# Axel & Rescue puppy aggression



## CoryS (Apr 15, 2013)

We recently rescued a 6 month old intact GSD, Duke and have a 5 another year old intact male Axel, and a 2 year old 3.5lb Yorkie, Tucker. 

I cannot leave toys out in the yard because Axel gets aggressive if Duke tries to play with any of them, especially if my wife or I are trying to play fetch with one. By aggressive I mean he will let out a nasty growl while appearing to attack Duke... but it looks like it's just a warning bite as all it does is wet the fur. Duke came to us with extreme fear of large dogs, so I am sure this is not helping. 

I should also point out Axel has a history of being..unpredictable around some dogs. He has never had an issue with Tucker, our yorkie... but just the sight of my parents rottweiler puts him into a rage. He also has a strong history of coming unglued if any dog other than Tucker tries to play with his toys..or any toy he lays claim to. Typically if he and another dog reach the same ball at the same time is where the issue starts, and isn't a big deal if the other dog is submissive and lets him have it after a warning growl...however with dogs like my parents rottweiler who is also dominant...lets just say I still don't have feeling in one of my fingers when I tried to break that up the first/last time we tried to let them play together.

Yesterday my wife was making me a sandwhich and Axel was sitting beside her mesmerized by the sliced beef, when Duke walked by Axel snapped at him and growled. 

Other than that Axel will snap at at him when he is being too hyper and nipping at his face trying to play...which is probably pretty normal and I would think would help teach the pup not to do that, I'm just not sure at what point I should step in, and where I should let them work it out themselves. 

I feel if once Duke matures he is submissive we will have a lot less problems... however I'm terrified he will also be dominant and it will be a nightmare. My vet is pushing me to neuter him now, but I really don't want that tall lanky look I've seen GSDs get when they are neutered before a year old.


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## pets4life (Feb 22, 2011)

do you think this is a right mix? Do you think you should really keep the gsd?? Hes a pup i am sure you can find many good homes for him? If you wanted another dog there are many toy breed females you could get? Or just a more laid back breed that will mix better?

Problem is your axel will not be getting his way for long before duke takes over I dont think it is fair on axel to do this to him. This isn't a good match. Its like me bringing in another gsd bitch with my already super bitchy dominant gsd bitch. Its just not right. You are putting so much stress on your little dog. And when your big gsd gets older hes going to be a dominant dog and try to use the lil one as a toy. Hes NOT going to be submissive when he is mature.

You want to let it work it out themselves you will end up with a dead yorkie eventually when your gsd has had enough and he will lose his temper eventually.

Gsds are the smartest dogs or one of the smartest and they have the power to back it up he will figure out everything very soon and he will know how to take control of the situation.


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## CoryS (Apr 15, 2013)

Well, I guess that is one way to look at it. But, I also don't think it is unreasonable to expect Axel to share a little. They get along fine outside of food and toys. 

If I have to go to the extremes of feeding and playing with them separately I will, but I also think it should be possible to integrate Duke into the pack structure so these issues don't come up.


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## pets4life (Feb 22, 2011)

just dont wait for your gsd to correct your yorkie


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## CoryS (Apr 15, 2013)

pets4life said:


> just dont wait for your gsd to correct your yorkie


The GSD & the yorkie have lived happily together for 2 years. If anything the yorkie is more of the alpha than Axel.


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## pets4life (Feb 22, 2011)

i thought he was six months?


OHHHH i see its the gsd that is the problem lol sorry 

someone will help you with that


Male gsd aggression does not seem to be as bad as female soon as your lil rescue gets bigger hopefully stuff will get better

He may just be being a bitter bully give him a lot of attention for now

Just be careful you dont cause the pup to become fear aggressive of large dogs because of what the gsd is doing to him you have to stop him.


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## CoryS (Apr 15, 2013)

pets4life said:


> i thought he was six months?


The rescue GSD Duke is 6 months. The yorkie, Tucker is 3 years old (i put 2 by mistake) 

EDIT: Re-reading your post I think you misunderstood, probably due to some word fragmentation I have in my OP.

Duke is 6 months he is a rescue GSD we have had for a few days. Axel is my 5 year old GSD I have had from 9 weeks old. Tucker is a 3 year old yorkie who is Axel's best friend of 2 years.

The problem is between Axel being aggressive towards Duke with resource guarding.


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## BowWowMeow (May 7, 2007)

There is an excellent book on resource guarding called, "Mine." I would buy that and work on retraining Axel. Also, be very alert for subtle ways that you and your wife are reinforcing Axel's behavior. Having been in your shoes, I would guess the two of you are probably at least some part of the problem. 

One quick thing is not to allow Axel anywhere near you when your food is involved. This can be accomplished very easily by either crating him with a bone or something he likes or training him to a place (dog bed) that is removed from the eating/kitchen areas. 

Until you are able to retrain Axel, I would removed him from situations with food or toys and play and feed Duke separately. 

Knowing that Axel has issues with large dogs, it probably wasn't the best choice to adopt one without working on Axel's issues first, but if you don't want to responsibly rehome Duke then you owe it to him to make him feel safe. You certainly don't want him to become fear or resource aggressive!


