German Shepard attackes Begal

Question
I have a 8 month old Female German Shepard puppy. I got her when she was 1 month old. Our beagle was there before her and is about 3yrs old. The GS has attacked the beagle about 3 times in different instance. 1 time she was out side and saw the beagle eat a piece a cereal that had fallen on the floor; she attacked when she came in. Another time the beagle was barking at something. This last time a piece of bread was given to each dog and the beagle was throw and thrashed around by the Shepard to where my wife and daughter had to pull her off of the beagle for fear of it life, the beagle was bleeding. 98% of the time the dogs get along and she tries to get him to play with her. Confused and worried about the Shepard's nature. Seems like she just snaps into an attack mode and attacks the beagle. She is very sweet to whole family and we are all very attached

Answer
Spay her if not already.  Act fast or you will be stuck with going through the hassle, mess, and risks of her going through her season.  Part of the behavior problems could be from her approching her season.

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