[doggydog81]

hello dogforums! ok here's the deal. my girlfriend and i have had a shih tzu for the past 3 years. we got it from a kennel run by an elderly lady, very nice but maybe unable to provide the ideal environment for multiple puppies. we took her home and, it took a while, but we got her out of her shell, and she loves and trusts us absolutely now. she still has issues with other dogs, mainly she displays antisocial behavior. usually outside. she is fine until another dog approaches her, then she gets on the evasive. she did have a large dog chase her and scare the living daylights out of her before, and there have been other not so good interactions. inside she tends to open up more but still is a bit standoff-ish towards dogs. but when its just us she's normal cute curious shih tzu. it just depends on the other dog. So, we both have new jobs now and are gone all day while she sits at home. we were concerned that this probably isn't good for her to be alone for a minimum of 10 hours a day. so now we have a 2 month old puppy. a shih tzu/beagle mix. (looks like a shih tzu just a little taller) she is well behaved for a puppy that age. we've already noticed the separation anxiety but that will pass. our older shih tzu DOES NOT APPROVE. she will not get close to the puppy and now she looks so jealous and depressed. we thought that maybe another small dog would be fine because she has seemed so happy at my girlfriends' mother's house, where there is a bichon she plays with. but so far no luck. we've always known that the older dog has had social issues and obviously dogs are territorial, but will this improve? we dont want her to bottle up in jealousy with the new puppy running around. any thoughts? experiences?

 

[doggydog81]

Well i agree with you on us being gone for 10 hours. But she just had to have it. When we are gone they are in the living room. The older one can jump on to the couch, little one cannot. so i guess thats alone time. we are trying to get them to play and they did a little already, but the older one gets over it and wants to relax. we do chastise for bad behavior and reward good behavior. i think that the puppy is too young to understand all of it right now but we will keep it up to reinforce it. i suppose we could put the older dog in the bedroom while we are gone to seperate them, but the only reason we put them together is first, to get the older dog used to the idea that the little one isn't going anywhere. and second, the puppy displays more security and less anxiety when the older one is around, even if its ignoring her. i have noticed the older one is very territorial about the couch if we dont intervene. but when we place the puppy on the couch she accepts it, however grugingly. i just hope the puppy learns the ropes as quickly as the older one did, because she is very disciplined for a shih tzu and follows us to the letter. housebreaking is in process too for puppy. thanks for the reply. any more would be appreciated!

 

[doggydog81]

well if the pup does make it up to the couch the older one just jumps off. its more of a "bark is worse than bite" thing. but i have thought about separating them. ive even thought about setting up a camera just to see how they really act alone with each other to see what may be necessary. i think i'll try a separation day before their walk when we get home. maybe the walk will be more of a social event after they've been alone all day. i wish i had someone to take them out that i could trust, but i just dont. my neighbors arent all that great. i will be moving soon hopefully into a house with much more space than our current apartment. thanks for the reply!

 

[doggydog81]

no major accidents yet. but that will likely happen, but im moving out of that apartment in two months so i dont care where it pees. But we are still training her to not do that indoors. as for chewing, we have removed and rearranged things so she can't get to anything. luckily its a small enough apartment to do so. the pup is in the living room/kitchen only.