Many of us consider getting a second dog, in the hopes that she will help keep our existing dog busy and out of trouble. However, if our resident dog is not well trained, it is more likely that our new dog will pick up on his bad habits.
In the end, we will have two furry terrors, instead of just one.
I got Husky puppy Shania, one year after my first dog, Shiba Sephy. I waited a year so that I had time to bond with Sephy and properly train him. Only after I had solved most of his behavioral issues, did I consider getting another dog.
One of the biggest challenges of getting a second or third dog, is the process of introducing her to our existing pack, and getting everyone to accept her. Here, we consider how to successfully introduce a new dog into our home.
1. Meal Time Ritual
Meal time is especially important in a multiple dog household.
Dogs are opportunistic by nature, and during meal times, I have observed that they will try to steal each other’s food. This can often trigger food guarding and food aggression behaviors.
I supervise my dogs during meal times, so that there is no stealing. They each get several interactive food toys to work on, and I make sure they give each other space, while working on their toys.
Often, Husky Shania will work diligently on her items, while Sephy will just lie around sunning himself. He will wait until she is done with her toy, and then pick through what she has left behind.
He is such a moocher! 😀
Sometimes, he will test coming in before Shania is finished, in which case I will step in and body block him away. Through this process, my dogs learn that I will enforce meal-time rules in a fair and consistent manner, so they do not need to do it themselves, with their teeth.
2. Attention, Affection, and Rules
After getting a second dog, it is natural to pay more attention and show more affection toward her, especially if she is a puppy.
However, we must resist that temptation, and try to treat both dogs equally.
If we give our new dog more attention and affection, we may create competition between our two dogs. This may later lead to conflicts and aggression. Instead, I make sure all my dogs follow similar rules, and get similar rewards for good behavior.
If we are too lenient with our puppy and let her get away with more, our existing dog will likely observe that, and pick up on those same bad habits.
I like doing group obedience training with my dogs. This helps them work together as a team, and be comfortable with each other around people, food, and toys. It also helps them to associate together-time with rewards and positive outcomes. I also do their grooming sessions together, including teeth cleaning and fur brushing.
Supervision is very important, especially in the beginning. I teach my dogs what the rules are, and what to do when under stress. In this way, they learn good play and interaction habits. In fact, I still supervise my dogs, but less so now that they are older, and know the rules around the house.
Still, Shiba will always try something from time to time to test his boundaries.
He is that cool! 😎
3. Play-Time Rules
In addition to meal-time rules, play-time rules are also important.
Since Shania is a three legged dog, Sephy may sometimes overwhelm her when he gets over-excited during play. I always make sure he does not get too rough with her.
I manage the excitement level of all of my dogs, by throwing in many play-breaks. During a play-break, I call one dog over to me (the more food focused one), get her to do some simple commands, and reward her well for it. This usually gets the other dogs to join in, so we do a brief group obedience session. These brief breaks help my dogs to calm down, refocus on me, as well as practice doing commands in the middle of play.
I also institute a no-humping rule, because it can be seen as a dominance move by other dogs (especially new dogs). I do not want my Shiba practicing these types of behaviors. The more he practices it, the more likely he is to repeat it; possibly in an inappropriate context. Shania also dislikes it, so humping is a time-out offense.
Some people prefer to let the dogs “work it out for themselves”.
Personally, I think it is best for us to set and enforce play-time rules and household rules. By doing so, I ensure that there is no bullying, and my dogs do not become fearful of each other. Since I am the one correcting their behaviors, my dogs are free to enjoy each others’ company, and need not use aggression. They learn to see each other as playmates and equals. If there is ever any trouble, they can come to me and I will take care of it. To me, that is what leadership means.
4. A Quiet Place to Rest
When I first got a new dog, I made sure that Sephy had a nice and quiet place to rest, away from the nibbles of a playful puppy. Like us, a dog may want some time to spend, in peaceful solitude. This is especially important if our resident dog is older, and tires more easily.
