[davimi]

I have three dogs. A two year old German Shepherd, a two year old Golden Retriever, and a six year old mix(beagle and some kind of herding dog).
The German Shepherd is great. Off Golden is now growling and occasionally fighting with the mix. The mix likes to try to herd the Golden when they go outside. The golden doesn't get mad at that time, but in the house he will growl when the mix comes by. They will both growl at each other and then sometimes fight. I'm at a loss. I can't believe my golden has that in him. The mix is my son's dog and he can not taken him where he is living, so we have him. He gets along great with the Shepherd. They got into it once and the Shepherd put him in his place. They are buddies now. The Golden and they mix just can't work it out. What do I do??

 

[LeoRose]

Welcome to the world of crate and rotate. You need to keep at least one, and ideally, two, barriers between the mix and Golden inside the house. The situation probably isn't as volatile outside because the Golden has more room to get away from the mix.

I think, from your comments, that the Golden and the mix are both males? If so, there could be a bit of same sex aggression happening, which adds fuel to the "don't get along" fire.

 

[lad20050620]

To OP I have a Golden Retriever and Dachshund/beagle mix. Both of mine are males and are still intact. I have dealt with and occasionally still have to deal with growling and fighting. My Golden is almost 2 and my mix is about 9 or 10. Their aggression happens during feeding time and when outside. My Golden boy tends to be food aggression because when he was a pup my mix would attack him and not let him eat his food. So now that he is maturing and going through adolescence he will growl and become aggressive if the other dog approaches while he is eating. If I am not watching sometimes there is fight, nothing major, sometimes the skin is a little broken. As soon as the fight is broken up they are both immediately crated for bad behavior and food bowls are put up to feed them later. The Golden is crated for the food aggression and the mix is crated for trying to aggressively take the other dogs food. With the outdoor situation my mix thinks he owns all of the 6 acres, my Golden not being a dominant dog doesn't care. But of course all dogs mark their territory and my mix doesn't like when the Golden marks his territory. Becomes very aggressive and will chase and bite my Golden to the point of him having to fight back to defend himself. At this point the mix is crated for aggressive behavior, the Golden is not because he did not provoke or act aggressively unless needed to defend himself. Since I have started punishing them with a time out in the crate I haven't hardly had an aggression or fights. Now occasionally I will but that is expected because they are both still intact males and same sex aggression is expected.
Has this your mixed dog just been recently added to the family?
Have the dogs been properly introduced to one another?
What is the stimulus for the dogs fighting and or showing aggression? With my dogs its food and territorial aggression. If you can find the stimulus and start separating the dogs at the time of the stimulus then you might find the problem decrease or go away all together.

 

[davimi]

The dogs have been together since March. I feed them separately. The growling is in the house when one of walking by. I take away any toys to make sure it's not over that. It is not constant. In the house the Golden growls first normally. Outside, the mix herds the golden.

 

[3GSD4IPO]

What are their sexes and ages? That information can be significant.

I see now. The Golden is a male and two the mix is a male on 9-10.
Separate them. All. The. Time.

By allowing the mix to steal the Golden's food, you set this up (though it might have happened anyway due to the herding outside) . As the Golden matures he is going to take less and less crap from the Mix. If a real fight erupts, the WEAKER dog USUALLY starts it. You really do not need the vet bills or the headaches of a real fight.

No more allowing the mix to herd the Golden (separate). Mix and Shepherd out together or Golden and Shepherd out together. Mix and Golden NEVER out together even in the house.

Feed the dogs in crates. Better yet, feed in crates and in separate rooms.

 

[LeoRose]

The dogs have been together since March. I feed them separately. The growling is in the house when one of walking by. I take away any toys to make sure it's not over that. It is not constant. In the house the Golden growls first normally. Outside, the mix herds the golden.

I know people who's dogs got along for years before one of them decided that the other had to die, and who could never even be in the same room together after that.

Crate and rotate is a pain. I've done it before with three dog combinations, and it sucked. It was worth it to not have fights, though.

 

[lad20050620]

I have to agree with @3GSD4IPO . I would make sure that you separate the dogs, especially indoors since that seems to be the trigger point.

 

[Lymanara]

Do you play indoor with both of them? And do they always act like that? I mean, if everything was fine and they've just started attacking each other I hope it's not a sign of a disease. I always check my dog's behavior and if I see any changes I browse forums like this one to be sure if it's not something bad. Recently my dog was licking her paw all day long and I thought she's got a splinter, but couldn't find it. I googled the information and turned out that the reason why dogs are licking their paws may be a shampoo allergy. So we changed it and luckily everything is fine now.