Why is my dog Juno being so aggressive to my other dog Lexi

Question

My sister has gotten a new dog, German shepherd named Juno. She has shown aggression and has already bitten 2 people.

I have another dog Lexi who has just had surgery. Juno has been trying to bite at where her stitches are. Also whenever Lexi is laying with me she’ll go and start growling at her.

Today, my sister was walking the dogs and Lexi refused to come inside. So when my sister grabbed her, Juno jumped at Lexi and bite her real ugly. I then ran to the door and grabbed Juno from the back as my sister was pulling them apart then Juno bit my sister and I ran around and at the same time my sister screamed and Juno jumped at Lexi again and bit her in the throat. I kicked Juno in the face and grabbed Lexi and quick as I️ can.

My question is, why is Juno so mean to Lexi but nice to my other dogs and has been so good until recently?

Answer 1

Your main concern should be safety. German Shepherds are a very large breed, and one that's been known to have aggression problems as well. The fact that Juno had bitten people as well as dogs is a very serious concern. This situation should not be taken lightly.

Juno needs to be separated from your other dogs until you get a handle on this. As long as Juno is being aggressive to your other dog, she is more dangerous to humans as well, as they could very well could caught up in between them, like what has already happened. Therefore not just for your dogs' safety, but also for yours, Juno needs to be kept away from them.

After that, you need to hire a trainer experienced with handling aggressive dogs. I don't recommend trying to deal with this on your own. While you're on your own trying to learn how to deal with it, another person or animal could be injured. Better to have the supervision of someone who can intervene if something goes wrong, and you don't know how to stop it.

Though normally I don't advocate rehoming, I make exceptions for cases where the current home might not be able to properly care for the animal. It might be that it's impossible to ever fully trust Juno to be around other dogs. It may be better for her to go to a home with no other animals and an owner very experienced with difficult animals.

Answer 2

This is a very dangerous situation, you definitely need to seek professional trainer's help. Check out some videos here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WEFxuk1Coc&index=8&list=PLlEEuBO0SnptkAc5F47EmnxxIRPKfn2U0 - there are plenty of good trainers, who can identify the reason for Juno's aggressive behavior and address it accordingly. They will most likely need to use some e-collar training, which you could try as well to curb super aggressive outbursts, this article gives some options https://traindoghq.com/bark-collars-guide/. But make sure to introduce the collar properly if you decide to use one. And better yet, get the trainer to show your sister how to use it.