# How to keep my GSD from being agressive with our Wheaten Terrier



## Gunners (Oct 14, 2016)

Gunner(GSD) is 1.5 years. Our Wheaten is 8 years old. When we first got Gunner about 6 weeks ago he was not agreesive with our Wheaten. Now he wants to be agreessive alot and sometimes gets into almost fights. What can we do to deter this? Have had him on Taste of the Wild and read a review somewhere that it caused their dog to get agressive and have Diarhea sometimes(Gunner does too), not sure if that could be part of the problem. Any help woud be appreciated. Thanks


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## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

Food doesn't cause aggression. Never heard that before. If your Wheaten is a male (let us know) you may have a problem on your hands with same sex aggression. I know Wheatens are not the easiest to live with other dogs. You need to give us more information about their living situation, health of the Wheaten, training levels and temperament, your schedule and management etc. so we can give you better advice.


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## Momto2GSDs (Mar 22, 2012)

wolfy dog said:


> Food doesn't cause aggression. Never heard that before. If your Wheaten is a male (let us know) you may have a problem on your hands with same sex aggression. I know Wheatens are not the easiest to live with other dogs. You need to give us more information about their living situation, health of the Wheaten, training levels and temperament, your schedule and management etc. so we can give you better advice.


^^^YES^^^

Until this is sorted out, please, "Crate & Rotate" these dogs so that nothing serious will happen!


BTW.....WELCOME Gunners!
Moms


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## scarfish (Apr 9, 2013)

i don't know your dog history if you ever had 2 dogs before? to an untrained eye play can look and sound like fighting aggression. if you're sure they're not getting along yes crate and rotate. or only together under extreme supervision. even both leashed with 2 people if need be.


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## Gunners (Oct 14, 2016)

*Reply to first answer.*



wolfy dog said:


> Food doesn't cause aggression. Never heard that before. If your Wheaten is a male (let us know) you may have a problem on your hands with same sex aggression. I know Wheatens are not the easiest to live with other dogs. You need to give us more information about their living situation, health of the Wheaten, training levels and temperament, your schedule and management etc. so we can give you better advice.


Yes Einstein is a Male Wheaten. He has never been agressive. I am home a lot now with the dogs as I had back surgery. I go out and throw ball with Gunner and he enjoys that. He was trained some before we got him so he walks with us pretty well now and sits and lays down. We are working on getting him to stay and it is going pretty well. They play alot just growling and not really biting each other but showing their teeth and grabbing at each other. The fights have been few but they really go afte each other then. I am afraid our Wheaten will be hurt. Any advice is helpful .


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## Gunners (Oct 14, 2016)

*3 Dogs*



scarfish said:


> i don't know your dog history if you ever had 2 dogs before? to an untrained eye play can look and sound like fighting aggression. if you're sure they're not getting along yes crate and rotate. or only together under extreme supervision. even both leashed with 2 people if need be.


We had three dogs before a GSD, Cairn Terrier , and Westie all were males and they never fought.


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## Deb (Nov 20, 2010)

Was your Wheaten socialized with other dogs when he was young? Wheaten's can be same sex aggressive. As Wolfy Dog said, we'd need to know more about both dogs. If you just had back surgery, you can't be trying to break up a fight. I agree with crate and rotate each dog separately. Playing as you seem to have seen can escalate quickly with two males of these breeds.


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## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

Gunners said:


> Yes Einstein is a Male Wheaten. He has never been agressive. I am home a lot now with the dogs as I had back surgery. I go out and throw ball with Gunner and he enjoys that. He was trained some before we got him so he walks with us pretty well now and sits and lays down. We are working on getting him to stay and it is going pretty well. They play alot just growling and not really biting each other but showing their teeth and grabbing at each other. The fights have been few but they really go afte each other then. I am afraid our Wheaten will be hurt. Any advice is helpful .


I am worried for both of them. You are heading for trouble if you don't crate and rotate. I would give the GSD back. You don't want to mess with a Wheaten. When I lived in Europe,many years ago, a Fox terrier bit off the leg of a GSD at a show (I am not making this up).


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## Gunners (Oct 14, 2016)

*Thanks for your advice and follow up*



wolfy dog said:


> I am worried for both of them. You are heading for trouble if you don't crate and rotate. I would give the GSD back. You don't want to mess with a Wheaten. When I lived in Europe,many years ago, a Fox terrier bit off the leg of a GSD at a show (I am not making this up).


Thanks, One thing They are fine when they play outside. It's just inside when they have their toys out mainly. If it makes a difference, Gunner has not been neutered yet. Your advice on giving him back may be good as we don't want any harm to come to either of them.


