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.
I realise there are no guarantees, but I was told the following could help me with a 2 dog goal:
Start with a male. Whether puppy, rescue, whatever.
Get training and bonding down pact.
When confidant, introduce a female into the equation. Again, puppy, rescue, whatever breed, etc.
Idea being that the male will not feel threatened, and female will not try to be alpha.
As a general idea, does this make some sense, in terms of following a sequence?
Yeah, that sounds like a good plan. This was what I did-
1. I first got Sephy, a Shiba Inu male puppy.
2. I spent a bit over 1 year training and bonding with Sephy. We had a difficult time at first, but after about 1 year, we were doing quite well together.
3. Things got a lot more calm and I felt I had a lot more extra time again, so we started looking for a new puppy.
4. During the year with Sephy, I got to know him quite well so now I know what type of dogs he gets along well with, what things he does not like, his play style, etc. This allowed me to look for a second dog that would fit Sephy’s personality and play-style.
5. We got a female Siberian Husky (Shania) and they have been great friends since.
Here is a bit more on my experiences while looking for a second dog.
hi there, just wondered if you could give me some advice, i have a 5 month old male husky and i have only just got a 15 week old female, keizer my 5 month old started humping her almost immediately, i stopped it sometimnes they will play and it gets a bit too much, i put a stop to that also, would it be better to rake him out the room for a minute and then let him back in, then continue to do this until he knows its not acceptable?? also i took them out this morning for a walk on my own…my goodness what a disaster..he was constantly trying to jump on her, leads were getting tangled..i was getting stressed….so decided to come home, keizer is normally very good on walks and is now walking to heel ob the lead, obviously meeshka isnt yet?? now should i walk them seperately for now and start training her on lead or not….i dont want to leave the other one out if that makes sense?? I hope you can help.
Hello Loraine,
Congratulations on your new puppy!
In terms of humping, I find that consistency is very important. My youngest Sibe, Lara, also likes to hump during play. I always supervise their play session and stop her every time she starts her humping maneuvers. I start by using a no-mark (Ack-ack) to let her know that it is an undesirable behavior.
If she goes back to it, then play stops and she has a mini no-play break. She has to Sit next to me, do some commands, and stay relatively calm. If she goes back to it after the mini-break, then she goes to timeout.
Also, I find that Lara is more likely to hump during super-excited play. I usually throw in a lot of play breaks to manage excitement. During a play break, I would call my dogs over, reward them very well for coming, do a few more simple commands, reward them very well, and then they can get back to playing. This helps them to refocus on some other activity, and they are usually more calm afterwards.
It is important though to do a break before the dogs are too excited to listen. If Lara is already too excited, then I don’t call her, but just go up to her and try to refocus her attention onto me. If that doesn’t work, then I stop her with her drag-lead.
With walking, I find that it is best to leash-train the dogs separately. Lara gets a lot more excited and bold when Sephy is around, so she pulls more and is more reactive to other dogs. Lara does pretty well now during our walks, so when possible, I get a friend to walk Sephy and I will walk Lara. In this way, I don’t have to handle multiple leashes and can focus on training Lara; with Sephy around.
Hope this helps. Big hugs to puppy and Husky!
I have four dogs that I have saved within the last six months all for have been getting along very well and playtime is very energetic with a pitty, a husky mix, a pitty mix, and a puppy lab mix they are all good dogs and very very affectionate and then all of sudden one night got into a fight and I broke it up then ten minutes later another jumped on the same dog and I got very upset but dont understand why after everything was so nice for a while they were put in their kennels for doing it but wanted to growl and bark at the one they both jumped everytime they seen him and this behavior has went on for hours as I am posting this the same day it has happened before bed I hope you can help with my problem I love my doggies very much and dont want them to fight please help……
Two things that help with my dogs during play-
1. Play-breaks
I supervise them during play and call them to me frequently. When they come, they get rewarded really well and we also do a short obedience session. This helps them to refocus their attention on me, helps them calm down, and also shows them that when they work cooperatively with me, they get rewarded very very well.
I throw in lots of play breaks so that play never gets too excited and doesn’t escalate into something else.
2. Strict Play-rules
I have clear and strict play-rules. When I get a new puppy, I slowly teach her these play rules and my older dogs help with that as well. During play, I supervise and make sure that all my dogs follow those play rules. I make sure to be consistent and fair.
Two important play rules – no humping and no stealing. I also do not allow bullying of any sort. As soon as I notice any of my dogs starting to do any of these things, I step in and stop play.
It is important that I step in early, *before* they get a chance to escalate the behavior into something more and into something less playful. Then they have a longer play-break after this. I make sure everybody is calm before letting them start again. If they are too hyped up, then I stop play for the moment and get them to do something else.
