Need Some Heavy Duty Advice Quick!

[MchaelS]

Originally Posted by RebelGSD

I suggest to exercise Xena enough so that she is too tired for tantrums. A tired puppy is a good puppy.

Unfortunately I think she has more energy than myself, my wife, and my son combined, but its a good plan.

[MchaelS]

Update: Apparently Zeke's methods of dealing with a rowdy puppy appear to be more effective than our own. I guess it would take a GSD to know what works on a GSD. Zeke has taken to taking control of the situation quite effectively and with no injury to Xena. A rumble (pretty intimidating one at that) a bat from his snout, and she's on her back begging forgiveness. About all we do is monitor things close to make sure he doesn't keep pulling rank and let it go to his head. The results are pretty cool!

Mike

[Mary Beth]

That's great news. Happy "big brother" Zeke is doing so well with his "little sister" Xena.

[Adele]

Not an expert, but I had a similar story;
One day I brought my first dog, our second dog home. At the time she was 7
weeks old. An absolute playful bundle of love. Our first dog at home is a 16 year old beagle mutt; we got her from a shelter. I've never seen her get dominated in her day she was the biggest alpha you could ever imagin. In her old age she just eats once a day and sleeps often. Everytime she walks by our 'now 4 month old Adele, she ignores her. And all our young one wants to do is play. Once our older one snapped and bit nibbled her on the snout. So now we make the old one wear a muzzle. Our dogs tolerate each others presence but overall I can't say they get along. I think your dogs should be fine as their age difference is only 3 rather than 16.

[MchaelS]

Update: Zeke and Xena are getting along fine. They really enjoy running around the yard chasing one another. Xena still has to be scolded by Zeke when she gets a little too over the top, but otherwise we're out of the woods as far as worrying about them.

Took Xena to the vet for her shots and check up. Found out she's a bit older than we first thought, closer to 5 months as she has some of her adult teeth already and just lost her first canine today. She's a little gal, to be sure. Weighed in at 28.7 pounds. Zeke at 8 weeks was heavier than that! LOL. Below is a pic.

[Freestep]

I'm glad the two are getting along better, and that your boy is so level-headed to know just the right amount of force to put the puppy in her place without hurting her.

Have you enrolled in an obedience course with the pup? I highly recommend it. She will be a handful, so getting some obedience into her brain will help tremendously.

[Mary Beth]

Lovely photo - thanks for posting. Well, so the little Zena isn't so young after all - that explains a lot of her behavior. Zeke is sure wonderful with her.