# 12 week old GSD puppy & 3.5 year old Mini Pin



## Mrxoctopus (May 5, 2009)

Well to start it off, Spikey is my 12 week old German shepherd, and Lucky is my 3.5 year old Miniature Pinscher. I got Spikey when he was 8 weeks old. Today, something happened that never happened before... My two dogs were actually fighting (both dogs fighting,growling,etc.). Usually Lucky does the growling and Spikey usually bikes off, but today Spikey started to fight back. Both of them were eating, and lucky headed over to Spikey's bowl trying to get some of his food. Lucky started growling and the fight happened... Spikey went for a full chomp on Lucky's little body and lucky yelped... Does this mean Spikey is trying to dominate Lucky? ( Lucky was dominant dog over my cousin's Labrador) Is there a way to prevent this from happening again cause Im afraid Lucky might not be so _lucky_ next time.


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## middleofnowhere (Dec 20, 2000)

Feed them seperately. Do not let them mess with one another's food.


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## StormyK9 (May 11, 2009)

Try to keep them away from each other when there eating. Maybe Spikey wants to show dominance over lucky. Do you want Lucky to be the dominant one? When Spikey is showing to much aggression... then its your time to show who is boss and what he is not allow to do. Don't be too nice to him and just pull them away. Show who is leader... you.


Show some pics of your new GSD!


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## Mrxoctopus (May 5, 2009)

> Originally Posted By: StormyK9Show some pics of your new GSD!


They're not good pictures, but here you go!
































Im gonna take pics tomorrow and i'll post them up asap


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

Sweet as can be when he's sleeping but those eyes when he's awake say to me he's going to be a handful. 

You need to show him now who's the boss and it ain't him.

I would not want to keep them away from one another forever when they're eating and would want to address and cure the problem if at all possible, without the little one getting hurt of course. The fact that the GSD is so young gives you a real advantage to do this I would think.


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## StormyK9 (May 11, 2009)

How is spikey? Is he healthy with all his shots? Lucky too? Keep a good watch of them when your around.


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## BowWowMeow (May 7, 2007)

Forget the dominance, be the boss stuff. You need to be a good leader, not a dominator. You need both dogs to feel safe eating so keep them separated when they're eating from now on. 

Start basic obedience with Spikey and keep doing obedience with the min pin. 

And check around on this forum. There are currently at least two threads going on german shepherd and little dogs living together. There are also a couple of threats on resource guarding and food aggression. They have lots of good information in them.


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## HeidiW (Apr 9, 2009)

My Bo is now about 10 weeks sable male. At first I fed the girls seperate, the first week. I let him eat his stuff in front of them the whole time they don't like his food. Then I fed them all together they had their own bowls in different parts of the kitchen. Bo went up to Bella while she was eating and she growled and snapped at him. He backed off and now stays away from her while she eats. He did the same to Daisy repeat. He respect them while they eat. When they are staisfied and walk away he runs to see what is left and finishes it of and thye don't care. Just interesting.
The first time they they had to teach him to leave them be. Mini Pins are small though and my JRT is a tough.


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

You can prevent fighting but you cannot MAKE one dog be dominant over the other - THEY have to decide.

It sounds like both your dogs are males? That may cause more problems down the road - but maybe not. Usually male/male or female/female pairings are problematic.

Plus, you throw in the fact that one's a MinPin - a terrier breed with a BIG attitude - and you are tipping the scales more towards the "problems" side of the equation.

How are they when there isn't food around? Do they play together ok?


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## HeidiW (Apr 9, 2009)

My JRT is Boss but Bella can be pushy too if she really wants something. Now Bo I am just watching how this plays out as he is not a pushover and he is not submissive either, other than he is respectufl when they eat and have a bone which is great. he must be balanced. He lets them take his food and toys and bones.


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## StormyK9 (May 11, 2009)

> Originally Posted By: Lauri & The Gang
> 
> It sounds like both your dogs are males? That may cause more problems down the road - but maybe not. Usually male/male or female/female pairings are problematic.


Would this still be true if 1 dog was neutered and the other wasn't? OR if both were neutered, would it still be problematic?


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## Mrxoctopus (May 5, 2009)

> Originally Posted By: Spikey
> 
> Im gonna take pics tomorrow and i'll post them up asap


Here they are http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1074811&page=0#Post1074811


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## wolfstraum (May 2, 2003)

Supervise, supervise, supervise!

Feed separately and do not play with either dog's food - just let them eat in peace....

I don't have small dogs, so cannot offer any first hand advice - but my dogs all eat in a kennel or their crate not in a common area. The best way to manage problem behavior is to not set up a scenerio that encourages unwanted behavior.

Lee


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