A puppy can be a crazy ball of energy and a big handful, not just for the people around the house, but also for the existing dogs.
I set up a consistent routine for my second dog, similar to what I did for my first dog. I make sure that she has a fixed schedule for meal-time, play-time, walk-time, and sleep-time.
When it is time for sleep, little Husky goes into her crate or puppy pen. In this way, my adult dogs get to rest, and so does my little puppy. Now that Puppy is older, it is no longer necessary to manage them so closely. Both dogs are able to regulate themselves, and give each other space when they need it.
Still, they each have separate crates that they can go to whenever they want, and they also have access to the backyard.
If I am not home, which does not happen often, Husky prefers to stay out in the backyard and Shiba likes staying in the house. I still do not fully trust them to be alone together, because their play can get pretty crazy, they may get over-excited, and end up hurting themselves.
5. Conflict Over Resources
When we get a new dog, there is a lot of uncertainty. Everyone in the family is learning how to interact with Puppy, and Puppy is learning how to interact with everyone else.
Conflicts may arise between our two dogs, when they both want the same thing at the same time; for example, food, toys, sleeping area, or our attention and affection. An effective way to keep the peace, is to be clear about resource ownership and teach them how to resolve conflicts without aggression.
For example, if one dog is chewing on a toy, I am there to supervise and prevent stealing. If I am not fast enough and some stealing occurs, I usually replace what was stolen plus an added interest. The thief has to either go to his bed or go to timeout, thereby temporarily losing his freedom. In addition, I also reward my dogs for staying calm together, and for working together with me.
In summary, I try to maximize positive interactions with the new dog, as well as minimize bad encounters. The more positive experiences my dogs have with each other, the more they will accept each other as part of a team. The opposite is also true.
If we establish clear dog-to-dog interaction rules, our new dog will quickly learn what is expected of her, and our existing dogs will also know what to expect from the new puppy. This reduces uncertainty, reduces stress, and helps everyone to relax and enjoy each other’s company.
Second Dog – Double Trouble or Double Fun?
So which is it?
Is a second dog double the trouble or double the fun?
I think if properly handled, a new dog can be a big enhancement to everyone in the family.
I am very glad Shania joined our family. Everyone has a happier, much richer life, because of her spirit, exuberance, can-do’ness, and overall awesomeness!
However, she was a lot of work, especially in the beginning, and the dog bills are much heftier.
Still, Shania gives a thousand-fold more than she gets, and Sephy will be the first to say that he loves her more than words can say. When she is away, he just spends his time moping around the house.
Thanks to Colleen and Reptar for bringing up this fun and important topic.
My sister has has 2 pits. one is about a year old, tank, and the other is almost 3,piggy. they have only had tank for about 6 months. Piggy is a dominant dog and starts fights with tank. is there a training technique to stop there fighting?
When there is a new dog in the family, there is usually a lot of uncertainty as to how the existing dogs should interact with the new dog, and how the new dog should interact with his new family.
What has worked well for my dogs-
1. Establishing a fixed and consistent set of interaction rules. I teach my dogs what are good interaction behaviors, and what behaviors are unacceptable. When they do something unacceptable, I step in and resolve the situation. In this way, they learn that I handle conflicts and they do not need to do it themselves.
2. Careful management and supervision. I set them up for success and do not expose them to situations that they cannot handle. In this way I keep interactions positive or at worst, neutral.
I describe more of what I do in the article above.
I have a problem. I live with my aunt and i recently got a siberian male husky named Koda and my aunt has had three dogs for about 6 years now and two of the three are in their eyes the dominant ones even thought Koda is bigger than him. My aunts oldest dog Cotten and my Koda get in fights over dominance sometimes and just recently koda almost killed Cotten and bit my aunt when she tried to separate them. This all happened because cotten bit my toe and koda is protective of me and attacked Cotten when he bit me. I don’t know what to do to prevent all their fighting. I would move out but I have nowhere to go and no money to get out on my own. Any advice?
