I can't remember if it was you or somebody else who mentioned their GSD play fighting before but if it was not you I will repeat that advice; it should never be allowed with male GSDs.

All dogs play in different ways, some are not interested in other dogs, some are hail fellow well met and you need to consider the difference in outlook between breeds.

You have a gundog and a pastoral breed; the two play and interact very differently and their outlook on life is also very different.

GSDs were bred to be a living fence for sheep in fence free Germany. Thus they use their bodies to keep sheep in place and they have a high threshold for body contact; they love body slamming.

This is not fair to other dogs who are of a different physical and mental make up. But, it also releases endorphins in the dog and makes him feel good, so he is MORE likely to repeat this behaviour.


Although this dog had not been playing at the time, he has rehearsed using strong bodily contact to interract with dogs and humans. This cannot be allowed to continue.

I would strongly advise you to take control of this dog before he takes control of you, and teach him what is and what is NOT acceptable.

Until now you have actively encouraged this out of control behaviour and high levels of arousal, this spills over into other areas of life if you are not very careful.

Redirect his fighting etc into ball chasing and sensitise him to body contact.


ps re read your post and it appears your dog is a BMD not a GSD however their views on body contact are not dissimilar, being bred to herd.
HTH