introducing new dog Help!!

541 Views 9 Replies 7 Participants Last post by MissyJessie, May 5, 2009

MissyJessie

Discussion Starter · Apr 26, 2009

Hi

We currently have a male neutered Dashound who has never had any issues with big dogs or any other dogs at all he is a year and a couple months. When he was a few months old he was attacked by a big lab which bit his face.
The other day we were at the SPCA here and fell in love with a Husky cross and decided to bring him home. when we first introduced chester to the new dog toby he right away was very aggressive and would snap at tobys face. Toby is very timid and has already tried to show chester numerous times that he does not want to be dominant or attack him and will lay down and roll over showing his stomach and throat he has never reacted when chester snaps at his nose, Toby is only 6 months old. Right now because we do not want either of the dogs getting hurt we have them separated blocked off by baby gates so they can still smell each other. It is just getting really hard to keep them apart. Chester now doesnt lunge at his face and will sit and smell him barely showing his teeth and very rarely barking. we want to introduce them to each other because neither is going anywhere. We were thinking muzzleing both of them until they get used to each other...
Any ideas? we just dont want anyone getting hurt and we love both of them so much we just really want them to get along.

Please Help!!

Jess

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Keechak

· #2 · Apr 26, 2009

It seems like you jumped into adopting this new dog a little too fast. I would not muzzle eather dog. but if things get heated simply tell them both to lay down and stay.

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Thracian

· #3 · Apr 26, 2009

I wish Chester had been able to meet Toby before you brought him home . . . but it's too late for that now. You said this happened "the other day." How long have you had Toby now? Have you tried taking them on walks together? Just to be safe, I'd have one person holding Chester's leash and another holding Toby's. In other words, I wouldn't have one person hold both.

I saw a technique on It's Me or the Dog that might be helpful. The first dog is in a room, and whenever the second dog enters the room, the first dog gets high-value treats, so he gets used to the idea that good things happen when the second dog is in the room. When the second dog leaves the room, the treats stop as well. Again, this requires two people.

The key is to take it slowly. Don't expect Chester to immediately take to the new guy. It's going to take time.

Good luck!

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FourIsCompany

· #4 · Apr 27, 2009

It does take time sometimes. Ideally, you would have asked this question before you brought a new dog into Chester's turf without introducing them on neutral territory. Take them for walks side by side, as Thracian explaned. Walk fairly fast and talk about other subjects. Stay happy and upbeat, but not excited. Don't watch the dogs every second, just check on them every now and then, trying to keep their faces about even with each other. Walking is a bonding experience for dogs. Do be safe in the house, but let them smell and see each other. Be patient and don't be nervous or worried about it. Be calm and know that it's going to be all right. It's important that you give it time.

It may be a couple weeks before they make friends, so you may need to set up the house to accomodate things, but work on it and it will probably happen just fine.

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MissyJessie

Discussion Starter · #5 · Apr 27, 2009

We had thought about another dog for a long time almost as long as we have had chester but we did not want to go to a breeder for the next one there were way to many dogs looking for a new home. We did take chester to the SPCA and he was fine for the most part he starts to get nervous when toby gets in his face like just to smell him.
Right now we have the dogs serperated by baby gates so they can still see and smell each other. chesters out bursts are getting a lot better he does not bark as much or snap at Toby.
We picked toby up on saturday. We love both dearly and will wait how ever long it will take to get them to like each other. But i will try doing the treat thing. Could i do that even for them touching noses and haveing faces close to each other because Chester doesnt care if he is in the room as long as he is not in his face.
We took them for walks but did not think to have them walking beside each other i was just so nervous that chester would snap at toby but we will have to try that tonight.
Thank you for the great ideas i will let you know how it goes

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FourIsCompany

· #6 · Apr 27, 2009

MissyJessie said:
We took them for walks but did not think to have them walking beside each other i was just so nervous that chester would snap at toby but we will have to try that tonight.

Be sure to keep them far enough apart (with empty space in between) that they can't snap at each other.

And yes, I'm interested to hear about your progress.

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Dog Tracks

· #7 · Apr 27, 2009

The method of desensitizing one dog to the presence of another works well but you've got to take it slowly. That's why the earlier poster recommended giving the treat as soon as Chester sees Toby (i.e. from across the room). Let's say that 20 feet away. Toby's there, Chester gets a treat. Toby's gone, no treat. In fairly short order Chester will begin looking at you (expecting a treat) as soon as he sees Toby.

Then decrease the distance between them...but very little. Try 15 feet. He sees Toby and gets a treat. Toby's gone; no treats. Again, when he's looking at you expecting a treat for seeing Toby, you can move to 10 feet. And so on. If at any time he "fails", just go back to the last place he succeeded (maybe that's at 15 feet) and start over.

The problem with starting out with the dogs too close together is that Toby's defense mechanisms are already "up" and he really can't learn what you want to teach him because adrenalin is pumping through his system. When he's that close he's just too distracted (tense) to learn.

BTW, this occurs over a period of days or weeks. It's not a one hour kind of thing. The hardest part is that you have to have a second person to control the coming and going of Toby.

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TxRider

· #8 · Apr 27, 2009

I'd second the walking together part as well, lots of it. It's a good activity for them and a cooperative one. One of the best ways to socialize two dogs and get them used to each others presence.

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ColoradoSooner

· #9 · Apr 27, 2009

I would just also like to add that Chester may be trying to teach Toby some doggie manners. In dog language, it's rude to walk up to another dog and stick your face in theirs. (I mean, that's what butts are for, right?

) And since Toby is a puppy, he may not have learned that skill yet.

We've had Mayzie about a month and Ranger has jumped at and growled at her on a few occasions when she was getting a little too "pushy." (He's never actually bitten her or made contact in any way.) She hasn't been around many other dogs and I think she's lacking some social skills, which Ranger is only too happy to teach her.

It sounds much worse than it actually is and they get along great 99% of the time. They're just sorting some things out. And of course, we keep a close eye on them to make sure that it doesn't escalate.

If Chester is getting better, it's probably because Toby is learning to respect Chester and his personal space. And IMO, there is nothing wrong with that as long as no one is actually getting hurt or bullied.

Definitely do what the others have suggested to make sure they both have pleasant experiences around each other. But also realize it's going to take them some time to adjust and sort things out.

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MissyJessie

Discussion Starter · #10 · May 5, 2009

We tried the treat thing an our dog has never really been trained with treats so this method was not as effective as it likely would have been under different cercumstances. Because Toby is pretty big he finally managed to climb over the baby gates to get in with chester so we decided to do what my Vet suggested she said muzzle them both so they are unable to do any harm and let them get used to being around each other, being sure to pay attention to chester when he was getting a little aggrevated with Toby. We would have them together for a little then seperated for a while. Toby did not react at all negatively towards chester he would constantly lay down and submit. And that only took a day then the next day we were able to take them for a walk and have them in the same space without muzzles or anything they play like they have been together since birth. We still feed them seperate and give chester some advantages because he is like less than half the size of toby, so he does not feel replaced or anything by the new dog.
Thank you so much for all the feed back i now have a happy (less noisy) home with 2 great dogs and my baby lol.
Chester will still snap at Toby a little bit if he is getting to close to his face so i dont doubt that he is trying to teach him a little thing or 2 lol.

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