Hello Amanda,
What I have observed while working with my dogs is that consistency is very important. All the dogs in my house follow the same rules, and everyone trains them in the same way. In this way, it is clear to them what is acceptable behavior and what is not.
Are your aunt’s dog’s trained? Who trains them?
Here are some of my experiences with training my husky puppy.
Initially, I focus on teaching my dog how to interact with people. I do bite inhibition training, and teach him not to bite on people. I teach him various simple commands, e.g. Look, Sit, Down. Putting a dog under behavioral control is important because that will allow us to tell him not only what *not* to do, but also what *to do* instead. Following the NILIF program is also very helpful in getting my dogs to focus on me, and do work for me.
When I brought home puppy Lara I supervised her very closely when she was interacting with my other dogs. When I could not supervise, I separated them. During the supervised sessions, I made sure that encounters were positive or at worst neutral.
Based on what you say, it sounds like getting a good professional trainer to come over for a visit can be very helpful. A trainer will be able to see the environment, as well as observe interactions between all of the dogs. Once the aggression triggers are identified, we can desensitize the dogs to the triggers and redirect their energy into positive behaviors.
That happened to me – I had to separate as much as possible. I brought my dog out alone and fed alone .it was a stressful time . We had to leave eventually . Make sure you keep seperated when your are not home and save your money so you get a place .
I had gates seperating every room ! Ugh I feel bad for you but it takes so much work but you can do it
I had a question about bringing home two male shiba puppies into our home. Initially, I had set my mind on just having the one but after speaking with our breeder it sounds like the second male just has the best personality. They are different colors and I was planning to have a second shiba at the house in the future. What would you recommend? I will be planning to neuter both dogs.
Hello Kate,
I have never gotten two puppies at once so I can’t say exactly what the experience will be like. One puppy is enough to tire me out and everyone else as well – including my two older dogs! 😀
Here is a short story of my most recent single puppy experience-
http://shibashake.com/dog/a-new-puppy-first-10-days-of-hell
It has also been my experience that getting a second dog is a lot more work than just having one dog. In fact it was more than double the work – especially in the beginning. When I got a second dog, Shiba Sephy was very happy and they played with each other a lot. But at the same time, they required a lot more human supervision, training, walking, grooming, etc. Otherwise, it would be two dogs getting into mischief instead of just one! 😀
I was also very glad that I waited more than a year before getting a second dog. In the first year I was able to bond well with Sephy, properly train him, and also observe his likes and dislikes. For example, Sephy likes playing with larger dogs that are playful and likes to wrestle. Other Shibas are not really Sephy’s most favorite playmates.
I picked a Siberian Husky for a second dog because their temperament complements Sephy’s personality very well. They are affectionate dogs, so they soak up all the human affection while Sephy is off being his aloof Shiba self. At the same time, they are energetic, like to wrestle, and are not intimidated by Sephy. Smaller dogs tend to get overwhelmed by Sephy’s rough play style.
Here is more on my experiences of picking a second dog-
http://shibashake.com/dog/getting-a-second-dog
Good luck and let us know how it goes.
Hello,
I have a 2 year old Shiba Inu, Missy. Who knows her comands, but chooses when to listen. She excelled in training and does well with people. However, she is protective of her space and doesn’t like strangers, ie: UPS etc.
I am considering adopting my sister’s 7 year old German Shepard, Morgen. Morgen, has already lived with (2) cats and 1 baby so she has become the lonely last child. She is very quiet and doesn’t like the wind. Morgen is well behaved and knows her commands. I think she will be an excellent member to our family, however, i am not sure how to introduce Missy and Morgen. Should the first meeting be done on neutrual gounds etc?? I would appreciate any help you could offer.
I really depend on your site- it has been a very helpful resource.
Lori
Hello Lori,
I usually introduce my Shiba to new dogs on neutral ground. In this way he does not feel the need to have to protect his own territory. We used to do a lot of meetings and greetings at our local SPCA. They had a nice quiet play space with few distractions.
