# Aggressive behavor towards small dogs..?



## K_9 (May 21, 2012)

Hi. I'm new on here, but I could really use some help. I've never owned a GSD before and I don't know what to do about my boyfriends dog(he has never owned a dog period) I had a pitt bull previously and had no troubles with her but this GSD won't behave. She is randomly attacking the two small dogs we have, my Chihuahua and my Cocker Spaniel. I know its not play becuase her heckel are raised when she pins them. I also own a Rotty and even she is a better dog. 

What am I doing wrong with this GSD? We've had her for about a year almost two now and her behavor has gone from goofy and fun loving to troublesome and bad.

I play two games with her and everything. We play fetch and find it, but still she is attacking my other dogs. Can someone help me find out why and tell me how I can correct it? My boyfriend really loves this dog so I dont want to have to get rid of her.

I only have maybe a week before she has to go.


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

Sometimes hackles go up even in play, my dogs will sometimes do it when they're playing with each other, and they pin each other too.  

But still, because the GSD is so much bigger than the other two dogs, it's better to be safe than sorry. If she really is attacking them you need to keep her on leash around them so she doesn't have the opportunity to hurt them. 

How much training has she had? How old was she when you got her? Did you have the two small dogs the entire time you've had her? Is this new behavior or has it been going on for awhile?


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## K_9 (May 21, 2012)

It is new behavor. She was a puppy when we got her, but her and her two sisters that we found were staving strays.

She started this behavor maybe a week ago. I dont know whats provoking her to attack and this morning we found a poor baby kitten killed by her. I live with my mother and if I cant find a way to fix this behavor problem she is gonna make me get rid of her.


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## K_9 (May 21, 2012)

As for training she knows the basics, sit, stay, lay, and most people call it leave it, but we call it quiet.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Do you practice NILIF? You need to step up your leadership and management. Once she knows you are in charge, she won't feel the need to be on all the time. 
I'd also get her into a good training class(for both of you!)
Has she had a heat cycle? Or is she spayed?


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## K_9 (May 21, 2012)

I don't know how else to step up my leadership. She listens to everything I tell her, but I can't get her to stop going after the small dogs. My Cocker especially...


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## Loneforce (Feb 12, 2012)

I'm wondering if she is possibly in heat? is she fixed? She might be trying to show shes the Queen.../shrugs I hope you work it out and get to keep her, maybe try separating them for a bit. Then slowly re introduce them....Good luck and I hope they all become best of furry friends


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

Have you ever taken her to obedience classes? How much socialization has she had besides the other dogs in the home? Are the other dogs male or female, spayed or neutered?


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## Twyla (Sep 18, 2011)

K_9 said:


> It is new behavor. She was a puppy when we got her, but her and her two sisters that we found were staving strays.
> 
> She started this behavor maybe a week ago. I dont know whats provoking her to attack and this morning we found a poor baby kitten killed by her. I live with my mother and if I cant find a way to fix this behavor problem she is gonna make me get rid of her.


How old is she now? Has she been to the vet since this behavior began? Many times with a sudden behavior change like this, it could be caused by something physical - injury, sickness. How did she play with the smaller dogs before?


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## K_9 (May 21, 2012)

No she is not in heat, but then again she has not been fixed either. My Rotty is also not fixed but she has weight problem so we choose not to fix her in fear she might get heavier and her hips might fail on her. I want to get the GSD fixed but I have to get rid of her in a week or so and in week is when I'll have the money to do so =[

Do all GSDs have behavor problems when they are not fixed?


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

K_9 said:


> I don't know how else to step up my leadership.


Did you read onyx'girl's link to NILIF? (Nothing in Life is Free). It's a great way to establish leadership by controlling her access to valued resources and making her work for them.



> She listens to everything I tell her, but I can't get her to stop going after the small dogs.


If she's going after the small dogs she's not listening to everything you tell her.  Presumably you tell her not to go after the other dogs, yes?

At least for now, you need to have her under your direct control at all times - on leash or in a crate any time the smaller dogs are out, or there's going to be a tragic outcome. 

