My two male german shepherds

Question

"I am so excited to have someone who understands GS I can't even put it into words. We have a 9 year old male (boomer) and a 1 year old male (Mika) both fixed.We also have a female golden retriever (belle). They have all had class and in home training. I do feel I am the pac leader they all respect me. My 23 year old son also is a natural my husband however is the (can't we all get along,petting stroking kind).He is trying to be more assertive. Our problem is boomer dislikes Mika doesn't want him here .For the most part what happens Mika gets over excited and jumps on boomer or mika takes something(chewy) that boomer wants and boomer goes after him .Since Mika is almost the same size as boomer ,boomer gets mika under him and bites his legs trys to get his face/neck but mika now bites back. Of course mika yelps so loud Boomers very relentless. It takes my husband to pull him off. Mika runs to his crate and we put boomer in his area (separate parts of the house) we keep him in there for at least 1/2 hour. When he comes out he always goes over to mika doesn't do anything except bush against him and then ignores him.Today my husband got his hand bit for the 1st time he's not sure by who but it was not meant for him. This has happened less and less but it is only when my

husband is around and in charge.I do think he also does not recognize the signs or situations that need to be defused. This happened outside which also has never happened except once when mika was 4 months and took one of boomers toys. When I confront boomer he will lay down and roll on his back so he knows I am the pac leader. I have had three very well paid trainers teach me different technics to handle the (in process)confrontation and after  however what can I do to end their problem with each other. Sometimes I feel bad that Mika wants to play with boomer so badly ,like he does with Belle but Boomer just wants nothing to do with him.Socializing boomer at this point is not going to happen we tried taking him to the dog park and he just finds who ever thinks there the boss and goes after them. We do walk them together and have no problems and we live on a acre so they run around but playing with toys is a problem because boomer won't share so we have to do it one at atime which is really difficult everyday.What ever help you can offer I appreciate .They are such sweet dogs and well behaved this really is our big issue.HELP Oh also Mika has eaten all our hoses to the point we can't leave one out. Any ideas there.

Sincerely Sandi Teller, cooper city ,florida

Answer
I may be a disappointment, not being able to do more than the 3 trainers that saw the dogs.  I may know enough more than the average dog owner to feel comfortable registering as a German Shepherd expert here, but I am no miracle worker.  All Experts has more categories under dogs than real experts to fill them.  I may be more aware of the limits of my knowledge than many others.  All the Q&A sites on the net are plagued with would be experts knowing little more than those answering questions.

Did any of them address the issue that in some cases, 2 dogs of the same gender may never get along?  It is more common with females, but males too some times.  Boomer sounds like a classic dog with a strong drive for dominance.  He may accept you and your son as out ranking him, but expect Mika to submit to him.  As Mika matures, if he to has a strong drove for dominance, expect troubles.  Mika will be maturing over the next 2 years and will challenge you and Boomer for leadership.  Neutering helps greatly, but still may not be enough.  I would certainly do both if not already.  Otherwise, you may never be able to allow them outside together unsupervised.  Perhaps having been bitten, you husband will listen to you about improving his leadership techniques.  

I don't have much on the hoses either.  I don't remember any of my Labs damaging our hoses, but the few times I gave them a chance, I caught them before they did much damage.  Since the fence dividing our back yard is close to the faucet, I made an extension running it out of the fenced area.  I had thought Shepherds weren't near as bad as labs about shredding everything, but I had a question last night from somebody whose shepherd was shredding everything in the back yard.