# How do you recommend we handle this?



## mocamacho92 (Mar 18, 2012)

Ok so my golden and my shepherd get along pretty well. They attacked each other once because my golden tried to take my shepherds food but when this happened I separated them Nd took the foo away for a few minutes. They are ok about good so far. They also went at it a little about two weeks ago but I was inside, although the windows were open so I can hear and see them. I just corrected them by raising my voice and they stopped and were cool again. Well, today my shepherd(6mo) took my goldens(9yrs) ball and went into the dog house to play with it. Then, my golden went into the dog house and I'm assuming tried to take the ball back and then they went at it. I want outside but my dad and brother were. They said that they were biting and growling in the dog house so my dad pulled my golden out. When he did that, my shepherd came out and bit my goldens right side I her head and wouldn't let go. Then while my dad tried to pull them away from each other my golden bit my shepherds chest. My dad then pushed them both away to the ground and they stopped. Then my dad put my sheperd in the dog run for a while to keep them separated. They're totally fine now. There was no blood and no yelping of pain. How do u think we should handle this of it were to happen again?


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

What are there sexes? I have a male 2.5 year old golden(neutered) and a female 9 month old GSD(spayed) The golden is a toy hoarder and has been known to take all toys within sight and keep them by him. He seems to think that they are all his, BUT once the puppy got here, he shares much better. She doesn't give him a choice..she will either take the toy or talk to him until he gives it up. It took him a couple months but he just lets her have the toy now and goes and gets another toy. The GSD doesn't back down when one of the dogs bark at her, she kinda gets in their face, like who are you barking at, do you want to play? The other dogs let her be and it goes from what I think could be a fight to them playing. I would watch the GSD very carefully and I wouldn't allow the behavior that she is displaying to continue. Golden's are usually easy going and wouldn't do well in a fight with a GSD. You might just have to take lots of time to teach them to share and if it doesn't get better(and rather quickly) I would talk to a professional trainer/behaviorist.


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## chelle (Feb 1, 2009)

How to deal if it happens again? Do everything you can to assure it doesn't happen again.

Remove all items that create issues between the dogs.

Feed them separately. Give them chewies separately. 

The GSD is the pup in the house and should know that is his place.

I fear you're setting up for a serious dog fight and very serious injuries.


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## mocamacho92 (Mar 18, 2012)

They have their own toys and are fed separately. My GSD just loves taking my goldens toy. My golden is pretty good with my GSD. She lets my GSD take her toys. I don't know what happened today because they were fighting in a dog house that can only fit one of them. According to my dad, They were just playing before they started fighting. They are both spayed females.


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## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

What happened is that the puppy is maturing and they are both females


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

mocamacho92 said:


> They have their own toys and are fed separately. My GSD just loves taking my goldens toy. My golden is pretty good with my GSD. She lets my GSD take her toys. I don't know what happened today because they were fighting in a dog house that can only fit one of them. According to my dad, They were just playing before they started fighting. They are both spayed females.


When dogs play fight it can turn into a real dog fight fast...one of them(probably the GSD) will not take it lightly and I think that she has already proved that to everyone by what she did to the Golden. At this point even if the Golden does fight back(which is unlikely) the GSD is going to hurt her. 6 months is awful young for a dog to go for another dog like your dog did, especially one that lives in the same house. The GSD has to learn the difference between playing and fighting and fast!! The people in the house are going to have to stay on top of this or it can turn very serious quickly.


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## mocamacho92 (Mar 18, 2012)

llombardo said:


> When dogs play fight it can turn into a real dog fight fast...one of them(probably the GSD) will not take it lightly and I think that she has already proved that to everyone by what she did to the Golden. At this point even if the Golden does fight back(which is unlikely) the GSD is going to hurt her. 6 months is awful young for a dog to go for another dog like your dog did, especially one that lives in the same house. The GSD has to learn the difference between playing and fighting and fast!! The people in the house are going to have to stay on top of this or it can turn very serious quickly.


I'm surprised my golden did not back down. I don't know who started it. I'm thinking maybe it was the small space that they were in. But that behavior will not be tolerated.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

mocamacho92 said:


> I'm surprised my golden did not back down. I don't know who started it. I'm thinking maybe it was the small space that they were in. But that behavior will not be tolerated.


Welcome to the world of owning 2 females As the GSD puppy gets bigger its a good chance that she will be bigger then the golden and its no fun to break up a fight with two bigger dogs. I know that my female GSD is already taller then my male golden, but he does back down and let her have her way. I hold my breath when my two females are at play, because you really can tell if one of them is getting mad and they have to be stopped immediately. My dogs eat, sleep, and play together. Hopefully you can work with yours and get them to be good together. Have you taken the puppy to any obedience classes?


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## Falkosmom (Jul 27, 2011)

There is a big age difference involved here. I would not let these two dogs rough house and play unless strictly supervised. You don't know what aches and pains, if any, the golden feels on any given day. She can't tell you. A young, exhuberant puppy could be way too much for your older dog.


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## chelle (Feb 1, 2009)

mocamacho92 said:


> I'm surprised my golden did not back down. I don't know who started it. I'm thinking maybe it was the small space that they were in. But that behavior will not be tolerated.


I don't think you should expect the Golden to back down. The Golden is nine years old and, IMHO, deserves top dog status. I think the Golden has earned protected status. My nine year old has certainly earned it. NO dog is allowed to pester or annoy my nine year old. Mine is nearly blind and having hearing problems. She bumps into everything, including the dogs. They're not allowed to show one iota of anything. She's at the top of the pack, right up there with the kitty. 

Maybe the pup needs to learn its place -- at the bottom of the pile? Make it easier on them both and limit the things that provoke problems.


