Young male Giants?

[BBG]

Welcome to the forum.

They occasionally come up for rehoming. Keep an eye on the rehoming/giant section on here and also contact the Giant Schnauzer Resuce and the GS Club.

http://www.giantschnauzerclub.co.uk/rescue.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It might also be worth contacting some of the breeders on Champdogs as they may have an older dog for rehoming. (I was going to say the GS Club site but can't see a list of breeders anymore!)

http://www.champdogs.co.uk/breeds/giant ... r/breeders" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[wazzockmum]

Have read this thread all the way through and some very helpful advice on here!

Intersting what Riiseni says about the difficult ages.

I think we have just hit our first Young Male Giant Moment with Alfie at 2.5yrs!

Having lost our old biy in Julythis year our pack went from 3 entire males to 2. So after 6 weeks we tried to introduce a new one to the pack - a 14mth old entire male. A super dog, no issues whatsoever anad I quickly became very fond of him.

However it was not to be.... Alfie would not have him - in fact on our first introduction on neutral territory on a forest walk Alfie attacked him ( only briefly and a flying nip sort of thing) but he has never touched another dog before. This continued for our weeks trial with of course Archie joining in eventually. Three fighting male giants was too much to cope with and despite removal of all trigger factors the goal posts moved too often and we had to admit defeat.

I was very upset and saw my boys in a completely different light - but as they are a happy pack of 2 with no wandering or aggression issues the decision was made to leave it at that.

Alfie has started gun dog work again as the season kicked off int he autumn - on wednesday he was very possesive over his pile of birds and stood over them as other dogs passed.

Yesterday for the first ever he challenegd Archie ( 6yr old) over a astick. They had a minor set too - I shouted NO and they stopped - but after that we went back after 5 mins to playing football and again Alfie would not back down to Archie as he usually does, Archie seemed ambivalent about this as I was controlling the game but the signs are there - I am going to have to control things quite carefully over the next few months to kepp our pack happy!

[riiseni]

Have read this thread all the way through and some very helpful advice on here!

Intersting what Riiseni says about the difficult ages.

I think we have just hit our first Young Male Giant Moment with Alfie at 2.5yrs!

Having lost our old biy in Julythis year our pack went from 3 entire males to 2. So after 6 weeks we tried to introduce a new one to the pack - a 14mth old entire male. A super dog, no issues whatsoever anad I quickly became very fond of him.

However it was not to be.... Alfie would not have him - in fact on our first introduction on neutral territory on a forest walk Alfie attacked him ( only briefly and a flying nip sort of thing) but he has never touched another dog before. This continued for our weeks trial with of course Archie joining in eventually. Three fighting male giants was too much to cope with and despite removal of all trigger factors the goal posts moved too often and we had to admit defeat.

I was very upset and saw my boys in a completely different light - but as they are a happy pack of 2 with no wandering or aggression issues the decision was made to leave it at that.

Alfie has started gun dog work again as the season kicked off int he autumn - on wednesday he was very possesive over his pile of birds and stood over them as other dogs passed.

Yesterday for the first ever he challenegd Archie ( 6yr old) over a astick. They had a minor set too - I shouted NO and they stopped - but after that we went back after 5 mins to playing football and again Alfie would not back down to Archie as he usually does, Archie seemed ambivalent about this as I was controlling the game but the signs are there - I am going to have to control things quite carefully over the next few months to kepp our pack happy!

Me thinks that Alfie has realised what he's got between his legs and decided to challenge Archie
I really don't envy you Suzanne. You're going to have to be on top of things 24/7 now so it doesn't escalate to a proper fight. Problem is that when Giants decide that they don't like somebody, they REALLY don't like somebody and because they give out signals to each other we don't even notice, the smallest thing could kick off a fight.
I would most certainly move away anything Alfie could take ownership over.
Is he protective over you with Archie?
Hopefully it'll pass, but if it doens't, maybe getting rid of a ball or two will help [You know I would never suggest that unless things were really bad!].
Hopefully you'll get it sorted and the boys can go back to living peacefully, but I wouldn't throw in an entire juvenile male quite yet lol
GOOD LUCK! x

[wazzockmum]

Satu - I am 50/50 with them fussing and cuddling and let them both see there is space and time for both.

I also encourgae a bit of play fighting - I think this gets rid of any pent up testosterone - but only encourage a play fight over nothing. I also see to it that eventually when I step in I win.

Alfie is much brighter than Archie so mainly uses his guile to out manouvre Archie - but Archie is quite in your face dominant sometimes and is often sent to the sin bin for being too rough / or not backing down.

Anyway as you say careful management required!

[kell]

Max is my first male giant - Mini was a male and a sweetie - his aim in life was to please. Max is different but still like a young dog. I thought I had cracked the food thing with no growling for about 3 weeks then last night we had a real todo. He had been slightly off all day so today it is down the park and training. He seems to be stiff so am wondering if he has strained a mussle and may just be sore. Anyhow will find out today - warm ups then training. Do giants ever grow up?

[wazzockmum]

IN answer to when do they grow up - Archie is 6 now and still behaves like a pup at times!

