I'm sorry this is so long 
So yesterday we went from being a single dog household to a two dog household. We made several mistakes. First, we didn't have the dogs meet before the second dog was introduced. Secondly, we didn't introduce them on neutral ground. I'm sure we made a lot more mistakes too, but that's all I know of right now.
Our first dog is a male siberian husky named Cato. He is 5 months old and super friendly and of course full of energy. He really wants to play all the time. He tries to play with our cats (I forgot to mention we have 3 adult cats) and sometimes they play back with him, somtimes they give him a warning hiss and run away to one of their numerous safe high spots. He has never tried to bite one of the cats. He usually play bows at them and barks at them like crazy. I know not to let him actually chase the cats, however they do sometimes play chase eachother. He never chases them from a room. He will usually bark at cat, the cat will come towards him and he will run and the cat chases him. He stops, the cat stops. they turn around and do the same thing (with dog chasing cat) about half way across the room, the cat stops, the dog stops. The one cat who plays with him the most, will actually come up and prance around in front of him, trying to get him to chase her to start the game. He also LOVES to play with the dogs next door to us, and they play well together.
We did NOT only get the second dog to be a playmate for Cato. We always wanted to have 2 dogs. I just didn't expect it to happen as soon as it did.
Anyways. The new dog is also a male siberian husky. He is 3 months old. He was raised with his littermates until yesterday when my boyfriend picked him up. When he brought him home, I went outside to meet him, and I carried the new puppy (named Bentley) in. He is quite a bit smaller than Cato, so I didn't want to put him down right away. Cato came up right away to sniff at his butt, and the puppy growled at him, which surpised me a little.... after a little bit, we let both puppies down on the ground, and they were head-to-butt sniffing eachother and I though everything was going well. I feel like Cato was more curious of the new puppy, then the puppy was of him. Cato would go up and sniff at the puppy, follow him a bit, and the puppy will growl and nip at him. The chase each other around like crazy, both dogs doing the chasing. However, when the new puppy barks or nipps at Cato, he backs off very quickly, almost like he's scared. The puppy is NOT yipping, he is not hurt. He actually sounds kind of scary and mean, and will chase Cato away. Cato will also let him walk right up and take away toys he is playing with. This happened over and over again (yes, Bentley does have his own toys). I was quite surprised that Cato just let the puppy pick up his toy and walk away with it. Cato also let the new puppy come up and eat right out of his bowl while he was eating and Cato just moved and let him eat. I did read online that dogs will sometimes give puppies a "license" to act that way, and get away with alot more, until they are about 4 months old, but Cato is only 5 months old himself, so I'm not sure if this is the case. I guess I'm just confused because I was worried Cato was going to boss the new puppy around and I was going to have to watch out for that, but the opposite is happening. The new puppy seems to be bossing Cato around, and it almost makes me feel sad for Cato, because he was here first, and the new puppy seems to be running things. Cato does not seem upset at all, he still wants to be by Bently all the time. And they don't always play or fight or whatever they are doing. They also lay next to to each other and play with toys individually, and play with toys togther, or just sleep.
This morning, when I fed them, Bentley scarfed his food down and finished first, then came up to try and get Cato's food, and this time Cato kind of snarled at him, and the puppy backed up, then just sat about 5 feet away and watched him finish eating. I was happy about this, I figured it was good Cato wasn't going to let the puppy walk all over him. Now I'm second guessing myself.
Cato is not vocal at all. The only time he barks is when he is trying to get the cats to play, or if he is excited to see us when we come home. So, it is kind of shocking to me to hear Bentley make so much noise, and sound so mean, growling and barking etc. Is it ok that he sounds mean?
They usually just chase each other around, but when they start play biting and wrestling around, after a few minutes I feel like the sounds they are making kind of change. Maybe I am just crazy, but it seems like the sounds change from playful to more serious. As soon as I feel like the sound chages, I seperate them. Is this ok?
One more question: Bentley is being Crate trained. At this point, Cato only goes in his crate if we leave, he is doing very well with housetraining etc.. But yesterday, when Bentley was in his crate, Cato went up to sniff at him, and Bentley went crazy! I have never seen anything like it. He was barking like crazy and trying to bite the crate. So, I made Cato come to a part of the house where they couldn't see each other and lay down. And Bentley settled right down. He likes his crate, he goes in there on his own, lays down, sleeps (all with door open) and he doesn't whine when he is in there, as long as we are in the room, and even when we aren't he doesn't whine much. Why would he act like that?
So, again sorry for the long post. In summary:
1) Is it ok that the puppy seems to be bossing Cato around? Should I intervene in this at all?
2)what about when Cato DOES correct Bentley (such as with the food this morning) is this ok?
3)Is it ok that Bentley barks and growls so much when they play? Is he being aggressive or just playing?
4) is it ok to seperate them when I think the play fighting sounds change?
5) why on earth was Bentley acting so crazy in his crate. Should I be crating Cato whenever Bentley is in his crate? I really don't want to have to do this, because Bentley is in his crate alot (successfull potty break, followed by up to 30 mins free play time, back to crate, repeat) and Cato is used to having more free time.
Also, I want to add that I will take any and all advice, and will try whatever you guys suggest. I work a job where I am off from October til about April or May, so I will be around almost all of the time, and have lots of free time.
Thank you so much if you made it this far.
