Problem Introducing a new dog

1164 Views 4 Replies 4 Participants Last post by SophieOwner, Jan 2, 2009

Noopie

Discussion Starter · Jan 1, 2009

I have a 1.5 year old dog, Jake (sheppard/husky/lab/border collie cross) who has never had any issues with dogs (and he has met a lot of dogs as we frequent the dog park, and do lots of socialization)

We have had dogs over to the house before and never had any issues.

Today we just got a new 4 month old puppy - Marlee(retreiver/beagle) and we introduced them in the backyard where our dog always plays with other dogs.

Right off the bat, Jake was not feeling it, and barred teeth and lunged at the puppy. I grabbed Jake and held him to the ground letting him know that this was unacceptable.

we took the two dogs for a walk and they seemed to get along fine.

The neighbors dog came over in the backyard and the 3 of them seemed to get along fine.

We then went inside, and after about 15 minutes, jake mad another lunge with teeth out at marlee. I again pinned him down and told him NO to ensure he was aware that is unacceptable.

This happened one more time, and we have since seperated the two dogs. My spouse and I each had 1 dog on a seperate floor of the house and we rotated between the two dogs so they both got attention from both of us.

Right now, Jake is with us in the house and Marlee is in his crate sleeping.

My question is what is the best approach to ensure Jake accepts Marlee as part of our household?

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spotted nikes

· #2 · Jan 1, 2009

Take your older dog for a couple of long walks each day (40 min - 1 hr), briskly nmarching, not stopping and sniffing.
Then take both for a few short walks together, not letting either one get ahead of you.
Keep a leash on older dog when he is around younger one, until he is trustworthy. Usually there are signs that a bite/attack is coming, or situations that trigger it. Is puppy trying to take his toys, bed, or get attention from you? Is your dog jealous if puppy approaches while you are patting older dog?
Make sure you aren't holding dogs so they have to stand face to face. Very disrespectful to be stared at in dog language, and that position forces them to do that.

The main key will be tiring out your older one. Excess energy leads to anxiety/aggression.

Don't ever leave them alone together until they are 100% trustworthy.

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TooneyDogs

· #3 · Jan 1, 2009

You do know about puppy licenses and their expiration dates? Puppies can get by with murder until about 16 weeks. Adult dogs will tolerate rude, even bad behavior up to that point. After that, the gloves come off and the puppy needs to learn real quick to respect his elders....he's not a puppy anymore in the dog world. Adult dogs are much better at teaching the correct behaviors to the youngsters than we are. Jake is teaching the pup critical social/life skills....bared teeth/false charge by another dog means...."kid you better learn to back off and behave, or else". That's not something you can easily teach the pup.
Those 'lesson's' look downright fearsome and they're often lightning fast. Dogs don't hold back and sugar coat things and, unlike humans ,they don't commit murder. Let Jake do the teaching. You step in only if things might get bloody. No need to throw Jake to the floor....he's trying his best to teach.....just break it up and let them cool off.

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Noopie

Discussion Starter · #4 · Jan 1, 2009 (Edited)

Thanks for the quick reply.

No, we fed them seperately ... older one (Jake) first. Then gave the younger one food midway while the other one is eating, but on the other side of the kitchen, out of site.

We had removed all toys from the equation before the dogs were introduced.

When we brought the dogs back into the house, I stayed out for an extra 15 minutes with the older dog.

So it sounds like we are on the right track, but all the tips help.

We let the older one off his leash, and just had the smaller one on. Jake is really good off leash.

Any other tips would be great.

Thanks.

tooney ...

I understand to an extent, that Jake is teaching lessons, and i understand that Marlee needs to be taught these lessons.

My concern would be that if jake grabbed and shook him, one quick shake would snap Marlees neck.

..... Also, to the other poster, i forget the name, but Jake does seem a bit jealous, but we are being sure that he gets equal if not more 'love' and 'praise' then he was getting before.

Thanks

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SophieOwner

· #5 · Jan 2, 2009

At 4 mo's I don't think the dog's neck would snap from a hard shake. If you do think the fighting is PUPPY YOU'D BETTER BEHAVE sort of fighting then I'd suggest letting Jake assert himself. My parent's dogs have often gotten into dominance-order sort of fights and none were seriously injured becuase my dad would step in when enough was enough and punish both...which I think is the key thing. Its not BAD JAKE GOOD MARLEY even if only Jake was to blame. A good swift dominant "stop" will be all that is needed to remind them in the future that rough play isn't appreciated.

Take this only into consideration if this isn't a aggression issue and Jake isn't just picking on the puppy for fun.

EDIT: dogs get jelous when they think they are doing something and not getting rewarded while another dog does something and gets rewarded for it. It dosn't matter if they get "as much" praise. It has to be equal...Sit for Sit, come for come, etc.

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