Hi,
    Has anybody any ideas, I am a very experienced dog owner, over 40 years of owning dogs and bitches, usually two bitches together or two dogs , all breeds never any particular problems , three of my dogs have been rescue dogs all have settled well given time, firmness, patience and loads of love, at the moment I have two border collie dogs both neutered and well behaved, the oldest being ? 10 , extremely gentle and nervous , all other dogs seem to love him, the younger collie being a bit more collie like but nothing that a firm word won,t handle.
My daughter 3 weeks ago took in  rescue Cross GS bitch, the shelter said the owner had just brought her in saying she lived on her own and now had to work fulltime and couldn,t look after her anymore , she is friendly with humans and extremely obediant, however likes to sleep in the same room as my daughter and her partner, a practice they are not keen on but she cries all night and scratches the doors if she knows they are upstairs, if she is with me or my husband she will tolerate my dogs  at my house and seems to enjoy their company , however if my daughter is around she will attack both my collies, without warning no growling or snarling, she will attack both on and off her lead totally un provoked ,  the last attack on my older collie has traumatised him, he was badly abused by his last owners, who clipped his canine teeth to prevent him nipping sheep so now cannot defend himself, Ifeel this trait may be guarding instinct from the German shepherd bloodline but never havin g had a GSD before I cannot be sure, can any GSD experienced owners help thankyou. flic

You may well be right - bear in mind this is a dog whose already 'lost' one secure home, and she may well perceive your dogs as a threat, quite common in rescue dogs of all breeds.  If your daughter visits regularly bringing her dog, is it possible to install a baby gate to segregate the dogs until they learn to accept one another?

Hi
It sounds partly due to the loss of one owner and the GSD's habit of fixating on the owner, which is quite common. It sounds as if the X GSD has bonded very strongly and very quickly with your daughter. GSD's also seem to have a strong 'me' drive (at least mine certainly have), and can easily be jealous of rivals for their owners attention. So it may be that the GSD side of her nature is quite strong. My feeling would be that it is essential without delay, to get your daughter to get the dog into training classes, and thereby into a situation where your daughter and the dog are in the company of other dogs. Also, as digger says, a gate perhaps separating them, and your daughter giving attention to the collies and to the GSDX and rewarding correct behaviour. Although it may sound harsh, I also would suggest that your daughter doesn't heap love, affection and attention on her too much, which may exacerbate the behaviour. Rather treat her well and kindly, but instigate a little 'distance' until she settles and realises she is not the centre of the universe.
Good luck
Kat

HI Katrina,
              Thanks for your suggestions, I think temprament wise, the GSD side of her certainly fits, looking at the size of her she may have Great Dane as the other parent, she,s a big dog , but very placid when she,s on her own, but very thin and a very selective eater, hopefully we will get her settled in time, I have her again on new years eve , so will let you and digger know how we all get on, Happy New Year to everybody.

Thanks Digger,
                    She,s a lovely dog and we do want to give her a chance of a further happy life, I,ll try your suggestions.

One thing it would be worth bearing in mind, is that with your daughter around the dog has more confidence in itself, and is more likely to use aggression.
If that is the case then it would mean she will be pretty unhappy around dogs but may show it, and will need careful socialisation to anything she may percieve as a threat (other dogs) so she can learn to cope. Look for the signs of stress when she's interacting with other dogs, and really study her body language to get an idea of what she is feeling.

I would agree that keeping the dogs seperate is the best way for now, it doesn't sound like fun for anyone!

good luck,
Jo