He is a grumbler and grumbles at you if you do something he does not like. EG He hates someone standing behind him when he his drinking - he stops lifts his head and grumbles until you ( dog or person) is gone. I always touch him on the bum as I leave and say its ME Archie no need to grumble until he is quiet -walk away and let him drink again.

He will stand for 10 mins thoug if it is Alfie grumbling louder and louder until Alfie moves away.

I dont think we will ever stop his grumbling - I torment him about it instead and sometimes grumble with him - he then gets confused and comes and sit in front of me givving me paws until I stop .

[kell]

Oh that is so like Max grumble grumble I was going to call him gruffalo or harumph!! It is only over his food that he is really grumpy the rest of the time it is just a friendly grump but with food he can get quite upset. I try and not get into a him and me situatuion but just remove his food saying do not growl. He eventually gives up and I always like you touch him and say that is good. He grumbles when grooming and when getting to lie on his bed but this is a play grumble and I growl back and get the cocked head and quizzical look. Max is 6 as well - maybe it is a middle aged crisis!!!1

[kell]

Oh that is so like Max grumble grumble I was going to call him gruffalo or harumph!! It is only over his food that he is really grumpy the rest of the time it is just a friendly grump but with food he can get quite upset. I try and not get into a him and me situatuion but just remove his food saying do not growl. He eventually gives up and I always like you touch him and say that is good. He grumbles when grooming and when getting to lie on his bed but this is a play grumble and I growl back and get the cocked head and quizzical look. Max is 6 as well - maybe it is a middle aged crisis!!!1

[riiseni]

IN answer to when do they grow up - Archie is 6 now and still behaves like a pup at times!

He is a grumbler and grumbles at you if you do something he does not like. EG He hates someone standing behind him when he his drinking - he stops lifts his head and grumbles until you ( dog or person) is gone. I always touch him on the bum as I leave and say its ME Archie no need to grumble until he is quiet -walk away and let him drink again.

He will stand for 10 mins thoug if it is Alfie grumbling louder and louder until Alfie moves away.

I dont think we will ever stop his grumbling - I torment him about it instead and sometimes grumble with him - he then gets confused and comes and sit in front of me givving me paws until I stop .

After having Archie, who's grumling eventually escalated to him biting me [he was very closely related to your Archie] I will not except ANY grumbling now.
When I gave Erik his first lamb rib, he instantly took ownership of the rib and showed me all his teeth and growled like a wolf.
I took him by the scruff, growled at him and send him sliding across the kitchen floor. He got back on his feet, came back to me with his tail down and sat down. I gave him back the bone, appraised him and he has not since growled at me with food [or with anything else]. I have no reason to takes his food of him, but I can walk past, hold one end of the bone [which is what I did with hicken wings to start with] and he's completely fine and so are the girls.
When Archie was around there was a constant tension in a house because of his dominance aggression and because of that I will never let my Giants get on top of me again.
I made all the first time owner mistakes and paid for them and unfortunately so did Lizzie because I can now see how much happier she is without the tension.
You live and learn.

[kell]

Thanks Riseni Max didn't growl over his food tonight but I had grated some cheese and left it on the work top. I went through to the livingroom and you guessed it he stole the cheese. I shouted at him and he growled and I remembered your experience so grabbed his scruff and his back leg and floored him. He was so shocked no growling and I was eye balling him and he looked so ashamed. I let him up and put him out of the kitchen. He went upstairs but came down and wagged his tail very sheepishly. I wondered if it was because I hadn't been grooming him as much lately and he was feeling more sure of himself. Anyhow you are right they must be kept in their place. I didn't hurt Max just his pride. We will see.

[Donald]

Chester needs reminding of his place approximately hourly. Not that he's a bad dog, he isn't.

But he does check boundaries all the time.

I try, but don't always succeed to be consistent with him.

[Moira]

I would like a young male Giant Schnauzer. Should I contact a breeder or a re homing centre?
Please advise.

[Donald]

I'm not aware of any up for rehoming just now. You probably get a much easier time with a new puppy that hasn't had a chance to develop issues. A good breeder is going to ask a lot of questions of you - that is a good thing.

[Turbo22]

I'd agree with Donald that a pup would be easier than an older dog being rehomed if it is your first experience of a Giant.You give no indication of how much experience in general you have with dogs so please make sure you know and are fully aware of what you will be taking on with either a pup or a rehomed dog.If you have read through this posting about young male giants it will have given you some indication.
You can check with the kennel club find a puppy site although there are not a lot available at the moment.I know that a lot of breeders do not like selling pups around Christmas.Four of the five Giants I have had came from family homes not professional breeders although it was the breeders who put me in touch with two of them when I spoke to them about getting a Giant. It can be worth speaking to the kennels which breed giants as they may not have a litter of their own but may know of some available where their dogs have been used as studs.

[Border]

We have just lost our GS Boris born 06/07/03 .He was a rescue from the GS club 7 months old,in the first few days of adopting him I thought what have I done he was more than a handful . He grew to be the Greatest Dog Ever and we deverstated By his passing