Hi, I have a two year old gsd, she’s typically very friendly and playful and has always gotten along with other dogs and is especially gentle with puppies and dogs at her daycare. She can be a bit reactive on walks but other than that she’s amazing.
I recently had the opportunity to take in a shihtzu mix puppy when her owners could no longer care for her. And I figured my gsd would love to have a little friend, not to mention I’ve always wanted a lap dog to join the family.
At first their interactions were seemingly good, I would let them sniff each other and hangout with gsd by my legs and my shihtzu on my lap while they were both calm. sometimes my gsd would get too hyper and I’d bring shihtzu to a different room because I was afraid to have them play together until she’s a bit larger
I’d also let them always interact thru a metal baby gate splitting my living room in half, that way they could always safely see each other.
But for some reason after a month all of the sudden my gsd started showing her teeth when she sees the shihtzu and would bark and lunge at her thru the gate
My shihtzu is also starting to mirror my gsd’s behaviour which is really making things worse as they bounce off each other.
It’s gotten to the point where I can’t even walk by the gate with the shihtzu unless my gsd is in her crate. So now I’ve been alternating their crate time, yard time, and house time to avoid the barking and lunging.
Ideally I would like them to get along so I can take both on walks together.
I’m doing as much research as I can and am gonna find a trainer to work with. But I thought I’d ask here in the meanwhile.
Rehoming is 100% not an option. I’m not here to be shamed or dwell on what I should’ve done before. I’m here to do better and figure out what I can do to fix things. I’m not going to give up on either dogs as they are now a part of my family.
Really any help at all is so appreciated.
submitted by /u/puppyboy7979
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