# Dog Aggressiveness



## denac (Jul 10, 2009)

Hi,
We are thinking of adding a male german shepherd puppy to our home. We currently have a 1 year old labrador female. I have been reading about attacks of aggressiveness from GSD dogs to other dogs in their home. Is this common? Would we need to keep the dogs separate whenever we are out of the house?


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## Lucy Dog (Aug 10, 2008)

Just because you're bringing a new dog into the house, i'd definitely keep an eye on them in the beginning, but you should do that with any breed of dog. Nothing to do with the dog being a GSD. Have they ever met eachother?

There are certain ways you might want to introduce the dogs. On neutral turf like a park would be a good start. You can also bring them on a walk together and see how they interact before bringing them home.

From personal experience, i brought home a female GSD with an already 8 year old 20 pound spaniel who's been living in the house his whole life and i've never had any kind of aggression. If anything, the 20 pound spaniel is the boss and the GSD is the follower.


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## littledmc17 (Apr 9, 2008)

our lab was 2 when we brought Brady home
mind you we rescued her, she had NO training what so ever, no socialization with other dogs and stubborn
Getting B as a pup was the best thing for her, she loves him to death and they did have their play fights (we were there watching)
when we weren't home B was in his crate 
Missy mothered him and he loves her to death too


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## Lauri & The Gang (Jun 28, 2001)

First off, welcome to the board!

You are on the right path buy adding a male to your house. Male / female combinations are usually better than same sex ones.

And since you are getting a puppy you can start the training and socializing early.

Be SURE you are getting a pup from a responsible breeder. They will help you by picking the right puppy for your home.

Since you will be bringing home a puppy you will be crate training (hopefully) so the dogs will be separated when you aren't home anyway - at least in the beginning. The pup has to EARN having free roam of the house - no potty accidents, no destruction.

The breed is NOT supposed to be aggressive. They are protective - it's different.


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## denac (Jul 10, 2009)

Thank you for the quick responses. At a year old, our lab has free reign of the house while we are gone (she is too lazy to get into anything







). She has been properly socialized and of course we would socialize our GSD as well, but would crating/separating the dogs while we are not supervising be a lifetime thing for him (or at least until 4 or 5)? 

I know with other breeds, such as an all lab house, the dogs are only crated while gone until they can be trusted not to ruin the house, but dog fights aren't too much of a worry, but it seems that with GSD it is more of a possibility.
Thanks,


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## Chris Wild (Dec 14, 2001)

Welcome to the forum.

One thing to remember when reading through threads, is it's the unusual situations and people encountering problems that get the most discussion. The overwhelming majority whose dogs get along fine don't tend to come on the board and post "it's Friday, dogs did great all week, no fights!" So while there IS always a potential for any two dogs to not get along, just reading about such things can skew the perspective toward thinking it's more common than it is.

Raising the 2nd dog from puppy hood with the first, and having a male/female combo rather than 2 males or 2 females are the two best things anyone can do to ensure lifelong harmony between the dogs. Sounds like that's exactly what you plan on doing, so you should be fine. Is there a 100% guarantee? No. There never is with animals. But by doing those things you've probably got close to a 99% guarantee.

Keeping them separated when not supervised initially is a good idea. Pups need to be confined for their own safety and to save the house from the wrath of a bored puppy anyway. You also want to ensure that while they get plenty of time together to form a good relationship with one another, the majority of the pup's fun comes from the humans in the house and both pup and established dog should get some one-on-one time each day with the people. This helps ensure that the pup has a good relationship with the established dog, but bonds primarily to the people, not the other dog. If the other dog is the one who spends the most quality time with the pup, the pup will look to the other dog as it's best friend, not the people, and that isn't what you want.

Once the new pup is an adult and ready to have free run of the house unsupervised, they should both be able to enjoy free time together and not need to be separated.


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## littledmc17 (Apr 9, 2008)

agreed! 

Brady has been out of the crate since he has been 18 months 
and they are fine 

Good luck and make sure you post pics of the new fur baby


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## Riley's Mom (Jun 7, 2007)

Some people live w/dogs their whole lives in multiple dog homes and never have a problem. These can include any number of dogs and combinations male/female. Some have dogs they have to shuffle around in and out of crates or in and outside etc to keep them from fighting. 

I have a male/female combination that I could probably leave alone but I refuse to do so for their safety. I've seen just how lightning fast a dog fight can start and have heard and read of the sometimes lethal results. I'm just flat out not willing to take a chance I'm going to come home one day to a seriously injured or dead dog. It was my dream to have my dogs free in my house at all times but I quickly gave my dream up after what I've learned over the past 2 years or so.

