# My nice/submissive German shepherds killed a small dog



## jonnyo (Dec 5, 2014)

First time here, i hope i m posting at the right place! (i m french canadians...so my english writing skills are...so so...)

I have a 1.5 year old female german shephard, neurtured. We had her since she was 8 weeks. She is amazing, the most gentle, docile, dog in the world. We also have a 1 year old baby and a cat and our dog (Kala) get along very well with both. 

While i was in vacation, Kala was babysitted at my inlaws for 10 days with there 4 dogs. One of them is a tiny 5lbs dog *(morgan). 

Morgan as always been a bully...attaching kala from day one (1+ year ago) but our dog is so submissive that she would just stay in a corner or run away. They have been houseitted all together many times with no problem. 

Unfortuntly, this time, after Kala finished her meal, she was walking back to the main room and Morgan came charging at her...nipping etc. For the first time ever, Kala reacted by bitting morgan on the belly and throwing her on the wall. It lasted 1 sec but the bit was enough and morgan died 3h later. 

I feel terrible about what my dog did. I want to be a responsable owner, and i m wondering what is the proper step to take now. 

Kala our german shephard is now 70lbs...she love playing with other dogs..get along with all dogs and all humain. She never bark when someone is at the door, instead, she want to lick them. even stranger. she is a terrible gard dog.... My inlaw are furious against us and think our dog need to be relocated or put down. 

anyone, stranger, kids can take our dog...pull her ears, open her mouth...put your hand in it.... Kala dosnt close stay gentle, nice etc. The one aspect i can see problematic is Kala is a over excited dog...she is insanly happy to see anyone...it s so hard to keep her contorle when someone come to the hosue...she want to go see the person and lick.....touch them etc. Perhaps that is where i faulted....not having her well behavied? We did some classes and she listen pretty well to us for basic commends. She is the perfect family dog for us except for this attack.,....

i m lost for words. is my little 1 year old girl in danger?


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## GatorBytes (Jul 16, 2012)

Your in-laws took responsibility for the care of your dog and in accepting that responsibility they had an obligation to police the dogs to make sure their 5 lb. dog was in control.

They cannot enforce having your dog put to sleep (PTS), nor can they force you to re-home. Your Girl did not attack, simply tossed as way to say enough! She behaved and told the 5 pounder in no uncertain terms in dog language the little one was out of line.

Most areas do not PTS dogs for unfortunate accidents. possible muzzle order if they press for it. Human bite, depending on severity may be PTS.

Hopefully once they get over the initial shock, they will see that this is a dog being a dog .

She sounds lovely


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

Well this is a touchy situation.

First, your child is in no danger. Dog aggression is not transferred to humans.

Second, I don't see this as dog aggression. If I walked up and punched you in the face on a daily basis, wouldn't you eventually hit me back?

Unfortunately, both yourselves and your in-laws knew this Morgan was an issue. Steps should have been taken to keep them separate. Being that it was your in-laws house, the bulk of that responsibility falls on them. They allowed a dog to continuously attack another dog until the bigger dog fought back. 

However, you also knew about this situation and you left Kala there knowing this dog would continue to attack her.

IMO, your in-laws will need to suck it up. Sorry for their loss but it was their own fault for letting Morgan behave in this way. You are going to need to grovel to mend the relationship with your in-laws and find a safe place to board Kala when you go away.

And please don't let kids pull on her ears, open her mouth, etc. You are just asking for trouble there as well.


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## Stevenzachsmom (Mar 3, 2008)

I think Kala is more mature now and finally had enough of Morgan's behavior. Some people think just because a dog is tiny, it can do whatever it wants to a larger dog. The large dog has a threshold and that line was crossed. It is unfortunate this happened to the small dog. It was large part human error. Just with the size difference, the dogs should have been closely monitored. It doesn't take much to hurt such a small dog.

No, your child is not in danger from Kala. Even if Kala was dog aggressive, which I don't believe she is, dog aggression does not equate to human aggression. Dogs and children should always be closely supervised, but Kala does not sound like a dog who would hurt her children. 

From your description, Morgan pestered and bullied Kala from the time Kala was a puppy. It is unfair for a submissive dog to be bullied to the point it stays in a corner or runs away. Morgan should have been corrected from the get-go. It sounds to me like Kala gave Morgan a correction, more than she attacked. A 70 pound dog correcting a 5 pound dog was a tragedy waiting to happen. That is why the humans should have intervened a long time ago. 

Please don't blame Kala for this. Love her for the awesome dog she is. Protect her from bullies. I am sorry for your in-laws, but they must accept responsibility for their part in this. They did not correct Morgan. They did not monitor the dogs.


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## jonnyo (Dec 5, 2014)

thank you for the perspectives. 

1. you are right, i knew in the back of my mind that it was a problematic relationship, but i was never ''worrie'' about a 5lbs dog attacking my 70lbs dog. I didnt think the other way around. 

2. yes...we will find another place for her to stay when we go in vacation!

3. we dont let my daughter do anything to do the dog. we are teaching her to respect Kala. Our dog isnt allow on couch or furniture...she eat last after the cat. But we did train her to be ok with us...opening her month....taking her food...taking her toys away etc to the point that she just dosnt care if anyone take her food while she eat... If my daughter take her bones....kala wait patiently until my daughter give the bone back. It s like the #1 interest of our dog is humain relationship... food is definitly not food driven


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## Debanneball (Aug 28, 2014)

This sounds like my friend's white shepherd. There were 3 little shutzshu that lived beside her, the 3 constantly attacked the gsd, nipping at ankles, circling.. Finally one day the gsd turned and grabbed one, but the owner was right on top of it, no harm done. From that day on, the 3 left the gsd alone. Guess they only take so much...


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## Waffle Iron (Apr 3, 2012)

GSD's have limits on how much they'll take another dog being pushy, in their face, bullying, and so forth. And once that line is crossed, they'll make it clear to the other dog they've gone to far. That reaction isn't meant to be aggressive, violent, or fatal to the other dog at all. It's just part of animal behavior. 

I recently adopted a younger male GSD into my home with my female GSD who is a couple years older. And my new guy is a adolescent through and through. He's pushy, whiny, obnoxious at times, and when he pushes my female to far, oh boy does she put him in his place. It sounds bad, looks bad, and makes you cringe, but it's part of boundaries being set. Does the younger male repeat the behaviors? Nope lol. He backs off and respects the female GSD's limits.


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