Can They Be Friends Living In The Same Home?

[persephone]

The maltese sounds like it needs some discipline

*nods*

The maltese is a baby puppy ..it is the owner who first needs some discipline Then THEY can pass it on to their puppy ......

[MalteseLuna]

Personally I would not have those two breeds together. If you have to then never leave them together unsupervised, not even for a minute, highly dangerous - for the maltese.

I doubt very much that the maltese puppy actually bit you? There is a big difference between biting and nipping.

ALL puppies nip and you'll find this out when you get a German Shepherd puppy. I really think you will be on a steep learning curve - have you ever had a puppy before? Have you ever had a large breed puppy or dog before?

Im not really sure the maltese is playing with me of not because I really feel hurt.. ... but if I say no, he will release for few seconds and bite again...

My family own a Malamate in my hometown but I think the maltese is much more better compare with Malamute. That malamute is just crazy and naughty.

It sounds as if the Maltese is badly lacking proper training and guidelines, you are going to be bringing a large breed dog into this situation who is going to be large enough to cause this little dog serious damage if it retaliates. Do you think you can manage this? It will be your dog that wears the blame and a friendship probably will be strained.

I have large dogs and toy dogs in the same household, but they are all mine and all live by my rules and boundaries and we manage them.

Agreed. I would not leave them alone together - the Maltese could be easily injured accidentally by the GSD.

It is a 9 week old puppy - this is the way all puppies act. You (and your friend) need to train the dog how to play properly and not to mouth/nip. The best way to do this is to yelp when the puppy nips to hard, turn around and ignore it. Do not give it any attention until it calms down. Do not hit it, yell at it, continue playing with it. Additionally do not play so much that the puppy gets overexcited.

my crotchedy old maltese (RIP my darling Daisy) and my golden retriever puppy were the bestest of friends. I just never left them unsupervised.

You have two pups that you can train and teach manners. I would work out what is acceptable behaviour and what is not particularly on the basis that the GSD is going to be much larger than the maltese so boundaries will need to be stricter. Have a good chat to your friend about it all and your girlfriend as well to set those boundaries you all need to be consistent.

Take the two pups to a very good puppy school as well.

Gosh you are going to be busy with two pups in the house but it will be so much fun

Is it possible to train my GSD to ignore the maltese when the maltese biting him? My friend's pup ALWAYS bite everything, included people.

Thats why I worried about my gsd pup...

I think you will find the GSD puppy will be very nippy as well - and possibly worse than the Maltese. GSD are a large, high energy, working dog breed.

[Aussienot]

My German Shepherd knows the rules of play with small dogs, no biting, no paws, you can chase but you can't catch. He's learned to be very dog social. He happily spends time with a Maltese x Shih Tzu, a toy Poodle and a miniature Chihuahua as easily as he plays with bigger dogs. But it took a heap of training and quite a long time of very careful intervention.

I would never let him be exposed to an out of control biting puppy of any size. It's not realistic to think any other puppy would not react to being attacked by any other dog, regardless of size.

Sydoo may not be a dog expert, but the post was right on point. Your friend needs to learn how to train his puppy. Why don't the two of you go to a puppy school together? You'll still need to carefully supervise and separate when you are not watching, but it would be best if you want the dogs to live under the same roof as adults. Stop the problems now, and you'll have a much more peaceful future.

If your friend does nothing to train the Maltese, keep your GSD totally separated. Do not expect your pup to act more mature and tolerant just because he's bigger.

[Kashing]

Thats the problem, I cant even teach his dog do not bite because it is his dog and he loves his pup very much. I dont want my pup getting any hurts from that maltese and do not hurt the maltese as the same time, just be friends.

I see even a cat can be friend with dogs on youtube....but i am not sure real or not.

You have a people problem, not a dog problem.

It is good that you are thinking of this before you bring your pup home. Instead of leaving it till it's too late.

The problem is, you cannot force your friend to train his dog so that it behaves well around you and your dog. There is a good chance this will mean your dog will learn some undesirable behaviour, as a result of being annoyed, or just copying naughty things from the other puppy.

Unless you can keep the pups separate, you lose control of what happens to your puppy, and what it gets to learn. This can be so dangerous, because you are getting a big strong breed that will be able to defend itself against threats. As an adult if it behaves aggressively, you could be in big, big trouble.

The right time to get a puppy is when everyone in the house wants the same thing and everyone agrees to follow the same rules. If you cannot control the dog's environment and the other people and animals that interact with the dog, you can end up with serious problems that cannot be solved at all.

I talked with my friend today and he agreed to train his pup, I think we are finding a way to learn how to train both of our's pup as someone said gsd is much more bigger and dangerous for maltese. As a owner I do not want my pup hurt anyone's pup.

[Kashing]

Kashing... not to be rude, but are you really ready for the task of raisng traing a large powerful smart working breed dog ?

You seem very new to the world of dogs, and seem also to have not much experience with puppies/dog body language /behaviour .

Have you ever handled a german shepherd before?

Have you ever had two dogs before?

