Pom to Shepherd and back

[gewaltiger Sturm]

I know this is a GSD forum but work with me here. We have our land shark trolling around. We have a 3 y/o spoiled Pom. I dont let the puppy get to rough with the Pom because I know its not a good thing to be pounced on from some floppy, uncordanated galoot. I understand the "its my bone dont even think about it". He will steal anything he can from the puppy. (he has always been a theif) He cant stand him ti have a bone. He will go into the ex-pen and nab a bone and be off with it.
Here is the problem. The Pom will just out of the blue be a complete jerk to the puppy. They can chill beside each other with no problem and then for no reason the Pom wants to be a butt. I know its the "Im older than you and you will listen because I am going to be dominant" Problem is, its hard to be dominant when you weigh 10 lbs. Well now the puppy seems like he has had enough and will now from time to time decide he is going to stand up for himself. Obviously I dont want the Pom hurt. Any suggestions on how to stop this behavior?
They are NEVER left alone with each other. They are fed seperate.
Is this something Im just going to have to deal with? I have always had GSD and never a small dog. My last GSD would take new born kittens and pick one as his own. He would, against the mother cats wishes, pick a kitten, pick it up and take it to the living room and lick and protect it. (I ended up having to keep a few cats because of this.)
Bottom line is it would devistate, along with get me divorced, if anything happened to the Pom.

[Konotashi]

Never ever let a puppy correct an adult.

Don't let your Pom display those behaviors toward the puppy, period. If you see your Pom advancing to take something from the pup, make him back off. I'm sure that even with his own bone, he wants to take the pup's, but just be persistent on making him chew his OWN bone/toy/etc.

Don't let the pup get too rough with the Pom, and don't let the Pom boss around and bully the pup.

[CMeredith]

Yeah, it seems like you just need to ensure that they both understand that YOU'RE the alpha - not the Pom or the GSD. Positive reinforcement when they're getting along well and removal from when one decides to exert dominance. Just be consistent every single time they're together. Obviously easier said than done but if they're never alone together, it should be easier to control their interactions.

[Holmeshx2]

While I'm not big into the whole "I'm alpha, grr" mentality I do believe in not letting the dogs correct the other dogs. My thing is I want my dogs to look to me for leadership and know I will protect them so they don't have to do it themselves.. strange dog comes up they look to me and "I" back the other dog off I don't want the dog making the decision of when it should react and feel the need to correct another dog or even a person.

Right now with the foster pup she is a resource guarder so I correct her when she's growling because it's not allowed but I also back Jinx up so she's not crowding the pup making her insecure if Jinx is a brat (happens often lol) and takes something from the pup I get up remove it from Jinx's mouth and give it back to the puppy I don't care if it really is hers to begin with she is to share and is NOT allowed under any circumstances to just go and take something from the other pup (or dogs visiting) You just have to be a full time referee between them eventually it gets better as they learn what is expected and what is not allowed. Kind of like with kids if one kid hits the other you don't want your other kid hitting back because then a fight breaks out and you don't want them correcting their sibling (grounding etc..) you as the parent step in do the correcting between them. I know it's frustrating right now but it'll get easier as they fall into their rolls. Right now its the pup refusing to be bullied and your Pom thinking he runs stuff and everything is "mine mine mine" Like the jealous older sibling crawling in the crib when a new baby comes home haha.

As I speak Jinx just took the Kong away from the pup and keeps wanting to take it however we have had this Kong for over a year and she never touches it she HATES kongs no matter what they are filled with but right now this plain empty year old Kong is apparently her favorite toy of all time simply because the pup likes to chew on it.

[shepherdmom]

Originally Posted by gewaltiger Sturm

I know its the "Im older than you and you will listen because I am going to be dominant" Problem is, its hard to be dominant when you weigh 10 lbs. Well now the puppy seems like he has had enough and will now from time to time decide he is going to stand up for himself. Obviously I dont want the Pom hurt. Any suggestions on how to stop this behavior?

