best not to leave them unattended, and if they are given chews etc, make sure neither interferes with the other.

Good luck.
:)

My older dog does a similar thing to the pup when she gets a bit jealous. She snaps at the pups nose, which i think is the way a bitch would teach her pups when they were pushing their luck. Does that sound a bit like it?

It could be that ... maybe I panicked because he is Sooooooooo big compared to my tiny baby. He seemed very aggressive more than 'correcting' though. It's important to remember that at only 6 months, he is still only a pup himself.

I know that most dogs rarely actually hurt eachother because the symbolism they use is suffuicient to put eachother in their place.

I guess it's a matter of monitoring until I am totally confident that they are okay together.

I had to ask my sister not to punish her GSD because I was worried that he might build up negative associations with Kobi being there - I moved Kobi into another room instead. We were also really careful to ensure that the GSD had more attention.

I've spoken to my sister and we've decided to bring the GSD to my house tomorrow as he is already subordinate here and he may not feel the need to 'defend his territory' and this'll give him the chance to get over the excitement and get to know Kobi a bit!

Fingers Crossed XX

Thanks!

I hope your dogs will get on - it does sound as if the GSD was putting the pup in his place and taking the GSD to your place will help a lot when you are assessing their behaviour :)

Lindsay

When my bitch had puppies and we kept one, the dog did exactly the same whenever puppy overstepped the mark - ie tried to enter his space at the wrong time, get too close when he had a toy or treat. He never actually made contact, and pup soon learned. At this time, your pup cannot read doggy body language and this is the way he will learn. Make sure someone is there to supervise at all times, and dont leave the puppy too long with the dog - they soon get tiresome! Also take pup to puppy socialisation classes so he can learn how to behave round other dogs. It is not likely that the dog will actually make contact unless he is in the situation where he feels there is no escape, or has REALLY had enough of puppy antics.

Edited to say: Dont forget that to the older dog any toy etc will be considered his, it doesnt matter who it was bought for, it is his new toy, as he will be alpha - the pup will only, in the dogs mind be able to have it when he no longer wants it.

Hello,
I have 2 puppy BC's and we often have my aunties Golden retriever to stay. The first time she came to stay was awful, she used to have a go at them all the time if they went to near, they are very playful at 6 months and if the GSD is older it may not be so playful towards them. Just keep and eye on them and it will get better, the best thing we found was to take them for a walk together and they usually played then. Another thing, does your sister tell her dog off for having a go??

If not then she should be showing that biting/growling is not appropriate behaviour even if it is his house.

Hope that helps

x

Thanks for the reassurance.

I have had Kobi and Butch together for much of the day and I am totally exhausted. There has been no aggression from Butch, but they are very playful - lots of biting and scratching. The trouble is that Kobi gets either oever excited or annoyed at the CONSTANT attention from Butch and he ends up biting and scratching quite hard. I am now certain that it is playfulness and I don't think Kobi is an any real danger from Butch - I guess they both need to learn what appropriate play is.

I have to say, I am really surprised at how quickly I have bonded with Kobi. It took longer for me to get to know Kizzie (my rescue dog) and to feel the way I do now ... but I have fallen for Kobi big time. I hate even going upstairs and leaving him ... I am so looking forward to the years ahead -- once I teach him and Butch to behave in order to avoid me having a nervous breakdown!! ;-)

I'm glad things seem to be working themselves out :) Good news for you.

Lindsay