To ask if cats & dogs can be friends says to me that you have not been around many people who have dogs and cats living with them inside....that you have not done a lot of research into HOW dogs work..HOW they think, what they are capable of

Dogs can be TRAINED to live happily with any sort of animal ... provided you have the RIGHT dog, and a capable owner/trainer.

My dogs & cats share beds and food .... BUT my dogs will kill cats who are wild . This is what dogs can do - they are SMART .

Dogs can also be BOSS to their humans. If the humans do not understand dog language .... and WHY a dog growls/nips/chases ... then the human either gets afraid, or tries to stop the behaviour in the wrong way :)

Then the dog can become the boss- or become very timid ..

You are setting off on a long journey ...and I do advise you to do as much reading as you can!! Go to obedience classes- and just watch. Talk to neighbours who have well behaved dogs....

and read up LOTS on your chosen breed

..stuff like this is a start

CLICK here

My family used to have a malamute. I didnt have gsd or 2 dogs before. I know I do not have much knowledge about dogs and their language but I wanna start it.

What I want to do is try to avoid 2 pups hurt each other and living together happily, thanks for infomations.

[Kashing]

My German Shepherd knows the rules of play with small dogs, no biting, no paws, you can chase but you can't catch. He's learned to be very dog social. He happily spends time with a Maltese x Shih Tzu, a toy Poodle and a miniature Chihuahua as easily as he plays with bigger dogs. But it took a heap of training and quite a long time of very careful intervention.

I would never let him be exposed to an out of control biting puppy of any size. It's not realistic to think any other puppy would not react to being attacked by any other dog, regardless of size.

Sydoo may not be a dog expert, but the post was right on point. Your friend needs to learn how to train his puppy. Why don't the two of you go to a puppy school together? You'll still need to carefully supervise and separate when you are not watching, but it would be best if you want the dogs to live under the same roof as adults. Stop the problems now, and you'll have a much more peaceful future.

If your friend does nothing to train the Maltese, keep your GSD totally separated. Do not expect your pup to act more mature and tolerant just because he's bigger.

We agreed to train the maltese if it still biting and being naughty so I am much more happy for owning a gsd pup.

[MissMaddy]

Can you delay getting your puppy? Perhaps waiting for another litter once you've done a little more in the way of learning about dog behaviour and training? Perhaps going along to the german shepherd club to learn a little more about the breed and see a few at different levels of training (and I guarantee you'll see some beautifully trained dogs with very competent handlers, as well as some that are not so well trained wth handlers who still have more to learn, and everything in between).

If your friend has agreed to train their puppy, maybe you could go along with him to training to learn to work together and make sure you have more knowledge of handling a big dog before you get your puppy. The other option would be to visit quite a few GSD breeders and see if you can handle their dogs under their supervision, to ensure you are happy handling a dog of the size and energy levels.

I have 3 large dogs (2 GSDs and a rotty) together when I'm home and they get along well. I do put boundaries to their playing though, and they are in separate runs when I'm out.

[Flaves]

Maltese Luna

I think you will find the GSD puppy will be very nippy as well - and possibly worse than the Maltese. GSD are a large, high energy, working dog breed.

I think that is the comment of someone that does not have experience with the breed

ANY dog can be nippy, pups need to be TAUGHT by the HUMANS in the situations how to behave

This maltese has NOT, and i would not be bringing another pup into the house until things change

[MissMaddy]

My female GSD was quite nippy and extremely pushy as a puppy with my mum who had no idea how to be firm and discipline a dog of the size (well any size really) with determination and high play and prey drive (and drive is something you need to know about if you plan on having any dog bred to have medium-high drive for work of any sort).

My male on the other hand, was and is a much more laid back dog, and he hardly nipped and never got pushy with my mum (although I did move out when he was about 4-5 months). His drive thesh-hold is higher, and as a result, is an easier dog for less experienced people to handle. Like any dog, though, he could have become a lot naughtier and uncontrollable without firm and consistent handling.

[MalteseLuna]

Maltese Luna

I think you will find the GSD puppy will be very nippy as well - and possibly worse than the Maltese. GSD are a large, high energy, working dog breed.

I think that is the comment of someone that does not have experience with the breed

ANY dog can be nippy, pups need to be TAUGHT by the HUMANS in the situations how to behave

This maltese has NOT, and i would not be bringing another pup into the house until things change

It's a 9 week old puppy - of course it's going to be nippy... No I don't have experience of GSD but I do of Maltese ... I do have friends with GSD and other high energy working breeds and reading the post below makes me think I'm not entirely wrong.

Yes all puppies are nippy and Yes owners should teach them not to be as nippy - HOWEVER some breeds are more mouthy or high energy than others. That is FACT. That is the point I was trying to get across - I could have used general language but was specific to the 2 breeds.

I agree probably not best to have 2 pups of drastically different breeds at the same time. It would be best to keep them separated except for supervised play times and definitely until each dog has been trained, learnt how to play properly with a dog of drastically different size etc.

My female GSD was quite nippy and extremely pushy as a puppy with my mum who had no idea how to be firm and discipline a dog of the size (well any size really) with determination and high play and prey drive (and drive is something you need to know about if you plan on having any dog bred to have medium-high drive for work of any sort).

