German Shepherd pup and our older dog not getting on

[jenrose29]

We have a 6 year old Jack Russel/Corgi cross who is the nicest, most placid dog ever. We decided to get a puppy a few months ago, he is a five month old german shepherd. We got him from the RSPCA and so took our dog to meet him before we took him home, they got on fine. However, since bringing him home they haven't got on at all. The pup jumps on the jack russel all the time, which was fine by the jack russel when the pup was small but now he is 2.5 times his size. He growls at him to tell him to get off and the german shepherd barks at him, they cannot be in the same room together without being at each other. When we go out for a walk, one person cannot walk them together as the pup jumps on the other dog constantly and they fight. We have a 4.5 year old and she has almost been caught of the middle of them a couple of times, I am also 6.5 months pregnant and have been knocked over by them whilst they've been fighting and obviously it is far from ideal for the situation to continue once the baby is born. We really don't want to get rid of the pup as he is lovely but the current situation is dangerous. Does anyone have any advice?

I sympathise completely. We have a 6 yr old lab and have recently got a JR/Lurcher cross pup from a rescue. Same thing, the older dog who has always been so placid and tolerant just can't abide the pup...who is full of it, and quite a dominant personality even though still a pup! They are fine when off the lead on the beach and seem to enjoy being together but at home things are difficult and as you say, we have to keep them separate. Tips we have had from others:

Get the pup castrated! This seems to have helped to calm ours down....a bit, and reduced his efforts at dominating the older dog.

ALWAYS establish that the older dog is TOP DOG ie always feed him first, let him in/out of the door, dry him etc FIRST.

Be FAIR to both so that if for example they get a treat after a walk, they both have to sit and they get the treat at the same time. We found that this helped with ours as the kids were feeding the older dog titbits and this led to the pup being anxious and competitive.

That's all I can offer right now. Things have improved a little with us and fingers crossed that that continues! If you have any tips from elsewhere....feel free to pass them on! Good luck!

Thanks for your advice. Pup has one month til he can be castrated so hopefully that will help things! In the meantime, going to try and give him more walks so he's too damn tired to jump on the other dog :o) Good luck with yours.

Try watching this Kikopup video on the subject, it's only 36 seconds long but helpful.

you need to walk your pup separately from your older dog for a start.

Do you crate the pup? A GSD is a different kettle of dog from a corgi X.

Enrol in training classes, make sure they use positive training methods, not the old check chain nonsense. You need to get your dog bonded with you and not the other dog.

Which dog charity let you have a GSD pup whilst pregnant and with a little one?

They are ok when out on walks, just not in the house. Yes, the pup is crated. The pup is well trained and bonded with us, just not the other dog. We got the pup from the RSPCA.