Here is a bit more on my experiences with introducing Sephy to a second dog-
http://shibashake.com/dog/getting-a-second-dog#meeting
Good luck! Let us know how it goes.
We have three dogs (1 male cardigan corgi 9 yrs old, 1 male Chi-Doxie 5.5 yrs old, 1 female retriever beagle mix 5 yrs old with three legs). All have gotten along pretty well with the exception of a couple skirmishes btwn the corgi and the female usually over a toy or space. But as of recently they are fine and we have worked to keep them getting along. We have always been able to keep them in our yard together when we are not home with no issues.
Long story short, we just adopted a new male beagle doxi mix 5.5yrs old and he gets along fine with the other two males but not with the female. She shows all signs of aggression towards him…growling barking, lunging, snapping. He will return some of the aggression but is easily redirected. The female on the other hand does not get redirected easily. We can get them to sit by each other at times (on leashes of course) but we have to keep redirecting her attention until she relaxes a bit. We do not put them together at this time. In the house at night we put the new guy in his crate before she comes in…she usually smells the crate but leaves him alone and goes to her bed. Both love toys and food so we keep these things out of the picture unless we are playing individually with them. Also we live on a small ranch and there hasn’t been much socialization with other dogs beyond our “pack”
Any thoughts? We are looking into trainers at the moment but everything is still new since we just got the new guy on Sunday. We are trying to walk them together at night (as much as we can with the 3 legged one as she lays down from time to time) and let them sit close to each other while we sit with them. Just not sure what the best course of action is to try to desensitize them. Not sure if they can ever be in the yard together alone but I would like to be able to have them together when we are with them if possible.
Look forward to hearing from you.
Hello Tina,
I have noticed that Shania, my three legged dog, feels more vulnerable around new dogs and only wants to meet them at her own pace. I do not let new dogs approach her – instead I let her approach them if she is calm and the other dog is calm and in control of the owner. She is a more submissive dog though, so she usually avoids, does the lip licking thing, or sometimes offers them her belly. If she does not feel like meeting, then we just go on our way.
Puppies are different. She does not feel as vulnerable around them and loves meeting and playing with them.
Dog-to-dog desensitization exercises can be helpful when introducing two adult dogs. I did a fair amount of that with my Shiba Inu Sephy when he was younger.
http://shibashake.com/dog/dog-to-dog-aggression#desensitize
What has worked well with both Shania and Sephy is let them do things at their own pace. For example, when I got a new Sibe puppy last year, Sephy did not really care to spend time with her in the beginning. I just supervised puppy closely and did not allow her to disturb Sephy. At the same time, I did a lot of training and obedience exercises with puppy where she got good food rewards as well as fun play time. Puppy also liked playing with Shania.
Sephy saw that he was missing out on all the fun so he would come, of his own accord, and join in. I made sure to reward Sephy very well when he did this. After some time, Sephy decided that puppy wasn’t so bad after all and started to trust her more. They are pretty good pals now, but it did take some time for Sephy to trust a new dog (and she was a puppy). It would likely be harder for an adult dog.
Even though they are very relaxed with each other now, I still supervise their play and interaction time, and make sure that they follow all the play rules.
Let us know how it goes and what the trainer says. Hugs to everyone in your pack!
Hi I will be getting a new puppy at the end of this year. I already have a brother and sister who have of course grown up with each other since they were 5 1/2 weeks old. I am the one who trains/feeds/walks them about 95% of the time. The brother can be a little dog aggressive (he got chased off of the field when he was younger) but if I take him somewhere new he will be fine with the other dogs. However, he seems to dislike puppies more. The puppy will more than likely be a bitch. My current dogs sleep together in the utility room and there this is a baby gate which leads into the hall. I thought about putting the puppy’s crate in the hall so the dogs can see/smell each other.
My current dogs are three.
The puppy will be a different breed.
I wondered if you had any advice about who to introduce first/when the puppy is old enough to play with the other dogs, if I should introduce the sister first.