Have you ever taken a training class with her? You said she knows some commands - how did you train them? Have you done any work with her on impulse control? If you say her name will she immediately turn her head and look at you? If you're outside with her and call her name will she come running to you? 

I'm confused about your "quiet" command. Usually quiet means to stop barking, which would be something completely different than what "leave it" means, which would be to leave something alone. Can you explain further?


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

K_9 said:


> No she is not in heat, but then again she has not been fixed either. My Rotty is also not fixed but she has weight problem so we choose not to fix her in fear she might get heavier and her hips might fail on her. I want to get the GSD fixed but I have to get rid of her in a week or so and in week is when I'll have the money to do so =[
> 
> Do all GSDs have behavor problems when they are not fixed?


No, not being fixed will not create behavior problems all by itself. BUT female dogs are notoriously bad about not getting along once they hit maturity. Having two or more intact females in the same household is not a great idea, and that could be why this is happening, especially now. If she's around two years old, the timing definitely fits. Often females will get along just fine when one is still a puppy, but as she gets older they start fighting. Once that happens you have to assume it will happen again, and take steps to keep them separated. 

BTW, dogs don't get heavy because they've been spayed. They get heavy because they're getting too much food for the amount of activity they're getting. Either reducing the food or upping the exercise will keep your Rottie fit. Does she have bad hips? Being heavy can put excess strain on bad hips, but will not create a problem if her hips are sound.


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## K_9 (May 21, 2012)

So, "quiet"command in general means stop. Should I seperate the commands? 

I have owned quite bit of dogs before and have never had to take them to obedience school so I haven't tried obedience school and I wont get the chance to either =/...

I just got done with a walk with her and she does fine. She will even obey the sit command while a bunch of dogs are barking at her. She resonds immediately when I call her name as well. I trained her without treats becuase I tink the dependancy of treats are bad. Instead everytime she would do something right that I told her I would give her a bunch of praise. When itwas done wrong or not at all I ignored her for a good 2 minutes sometimes less. The only command I depended on treats for was the Find It command which I have instead made a game out of for her to stimulate her brain. That way she is never bored. 

The only thing that makes sense to me so far is the whole heat equals agression thing... But no one has confirmed that for me yet or told me otherwise. 

I'm not quite understanding why all her training has to do with her attacking outbursts though?


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## K_9 (May 21, 2012)

Really??? Thats strange though becuase my dogs have all gotten fatter when they get fixed with their food being the same and I play ball with them as much as I can.

Which now that I think about it.. Mei dosen't attack the other dogs during play time either.

This random outburst of agression is really confusing to me


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

K_9 said:


> So, "quiet"command in general means stop. Should I seperate the commands?


I would. Unless you don't plan on ever needing a command to stop barking and be quiet. It doesn't really matter what you name something as long as you're consistent and it always means the same thing, it just seems like a strange cue to me because it doesn't have anything to do with what you're asking her to do. So what does she do when you tell her "quiet" when she's going after the other dogs? Does she stop (obey you) or does she ignore you?



> I trained her without treats becuase I tink the dependancy of treats are bad.


I train with a lot of treats, and I think the dependency of treats is bad too.  Fortunately, using food in training, done properly, does not create a dependency on treats. That's where going to obedience classes can be helpful when you have problems such as you're having. You can work with someone who can observe you and your dog together and offer suggestions. It's a common misperception that if you go to an obedience class someone else is training your dog for you vs training your dog yourself. Nothing could be further from the truth. Classes are usually an hour a week for 6 or 7 weeks, the bulk of the training will be done by you as homework during the week. I've owned GSDs since 1986, and have taken dozens of obediences classes with my dogs and will continue to do so. No matter how much I learn there's always so much more. Our youngest dog Halo is 3-1/2 years old, and she took Puppy 1 & 2, a CGC prep class, Family Dog 2, Basic Manners 2, and 3 flyball classes. We're now competing in flyball, Halo earned two titles in her first tournament last month, and her second tournament is next weekend. 



> I'm not quite understanding why all her training has to do with her attacking outbursts though?