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## Falkosmom (Jul 27, 2011)

chelle said:


> I don't think you should expect the Golden to back down. The Golden is nine years old and, IMHO, deserves top dog status. I think the Golden has earned protected status. My nine year old has certainly earned it. NO dog is allowed to pester or annoy my nine year old. Mine is nearly blind and having hearing problems. She bumps into everything, including the dogs. They're not allowed to show one iota of anything. She's at the top of the pack, right up there with the kitty.
> 
> Maybe the pup needs to learn its place -- at the bottom of the pile? Make it easier on them both and limit the things that provoke problems.


And this is where OP needs to step up to the plate and protect this status.


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## mocamacho92 (Mar 18, 2012)

chelle said:


> I don't think you should expect the Golden to back down. The Golden is nine years old and, IMHO, deserves top dog status. I think the Golden has earned protected status. My nine year old has certainly earned it. NO dog is allowed to pester or annoy my nine year old. Mine is nearly blind and having hearing problems. She bumps into everything, including the dogs. They're not allowed to show one iota of anything. She's at the top of the pack, right up there with the kitty.
> 
> Maybe the pup needs to learn its place -- at the bottom of the pile? Make it easier on them both and limit the things that provoke problems.


Yeah, my golden has always been at the top because she is the oldest. She had a problem with my GSD originally because she had always been with small dogs, not big dogs. They are good with each other except for those two incidents. Like I said, I wasn't there, my dad was. I just asked him who was more aggressive and he said my golden was. I think since I wasn't there I'm more worried about it because both my dad n brother, who saw it, said they aren't too concerned about it. My brother says they were mainly making noise. But they were both disciplined. The two times it has happened, they were both disciplined. And I usually will put my GSD on a lead n correct her when she is getting too excited n playful with my golden


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## mocamacho92 (Mar 18, 2012)

llombardo said:


> Welcome to the world of owning 2 females As the GSD puppy gets bigger its a good chance that she will be bigger then the golden and its no fun to break up a fight with two bigger dogs. I know that my female GSD is already taller then my male golden, but he does back down and let her have her way. I hold my breath when my two females are at play, because you really can tell if one of them is getting mad and they have to be stopped immediately. My dogs eat, sleep, and play together. Hopefully you can work with yours and get them to be good together. Have you taken the puppy to any obedience classes?


My GSD has just finished her obedience class. I've always owned multiple female dogs. Just not two big ones.


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## mocamacho92 (Mar 18, 2012)

chelle said:


> I don't think you should expect the Golden to back down. The Golden is nine years old and, IMHO, deserves top dog status. I think the Golden has earned protected status. My nine year old has certainly earned it. NO dog is allowed to pester or annoy my nine year old. Mine is nearly blind and having hearing problems. She bumps into everything, including the dogs. They're not allowed to show one iota of anything. She's at the top of the pack, right up there with the kitty.
> 
> Maybe the pup needs to learn its place -- at the bottom of the pile? Make it easier on them both and limit the things that provoke problems.


I'm just saying I'm surprised she didn't back down because she's so mellow but I'm glad she stood her ground. Anyways, how did you get your other dogs to leave your oldest dog alone? They weren't raised together and have only been together for 2 months.


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## chelle (Feb 1, 2009)

mocamacho92 said:


> I'm just saying I'm surprised she didn't back down because she's so mellow but I'm glad she stood her ground. Anyways, *how did you get your other dogs to leave your oldest dog alone*? They weren't raised together and have only been together for 2 months.


I have two brothers just over a year old. One came home at 11 weeks, the other came to me at 10 months. Dealt with them the same way.

I babysat. I was directly on top of every single interaction that involved Dolly, the 9 year old. Bug Dolly? You're gonna get shooed away. Continue to bug Dolly? You're going to get reprimanded. Mama is going to step in physically and force you back. Rarely, if they tried again, they would really get it. Harsh voice, forced back, mama's mean stance. Zero tolerance policy. Now, my 9 year old wants nothing to do with them, so she doesn't instigate anything with them. If she did, this would be a different scenario, but she does not. She wants only to be left alone and have her human (me!) pet, hug, love, and brush her. She wants the hooligans to leave her alone. 

The hooligans don't understand she's mostly blind, so they don't understand why she's bumping into them, but they absolutely must tolerate it and ignore it. They can give her a sniff, but that is it and that is all. 

Early on, Bailey picked on her a couple of times and I will say, that is the harshest I've ever been with him. Literally the wrath of Mama came down upon his head. It wasn't pretty and I'm not proud, but it just had to be. He knows now. He does not bother her. At all. Ever. I'm not saying I beat my dog, but I did scare the crap right out of him for going for her. I have a loud booming voice and I put it to good use. This is the only instance I have ever physically intimidated him, but I saw a pattern developing (jealousy) and it had to be dealt with. 

I'm NOT saying you should do any of the above, but just wanted to answer your question.


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## mocamacho92 (Mar 18, 2012)

chelle said:


> I have two brothers just over a year old. One came home at 11 weeks, the other came to me at 10 months. Dealt with them the same way.
> 
> I babysat. I was directly on top of every single interaction that involved Dolly, the 9 year old. Bug Dolly? You're gonna get shooed away. Continue to bug Dolly? You're going to get reprimanded. Mama is going to step in physically and force you back. Rarely, if they tried again, they would really get it. Harsh voice, forced back, mama's mean stance. Zero tolerance policy. Now, my 9 year old wants nothing to do with them, so she doesn't instigate anything with them. If she did, this would be a different scenario, but she does not. She wants only to be left alone and have her human (me!) pet, hug, love, and brush her. She wants the hooligans to leave her alone.
> 
> ...


Thanks for answering my question. I am now on summer vacation from school so I will have even more time to work with her. She has definitely come a long way from two months ago but here is obviously still work that needs to be done.


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