serious "aggression"help needed - Page 4

 Honestly Kitkat I think if you truly understood the nature of "the beast" you would not be on the internet asking people how to get a "high drive schutzhund dog" to get along with a small dog. I don't think it has anything to do with doberman's or a lion. It has to do with a "high drive dog bred for schutzhund" and a small dog, and dog aggression. 

I sincerely hope for your sake and your dogs sake that your 40 year streak of luck does not wear out. All the best to you. 

(on a side note, cool about handling a lion. I have handled quite a variety of exotics myself and learned a ton of training from them, never the big cats though. I knew too many handlers with problems with them and never was comfortable around big cats or elephants. But I did spend quite a bit of time with wolves, coyote, birds of prey, and a black bear etc....I'm grateful for all they taught me....they taught me to read animals better then even dogs have, taught me how to be able to train an animal without having to even touch him/her, and how to safely and cautiously handle an animal with the capacity to do lots of serious damage. i worked regularly with a variety of exotics for 3 years and like I said, am thoroughly grateful for the respect they taught me. I think they're just awesome)

     I have not come to any one solution. I am combining several suggestions togeather;

Everyone slept in their crate last night; it's going to have to be a process "we go through togeather", I WILL and DO use the choker.(TWO MOONS- I did not beat my dog with the paper, I wacked him on the rear, my rolled up newspaper consists of 2 pages with with 3 twirls of duct tape on the end. I thought the sound of the whack would work better than the actual whack )

     Duke has a choker on, When he came out this morn, he got a ft. long leash attached, him and everyone else was made to sit and wait at the door.We all went out togeather. ME, the boss! The food came up, no more free pickins, at least until I get this resolved. Came back in, no one on the couch, little ones got a blanket on the heat duct, Duke got to stay/down while I drank my coffee(2 cups).Him and Sophie, sit and wait, out the door togeather, Come back in, everyone "in the box",   Duke is going to get a strict routine, and that choker and ft. long are going to become his new best friend! When I go out in the truck, it won't be just me and Duke anymore,(he only goes with me when he won't have to be left in the vehicle). My dogs can come to work with me, when I Go!    Today we are having a heat wave 30 dgr. I am going to take a hike, Duke on the leash.  He is very good with his basic obedience, and he does come immediately when I say Come. I beleive the answer here is strict rules of obedience. I have to go further than I have.    I have freely admitted, I know nothing about schutzhund training, and when I took Sophie and got bothered by her being yoked off her feet, she was only four months old and had no idea what was going on. Beleive me, I have yoked more than one dog in my life! And I see a few more yokings in the future!  It is the nature of schutzhund I don't understand, and that brings me HERE!!! I know a lot of people here do schutzhund and I beleive there are very knowledgeable people here. I do know dogs, I want to know schutzhund, it is a long road for me, I just hope I'm up for the journey.      And re; my lion, I'm sure I was just damn lucky that I got a great cat. it was a dream of mine that I pursued and achieved. You cannot in your wildest dreams know the fun of a game of hide and seek or tag, or being hugged and licked with a sandpaper tongue, by a 600lb cat. It was wonderful. I'd love to do it again!

Ok Kitkat...I know you'll work it out and best of luck to you. 

As far as cats go?  I have nothing against them, I have been close to a tiger and a puma.  I almost bought the tiger except she was old and her death was going to involve very many problems and alot of paper work.  The puma was fun until he would clamp down on you, it was only play but he was powerful.  I just know all cats are very independant and can at times go forth with great speed and energy.  I concider them unpredictable and knew the man whos life long pet killed him.  It was totally out of the blue and unexpected.  All I mean to say is I would never recommend any wild animal for a pet.  I had similar concerns over my own wolf hybrids.  I had a very wonderful girl who I had to put down over health reasons, she went blind.  The breeder was not reputable and I blame his breeding practices for her loss.   Yet I never lost my respect for what she could be capable of.  And I may say she was one of the most intelligent animals i'd ever raised including my Shepherds.    But I stopped raising them because of safety concerns. 

Again JMO

For the original poster, as I have already said, unless and until you completely open your mind, your chances of having a serious or lethal incident between the GSD and smaller dog are very, very high. You have been given some very good advice here by Shasta, among others. The fact that you think it may be enough to "hit" your dog with two pieces of newspaper rolled and then duct taped shows just how naive you are.

