Strong alpha trait in GSD 6 month puppy

Question
QUESTION: I have a 9 year old Dalmatian (male)and a very headstrong nearly 7mth old female GSD. She bosses him around and is very opinionated! But one thing is an obsessive attitude about certain things, like feet. She stares at our feet in a semi-crouched, cat like position. This behaviour is not a problem, obviously (just strange), but with the frisbee it is! She's crazy about running for it, but will not give it back. She doesn't even pay the slightest attention to the yummiest of treats when she has the beloved frisbee in her mouth. Any suggestions?

ANSWER: I would get her spayed if not already.  Act quickly before you are stuck with the hassle of her going through her season.  Once it begins, most vets will insist on waiting until it is over.  

Obedience train her.  The key to most behavior problems is approaching things using the dog's natural instincts. Dogs see all the people and dogs in the household as a pack with each having their own rank in the pack and a top dog. Life is much easier if the 2 legged pack members outrank the 4 legged ones. You can learn to play the role of top dog by reading some books or going to a good obedience class. A good obedience class or book is about you being top dog, not about rewarding standard commands with a treat. Start at http://www.dogsbestfriend.com/ For more on being top dog, see http://www.dogbreedinfo.com./topdogrules.htm

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QUESTION: I understand from my readings that it is not advisable to spay before the first heat for reasons of the puppy's lack of physical maturity. Although it would also appear that there are many conflicting opinions. It does seem to make sense, however, that to alter a dog's hormones before they reach full physical maturity does not seem like a good idea. Would you not agree?

Answer
The evidence of problems from spaying by 6 months is weak.  I have seen this discussion in a couple of fourms, http://www.akcchf.org/pdfs/whitepapers/3-23-08DiscoveriesArticle.pdf and find this point very interesting from part way down on the second page: ''This is not based in science; no one has performed a large-scale
study in which bitches and dogs underwent gonadectomy at various ages and were tracked throughout life to determine what abnormalities developed relative to age at gonadectomy.'' I can't see changing current practices until we have better evidence.