Then there's the "what if the dog gets bored and tries to make it's own fun" thing. I have one that counter surfs so those things in itself are enough on their own that I keep mine crated in separate crates when we're not at home.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Welcome to this great place! 
Another reason for seeing dog/dog aggression is the body language a dog may present-it doesn't matter the breed. 
A pup doesn't have that behavior instilled in him yet, so your lab would be more accepting of a pup vs an older juvenile or adult that may come on strong. 
When we have dogs visit, the initial greeting usually sets the tone. If a dog is coming on strong, my dogs may react. I have had a foster, and housesat same sex/opposite sex-all GSD's, & just added a maleGSD pup to my two adult female household. They have accepted the pup with no problems. Opposite sex is the best, IMO.


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## novarobin (Oct 4, 2007)

denac said:


> . At a year old, our lab has free reign of the house while we are gone (she is too lazy to get into anything
> 
> 
> 
> ...


LOL, I quickly learned that two dogs can influence behaviors neither of them would normally do. 

When I moved in with DH, I had a Lab, Chatham, he had a GSD, Kaper. They are about 5 years difference in age. We had been together since Chatham was a puppy, and DH often looked after him so our dogs were very used to each other and got along great. They are now inseparable. 
Buuuttt...
Chatham is a food hound, beyond obsessive, but he just isn't that smart (the kind of dog that can't figure out how to get into the bedroom if the door is ajar and all he has to do is walk forward to push it open further).
Kaper is brilliant, an accomplished escape artist, but the type of dog that you could leave his dog food bag in the middle of the room and he would not touch it (for many years it was accessible) 
That has very much changed. The food bag is no longer accessible, BOTH will eat it. Both are now accomplished countersurfers, the Kaper being the worst (Chatham is much smaller, and things have been obtained from far beyond his reach). 


As for worrying about aggression towards the other dog, I would say GSDs are no more prone to it than any other breed. As others have mentioned, there is no guarantee, but many many people on this board have more than one dog, more than one breed. 

We have since added a third male, who was 2 at the time. We had some minor issues, but all is well now.


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## APBTLove (Feb 23, 2009)

Welcome!

Fights can break out in multiple dog homes with any breed.. Just don't leave them unsupervised and you will be fine.

For the most part with non-fighting-breed dogs a scrap or tiff is only a bunch of growling and nipping.. I had two GSDs and a pomeranian mix together for around 12 years... The only aggression shown was the male putting the bitch in her place and she backed down immediately so he didn't continue.. He also bit our schnauzer for getting in his food, but not a fight, the schnauzer ran off. 
The bitch and my pomeranian bitch got into a few scuffles - obviously nothing serious at all because neither dog was hurt, the GSD bitch was just knocking her around.

Small tiffs, disagreements and ect. are normal... And chances are your female lab will be correcting the pup a lot, but that is not aggression.


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## Shadow's mum (Mar 13, 2010)

Hi I have 4 dogs. The GSD is the youngest (11 months). The GSD has never started a fight with any of the others, she has been a puppy pest, but the others (all small breeds) have tolerated this. The second youngest of our brood gets a little jealous of the shepherd sometimes and has had a few goes at her, generally the shepherd backs off (but not without having the final say, typical female). We have made a point of making sure we kept the already established pecking order. The Shepherd being the youngest and the last to be added is feed last, petted last etc etc. If the shepherd gets reprimanded by one of the older dogs, we back the older dog up and put the shepherd on a time out. I have to add we had more problems when adding the 2nd youngest dog to the mix, and they are father and son. Shadow is our first GSD and I have to say, she is non aggressive, extremely social and generally a fantastic dog.


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## codmaster (Aug 5, 2009)

Depends by far on the individual dogs. We have had as many as three adult females in the house at once without any fighting whatsoever. Oldest female was extremely dominant (never backed down to any dog but would also never start a fight).

Only incident in almost three years was when I stupidly threw a bone while we were all out in the yard. No 2 bitch got to it first (a rarity) and dominant one wanted it but this time no. 2 didn't give it up and they jumped on each other. I (being young and stupid then) grabbed each by the scruff of their necks and yelled "NO". They stopped and that was it - no other incidents in the time that we had all three.


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## AgileGSD (Jan 17, 2006)

Same sex aggression (SSA) which can result in serious fighting (not the normal "scuffles" APBTlove mentioned but real knock down, drag out dog fights) is unfortunately not uncommon in GSDs. Obviously, not all GSDs exhibit SSA but the risk is there and it is something to keep in mind if you want to add a GSD to the house that is the same sex as your resident dog (s). Certain things increase the risk of SSA: dogs who are close in age, littermates or close in age puppies raised together, a family history of SSA and multiple same sex dogs in the household - the more same sex dogs, the bigger risk that at least a couple of them will take issue with each other.

That said, a male GSD with a laid back female Lab would be a pretty "low risk" combination as far as chances of having aggression or fighting issues. As was mentioned, do your research and pick a good breeder. GSDs and most herding/guarding breeds require a lot more early training/socialization than Lab puppies do, so do your research on that too. This is a good place to start:

Before You Get A Puppy:
Before You Get Your Puppy | Dog Star Daily

After You Get A Puppy:Raising A Puppy | Dog Star Daily


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