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## Deb (Nov 20, 2010)

_Gunner(GSD) is 1.5 years. Our Wheaten is 8 years old. When we first got Gunner about 6 weeks ago he was not agreesive with our Wheaten. Now he wants to be agreessive alot and sometimes gets into almost fights._

Your German Shepherd has just gone through his honeymoon period. You're going to start seeing his real personality come out. He is getting comfortable in your house. And now the two dogs are deciding the pack order. Both breeds are known to have problems with same sex aggression. I worry with these two and you just having back surgery. You could get seriously hurt if you try to break up a fight between them. It will take very careful management for these two dogs to live in the same house peacefully. You might want to consider having someone, a trainer, a behaviorist, to come in to observe them and help you.


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## Gunners (Oct 14, 2016)

Deb said:


> _Gunner(GSD) is 1.5 years. Our Wheaten is 8 years old. When we first got Gunner about 6 weeks ago he was not agreesive with our Wheaten. Now he wants to be agreessive alot and sometimes gets into almost fights._
> 
> Your German Shepherd has just gone through his honeymoon period. You're going to start seeing his real personality come out. He is getting comfortable in your house. And now the two dogs are deciding the pack order. Both breeds are known to have problems with same sex aggression. I worry with these two and you just having back surgery. You could get seriously hurt if you try to break up a fight between them. It will take very careful management for these two dogs to live in the same house peacefully. You might want to consider having someone, a trainer, a behaviorist, to come in to observe them and help you.


Will it help when he is neutered? Thanks


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## CatChandler (Jul 25, 2016)

Gunners said:


> We had three dogs before a GSD, Cairn Terrier , and Westie all were males and they never fought.


In my experience, it's not as much about gender as it is the personalities of the dogs. One of them HAS to be willing to back down. If neither is backing down consistently, then like everyone else said, you should get a behaviorist in. They might be able to help, or they might tell you the dogs may never be able to live together. Either way, you need to know.


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## karladupler (Mar 22, 2016)

Deb said:


> _Gunner(GSD) is 1.5 years. Our Wheaten is 8 years old. When we first got Gunner about 6 weeks ago he was not agreesive with our Wheaten. Now he wants to be agreessive alot and sometimes gets into almost fights._
> 
> Your German Shepherd has just gone through his honeymoon period. You're going to start seeing his real personality come out. He is getting comfortable in your house. And now the two dogs are deciding the pack order. Both breeds are known to have problems with same sex aggression. I worry with these two and you just having back surgery. You could get seriously hurt if you try to break up a fight between them. It will take very careful management for these two dogs to live in the same house peacefully. You might want to consider having someone, a trainer, a behaviorist, to come in to observe them and help you.


What is a honeymoon period?! Sorry for "coming in hot"


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## MineAreWorkingline (May 2, 2015)

The Wheaton is neutered?


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## Nigel (Jul 10, 2012)

Gunners said:


> Thanks, One thing They are fine when they play outside. It's just inside when they have their toys out mainly. If it makes a difference, Gunner has not been neutered yet. Your advice on giving him back may be good as we don't want any harm to come to either of them.


We keep high value toys put up in our home, they're only brought out for the us to interact with them. This helps keep the peace. As far as neutering, it may change things, but not always for the better.


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## Gunners (Oct 14, 2016)

MineAreWorkingline said:


> The Wheaton is neutered?


Yes he is


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## Suzy25 (Mar 3, 2016)

For now I would keep them separate, do the crate and rotate. take away any toys or such for when they are together (one dog might be slightly possessive of toys, not enough that you could see but enough the other dog could sense and start fighting over. train with them together, both on leash and such under controlled circumstances. get an actual behaviourist in to assess both dogs, (look into trainers that are very knowledgeable about gsds) it might not be aggression from the GSD, but look like aggression to the untrained eye. You never know
The trailer will tell you exactly what is going on and how to work though it, if you can.


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## Deb (Nov 20, 2010)

Gunners said:


> Will it help when he is neutered? Thanks



Odds are it won't if it's already a learned behavior. It may help a little, but you have another dog that is also know to have dog aggression issues. Are you sure it is the GSD that is beginning all the fights? Not saying it isn't, but it was the Wheaten's home first and he may also be territorial of his house and toys. I would put up all toys and especially high value ones.


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## Deb (Nov 20, 2010)

karladupler said:


> What is a honeymoon period?! Sorry for "coming in hot"



The dog is on his best behavior, he's learning about his new surroundings. Once he's comfortable he'll start to show more of his real personality and possibly challenge rules. It's kind of like when you get a new job, you're quiet and watchful and looking to see where you fit in. Once you're there a few weeks you relax and are more yourself, and more likely to push for that assignment or project you'd like for yourself rather than see it go to someone else.


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## LuvShepherds (May 27, 2012)

Take a video and watch it in slow motion to see who is starting it and why. Are they really fighting? Mine play fight and sound snarly and scary, but I taped and watched them in SLO mo and found out they weren't making contact, they were just showing a lot of teeth. If it turns into biting and snarling, you have to stop it. I would not have two dogs that have real fights. I would return the puppy rather than have a dangerous situation.


