[Kimouette]

Hi everyone,
We have adopted a 2 year old Boston terrier a week ago. We already had one other Boston and a Vizsla at home.
We are going through couple of issues, but one of the main one is that this new dog (Gus) doesn’t know how to play and becomes aggressive in a non traditional way. For exemple, if I throw 3 tennis balls on the floor, my two other dogs will get one ball each and will want to either bring it back to us or go somewhere to chew on it. But Gus only feeds on this weird overexcited energy and understands nothing of this ball game. If he grabs a ball he’ll drop it on the floor and quickly turn around to run to another dog’s ball (while the ball is in the other dog’s mouth!!). And even when he does that, as soon as he gets that stolen ball, he looses interest, drops it on the floor and runs to another dog to steal another. One of my dog is very submissive so he’ll let go every single time, but the other one is willing to fight over this kind of issue. And Gus, even though he is 4 times smaller than my other dog, seems to be willing to risk his life ! We’ve stopped a fight twice, and now we feel like we’ll never be able to play with our dogs again…
Anyone knows how we could work on this very specific issue? Like teach the dog not to steal, but mostly teach the dog how to not loose interest in the toy he has himself?
Thanks a lot for your guidance!
Kim

 

[3GSD4IPO]

Put Gus up in a crate and play with the other dogs. When you want to play with Gus put the other dogs up and play with Gus. When the three are together, no toys out. Very simple.

I also advise feeding the dogs separately in separate rooms or in separate crates.

Stealing from another dog is a pretty common behavior. Dogs are like "What I have is never as good as what someone else has, so must take the other dog's toy."

 

[BKaymuttleycrew]

Most dogs are a whole lot like toddlers in that anything had by someone else is WAY better than what they have! LOL

I agree that separating the dogs for toy play time, at least right now while Gus is still settling in & learning your household rules, would be the very best thing. You could eventually work with him on 'taking turns' for games of fetch, but he'll need to be taught a solid 'place' cue where he can sit & wait until you cue him that it's 'Gus' turn'. (Your other dogs would need to learn this as well, so they can also sit & wait until you give them a turn)

But as far as just tossing out random piles of toys/balls & expecting them to sort it out? Probably not going to happen without going bad.

 

[Kimouette]

I’ll do exactly what you guys have suggested! I’m pretty sure whichever dog is separated will become crazy jealous and vocal about it, but it does give the opportunity for each dog to play. Feeding them separately is already part of the routine and I don’t plan on ever changing that. But I hope that playing together will soon become an option🤞

 

[Uncle Foster]

The new dog has barely landed and has yet to figure out where he fits in the family (pack)
I would expect in pretty short order that the two senior pack members will educate the newest member.

The fights you stopped were they scuffles or real fights?
A real fight might look and sound like...
barred teet, lip curled, low growl that says I will kill you

A scuffle might have some yipping and crying but none of the above.

Unless it was a real fight with imminent injury you probobably short circuited the dogs figuring it out between themselves.

Obedience? Have you started basic obedience yet? Sit, Stay, Down. You should.
Ray McSoley tells us ¨you are either teaching your dog the right thirng or you are teaching your dog the wrong thing because you are always teaching them something.¨

Luck
Uncle Foster