Having SERIOUS Second Thoughts....about the Second Doggie...

[LIGHTNIN]

I want to see pictures.

I have a rott/shep mix that we saved from the shelter. and 2 manx cat that were strays

And the smallest babygirl a black manx without a tail, she is the BOSS, lol

It took each of them about 3days to get along with the others, so i can relate.

Would love to see pics.

[Math_Rocks]

hmmm... know this shows my ignorance but how does one post a picture on here?

Message Edited by Math_Rocks on 09-02-2009 08:43 AM

[Anonymous]

glad to know you're giving it some time.  I have two stray cats and love them dearly.  SHE rules HIM and HE loves it.

[daisyduke]

Casino Annie,

Some guys like to be dominated!!!  It seems as though my boy doggie is always trying to "get busy" with the girl, which seems to be the major cause of the fighting...She fights back, pushes him off - clearly she's not interested in him!! 

They are doing better, but still fight...and now the barking...when the girl dog barks, the boy chimes in too...oh my god....loud...so i am trying to train her with the water bottle...seems to work...the girl dog sees the bottle she pretty much shuts up....

I feel bad because I have to board the girl dog this weekend. Visiting my mother, I am only allowed to bring the boy with me, the girl is not welcome. terrible....

[Anonymous]

Having been involvedin rescue for years I can't stress enough how important it is to do proper introductions with pets. It's only been 2 days, it's not too late to start over. The biggest and best advice I can give is WALK them TOGETHER. A few times a day, take them for a walk together around the block. This makes it a lot less stressful for the resident dog, it's always best to let two dogs adjust to one another on neutral grounds and walking them is a great place and way to do this. Dogs are happy when they are walking, they learn to associate one another with a good experience. They often get tired along the way of the walk so when you bring them back in, they are less hyper and prone to bother one another and it's a neutral place to it lessens the stress.

I am not saying you did this, but at this point don't just toss them in a room together and expect them to get along and sort it out themselves. A few wrong moves by one dog that appear threatening by the other could ruin them forever from being compatible.  I introduced a 12 week old puppy (lab, they are notoroius for being the worst puppy known to man for about a full 2 years, oye!) to my 5 year old resident dog last month. It's been a month and they still can't be alone together. We walk together, they play in the yard together, but in the house we are baby gate central. The puppy is too playful and my resident dog doesn't think it's cute to have a puppy nipping at her face, neck and ears at ALL.  Every night we have the puppy on a leash in the living room with the two dogs together. I keep my foot on the leash so that if he goes to lunch at her, I can restrict how far he goes or atleast be able to bring him back and properly correct him. don't let them fight. Don't let him come at her the way he is. It's okay if she gives a good snarl and he backs off, but if they aren't respecting one anothers boundaries, you need to step in.

If your new dog hasn't been properly trained either, taking her to obedience classes would probably save the sanity of you and your resident dog. Good luck, it's a lot of work at first, but will be worth it in the end. Are they spayed/neutered?  If not, you'll want to have that taken care of as well.

Message Edited by UpUpUp on 09-03-2009 08:55 AM

[daisyduke]

Up,

great advice. We do walk the dogs together about five times a day...I will not walk one dog then go for another walk with another dog. they will have to learn to get along.  I think it's been a couple weeks now that we've had the rescue doggie and sometimes they are close to one another - they take naps near each other....they do play, but are unable to share actual doggie toys...we bought two identical toys for each dog, but that doesnt' matter, she wants his toy, he wants her toy...

I do believe the girl dog, the "rescue" dog would benefit from a formal training program - she doesn't even know how to sit! Working on house breaking her - she does pretty well but still urinates on the carpet upstairs IF left alone, so I have to use the baby gates so she cannot go upstairs unsupervised. She is still crated in the day time, as this should speed along the potty training process....

[Anonymous]

Sounds like things are going pretty well for only 2 weeks! I don't think I'll ever be able to leave toys around with both dogs out, my resident dog is very possessive and if the cats walk by her she'll growl at times - only if she has a toy/bone, etc. (otherwise they sleep cuddled up together and the cats rule her).  She's always been this way, but she was a rescue that had been abandoned on a rural highway as a puppy and spent several weeks practically starving to death, so it's a typical response and we've just learned that when she gets a special toy/bone she needs to have a room to herself to chew it in, or make sure we are there when she has it and take it from her if we are not there to supervise.

Is the new dog peeing in her crate? Sometimes if the crate is too big they will urinate in it because they still have room to move over and be away from it. Though, that's unlikely because I think your other dog is about the same size and you probably have the crate from him? Just incase though, if the crate is bigger, and she's doing that it will take much longer to housebreak her.  The rule of them is to give them enough room to lay down, stand up, make a complete turn around inside the crate and no more. I usually give a little more than that, as I feel kind of bad about how small that area seems, but it's all in my head I think. The pro's suggest that if you make the crate a "good place" and not a punishment place that the dogs will view it more as their den and enjoy curling up inside.

I walk around these days with a handful of treats in my pocket so I can make our new puppy sit, down, stay, etc. all day long and then either praise or treat him for doing a good job. I'm not going to lie, it's flipping exhausting to have to think about every little move and do this all day long, but it will make for a nicely behaved dog in the long term, so I try my best to stay consistent with it.

Good luck. I feel your pain. As many times as I have done this, it's just as hard every time!

[Anonymous]

Oh yeah, try doing a search for NIFIL. If you haven't heard of it, it stands for "Nothing in life is free" and it's a subtle way of training your dog who is in charge really.  She's hungry, well she has to sit for the bowl to be put down. She needs to go outside...she has to sit before you open the door and wait for your to give your command "okay, let's go, etc." before going out..and even to come back inside, etc.

Another one that gets exhausting but really, really works!

[Uborrow-Upay]

UpUpUp, great posts!  Right on target.

+++

[daisyduke]

UPUPUP,

Thanks for the info! The girl isn't having any bladder control issues whilst in her crate....now i have two types of crates...an itty bitty sized one for a dog under ten pounds and one that a full grown lab could use....my friend bought me a huge crate when i got the first dog, so i kept it, but didn't use it on the boy and he was having accidents inside his crate. so i bought a teeny tiny lil one.  however, the girl is in the big crate b/c her pillow bed fits nicely inside...

now that school has started,she is in the crate not as long, not 8 hours but 6 because my son gets home from school early and is able to take her out...

for the training, barking is a problem with her...so i got a water bottle and will spray her with it, seems to work MOST of the time. and the girl can bark (annoying)...the boy will then chime in and he was never a big barker, only for valid reasons, like a doorbell  or another dog...

i might just hire a trainer to work with her - she doesn't know how to sit and i can't remember how i taught the boy to sit/dance.

the yorkshire terrier breed is known to be difficult to fully housebreak...the boy just had an accident on my carpet... 

omg - it breaks my heart to read about the dog you rescued...how very sad that someone abandoned a dog on a highway....i could cry...so sad but the good news is now she has a home with you!