8 yr old gsd and 1 yr staffy big big problems

[AshliAndSue]

ok ill start with the german shephard, we had 2 gsd (german shephards) who both lived and slept outdoors, they prefered it out there, but unfortunitely we lost our tara last friday (13th).

Savage ( the other gsd who lived with tara) has always growled at one family member, when he was younger my dad used to say to him "go get her" which he was joking and savage always did, we all no it was wrong looking back but we cant change it, so whenever this family member (jade) goes near him he growls, and when he strokes him he growls, i can always recall though, when i was really young jade chased him with a garden folk! my parents dont believe me but she really did, i can remember because i went crazy, he was only little. But anyways, he is aggressive towards jade, the past couple of days, after a yelling spout between my sister kasie and savage, savage has gone abit funny with her too, only on some days or some times, sometimes she can sit with him and stroke him, and he is fine, she even walked him and trained him about tonight, he was ok, but last night she went to his pen and tried to stroke him, he growled badly and his heckles went up, and he walked off, i dont understand?? he is 8 btw, he has got bad like this since tara went =[, getting him put down is our last alternative, but we dont no what to do, we dont want to let him in the house because kasie and jade are scared of him, but we dont want to leave him outside all day and night on his own, that is just cruel, but were in a awkward situation, it is defo cruel, i hear him at night crying at the back door, like tonight, i begged by mum and asked if he could sleep inside in the pasage to night, because i could hear him crying, its horrible, she said NO" and had a right go, yet she has a 1 yr old staffy sleeping in her bed with her! so the situation is, the 8 yr old gsd is sat all day and night on his own on a little backgarden, he has a kennel but its all broken up and my mum wont even allow him to sleep in at night, in a passage which has a door so no harm will come to anyone, its not very fair, is there any aggression training methods, what would you suggest?? i will show my mum this, so please be honest.. x

2nd problem
The 1 yr old staffy female Chloe, keeps on jumping on savages back, and biting his tail and fur, Savage growls and walks off, but she usually just attacks him more, if ever one of the family shouts at savage she runs and bites his face, this cant be on, and savage gets in trouble for growling, but chloe is the one who is biting him, what can i do about that???

my mum is being so cruel to savage, not letting anyone in his side of the garden with him "because hes aggressive", not letting him in the house AT ALL, and leaving him out all day and night on his own, and just allowing chloe to bite him and continues to yell at savage for growling, he has just lost Tara who he has been with since he was a pup, who would be so cruel to just leave him on his own??? yet the staffy "the more loved one" gets to sleep in her bed, is so fused, allowed on furniture, gets her own plate at dinner times, savage doesnt even get the scrapes! and chloe (staffy) gets away with murder, i mean i love chloe, but im starting to hate her through no fault of her own, but my mothers, do you think what shes doing is cruel??

and can you help me with any tips plz ty xx

[pitc9]

Wow...... where should I start?

If Savage is left alone outside and not allowed to have much human contact, that will only make things worse. So isolating him to the back garden 24 7 is NOT an option.
Dogs are pack animals and do not do well when forced to live a live of solitude, especially since he just lost the only other member of his pack.

As far as Chloe jumping on Savage, it may just be her way of playing or it may be that she's trying to be the dominate one. My suggestion to you would be to find a local trainer or behaviorist to come to your house and see first hand just what is going on between Savage and Chloe. They are trained professionals and can tell by the dogs body posture exactly why they are doing the things they are doing.

The problem you have with Savage and Jade is sad. Why in the world would a father tell a dog to "go get him" is beyond anything I can understand.
That problem was created by your father 100% and you need to have a trainer intervene asap before something horrible happens. I know you said Jade chased Savage with a pitch fork before, but I'm sure that happened once the growling started, which was started by your father.

I hope something I said helps and I hope your parent's do the right thing and consult a trainer asap.

[Giselle]

To a complete stranger, it sounds like this:
- Savage experienced several traumatic situations that have made him fearful and prone to growling at Jade and Kasie
- Savage is considered "aggressive" by your mother and is therefore disliked, and the dislike is obvious to all
- Savage is forced to live outside and can not, under any circumstance, come in the house to sleep
- Savage is unfairly reprimanded when Chloe has instigated the growls (BTW, Savage growling at Chloe is completely normal and GOOD - Chloe needs to learn her boundaries and Savage is showing normal, healthy dog behavior)

I honestly don't know where to start with this. I know that you love Savage very much, but if you want Savage to be sincerely happy, you need to talk to your mom and ask her to start treating Savage with respect. This is your first step because curbing aggression or whatever it is that Savage is displaying takes a long time to work with and it requires effort from ALL members of the family.

Secondly, it just doesn't seem like Savage and the humans are connecting. I don't think Savage understands human body language and I don't think your family members understand dog body language/mindset. If Savage lived as an outside dog, he has rules about space, resources, and leadership, but humans have not played a role in any of those things. If you want to integrate Savage into your human family, you all need to learn "dog" and you need to help Savage learn "human". The best way to do that is to contact a behaviorist who can work with you personally

(In the meantime, buy these books: The Other End of the Leash by Patricia McConnell, Don't Shoot the Dog by Karen Pryor, and Culture Clash by Jean Donaldson. They will help you to understand what Savage is really doing by growling and why he's doing it.)