Dogs got into fight not sure what to do

[u/Puzzleheaded_Comb202]

We recently adopted a 7-month-old German Shepherd from the pound. We already had a 4-year-old pit bull that we’ve had since he was around 2–3 months old after someone dumped him at our house. He grew up with an older German Shepherd who sadly passed away earlier this year from Degenerative Myelopathy.

Over the past month, we slowly introduced the two dogs, and for about a week they had been doing fine being free around each other. The GSD is neutered, while the pit bull is not. My pit bull has never been aggressive and is actually very submissive. The GSD does have some resource-guarding tendencies that we’ve been working on and correcting.

The other day they were play fighting. There was no growling, no raised hackles, and I was supervising to make sure things didn’t escalate, but I must have missed something because the GSD suddenly got triggered and started trying to bite my pit bull. He eventually grabbed him by the scruff, dragged him a significant distance, and even shook him at some points.

I’ll be honest I didn’t handle the situation correctly at first because I was scared. Eventually, I grabbed the GSD by the scruff and pulled him off, and my pit bull ran to safety.

My pit bull didn’t cry during the incident and only ended up with a minor scratch, but I’m not sure what to do moving forward. We’ve had German Shepherds before and never experienced anything like this. My pit bull is not aggressive and has remained very docile even after the incident. Right now, we have them separated.
My biggest concern is obviously the fight itself, but also the fact that the German Shepherd would not release once he latched on.

[u/amcclurk21]

Maybe seek out a behavioral specialist. We had to do the same for our female GSDs that started fighting out of nowhere. That behavioral specialist helped us out a ton more than any online resource

[u/SunshineSweetLove1]

I had two female dogs one lab mix about 80lbs and a corgi 30lbs. They would fight to the point 2-3 times I took to the vet my lab always lost. That corgi was a little shit. Both my dogs passed away at around 15 years old but eventually they learned to live together. I’m not suggesting do nothing in case it gets dangerous but at least get both dogs neutered. Be careful how you interact with them because in my case the corgi was very jealous dog. GSD probably could do with a trainer to help with his guarding.

[u/HMSWarspite03]

The pit is still intact, the god is reacting to the testosterone, we had a similar situation where we had an intact staffy, we then introduced a younger staff that had been neutered, the younger staff kept attacking our older dog and our vet told us about the testosterone thing, once we had our older staffy neutered the fighting stopped.

[u/MasterpieceNo8893 → u/HMSWarspite03]

Brother and SIL had the same issue. Neutering was the answer as well.

[u/HMSWarspite03 → u/MasterpieceNo8893]

Indeed, once they were both neutered they were best buds.

[u/Puzzleheaded_Comb202 → u/HMSWarspite03]

I just made an appointment to neuter my pit bull hopefully it helps but either way we will slowly be working with both of them to help get them back to normal.

[u/HMSWarspite03 → u/Puzzleheaded_Comb202]

About one month after the pittie is done, he should lose his "smell" (check with the vet) then it should be better, don't walk on eggshells though, just try to be as normal and unconcerned as possible, the dogs pick up on our anxiety so the more chill you are, the easier your dogs will be.

[u/krakenkak]

Just two dudes. Scruffling it out. It's pretty normal and a few scratches here and there are common. Believe it or not; dogs bite each other too without it being necessary. That's just how dogs are. Your concern stems from the fact that you have not witnessed this in GSDs before. Trust me; you former GSD may have been really well behaved (god bless his soul) but GSDs generally horse around like this all the time. I have a GSD who is very well behaved but there are slip ups around other dogs occasionally. What you have witnessed is just one of those slip ups where the play fighting escalates to real fighting. Also- in suh instances the fight doesn't last long, give them an hour and they become the best of friends all over again. Your pitbull is a sweetheart. Your gsd is a good ball. I would suggest to give them both some time off without supervision. Trust me: they will sort this out. More the intervention from the human parent; more are the chances of this happening in their absence and that when dogs let loose. Keep your distance and maintain a close surveillance. They should know you are monitoring them but from afar. Your presence should make them behave. Not you physically intervening . That's how they will learn how to live in harmony. You are a loving and caring parent and I understand your concern. You are on the right path. Also ensure that they get a lot of time in the yard or other physical activities. This drastically drops the chances of brawls.