I have a GSD Indy (Westmids Indigo), bred by the police who is just over 2 years old. I have had her since she was a pup so she has never gone to any police training. I have just got to the point where I am thinking of finding her a home as she is not getting on with the other animals in the house. We have 2 other dogs and a cat and she has always been a bit up and down with the cat so they dont mix at all now. However recently she has started to attack one of our other dogs. Fortunately it is so far all noise and adrenaline (ours) as the other old dog does not fight back but is not nice to live with. Update on that is she also had a go at our other old dog (out of the blue) when this dog got zapped by the electric fence and yelped - Indy came out in the garden and jumped on her. She goes to lots of training and I have just started agility with her - the trainer says she is fast and picks up things quickly. We are also doing the KC Silver award tomorrow. She is excellent out with people and other dogs. Having talked to the police she is "laid back" as she does not bark much at the door bell and does not mind people around our car when she is in it. She does get uptight at home sometimes - our fault probably for rough corrections for going at the cat. The other thing I wondered is if it is resource guarding? It first happened at food time and now they are kept separate. The recent episodes have been around me e.g. the last time Pepper was lying at my feet and Indy circled her twice and then went for her. Note - she has never bitten although when she gets pulled off she has hung on and so there has been some blood. However I am usually with all the dogs anyway so me being there may not be the cause. Although other points on being possessive of me is that she often puts herself between me and a cupboard and leans in on me. Out on walks she is always checking in on me. Her recall is pretty good except for when there are deer or rabbits.
Hey Sue, I think it's nigh-on impossible to give any advice about this sort of situation over the internet. There are so may variables, and so much nuanced canine body language that you may not be picking up on, that I would urge you to employ a good canine behaviourist to visit you in your home environment and observe you all. Choose someone who uses only modern, positive-reinforcement methods and doesn't spout any outdated ideas of dominance, being "the leader", "alpha" or any other similar terms. The one thing that triggers an alarm bell in your post is the comment about you using "rough corrections" on your dog. It has been shown that using any sort of positive punishment (a technical term, which doesn't necessarily mean painful or abusive corrections, simply that you are doing something which the dog finds punishing, and, for some dogs can be as basic as using a stern tone), vastly increases the chances of your dog developing aggressive tendencies. So, whilst I can't offer any solutions on how to deal with her behaviour around the cat, and would leave that to the behaviourist to address, I certainly do think that you need to find a different method, as you are more likely to cause more problems with this rough handling than it actually solves. I like to try looking at problem behaviours to find the root emotional cause, rather than trying to fix the symptoms. In this case, rather than making the dog afraid of the consequences of attacking the cat, how about trying to fix the thing that is making her attack it - be that because she's afraid of the cat stealing resources (food/attention/whatever), or because she was once startled by the cat so has associated it with something unpleasant, or because she has a strong prey drive that needs bringing under control. In any event a good force-free behaviourist should be able to shed some light and help you formulate a plan.
Thanks Fiona. It is not the cat problem I am worried about as much as her going for my other dog. On the cat - we have already realized that we had made things much worse and we have changed our tactics as well as keeping them apart. Going for the other dog though means we live as a split household - with Indy on one side and all the other pets ( 2 dogs and the cat) on the other which I dont think is good for her anyway and it isn't great for us either. I put a note on Facebook too and I got the alpha dominance stuff but I just ignore that. I got a lot of kindness too - well the dominance theorists are probably kind but I just disagree with them. Anyway - as you say - I probably just need help on the ground.
Hi Sue, just wanted to say welcome. Unfortunately I have no additional advice from above, but wanted to say hi.
