Is this kind of behaviour dangerous?

Question

I have a germenshepherd,4 years old,very nice, active, intelligent, trained,and a loving dog.About a year before, we bought a rottweiler pup,very naughty,and was 3months old.We never trained the pup.Now he's a year old,our problem is both the dogs are now acting wild.both try to bite and run after eachother.Im affraid they don't hurt eachother. Is this some kind of fun or are they not happy with eachother?

Answer 1

We can't judge whether your dogs are playing appropriately or fighting or bullying each other without actually seeing them. Here are some descriptions -- see if you can match these to the way your dogs are acting.

I'm willing to bet that there is some amount of staring, stiff body, head and tail high going on. These are signs of assertiveness/dominance, but are also frequently used in play. To tell the difference, look at the dog's expression and look at body language it throws in after the "charge". Over the course of the interaction, does the dog look "happy" or serious? Are there points during the interaction where one or both of the dogs throw in quick "play bows" where their front end gets lower than their back-end? Do they toss their head around, possibly even with their mouths open? Any of those behaviors suggest play. My guys also bite each other on the neck and sometimes on the backs of the legs. Growling can sometimes sound awful to an observer, but there is a very different quality to play growls than serious growls which is not easily described over the Internet.

If they are playing, than that's great. There are a few situations where it is still appropriate to intervene: if the play escalates excessively, if one dogs is playing far rougher than the other dog, or if the dogs slam into humans or wave their teeth around to close to humans. Rough play should not be allowed within arms length of a person, in doorways, or on stairways. The dogs MUST be expected to be conscious or respectful of what is around them when they are playing. Accidents happen, and when you have big dog, accidents can be very painful. They are capable of very minute control of those big jaws and should be responsible for that.

If blood is ever drawn, the dogs are not playing appropriately. If one dog is always chasing or harassing the other dog, they are not playing appropriately. If one dog always has its ears down or looks cowed, they may not be playing appropriately. If only one dog seems to be having a good time, this behavior should not be allowed to continue. If the dogs will listen to you, tell them to knock it off. If they will not listen, separate them or keep them on drag leashes so you can physically keep them apart while you work on regaining leadership of the house. If one is more of an aggressor than the other, than "time outs" may be in order for just that dog.

The Rottie is coming into adolescence right now and will be testing his boundaries with you and with your other dog. Expect that over the next year, new and obnoxious behaviors will pop up here and there, and you will need to maintain strong leadership to remind him that you own the house. If you think he's challenging your GSD, separate him in a time out right away when he gets started to send them message that it's not permitted. You don't mentioned whether the boys are neutered, but keep in mind that if they are not, this kind of scenario will be much more likely and will require heavier management.

With two big and powerful dogs, it is critical that you establish strong leadership of your household. Even if you do not take the dogs through formal training, it is imperitive that you have some minimal expection of respectful behavior that you practice every single day without exception. This is extremely easy and not time consuming to do by doing very simple things like asking the dogs to sit and wait for you to give permission when you put down their food bowls. More information at the link below.

The person who said that either of these breeds should be kept as only dogs doesn't know what they're talking about. Dogs are pack animals, and in general, value having other dogs around. My three shepherds adore each other, and I know far more people with multiple shepherds/dogs than people with singles. This doesn't mean any old two dogs will do well together, but I really think dogs are often happier from within a stable, well-matched pack (with strong human leadership).

Answer 2

Yes in one way this could be simple play time for them. They will bite and nip at each other when they do this. This could also be for them to establish who is the head of the house. Whenever you have more than one kind of animal in the house there will be at times a show of who is the boss. I have had dogs all of my life and this has gone on ever since the first. They say that the stronger will end out on top, but I find that the older one usually does because they have more determination not to let go of their role as head. I have 3 dogs in my house, 1 female and 2 males, and even though they get along 98% of the time, the other 2% is determining their place. In my case, they are all from the same litter, and when the mom passed away last year, my female seamed to take the role as head. I think because they were already use to a female being top dog. Even though her brothers are twice her size and a lot stronger than she is, she does let them know shes in charge.

Answer 3

German Shepard's are better off by them selves for both of these breeds are meant to be protective and aggressive. If you had the German Shepard trained all ready and the young dog is causing the problems you have conflicts.I would take the younger dog and in schooling and you may have to take the Shepard in for a refresher course in his learning .For what will happen the more aggressive one will eventually do harm to the other...if you don't do some thing soon..you will most likely have a injury...or even a death.I would be concerned..use wisdom here..

Answer 4

why? did you not train the second animal? this is not fair to you or the other pup that did not get trained. take the animal to dog obedience classes.so the animal gets trained. the animals will play and they may play rough. remember the type of animals you have! German Shepard's is what police use and train to help out at finding out crimes like drugs/catching the bad people. rottweiler is known to be aggressive. properly trained they are good pets. feed and water them. i love Iams dog food. e-mail me if you want i will send you coupons for trial packets. plenty of exercise. walk them every day.. dogs are like the family members they need attention too. hope this will help you. (springer's cocker spaniels) Kat PS. make sure you are up on all your vet shots and heart worms and have them wormed. go to the vet as needed.make sure you register your animals and did you have the id put into the animals neck? by your vet? if your animals get lost? ( they ) animal control will be able to scan the neck so the animal can be returned to you.

Answer 5

Sounds to me like they are playing..Play can sometimes sound like fighting, but there is a difference and you WILL know it if they are out to hurt each other.

I have 10 dogs and they always play like that.. It is good for them and helps get rid of a lot of energy too..

Why haven't you trained the other dog? You can still take the rott to obedience classes and I think you really should do that.

PS: Rottweiler's are NOT aggressive dogs unless trained to be, like any dog.

Answer 6

This is often the way dogs play with each other, they will run, fight, bit and growl.
To us humans it sounds like they are trying to kill each other.
They sometimes get very rough and it looks like they are hurting each other.
Both dogs are still young (the oldest being about 24 human years) so you can expect this type of play fighting for several more years.
It is also their way of establishing who is boss. You will always have one dog that is the boss.
If it was a fight to hurt each other, one or the other would have been hurt by now.

Answer 7

sounds like they are just playing.... if you had anything to worry about you would see actual bites, blood, scars etc... a real bite / dog fight leaves serious damage usually to both dogs... but its not too late to train that pup...the sooner the better... if you don't .... you may end with more problems than this in the future... its important for your dog to know who the leader is, what its limitations are and at the very least basic commands and acceptable social behavior...

Answer 8

If they were trying to hurt each other then one of them probably wouldn't be alive right now. Rottweiler and German Sheppard is a dangerous fight I'm sure, but one would eventually get ahead of the other and do some serious damage. I vote just playing.

Answer 9

Dogs are pack animals. Two can feed off each others energy. Is one more dominating than the other. It there pain in the bite. Two dogs together if not handled and trained can get nasty . I would make sure they know your are lead in the pack.

Answer 10

If they draw blood-it's not fun anymore. Maybe one or both is trying to show that he is the leader. Sounds like you need some training for those dogs. Good Luck.