My current dogs are spayed/neutered. The sister has absolutely no problem with dogs/puppies.
I will be taking the puppy to puppy school so she is socialized and well handled etc
We have a cat and the brother is scared of the cat. The sister quite likes her.
Any help?
Thanks.
Hello Carol,
Congratulations on your soon to be new family member!
Last year, I got a new Sibe puppy called Lara. In the beginning, I had puppy on a light lead with just a flat collar. This allows me to better control puppy. I introduced puppy to my other Sibe (Shania) first. She is a more easy going dog and took to the puppy right away. My other dog Sephy (a male Shiba Inu), however, did not want anything to do with puppy. He smelled puppy briefly and then just walked away.
Some things that helped Sephy and Lara get along-
1. I made sure not to push Sephy. He has to decide for himself when to accept puppy into his circle of trust.
2. I made sure that all interactions between Sephy and puppy are closely supervised and positive, or at the very least, neutral.
3. I have clear interaction rules and I am the one that enforces those rules. For example, I do not let puppy disturb Sephy when he wants to be alone, there is no stealing, etc. In this way the dogs know exactly what to expect from me, and what to expect from each other. They also know that I enforce the rules so they need not do it themselves with aggression.
4. I have many play breaks so nobody gets over-excited.
5. I do a lot of reward training with puppy and anybody can join our training sessions. Very quickly Sephy realized that he can get good rewards by joining in. These group training sessions give the dogs positive time together and shows them that they get rewarded well for staying calm together and working together for me.
With some dogs, it just takes them a bit longer to give their trust. Sephy is like that. The key with Sephy is not to force him to get along, but to show him all the ways in which puppy can be a positive addition to his routine. After about 10 days, Sephy accepted puppy into his trust circle. It was a very happy day for everyone. 😀
Dog-to-dog desensitization exercises may also be helpful in some cases-
http://shibashake.com/dog/dog-to-dog-aggression#desensitize
I am hoping you could give me some advice or at least another perspective on my situation. I have an 8 yr old female Mini Pincher, and we just adopted a year old Newfoundland. I have been taking up their food, toys, and beds because even though neither seem to b aggressive, I can feel the tension. We take him on a couple walks a day and play with them separately since she can be easily trampled. Shes not warming up to him and is scared to get off of the couch, I’m thinking she could be reading his curiosity + size as aggression? The absolute last thing I want is to take him back. Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
Hello Brittney,
My Sibe Shania is also wary of other dogs especially large dogs. This is because she only has 3 legs and feels more vulnerable with unknown dogs. Very energetic dogs for example, can easily overwhelm her even in play. I imagine smaller older dogs may also feel vulnerable when faced with a large energetic younger dog. I usually keep a certain distance from other dogs and only go to meet them if Shania wants to meet them.
Last year, I got a new Sibe puppy – Lara. What has worked well with Shania and Lara is to supervise all play sessions very closely. In fact, in the beginning, Lara is on leash because she does not yet know that she has to be extra careful with Shania. I have a lot of play breaks, and I teach Lara that she is not allowed to jump over Shania or do any hard-tackles. I also do not allow Lara to chase Shania – play involves Shania chasing Lara, mouth wrestling, and controlled interaction. The frequent play breaks are useful to keep everyone from getting over-excited.
Group obedience training sessions are also very helpful. It teaches my dogs that they get rewarded very well when they are calm together and working cooperatively with me.
In the beginning dog-to-dog desensitization exercises may also be helpful-
http://shibashake.com/dog/dog-to-dog-aggression#desensitize
What has worked well with my dogs is to teach them clear rules of interaction with each other. I enforce the rules and teach them what the play boundaries are. Just as there are certain play and interaction rules with people, there are certain play and interaction rules with dogs as well. When there are conflicts, I try to step in early *before* anything negative occurs, and resolve the situation. In this way, all my dogs know what to expect from me, and what to expect from each other. They also know that I will step in and resolve conflicts so that they do not need to do it themselves.