Here are more things that I do to keep the peace at home-
http://shibashake.com/dog/second-dog-introducing-a-second-dog
I was hoping you could help me. I have a 6 year old poole schnoodle mix who has never been well socialized to other dogs. Two years ago my stepdad moved in with a sheltland the same age. The shelti originally was very friendly towards other dogs. The dogs are able to walk on leashes together, but when they see other dogs both tense and strain forward and bark aggressively. Lateley in the house the dogs have begun to fight which just start with them barking at each other when around a family member. These fights have become increasingly frequent amd nothing seems to stop them. The shelti does not really understand the word no and just get excited, wagging his tail and looking for his toy. My stepdad has been keeping the mix separated from the other in a difgeremt part of the house but I think it is getting worse. What do you recommend?
If the dogs are already fighting, it may be best to get help from a professional trainer or behaviorist.
When dogs fight, there is usually something that triggers the event. What has worked well for my dogs is to identify these “trigger events”. Once I do this, I can redirect them and teach them alternative behaviors for dealing with the stressful trigger. A professional trainer can observe the dogs, read their body language, and identify what in particular, is at the root of the aggression.
With my dogs, I try to manage them so that they do not get overly excited or stressed when they interact. During play, I supervise them very closely, we have strict play rules, and many play breaks. This helps to keep things in control and stops them from escalating play into something else.
During walks, here are some of the things that I do to help them deal calmly with other dogs-
http://shibashake.com/dog/dog-to-dog-aggression
I have also noticed that my dogs are a lot more excitable when I walk them together. Most of the time I walk them one at a time. This helps a lot with initial leash-training and socialization. When we walk them together, I have a friend be in charge of one dog, while I walk the other. In this way, I have better control, am able to redirect bad behaviors, and can give them enough attention for leash training and socialization exercises.
This article was very useful! I just got a 4 month old beagle to join our family. We have a2 year old beagle and were not sure how to handle surtain behaviors… Like humping… We didn’t feel comfortable letting them figure it out for themselves, we felt we should control what was going on. Almost every article I have read says to let them figure it out, but it’s nice to know that not very one feels that way. We have always been the pack leaders in the family with our first beagle and we will continue to do so. Thank you so much for this article!
Congratulations on your new puppy! Beagle pups are absolutely adorable.
Yeah, I think it works out well for me to supervise and resolve disputes. In this way, they never take matters into their own paws, and escalate things to the point where they get out of hand. By stopping things when they are small, they never get a chance to grow big! 😀
I can be the bad cop, and the dogs can just enjoy each other’s company.
Hugs to puppy and older puppy!
My first dog, almost three, is showing much anxiety, to the point of angst at this point. Constantly at my side. Heavy breathing.
The new dog, is asleep on the couch as I type this. Any ideas from readers?
Did the anxiety only start with the new dog? Is there a big difference in size, energy levels, play style, etc.? Do the dogs interact much? When they play, what does the older dog do? What happens during meal times? Have there been any conflicts?
I have a 4 month old Rottweiler but I feel that he is lonely during the day when no one is home, I want to get a German Shepherd but dont know if it is a good idea and if Rango will be put out by a new dog?
Yeah, I had the same worry when I was looking for a second dog. I took my Shiba on many visits to our nearby SPCA to visit with the friendly dogs there. This was very helpful because-
1. It showed me his excitement level and interest in playing with other dogs.
2. It showed me what type of dogs he got along most well with. For example, Sephy does well with larger, more playful dogs that like wrestling. He does not do as well with smaller dogs, because they easily get overwhelmed by him, and just want him to stay away. Larger, more dominant dogs also do not do well with Sephy because he will not submit to any dog, no matter how large or fierce.
Does Rango like playing with other dogs? How does he react to other dogs during walks?
Here is a bit more on my experiences while looking for a second dog.
We have two dogs in our home, a mix lab/shephard/pit bull female, 7 years old and an mix bull dog/pit bull/other female who just turned 3 and came into heat. The younger dog has been in our home and “mothered” by the other since she was six weeks old. They have always been very comfortable and loving to one another. In the last several weeks the younger dog has become extremely aggressive with the older dog, especially when my wife or I enter the house. They have gotten into some some fairly scarey fights. We have subsequently spayed the younger dog (the older was already spayed) but the aggressive behavior persists. Is this just a phase? Seeking advice on training to cure the younger dog of this violent behavior against its “momma.” Thanks.
What I have noticed with my dogs is that when they get overly excited/frustrated, they may sometimes redirect that energy onto each other. Then, it could turn into more aggressive behavior. In such situations, I have found that prevention is the key.