I've never had a dog that small with my shepherds but I did have a 35-40 lb. mix. Whenever we brought a puppy into the house she took dominate and rolled them right away when they were pups and I let her. She was the senior dog and had every right to be boss. With my Buddy she was so bossy I don't think he ever figured out that he was bigger than her. But at about 3 Shadow had enough. He was dominate male and he decided he wasn't going to take her stuff any more. One day we were all outside and I saw in his eyes that it was going to happen. I had the hose ready to spray him if I had to get them apart but I steped back out of it. Turns out I worried for nothing. He let her know in no uncertain doggies terms that he was bigger, badder and he wasn't going to take it any more. However he was very gentle about it and she was no fool she let him become big boss. I WAS extremely lucky!

[Holmeshx2]

without getting into an argument I will just repeat my post. YOU make sure you step in and stop both of them from this so they know to look to you to keep order in the house.

No way in heck is it ever ok to let your dog run over and alpha roll a puppy that did nothing just because the bigger dog can. That is a very severe correction and should not be used "just because" sorry but thats a dog being a bully and definitely not allowed because it doesn't always end so well.

Not sure this will be your case since your pom is smaller but with us know my girl is playing with the foster pup and they roll around however even in play I don't let her keep the pup pinned long just because it can create issues down the road shes also not allowed to keep the pup in a corner where she can't escape if she wanted to just to make sure issues stay avoided.

Just make sure YOU stay the leader in your house and not let the dogs take to correcting and dominating the others as they see fit and things should be just fine for you.

[Jax08]

Sounds to me like you have a case of resource guarding from the Pom. I think you need to start there to solve that problem first. And you need to stop any aggression on either side before it starts. If you can't actively monitor them then I would crate one. When you do have them both out, make sure there is a leash on them. I would really watch to see what is triggering your Pom to go after the puppy. Is it toys? Food? Bones? People? I think you need to figure that out.

[shepherdmom]

To the OP if you choose to go with the "be the boss" method mentioned. Please remember you will always have to be there to stop it. You can never leave them alone together without worrying about what will happen because just like in any situation if the boss is not around....

[CMeredith]

Originally Posted by shepherdmom

To the OP if you choose to go with the "be the boss" method mentioned. Please remember you will always have to be there to stop it. You can never leave them alone together without worrying about what will happen because just like in any situation if the boss is not around....

Hmmm...Not really sure that's based on any known behavioral science. I've never heard any trainer advocate for allowing aggressive behavior to set the pecking order in the house. I've occassionally allowed a bouncy puppy to get a little lesson from a cat, but I'm not worried about the cat becoming regularly aggressive and dominant.

You need to make it clear that dominant and aggressive behavior is never okay. If you want to attribute human qualities to dogs, then I'd say that people can be taught to do the right thing even when the boss isn't around - simply because they know it's the right thing.

[Holmeshx2]

Originally Posted by CMeredith

Hmmm...Not really sure that's based on any known behavioral science. I've never heard any trainer advocate for allowing aggressive behavior to set the pecking order in the house. I've occassionally allowed a bouncy puppy to get a little lesson from a cat, but I'm not worried about the cat becoming regularly aggressive and dominant.

You need to make it clear that dominant and aggressive behavior is never okay. If you want to attribute human qualities to dogs, then I'd say that people can be taught to do the right thing even when the boss isn't around - simply because they know it's the right thing.

Nope its based on the "I hate Holmes and will disagree with her on everything method"

However it also is not generally recommend to leave a full grown german shepherd out alone with a small dog unsupervised for any length of time just in case of the "what ifs" always better to be safe then sorry. Seen many times (mainly with terriers and the like) where dogs were fine for years came home little one was dead no one knows what happened but might have been no one around little dog got bossy bigger dog decided to take a stand and just the size and power difference things can get out of hand quick.