To keep the peace, I try to keep interactions between my dogs positive or at the very least neutral and predictable. In this way, they gain confidence with each other and can rest and relax in each other’s company.
There is more on what I do in the article above.
Hi I have a complicated story ! we have a rescue gsd Girl who we adopted last yr and flew over to USA with our then 12 yr old gsd boy who passed in Jan we then adopted our gsd boy at 13 wks Kiki Girl looked after him so very well a real Mummy UBTILL 2 wks ago attacking him it seems unprovoked not over anything really a few times it seems as tho she has told him off for being to much to us or on a peaceful walk or generally just being bossy !!! it is so strange cant fathom out why !!???
have and am trying to be a bigger leader and top dog as in they only get attention when I WE call them to us etc any help wld be so welcomed !!
oh yed we have just moved and this started whilst packing up our previous home she has been thru a lot with the differant moves but nothing seems to have fazed her before both dogs as with our previous dogs are well loved fed and exercised thanx in anticipation
Hello Sue,
As a puppy matures, he gains confidence and may start testing his boundaries. What seems to work well with my dogs is to teach them clear rules of interaction, just as they have clear house rules.
Some of my rules of interaction-
1. No stealing. This includes not just food and toys, but also space, attention, and access to people. When one dog even thinks about stealing, I no-mark her and body block her away, or get her to stop staring.
2. No bullying during play. I supervise play and have many play breaks so that they do not get over excited.
3. No physical corrections of each other is allowed. I teach them that I am the one that resolves conflicts.
4. Being calm with each other and working together gets them the most rewards. I teach them that cooperation is the best way to get what they want.
One thing that I always do is to stop things *before* it escalates into physical aggression. For example, when one of my older dog wants to rest, I do not allow puppy to go bother him. If I am not there, they will usually vocalize to let me know and I get there straight away and get puppy to do something else or to settle down. If I am not home or unable to supervise, then I keep in-training puppies separated from my trained adult dogs who already know all the rules.
I also follow the Nothing in Life is Free program with all my dogs. It is a good way to maintain leadership and at the same time establish trust.
First off, thanks for the article – will give me some things to try.
We started as a single Golden Retriever (Male) family, then brought in a black lab mix (male) from the shelter. The age gap was roughly 7 years. The Golden was the dominant and we had no issues. When Poncho passed, Colt (lab) seemed lost. I decided it was time to bring another dog into the family. This time we opted for a 1 yr old female border collie (Sadie). Colt (now 8) got along extremely well with Sadie and they play amazingly (and Colt still has the energy to run around and let Sadie herd him).
I felt such a strong connection to the rescue group we got our BC from, I offered to foster some new “kids”. We brought home a 4 year old male (River). This guy is a HUGE sweetie. Out of the gate, everything was fine. We had no issues…Colt seemed fine just ignoring River and all three could be in the same room together. After about a month, Colt got aggressive with River which ended poorly for Colt who lost part of his ear (in the 12 seconds it took me to break them up).
Things seemed fine after this event until last week. Now we cannot even have the dogs in the same room without there being some aggression. The last event led to my son being bitten (he’s 18 and thinks of himself as some kind of dog whisperer…getting in the middle of two fighting dogs is not the smartest move).
I am unsure if we are looking at a dominance play in the household now that the dogs have begun getting more comfortable around each other, or if this is truly dog on dog aggression. We see the aggression in many forms…River sniffing around Colt’s ball, Colt laying on my son’s chest, River coming up to sniff his hand, etc.
Any thoughts? Knowing which it may be will definitely help us in addressing the issue, as we don’t want to kick the foster out – he truly is a remarkable dog and very loving to everyone (including our three year old son).
Hello Cory,
From observing my dogs, it seems there are two key areas for potential conflicts-
1. Conflict over resources.
Food is the most common resource that a dog may guard. However, dogs may also have conflicts over attention from certain family members, access to certain family members, space, and much more. My Shiba Inu for example, is a guard dog so he is sensitive over his own personal space. He does not like new dogs invading his space and sniffing his butt. However, dogs that he trusts and plays with, he does not mind letting into his personal space and he will also share toys with them.
