I have two German Shepherds, one is 3yrs and the other 1.5yrs.. the younger female won't stop biting the older male when he chases toys.. she sees him as her toy and has taken out clumps of hair on multiple occasions. The most recent was quite painful for my older dog and this needs to stop.. however nothing seems to work... how to stop this behaviour??
STA70218.jpgDogs do play rough, and sometimes can be dangerous, especially if they run into each other. Does your older dog mind this happening, or is he being bossed around by the bitch? Have you tried throwing two toys one in each direction?
It sounds as though it is all a young dog getting over excited in the heat of the moment, so what ever you decide to do or use, needs to be something that your bitch is going to value more than the chase.
Have the younger bitch on a long line and attatched to a normal flat collar, so that you do have control, and a pot of extremely tasty treats. This needs to be something that your dog really likes and is also pretty smelly, which will help get the attention in the first place.
You will need an asistant for this to do the toy throwing, and the throwing for the older dog needs to be done at a distance initially, gradually becoming closer as she becomes calmer. When the older male goes for his toy, immediately try and distract the bitch with the titbit, or maybe another toy of her own that she is very fond of. Come away from the older dog, using the line to control as well, and as soon as your dog looks at you and shows interest in the titbit/or toy, throw it onto the ground away from the other dog. Once you have this established then put a command to it, whatever you think suitable, but the link with what the dog is doing while you are training it needs to be made for the command to eventually work. Once this is understood and in place then when any rough games look like starting you can use the command.
If you decide to use a toy, keep a favourite one just for this time, so that it is fresh and something that your bitch is going to really want, because she doesn't see it often.
You could also try having your bitch sitting facing you on lead, with treats ready. Get somebody else to throw the toy for the other dog, but not too close, this will be less excitable for her. When she sits and watches you, use a 'watch' command, then praise and reward lavishly. It will only be by repetition that this will work, so you will need to devote some time to it. I would think that as she gets older though, that this will become a thing of the past.
What do you mean with painful? Did you see blood? No? Did he complain? Did he growl, or bite back?
Don't forget: German Shepherds are hollywood stars in regards of overreacting. They are also very vocal.
Clumps of hair. Yes, ok, they also shed very heavily. I can go to my dog and easily pull out hair without hurting him.
German Shepherd play rough, that's what they do. And they love it.
Maybe you can post a video of that situation, then it would be much easier for others to asses the ruffness of your female.
I know it is a very different situation but my mum has a young female Shih Tzu who is very rough in play with the much bigger male Shih Tzu, she bites his ears and tail and pulls his hair out but he never objects, it is almost as if he doesn't notice.
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