So yesterday we went from being a single dog household to a two dog household. We made several mistakes. First, we didn't have the dogs meet before the second dog was introduced. Secondly, we didn't introduce them on neutral ground. I'm sure we made a lot more mistakes too, but that's all I know of right now.
Our first dog is a male siberian husky named Cato. He is 5 months old and super friendly and of course full of energy. He really wants to play all the time. He tries to play with our cats (I forgot to mention we have 3 adult cats) and sometimes they play back with him, somtimes they give him a warning hiss and run away to one of their numerous safe high spots. He has never tried to bite one of the cats. He usually play bows at them and barks at them like crazy. I know not to let him actually chase the cats, however they do sometimes play chase eachother. He never chases them from a room. He will usually bark at cat, the cat will come towards him and he will run and the cat chases him. He stops, the cat stops. they turn around and do the same thing (with dog chasing cat) about half way across the room, the cat stops, the dog stops. The one cat who plays with him the most, will actually come up and prance around in front of him, trying to get him to chase her to start the game. He also LOVES to play with the dogs next door to us, and they play well together.
We did NOT only get the second dog to be a playmate for Cato. We always wanted to have 2 dogs. I just didn't expect it to happen as soon as it did.
Anyways. The new dog is also a male siberian husky. He is 3 months old. He was raised with his littermates until yesterday when my boyfriend picked him up. When he brought him home, I went outside to meet him, and I carried the new puppy (named Bentley) in. He is quite a bit smaller than Cato, so I didn't want to put him down right away. Cato came up right away to sniff at his butt, and the puppy growled at him, which surpised me a little.... after a little bit, we let both puppies down on the ground, and they were head-to-butt sniffing eachother and I though everything was going well. I feel like Cato was more curious of the new puppy, then the puppy was of him. Cato would go up and sniff at the puppy, follow him a bit, and the puppy will growl and nip at him. The chase each other around like crazy, both dogs doing the chasing. However, when the new puppy barks or nipps at Cato, he backs off very quickly, almost like he's scared. The puppy is NOT yipping, he is not hurt. He actually sounds kind of scary and mean, and will chase Cato away. Cato will also let him walk right up and take away toys he is playing with. This happened over and over again (yes, Bentley does have his own toys). I was quite surprised that Cato just let the puppy pick up his toy and walk away with it. Cato also let the new puppy come up and eat right out of his bowl while he was eating and Cato just moved and let him eat. I did read online that dogs will sometimes give puppies a "license" to act that way, and get away with alot more, until they are about 4 months old, but Cato is only 5 months old himself, so I'm not sure if this is the case. I guess I'm just confused because I was worried Cato was going to boss the new puppy around and I was going to have to watch out for that, but the opposite is happening. The new puppy seems to be bossing Cato around, and it almost makes me feel sad for Cato, because he was here first, and the new puppy seems to be running things. Cato does not seem upset at all, he still wants to be by Bently all the time. And they don't always play or fight or whatever they are doing. They also lay next to to each other and play with toys individually, and play with toys togther, or just sleep.
This morning, when I fed them, Bentley scarfed his food down and finished first, then came up to try and get Cato's food, and this time Cato kind of snarled at him, and the puppy backed up, then just sat about 5 feet away and watched him finish eating. I was happy about this, I figured it was good Cato wasn't going to let the puppy walk all over him. Now I'm second guessing myself.
Cato is not vocal at all. The only time he barks is when he is trying to get the cats to play, or if he is excited to see us when we come home. So, it is kind of shocking to me to hear Bentley make so much noise, and sound so mean, growling and barking etc. Is it ok that he sounds mean?
They usually just chase each other around, but when they start play biting and wrestling around, after a few minutes I feel like the sounds they are making kind of change. Maybe I am just crazy, but it seems like the sounds change from playful to more serious. As soon as I feel like the sound chages, I seperate them. Is this ok?
One more question: Bentley is being Crate trained. At this point, Cato only goes in his crate if we leave, he is doing very well with housetraining etc.. But yesterday, when Bentley was in his crate, Cato went up to sniff at him, and Bentley went crazy! I have never seen anything like it. He was barking like crazy and trying to bite the crate. So, I made Cato come to a part of the house where they couldn't see each other and lay down. And Bentley settled right down. He likes his crate, he goes in there on his own, lays down, sleeps (all with door open) and he doesn't whine when he is in there, as long as we are in the room, and even when we aren't he doesn't whine much. Why would he act like that?
So, again sorry for the long post. In summary:
1) Is it ok that the puppy seems to be bossing Cato around? Should I intervene in this at all?
2)what about when Cato DOES correct Bentley (such as with the food this morning) is this ok?
3)Is it ok that Bentley barks and growls so much when they play? Is he being aggressive or just playing?
4) is it ok to seperate them when I think the play fighting sounds change?
5) why on earth was Bentley acting so crazy in his crate. Should I be crating Cato whenever Bentley is in his crate? I really don't want to have to do this, because Bentley is in his crate alot (successfull potty break, followed by up to 30 mins free play time, back to crate, repeat) and Cato is used to having more free time.
Also, I want to add that I will take any and all advice, and will try whatever you guys suggest. I work a job where I am off from October til about April or May, so I will be around almost all of the time, and have lots of free time.
Thank you so much if you made it this far.