When I got puppy Lara last year, my Shiba did not want to have anything to do with her in the beginning. After working with them for about 10 days, he accepted puppy into his circle of trust and was a lot more tolerant once that happened. I try to clearly define rules of interaction for all my dogs, and do a lot of supervision when introducing a new dog. If they understand what the rules of interaction are, e.g. what belongs to whom at what time, then there will be fewer disagreements.
2. Over-excitement.
Play time can also sometimes escalate into something more. Sometimes one of my dogs get over-excited and plays too rough or keeps on going when the other party is no longer interested in playing. I always supervise play time and have many obedience breaks so that they do not get too over-excited. I also do not allow any kind of bullying during play.
From what you describe, it sounds like the dogs may be having some conflict over personal space and access to family members. Still, it is difficult to say without being there and observing the dogs. A good professional trainer can be helpful to these situations because he/she can observe things in real-time, read the dogs’ body language and understand the surrounding context.
Hello!
I just rescued a shiba – Dink (male 6 years) and am in the process of introducing him to my first dog – a pit/boxer mix – Nala (female 1.5 years). I know it sounds like a crazy mix but Nala is so submissive and also a rescue. She loves all other dogs and has the personality of a lab. Dinks previous owner said he grew up in a home with 3 other dogs, a pit with the same personality being one of them. They are doing pretty well, however Dink does growl when Nala sniffs him too much or is in his face. Nala does still have some puppy energy and is extremely clumsy (we think she has vision problems). I know that shibas are pretty independent dogs but I just want to know how long it took your dogs to feel comfortable with each other. They eat close to each other with absolutely no problems. They can lay by each other (not too close yet) and they even sit right next to each other in the car. I walked them together this morning and that went completely fine, but when we got to the house Nala sniffed Dinks ears and he gave an aggressive sounding bark. I am doing all that I can but I just want to make sure this is normal and what is the best way to correct it. I am in the process of redirecting Nala’s energy but I don’t know what to do for Dink. Also – side note – Dink pulls on his leash…I never had this problem with Nala, she walks right next to me with a slack lease. How do I correct that?
Here’s the dogs’ breakdown
Nala – first dog, pit/boxer, female, 35lbs, 1.5 years, submissive, rescue, deathly afraid of new people, loves all dogs
Dink – second dog, shiba inu, male, 15lbs, 6 years, dominant, instant attraction to me
Thank you so much for your advice!
Hello Kailah,
Congratulations on your new Shiba! 😀
I got Husky Shania when my Shiba (Sephy) was over 1 year old, and he took to her right away. He really wanted a playmate then, and just wanted to be with puppy.
I got another Husky Lara when Sephy was over 4 years old. This time he didn’t want to have anything to do with puppy. I made sure puppy did not bother Sephy and did not steal anything that he was working on. I also did a lot of group obedience sessions with them, and supervised all play sessions closely. I made sure that all of their encounters were positive. Puppy had to follow the same rules as everyone else.
Sephy accepted Lara into his circle of trust after about 10 days. He will still growl at her though when she comes to bother him and he does not want to be bothered. When that happens, I step in and get Lara to leave him alone. Sometimes he is resting or grooming, and he should be able to have puppy-free time when he needs it. This is also a good chance to teach puppy not be rude and to heed social rules and warnings from other dogs. I handle what happens after the warning so that they never have to resolve the situation themselves with aggression. I do not allow them to physically correct each other – I do the correcting if need be.
However, rules of interaction between dogs may be different from person to person. Some people prefer to take a more laissez faire approach.
In terms of pulling I used a combination of the red-light-green-light technique and turn-around technique with Sephy. When I was leash-training him I also used a harness because Shibas have a short trachea and are more prone to choking themselves when they pull really hard. Here is more on my leash training experiences-
http://shibashake.com/dog/leash-training-your-dog