aggresive dog or down to training?

[floss76]

Hi all im new to this site and ive been looking through some of the posts and hope you can give me some advice its a bit long winded but here goes....I have a lab 2yrs a german shep 12mths and have now got a rottie pup at this point i expect ur thinking im nuts! the lab and rottie get on fine but the shepherd and rottie play fight all the time quite literally im worried that this will bring out the aggression in both dogs,so i try to seperate them as much as poss, the only problem now is my poor pup seems to be in her crate alot of the time,when they fight roxy(rottie) growls alot and sometimes snaps at honey(gs) is this ok or should i be correcting her at that point?
The next problem is i have 3 kids 12,5 and 3 and roxy will growl and has snapped a couple of times when being held, and sometimes growls is she just being stroked by them she has not done this to me or my husband?
My fear is that this will get worse my first instinct was to rehome her but at 14wks old i really feel ive not given her a fair chance so ive booked her and me in for puppy training and gs for training also at a diff time and level. Am i doing the right thing or have i bitten off more than i can chew!
Id also like to add that ive read some of the post where people have been quite rude pls im just after advice, i really want to make it work with my dogs and family but if its not poss to do so id like to know now.

[chicatropical]

HI there,

I can imagine that this situation is giving you quite a headache. I remember when entroducing the rott pup to our 3 year old golden retriever, she literally went psycho, not letting her chew or play with anything. Both are female and now they come along really well, but the rott knows that the golden is in charge and the golden gets to eat first and the rott waits until she is finished.

I am not sure what you should do about the dogs getting along, but about the snapping situation - dont EVER allow her to growl or even snap at you and even less at your children. Our Rott was almost 3 month old and when I carried her she growled and I corrected that right away. She wouldnt dare to do repeat it at this point. (Just as children do) they always try how far they can go with stuff and how you react to it. If you let them, they think its ok and do it again and again, but with a dog it just takes a few or only one try for them to understand... lol

Hopefully someone from this group can give you a good advise regarding your three dogs living in peace all together.

Good luck,

[Zumie05]

Don't carry your puppy. She is going to get too big to be carried anyways, so just forget about it. Dog's have legs for a purpose!

As for the petting, what is the rest of her body doing when she grumbles while being pet? Some people here believe that their rotties "purr". Basically that means they make noise when something pleasant is happening to them, just like a kitty! But be careful, you have to be able to read her body language. When she is getting pet and grumbles, watch her tail/butt (looking for wags/wiggles), eyes, mouth, ears, and how stiff her body is. If her butt is wiggling, ears are back, and eyes are gazing nicely at you, she is probably just purring! If she isn't wiggly, her head is lowered, eyes are darting, body stiff, she is probably grumbling as a warning and NOT purring. Read your dogs other signs!

[harleychik66]

You have a year old GSD and a 14 week old rottie and both are female. At this point I would say that if your pup gets too snappy with your GSD, the GSD will let your pup know what is acceptable and what isn't.

My concern is when both girls get older. You have two very dominant breed same sex dogs. Labs and goldens are completely different than rotties and GSDs. Many times females this close in age will fight, as they get older,even if raised together. Could they live together and never fight? Sure, but there is always the chance that they may never get along. Would you be able to keep them seperated for the rest of their lives? I'm not trying to sound harsh but it is a very real possibility. If you do a search here on same sex aggression you will find many stories to which I am referring.

I think at this point your girls growling could be due to lack of stimulation and exercise. As you said she is crated more than she should be.

Although I commend you on signing both dogs up for seperate obedience classes, I personally feel you may have bit off a little more than you can chew. I only have one daughter (18 yrs old) and 2 dogs. My rottie mix(male) is 8 and my GSD mix(female) is about 17 months old, and boy is she a handful. I myself couldn't imagine bringing another puppy into the mix with all the work my pup is even at her age.

Have you talked to your breeder about the situation? Would they be willing to take the pup back? I know I sound quite negative, but I'm just trying to be realistic about the situation. In most instances I would never condone getting rid of an animal, but in this case it might be better to do it when the pup is still young.

Good luck and please let us know whatever you decide.

[floss76]

Thankyou for your replys harleychik i think in my heart i agree with you at this point roxy (rottie) is being advertised but ive had no calls on her well one that didnt want her because she still had her tail!!at that point i thought "status symbol" and would not let her go to someone like that anyway, since looking for a solution ive noticed alot of owners have problems with same sex dominant dogs as youve pointed out, so i guess now its in the hands of fate! I just hope i can find a suitable loving home for her before she gets too old .
In response to zumie when she growls her body is stiff and eyes are darting this makes me feel really uncomfortable about her.

[harleychik66]

I really admire your ability to be honest with yourself about the situation at hand. It is so hard to make hard decisions like these, and it sounds as though you truly are looking to do what is best for all involved.

I would still follow through with the obedience classes for both Roxy and Honey. Perhaps your trainer may have some other recommendations for Roxy and her issues with the growling ect. They may even know of someone(responsible) looking for a pup.

In the meantime stick around. There is so much here to learn.