I have a shiba as well and want a second dog but I can totally see this happening! Did you find a solution?

My boyfriend and I just got a new samoyed puppy. We have a 3 year old shiba inu. When we introduced them to each other it was in a general area and they seemed fine but then when we took her in the car, he attached her. We kept them seperate on the way home.

Once we got to the house Yoshi our shiba became extremely aggressive in our house. Snarling, trying to bite her. They got in some fights just over territory. They are beautiful on hikes but the territory really gets to him. He also is aggressive with his food. Our Samoyed is the sweetest puppy and is very calm.

The other night my boyfriend was sitting on the couch with Yoshi. Athena, the Samoyed, tried to come up and he went for her. In that attack my boyfriend put his face in the middle and was bit on his nose and lip by Yoshi. We are at our wits end and we don’t know what else to do. Please help!

Your friend,

Liat

It would be cheaper and easier to take your dog to a doggy daycare with an open play environment where they can play with other dogs all day and you guys can keep your good family dynamic at home! It is hard to know how personalities of different dogs will match up until the new dog settles in. We just tried adopting a 2 year old female labradoodle and already have a 4 year old male goldendoodle whom we’ve had since he was a puppy. Our goldendoodle loves doggy daycare and loves playing with other dogs and we were told the same of the labradoodle. We followed all the advice and guidelines about how to introduce the new dog, structure, training, etc. They were fine with each other when they first met and then she started growling and snapping at him out of nowhere. We consulted with 4 trainers who suggested that she was resource guarding (with guarding generalized to anything, me, my husband, the 1st dog eating his own food when she already had her own food, space on the floor – many times we had no idea what it was about) and said that this is very difficult to train out of a dog and may not be possible so there was always an ongoing risk of a serious dog fight. She had lived with other dogs before who were very dominant alphas so this behavior had not shown up for her in the past and no one realized it would show up with us and our laid back 4yo male. We found out also that usually a new female dog will want to take over the household and be dominant over a male dog, which was probably also going on here too. I had no idea how complicated it could be to bring in a second dog, even when you follow all the guidelines and recommendations! Based on the trainers’ recommendations we gave the labradoodle back to the rescue and are going to stick with one dog. One of the trainers noted that it is rare for two dogs to get along without complications. Talking more to friends who have 2 dogs, we found out that they are successful only because of very specific personality dynamics – usually a very dominant alpha with a submissive second dog.

TESTDRIVE FOR A LONGER PERIOD OF TIME! 🙂 Why not try and “babysit” your son’s girlfriend’s dog for an overnight week-end or two weeks, so as to answer your concerns. OR talk to foster animal places about your desires and concerns, they very well may be able to help you as well as you helping them. You may end up adopting the foster dog. Both options allow a test period amount of time…….side note: I write from experience of NOT doing either of those suggestions I gave and my precious Pom became very anxious and depressed and the new pup never got the attention a new dog should receive. So I understand your concerns as well as experiencing the sad out come. In some instances, to undo “damage” is longer and harder in the long run. Pets/animals are more like us than not when it comes to emotions. I try and put “how would I feel” in my actions with them and I end up with better results in interacting with any situation. AND Shibashake’s advice in “When to get a second dog and how to pick the right one” is excellent advice that I plan to use.
Hope all goes well 🙂

I got a puppy, a few months after my last dog passed away.
My last dog was a border collie and super obedient, lovely temperament, totally 100% trustworthy around children, babies, cats, chickens (could not be trusted around large livestock but I live in the city so that was no biggie!). He made me fall in love with the border collie breed and swear that it was the only breed for me.

However when I went looking for a puppy, I ended up adopting a mix of some kind of shepherd (either German, Belgian, Dutch or something very similar to these) with something smaller – now at 8 months old she is the size of a female border collie, she was a rescue so we don’t know her parentage and the shelter could only guess she was probably a Belgian shepherd mix. She does look very much like a malinois, except for her colouring (black and tan) and her size. A vet suggested she could be mixed with a collie or border collie and looking at photos of this mix she does appear very similar.

My question is – would a mix like mine be compatible with a border collie?
I’m thinking of getting a purebred border collie in a year or so. They’d be around the same size, have around the same energy level and both be very clever (so they can learn the same commands). Or would they be too similar? Would they put their smarts together and work out creative ways to disobey? I thought that since they’re both high energy breeds I could let them play and wear each other out when I take them out for walks… currently I take my dog to places where there are other dogs so she can play and burn off energy since she loves running around and I can’t run as fast as her! If there are no other dogs around she tends to just trot alongside me and sniff around – she won’t run around on her own so I try to make use of other people’s dogs as much as possible! It’s this, and my love for the border collie breed (I admit I really want a purebred BC again) that makes me consider a second dog.

If a border collie is really too similar what would be a compatible breed to go alongside a malinois? (this is probably the main breed in her – it’s what she’s most like in terms of appearance and personality). I’ve noticed that she prefers to play with smaller dogs rather than larger dogs – so a small dog could be a possibility…