I try to identify triggers that get them over-excited, and then I manage those situations so that they do not redirect their hyper energy onto each other. At the same time, I try to re-train them to stay calm during those trigger events. If I notice the start of something, I step in early to resolve things before they escalate it to the next level.
When people come to the door, I usually leash my young Sibe (Lara) up. That way, I can keep her calm and under control, and she does not get to start anything with my other dogs. When Lara was young, I used a drag-lead so that I can quickly get control and stop anything from escalating.
Exercise also helps a lot. Lara gets a lot more excited and acts more hyper before her walks.
I also supervise them closely during play and mealtimes.
My Shiba Inu Sephy had some aggression/reactivity issues when he was younger, and we visited with several professional trainers. It can be helpful to have a trainer observe our dog’s body language and pinpoint exactly what is triggering the aggressive behavior. It is difficult to know the source of a behavior without seeing the dogs, the context, and their environment.
Hello,
Congratulations on your great family, Your dogs are beautiful and thank you for the wealth of information you have provided.
I have a 2yo German Shepherd Husky Mix, Kobe. Ive had him since he was 6 weeks old and my journey with him so far has been nothing short of incredible. He is extremely athletic and agile and LOVES his tennis balls. He can catch, fetch, track, bounce and on occasion rip them apart. I live in a boarding house with 6 other tennants and he loves all of them and shakes his butt and tail in excitement whenever they come home. There is also a 7 yo beagle, vino in the house. The beagle is very anti-social (due to an irresponsible owner) and after a rough few weeks when I moved in, kobe and vino now just mind their own business. Initially Vino would howl at kobe whenever he saw him, but I guess now he’s over it. Kobe is always calm or evasive around small dogs even if they endlessly bark at him. However I cant say the same for dogs bigger in size than him. He is not an aggressor and he will never initiate aggressive behavior towards a new big dog but if the other dog initiates aggression, kobe will respond negatively and I have to intervene immediately before it escalates. In the park, off leash if another big approaches him, the hair on his back will stand up, till the dogs meet and sniff each others butt/crotch. If all goes fine, the hair drops down and the tail starts wagging.
Now on just last week, another tennant moved into the house with two more dogs. One is a 70lb mix breed sheepdog/lab/uknown mix. He is 3 yo, names Ryder. The second is a 4 month old english setter puppy, dexter. Ryder is bigger than kobe, and is fixed. Unfortunately when they met, uknown to me, ryder snapped at kobe when he was sniffing little dexter. I quickly seperated the two dogs. However, Ryders owner for some uknown reason didnt hold on to the leash and there were two more fights (not more than 2 seconds long) which I intervened in again, and got nipped by Ryder. Thankfully it was just a bruise. Now we make sure the 2 dogs dont ever see each other. But both can smell each other in the house. Thankfully they are not barkers.
I would like to resolve the conflict and ideally get the 2 dogs to become friends and play with each other (supervised obviously, but am not sure about how exactly I should start. There are 2 aggressive behaviours at play here. One is kobe’s territorial aggression of the property and the back yard and the other is Ryder’s possessive aggression over the pup dexter.
My plan was to take the dogs to a neutral park and try walking them in a pack with me and ryders owner.
My other ideas was to take the two dogs to a dog park with plenty other dogs around and let them off leash, this was suggested by a friend.
My final idea was to re-introduce them at the beach in the water, Kobe loves swimming while Ryder is not too confident about the water.
If you have any suggestions, I would love to hear back from you.
Thank you in advance.
What has worked well for Sephy are dog-to-dog desensitization exercises. I like this strategy because-
1. It is very controlled and structured.
2. It is safe.
3. I can start the dogs at a level that they can handle, and then help them build confidence with each positive encounter.
4. There is little risk of failure and a high probability of success.
Personally, I would not do training at enclosed dog parks. If two dogs decide to start something, the other dogs may join in and the situation could very quickly get out of control. In addition, there are many unknown dogs there, some of which may have behavioral issues of their own. Finally, dogs often get over-excited during unstructured play, and this may trigger something in an already tense relationship.
With Sephy, I started with on-leash training. After he made progress, we slowly increased the challenge. I only do off-leash work when I am sure that he can handle it, and there will be a positive outcome. In this way, he learns to associate other dogs with positive events rather than stress and fights.
Hi Shibashake,
Great articles and lovely dogs. Question: I have a German Shepherd mix, 8 yrs old male, an Akita mix, 2yrs old female. I brought home another dog, Akita-Mastiff mix, 4 mths male. My 8yr old is humping my newbie. Some websites are saying this is him trying to assert dominance. I make him stop when I see him doing it – and I don’t think the new dog is afraid of my 8yr old. But, will this persist and is there something more I should do? And…why is he doing it? BTW Ginger (2 yr)is having the time of her life with my newbie.