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## CoryS (Apr 15, 2013)

You have a point with Axel and large dogs. We suspected it wouldn't be an issue with a puppy, and that by the time it matured they would have a set way of handling conflict. So far there haven't been any real issues but I want to make sure it doesn't evolve into anything bigger. 

Axel has also never been the slightest food agressive so that was a surprise to all of us. His growth was actually stunted because of digestion issues he had as a puppy which caused him to hardly eat. To this day he only eats enough to just maintain his weight of 73 pounds (yes I have tried, and retried all the timed feeding tricks, they made it much worse) 

Part of me thinks he is just giving the puppy a hard time because he's new, but maybe that's just wishful thinking. However, he does seem to give him more and more latitude each day. 

To those curious we took on the dog from a cousin of mine who brokeup with his girlfriend. She had bought him the dog weeks earlier and he no longer wanted it, and she couldn't care for it. She put it up on a online Garage Sale site. Knowing why people buy GSDs in that area, and how they treat them, if we hadn't of taken him he would be chained to a post in front of a single wide right now. 

For the most part Axel is actually pretty good around other dogs, it's just certain ones that seem to set him off under just the right circumstances. With my parents rott I think most of that had to do with it taking his toys away from him when he was a puppy until one day he had had enough....which is why I don't want history to repeat itself.

Thank you for the book recommendation, I will look it up.

EDIT: I looked the bookup. A lot of the reviews say it is geared only towards resource guarding of the dog vs humans, not the dog vs other dogs. Axel has no resource guarding issues vs humans. I can take a raw bone out of his mouth.


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## mebully21 (Nov 18, 2011)

either neuter both dogs or one dog, when the pup matures having 2 intact males in the house could be a problem. remove all food/toys and separate the dogs if you are cooking and dont let Axel around the kitchen/food so that the other rescue pup isnt put in harms way. practice NILIF with both dogs and set ground rules for all the dogs.


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## CoryS (Apr 15, 2013)

I have read a study that neutering has shown to increase aggression in dogs. 

Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## mebully21 (Nov 18, 2011)

that is not 100% true.. genetics causes aggression, weak nerves causes aggression, intact can cause aggression.. neutering doesnt cause any more aggression ... it depends on the genetics of the dog... if the genetics are predisposed to aggression then the dog will be aggressive no matter if he has balls or not.. or whether female .... 

whatever study you read isnt correct unfortunately... genetics is what makes up a dog... and hormones plays a good part in that as well..

i have had neutered and intact dogs..none of them were aggressive due to having balls or not, it was genetics that played whether they were aggressive or not, and poor management /training if in the wrong hands..

2 intact males depending on personalities can be a BAD mix... or a good mix,, depending on the dogs involved... and the owners..

since you know axel is an ass with toys and food you need to manage that- so that the pup doesnt get beat up or hurt (once the pup matures if axel is allowed to be an ass to him the pup will retaliate once mature and you will have a bloodbath on your hands with 2 intact dogs)


my male is toy/food aggressive with strange dogs - so toys and food are not allowed when visiting dogs are over, no dogs in kitchen, all separated at feeding time.. its a no brainer,, common sense is all you need to protect all dogs involved.....


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## BowWowMeow (May 7, 2007)

I found a WHole Dog Journal article on dog-dog resource guarding for you:

How to React When Your Dog Begins Resource Guarding Against Other Dogs - Whole Dog Journal Article


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## gsdraven (Jul 8, 2009)

mebully21 said:


> that is not 100% true.. genetics causes aggression, weak nerves causes aggression, intact can cause aggression.. neutering doesnt cause any more aggression ... it depends on the genetics of the dog... if the genetics are predisposed to aggression then the dog will be aggressive no matter if he has balls or not.. or whether female ....
> 
> whatever study you read isnt correct unfortunately... genetics is what makes up a dog... and hormones plays a good part in that as well..


It's not incorrect but it is very rare. The drugs involved with neutering can sometimes cause a change in brain chemistry causing aggression. I've experienced it. A foster of mine was fine with other dogs, lived with me for a month before being neutered and had met several dogs. A week after his neuter, he was now suddenly aggressive to other dogs and would bite out of nowhere (no warning).

I've spoken to only 1-2 other people that have experienced it but it happens. It doesn't happen enough to advise against neutering but it does happen.


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## mebully21 (Nov 18, 2011)

wow gsd i never heard of that.so its the anesthesia that causes the reaction?


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## Jenne (Mar 13, 2013)

I think it is great you were there to rescue the 6-month-old from getting into the wrong hands. We did that with a female GSD. A guy (Bro 1) got her from his brother (Bro 2) who was treating her right. Bro 1 couldn't keep her; he thought about keeping her, but realized it wouldn't be fair to her. I would have loved to keep her, too, but she and our male had a couple bad resource-guarding fights, and we felt it wasn't a good match. Through rescue, we found her a wonderful home. 

So, it is great that you rescued this lil' guy. It may be the most giving thing, for him, your own Axel, and a new loving family, to re-home the youngster. You can find someone who is able to wait with neutering until he is more mature, yet won't put him through possible nasty scuffles that could cause him to have aggression or fear, or have one of the two dogs be hurt.


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## CoryS (Apr 15, 2013)

I appreciate all the input! I don't think re-homing. There haven't been any other incidents and they play very well together. I think perhaps Axel just needed time to accept Duke into the family.


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