My male on the other hand, was and is a much more laid back dog, and he hardly nipped and never got pushy with my mum (although I did move out when he was about 4-5 months). His drive thesh-hold is higher, and as a result, is an easier dog for less experienced people to handle. Like any dog, though, he could have become a lot naughtier and uncontrollable without firm and consistent handling.

Yup depends on the dogs personality but most puppies of any breed are like mini sharks until they learn to use a soft mouth or not nip. Puppies require training to turn them into calm, socialized, laid-back dogs.

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

My friend's German Shepherd aged 8 months actually killed her 10 yr old maltese, without any fight or incident of any kind. One day the Shepherd just grabbed the maltese and killed it.

Just letting you know that it can happen. From reading your posts, I really don't think you have any knowledge and are entering into something that is a high risk situation for not only the maltese, but you and other people you may encounter.

A badly trained maltese is one thing but a badly trained Germany Shepherd with an uninformed owner is quite something. SOmething to really worry about.

[Ons]

yes I can see the concerns

BUT the OP came looking for advice and is actually following through with the advice given.

Getting training Kashing is fantastic I'm sure that you will follow through with it. Make a new thread on the Forum about what is the best puppy school and training centre and behaviouralist for the area that you live in.

Never leave the maltese and the german shepherd unsupervised for even a minute. Even with my elderly maltese and golden retreiver puppy I never left them unsupervised, when I was at work,, the maltese was inside and the golden outside.

And can I suggest that you join in the german shepherd thread on the Forum and ask questions galore. If you are willing to take advice and work hard I think that it should work out okay.

[dogdogdog]

I had a small female cocker x who was about 14 when I got my male German Shepherd puppy.

They only had one fight and it was over food and I broke it up before it got too out of hand.

After the cocker passed we got a female dobe puppy. The shepherd was in love and never ever did anything to her.

He was always a real gentleman. He has been gone many years now but of course I still miss him.

So if the shepherd had a good temprement I would say it would be no problem.

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

Yes, as long as it doesn't have a high prey drive but it takes someone with experience to see that. Perhaps another chat to the breeder to make them aware.

[Aidan3]

Thats the problem, I cant even teach his dog do not bite because it is his dog and he loves his pup very much.

Loving a pup very much is a good reason to teach it not to bite or nip inappropriately. Follow the link that Persephone gave you, it has good instructions and there is nothing Dr Dunbar suggests that should cause your friend any concern at all. It is not harsh or violent at all, very gentle - but you both need to be consistent.

I see even a cat can be friend with dogs on youtube....but i am not sure real or not.

I have a high-drive GSD from working lines and she adores both of my cats. One of the cats plays with her, the other cat has trained her to stand perfectly still while she weaves in and out of her legs, purring.

[LizT]

If this Maltese puppy is only going to be 11-12 weeks old at Christmas then I'd say it's still very young and hasn't learnt any boundaries yet.

Best thing is to take the Maltese off to puppy school now so it can learn some manner BEFORE the 8 week old Shepherd arrives at Xmas.

Once the GSD has settled in it can join in classes at Puppy School and they can BOTH do obedience together.

If these two dogs are going to share a home you have to train them together, especially as they are of similar age.

I wouldn't worry too much about the maltese hurting your GSD, he probably nips and bites too for now. All puppies need to learn this is unacceptable behaviour from their 'families'. Because the GSD will grow rapidly and very quickly become large he will have the capacity to accidently hurt the Maltese.

NEVER leave them alone unattended.

Also make sure these dogs are desexed if they are only intended for Pets, it will help smooth things along.

[MissMaddy]

Thats the problem, I cant even teach his dog do not bite because it is his dog and he loves his pup very much.

Loving a pup very much is a good reason to teach it not to bite or nip inappropriately. Follow the link that Persephone gave you, it has good instructions and there is nothing Dr Dunbar suggests that should cause your friend any concern at all. It is not harsh or violent at all, very gentle - but you both need to be consistent.

I see even a cat can be friend with dogs on youtube....but i am not sure real or not.

I have a high-drive GSD from working lines and she adores both of my cats. One of the cats plays with her, the other cat has trained her to stand perfectly still while she weaves in and out of her legs, purring.

I agree, and meant to say exactly what you did!

My 3 large dogs are all good with my cat, and love it when he decides to play with them!

Having high prey drive, they all needed to be trained to not chase him outside if he runs, but he also knows if he stands still they'll do no more than stick their big, annoying noses in his face!

LizT the problem I would think is that don't most puppy schools insist on puppies having had their 12 week vaccination at least before going to puppy school? The GSD club still hold puppy classes over the Christmas period despite most clubs breaking up, and will allow puppies that have had their first vaccinations, and some of their clubs will also allow other breeds in just the early puppy class.

Kashing, it would probably be a good idea to get involved with the GSD club before getting your puppy.

Does the breeder you're getting the puppy from know you haven't own a working breed before (or any breed since your childhood), so they need to ensure you get a nice, laid back, easy going puppy?