Thanks.
Congratulations on your new Akita-Mastiff!
Re: Humping behavior-
My understanding is that it is very context dependent. Two dogs that know each other well may hump each other during play – and it is simply another play maneuver. My younger Sibe, Lara, is pretty submissive but she will sometimes try to hump my Shiba to get him to start playing. Other times, it seems like a wrestling maneuver to gain points, e.g. whoever gets first hump wins. 😀
However, humping can also be a dominance move, especially between dogs who do not know each other well. Butt sniffing is another social behavior with similar contextual dependencies. For example, my Shiba does not mind dogs in his family smelling his butt, but he does not allow new dogs to butt sniff him. People have similar social conventions. We allow some people to hold our hand, some people to hug us, depending on familiarity. Someone we know hugging us from behind may be endearing, whereas a stranger doing it is highly threatening.
I always stop my dogs from humping because I don’t want them doing it to other dogs, who may indeed take it as a dominance move or insult, and then humping will turn into a fight. Many dogs probably do not like being humped by strangers, and likely, their people do not like it either.
I always supervise play to make sure that nobody is getting over-excited, and everybody is having fun. I also have many play breaks so that they have an opportunity to calm down. Since I always catch them and stop play when they hump, the behavior is not very rewarding, and they have mostly stopped doing it. If they keep doing it several times in a row, then they go for a brief timeout – which is a pretty strong deterrent for my dogs.
Hahaha, that is awesome! Lara, my new Sibe puppy is the same way. She is brimming with puppy energy and she gets my other two dogs to play a lot more. It is good exercise and very fun to watch. 😀
Big hugs to your pack!
Hi! I love your website and refer to it often. We have a 14 month Shiba male named Kobe and will be getting our second Shiba puppy, a female, Lola this weekend. Can you describe how you do your initial meet-n-greets with your new puppy and existing dog? Some resources that I have found suggest we each bring 1 dog, meet in a neutral place, first do parallel walking with no contact, and then if all goes well allow them to sniff/greet on lead. After that, repeat the process on your home turf, outside. And finally, again inside. Do you have better/other suggestions? Thanks!
Hello Tessa,
With Shania, the breeder brought her over to our house, at around 8 weeks old. She wanted to see our living area and decide if it was ok for the puppy. Like Kobe, Sephy was around 14 months old at the time. He took to Shania right away and wanted to meet her, but Shania was somewhat afraid of him and kept hiding behind the breeder and her friend. We tempted Shania with treats and she would come over, grab some, and run back (Sephy was on-lead and we kept him with us). It was very funny and endearing.
With Lara, we brought her home ourselves and took her to the backyard right away to do her business. She really had to go. Then, I think we let Shania out to greet us in the backyard first. Things went well, so we let Sephy out (on-lead initially). Puppy Lara was also on-lead and we made sure that the other two weren’t too rough with her and gave her space when she needed it. She was really small at 8 weeks, so we did not want her to get accidentally hurt during play. Shania took to her right away, but Sephy (at over 5 years old) did not really like the idea of a puppy. He sniffed her and then just walked away – Shiba style! We had to work a bit at winning his trust. 😀
I think meeting in a neutral place is safer, especially if the meeting is between two adult dogs. In this way, the dogs do not feel the need to protect their home from strangers. Puppy greetings are usually easier because puppies are a lot more submissive, and older dogs often give puppies a lot more leeway. The nice thing about the backyard greeting was that Sephy and Shania could run around freely, so they could check puppy out or do whatever else they please. They were pretty hyped up, so getting to run around helped them to get rid of some excess energy.
It also depends a lot on Kobe, what he thinks of other dogs, and the level of his guard instinct. Sephy gets along with other dogs, as long as they are not dominant, and do not try to sniff his butt without his permission. Sephy has no bite history, is not overly protective of property, and has always liked it when we invited friendly dogs over for play sessions. Given his past experiences and responses, I felt comfortable doing the puppy greetings in our backyard. Still, puppy was on lead at all times and she always had someone with her to make sure that greeting and playing did not get out of hand. We also did not let puppy do any butt sniffs on Sephy until he gave his permission. 😀
With Lara and Sephy, the first few days after the initial greeting were the toughest. Sephy just didn’t want to have anything to do with puppy, and I was starting to get quite worried. Luckily, he warmed up to puppy after about 10 days. I was very happy when Sephy decided to relax, and that puppy wasn’t so bad after all! 😀
Congratulations on your new Shiba pup! Let us know how it goes and also share some pictures!