Let me be clear:  I believe in positive motivation as a training approach. However, if one has a headstrong dog, be it male or female, a SchH dog or candidate or just a pet, one MUST be willing to do whatever it takes to set limits when and where necessary. i have some dogs I can give a nasty look to and that is all it takes. Others take a stern voice. But I have some I have to physically deal with and I must prevail or else I am in big trouble.

Your dog may respond now to the newspaper, but I seriously doubt it will later on as it matures if it is really suitable for SchH sport. And if you do not heed the advice given here, I can already predict that you will be one who is so upset with the dog for killing or severely injuring the Yorkie that you will want to get rid of the dog. In fact, when that incident happens, you will have only yourself to blame. I do GSD rescue and take such emails and phone calls weekly. But each person who has called me in such situations wanting to dump the GSD still did not get it, except they had a dead dog. Once a dog kills or injures another dog, the chances are very high that no reputable rescue or shelter will take the dog, or, if a shelter does, they will put the dog down.I certainly cannot take a dog who has killed another animal.

Providing for the best chance of success that the larger dog does not injure or kill the small dog means very, very strict supervision. However, even under that scenario, trust me, when the s--- hits the fan, it will happen so quickly that you will not have time to react. Keeping these two separated is the only safe and sure method to ensure your small dog lives its life.

As for Schutzhund, it is a lot of fun in the right environment. However, without an open mind to learn more about behaviors and training and yes, timely and effective correction, as well as predicting and preventing unwanted behaviors, one is doomed to fail. If you are serious about Schutzhund, you are already behind the curve because the GSD is almost 8 months old. Find some clubs, contact them, leave the dog home initially and go observe and ask questions. But keep your mind open. If you find a club that is willing to work with you, over time hopefully you will learn that Shasta and a few others gave some very good advice.

Picking up the food was a good idea. Even where dogs do not overeat, it is yet one more opportunity for conflict where there are multiple dogs. I routinely interact with 18 or so GSDs in a pack and several other packs that are smaller. But I do not feed them together, play with them together or give one attention over the others. Only a few are neutered and spayed, but I rarely have anything but a small tiff between the dogs. Still, I watch body language, eyes, etc. to head off difficulties before they begin. The dogs know I am in charge. Experience and presence are everything when dealing with multiple dogs.

Good luck.

Hmmmmmmmm....I am wondering if you were honest with the breeder about how many dogs that you have and the different breeds as well as your living conditions.  Before finding fault with this dog, I would wonder exactly how many dogs are in the home, it looks like a bunch of Yorkies and you say my other shepherds -- were you properly prepared before you collected another dog?  Does your home accomadate so many dogs...ie: are you living in an apartment, 800 square foot house or trailer, or a larger home that gives each dog it's own space without being on top of each other?  Chances are if you were totally honest with the breeder of this poor puppy they would not have sold you a puppy!  You should take that choke collar and wrap it around your neck or hit yourself with that rolled up paper!!!  I can't believe when I read you "yoked" up the puppy!  Keep it up and you will cause his trachea to collapse!  My God... lions, GSD's, Yorkies........obviously the problem is with you!  You are an animal collector and the animals suffer because of your disorder!!!!!

You asked for "any advice" ------------------- MY ADVICE IS TO RETURN THIS PUPPY TO THE BREEDER SO HE CAN FIND A PROPER HOME !!!!!!!!!

Hmmmmm Germanshepherdlove, how many dogs do I have? and my dog is not a little one. He is 65 lbs. And I also guess that little newspaper whack hurts worse than a pinch collar ..........And FYI...., I have 50 acres of land, and I have horses too. My dogs spend countless hrs in every day with me. ALL of them. My dogs have food, vaccines, health care, and most important LOVE, from me.

     I have had local animal control bring dogs to me to re-home instead of going to the shelter with them. And, the person I got my dog from knows how many dogs I have and what my intentions with MY dog is. And also FYI, I think the pic I posted shows more than ONE yorkie, I've had yorkies and shepherd(s)(notice the s in there) togeather, for years. And NO, there will be no re-homing of anyone. Just to ease your mind, I've been taking the proper steps to correct any "issues' I've been having with "my " dogs.

     ps, My lion has long since gone with the lion Gods, give me your e-mail, I'll send you pics of her sleeping in bed with my kids when they were little.Imagine this, my kids lived through life with me too! hmmmmm