The more rock solid her obedience is, the better. This is a serious issue. Even the best trained dog could have same sex aggression at maturity, but if it were me I'd want as much control over my dog as possible if there was already a history of attacking other dogs in the household.


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## K_9 (May 21, 2012)

Actually this is the fisrt dog to ever attack another dog which I find strange becuase Mei has had the most socializing from a puppy. I got my mom to agree to letting me get her fixed to see if that will help fix the problem. I can't take her to obediance classes until I can either find a consistant ride or get my own car. Thats why I am asking for help over the web.

By the way thank you very much for explaining how the obedience class works, becuase I did in fact think about those classes in that way haha. 

In week I will be able to get her fixed and that may potentially fix the problem but we will see. I'll keep you guys posted in case you want to know how it turns out. 

Thank you for all your help.


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## jetscarbie (Feb 29, 2008)

K 9....I went through the same thing almost except mine was with my males.
My youngest male would randomly attack our terrier for no reason (or none we could see) The vet said that it was probably leadership issues or pack issues with the dogs. You said your dog killed the kitty??? I don't know about that, but maybe your dog is seeing these smaller animals as prey?

Neutering my male did help a lot but I still have to monitor him at all times. I keep both dogs under my watchful eye at all times. I also exercise the mess out of my youngest GSD. I have to. If I don't, it seems like he gets bored, then he turns that boredom into something nasty. Besides just exercising him, I also play tons of mental games with him all day long. It's been my experience, some dogs need that. Some dogs don't, but some do.

Good luck.


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## K_9 (May 21, 2012)

Yeah, she killed the kitten. =[

I really hope she isn't considering the small dogs as prey. Otherwise there would be no keeping her. Also I dont know if she was trying to play with it and it had a heart attack or if she tasted its blood. I was asleep when my dad told me he had to pick up a dead cat.. She never really goes after my cats when she is inside, infact she sleeps next to my orange tabby cat when she cames in at night. My bed has a cubby and both my cats and mei sleep in there peacefully. No hissing, snarling, growling, nothing. The only way to explain Mei is that she is a really goofy, hyperactive dog. Its only been a few days since she has started acting agressively. The whole agression thing is so random its out of character for her. I mean ever since we found her she has been a submissive wetter actually showing that she knows she has done wrong and cowering under things even before we go yell at her. For her to attack another dog so suddenly is to strange and hard for me to comprehend really.


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## K_9 (May 21, 2012)

I knew right away she wasnt the brightest of the three pups we found, but my boyfriend had already fallen in love with Mei so we kept her instead of one of the other two. The one I named Hunny was the smartest and I had tried to talk him into keeping her instead lol, but he would not give in. Even Frog had a better attention span. Both Frog and Hunny after having them for a week knew how to sit, stay and their name before Mei. Lol. It gets me how an owner can choose a dog just like them. In case you guys are wondering Frog got her name becuase she would always croak when you pick her up, lol and Hunny got her name becuase she was the sweetest and calmest of the three, her colors where a soft gray brwon as well. I really loved those two hahaha. Remembering them now I really miss them. 

There is nothing really to this little story really. I just felt like sharing.


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

K_9 said:


> In week I will be able to get her fixed and that may potentially fix the problem but we will see.


To clarify, I don't think getting her spayed is going to be a magic fix. It _may_ be contributing to the problem, but that doesn't mean that once she's spayed everything is going to be fine. You may still have to do a lot of other work, including training and management strategies. 

I have cats too, (indoor only) and although in the house they are part of the pack, I'm pretty sure they'd be viewed as prey outside, just like all the other neighborhood cats that are outside. That's pretty common.

Have you read the NILIF link yet?


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## K_9 (May 21, 2012)

Yeah. My cousin had that happen to my cats brother actually and by my aunts GSD. His cat was indoors only as well but it got out somehow and the dog mauled him to death.

Lol, and I know getting her fixed wont change anything like magic, but I'm hoping it will calm her down to the point where she goes back to normal. I don't think I could be the one to train her either. While I'm ouside with her nothing happens, she will lay down either next to me or under shade and not move. She only goes about her business when I leave or she will leave me to go to my boyfriend if he comes outside while I'm still there.


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