Help!!!

[cptduke]

Hi, I have a 7 month old intact male GSD. He plays well with other dogs but he has always been 'the man' of the house. (side not: he is getting neutered in a couple weeks.)

As of today I am fostering a 6 month old neutered pit bull/shepherd mix. The got along great during the first meetings but now that the foster is here to stay they are being NIGHTMARES!

No hard core fights yet, they don't like being separated, in fact right now they are on opposite sides of a door whining, but when together they are slowly getting a little more aggressive. I gave them both a raw hide.. foster loved his, my dog was pissed that the foster got one too and ignored his own.

I feel like I'm in over my head. Advice. Please! The foster will be here a month. Both of them are GREAT alone, but together... I wan't to kill them both.

[selzer]

Are you fostering for a rescue? Can you explain how this foster thing came about? I mean, if you are having a problem between two puppies, maybe the best thing to do, is to call whoever you are fostering for and get some advice.

If that is not an option, what I would do is set up two crates. Food and high value items like rawhides are only given when they are both in their crates. If toys are a problem, play with them individually.

Two puppies at once is hard a lot of the time, perhaps more often than not.

Is your boy going to training classes? Up the training.

[cptduke]

I'm fostering for a girl that has to go out of town for a month. Her dog is being good. My dog is the one being a jerk. He cries when I give the foster any attention or when I separate them.
I will definitely up the training classes and do treats only when in the crate. Those are good ideas. Thank you.
It's going to be a long month.

[mebully21]

crate rotate both. no high value treats or bones together, keep both separated to avoid a fight. its only a month, and your dog will just have to deal with not being with the other dog... either you keep them separated or you will have a dead or badly injured dog on your hands

[selzer]

I don't know 6-7 months old dogs don't usually kill each other. And two males might fight, but not usually to the death. I think that you should play it by ear. When you cannot supervise, crate them. If things start getting overly rambunctious, separate and crate.

[cptduke]

Originally Posted by mebully21

crate rotate both. no high value treats or bones together, keep both separated to avoid a fight. its only a month, and your dog will just have to deal with not being with the other dog... either you keep them separated or you will have a dead or badly injured dog on your hands

I should have been more descriptive. I was in the middle of that "Oh, shiz, did I make a mistake?" moment. They are not bad enough to the point where they need to be completely separated. I did separate them for meal time and have kept a very close eye on them all day. So far the biggest problem seems to be more of a jealousy issue with my guy. My hope is to figure out how to get them to the point where I don't have to constantly watch them.

They are both sleeping on the floor next to me right now... and one of them just farted.

[selzer]

Originally Posted by cptduke

I should have been more descriptive. I was in the middle of that "Oh, shiz, did I make a mistake?" moment. They are not bad enough to the point where they need to be completely separated. I did separate them for meal time and have kept a very close eye on them all day. So far the biggest problem seems to be more of a jealousy issue with my guy. My hope is to figure out how to get them to the point where I don't have to constantly watch them.

They are both sleeping on the floor next to me right now... and one of them just farted.

Ah, all is right with the world.

[mebully21]

IMO if i was babysitting someones dog and a few tiffs or fights broke out i would keep my dog and the temporary dog separated for the rest of the time the dog was here.. just my opinion, but if i was away and my friend who was watching my dog screwed up and my dog got injured or killed by their dog due to misjudgement i would be more then pissed to say the least, plus the fact its not fair to the temporary dog to get his ass whopped or to be picked on by the resident dog- some dogs will carry the incident for the rest of their lives and have issues with other dogs from that point on.... (case in point, my one dog got jumped by my friends 2 dogs, she laughed it off, i was pissed. my dog since then (2 years ago) reacts every time he sees her dogs on the street growling at them.... its not fair to my dog to have to now be reactive to other dogs ... everyone will do what they want, but when i babysit friends dogs i keep them separated from my dogs only because something can happen in an instant, and i would feel beyond horrible if my dogs did damage to the dog i was babysitting... but that is just me.

[mebully21]

ps- i see you are fostering a pit bull/shep mix... DEFINITELY keep them separated for the rest of the time he is with you. with any type of bully breed or bully mix you can NOT leave them unsupervised period... genetics is genetics and the bully breeds were bred to fight other dogs.. its in their genes. never take any chances with a bully mix to leave them alone with another dog...

[cptduke]

Originally Posted by mebully21

ps- i see you are fostering a pit bull/shep mix... DEFINITELY keep them separated for the rest of the time he is with you. with any type of bully breed or bully mix you can NOT leave them unsupervised period... genetics is genetics and the bully breeds were bred to fight other dogs.. its in their genes. never take any chances with a bully mix to leave them alone with another dog...

These boys are NEVER unsupervised by me. If I can't be in the same room, they are crated. So far today is much better. They have had a couple little "i'm the boss" moments, but that seems to be mostly when they are outside. And they settle immediately when I tell them to. I even got them to calm down enough for me to have them both do a couple very basic tricks together.
I followed Selzer's advice and that seems to be helping. Also, I'm keeping a very close eye and putting a lot of effort into them. With them being so young, and seeing progress today, I really don't think they need to be separated unless I can't watch them.