Pet Information > ASK Experts > Dogs > Dog Breeds > German Shepherds > gsd brothers

gsd brothers

19 17:37:52

Question
Hi, My daughter and myself both have gsds from the same litter who are just 12 months old  and thay have allways played together,my daughters gsd is starting to get very aggressive towards his brother and seems to want to fight him all the time,we walk them together and spend alot of time at each others houses.We are afraid that they will have one great fight and one of them is going to get hurt please could you give us some advise,because if he dosn't change we will no longer be able to walk them together etc.

Answer
If this is more than just play fighting, I would neuter them both.  Also, obedience train them.  

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