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## MineAreWorkingline (May 2, 2015)

LuvShepherds said:


> Take a video and watch it in slow motion to see who is starting it and why. Are they really fighting? Mine play fight and sound snarly and scary, but I taped and watched them in SLO mo and found out they weren't making contact, they were just showing a lot of teeth. If it turns into biting and snarling, you have to stop it. I would not have two dogs that have real fights. I would return the puppy rather than have a dangerous situation.


I think taking the video is a good idea. The naked eye misses a lot of things. This would let you know more of what is really going on.


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## Stevenzachsmom (Mar 3, 2008)

I have a 70lb female shepherd and a 30lb male beagle/JRT. I have always been concerned about the size difference. They get along well, but I do not allow rough housing - especially indoors. I immediately correct whichever one seems to be starting something. I don't allow blocking, standing over, staring, or overly rough behavior.

Definitely get help from someone who can read the dogs and help you figure out exactly what is going on. 

Best of luck to you.


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## Gunners (Oct 14, 2016)

*Thanks*



Stevenzachsmom said:


> I have a 70lb female shepherd and a 30lb male beagle/JRT. I have always been concerned about the size difference. They get along well, but I do not allow rough housing - especially indoors. I immediately correct whichever one seems to be starting something. I don't allow blocking, standing over, staring, or overly rough behavior.
> 
> Definitely get help from someone who can read the dogs and help you figure out exactly what is going on.
> 
> Best of luck to you.


Thanks Jan, Will work on stopping it before It starts. Also,putting toys up,


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## LARHAGE (Jul 24, 2006)

I have an intact male German Shepherd and 4 terriers, a JRT, 2 Cairns, and a Border Terrier, the only female is a Cairn, all are neutered and spayed. They all get along great, but terriers by nature are feisty and confrontational and THANK GOD for the temperament of my Shepherd, he takes a lot of crap from them, what starts as play gets snarky fast if they can't have their way. I let Gavin, my Shepherd know that I have his back, I will discipline the instigator quickly and firmly, also Gavin is not allowed to be too rough when he plays, he and the Border literally chase each other around my very large property amping up the speed and intensity, but I am super diligent about postering and attitudes, they NEVER get toys or bones in the house in close quarters and during the day when I work the terriers are never left alone with my Shepherd. The indisputable alpha of the pack is the smallest, the 10 pound female Cairn.


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## karladupler (Mar 22, 2016)

Deb said:


> The dog is on his best behavior, he's learning about his new surroundings. Once he's comfortable he'll start to show more of his real personality and possibly challenge rules. It's kind of like when you get a new job, you're quiet and watchful and looking to see where you fit in. Once you're there a few weeks you relax and are more yourself, and more likely to push for that assignment or project you'd like for yourself rather than see it go to someone else.


Oh that makes sense! Thank you!  and what a funny term hahahaha


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## Gunners (Oct 14, 2016)

Update: Took advice here. Put the toys up when the dogs are together. Observed them both and found most all of the play is non aggression. When one starts getting to aggressive I immediately discipline the one who starts it. This has worked well. When both dogs are outside they play well together. Thanks all for the advice.


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## Kellyh (Dec 11, 2017)

HI, I'm new to the site and have a few questions. We have a 7 yr old min-pin chihuahua mix (male, neutered) and have just adopted a new female gsd (3 months old and has been with us for 5 weeks) Five times now she has gotten the chihuahua by the back of the neck and shook him. It's scary and I'm worried about his safety. We started training classes yesterday and I see some helpful suggestions in the forum like removing the toys and stopping aggressive behavior. What are the markers for this? He likes her to play tug-of-war with him but he is growling the whole time, is this instigating the aggressive behavior? What is crate and rotate mean? she stands over him and they both people guard how do I stop this behavior? Desperate for help...


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## Pytheis (Sep 23, 2016)

Kellyh said:


> HI, I'm new to the site and have a few questions. We have a 7 yr old min-pin chihuahua mix (male, neutered) and have just adopted a new female gsd (3 months old and has been with us for 5 weeks) Five times now she has gotten the chihuahua by the back of the neck and shook him. It's scary and I'm worried about his safety. We started training classes yesterday and I see some helpful suggestions in the forum like removing the toys and stopping aggressive behavior. What are the markers for this? He likes her to play tug-of-war with him but he is growling the whole time, is this instigating the aggressive behavior? What is crate and rotate mean? she stands over him and they both people guard how do I stop this behavior? Desperate for help...


You might want to start your own thread. You would probably get more answers that way.

That being said, your GSD got your chihuahua by the back of the neck and and shook him?? That is extremely dangerous! You are going to lose your chihuahua if that isn't immediately stopped!


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## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

Shaking that CHi is the intend to kill.


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