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 have two 4-year-old Boxers. They’re siblings (Bradley, a neutered male and Bella, a spayed female). I took them both to obedience training when they were puppies and aside from some 3 or4 rough play instances, during the past 4 years, there have not been any problems.
I took Bradley and Bella to my brother’s house (he has a docile female yellow lab, who both my dogs have been around, before). All three dogs were running and playing in the yard for quite a while, then we brought them into the house. Bradley and Bella began staring each other down, and began fighting… I mean REALLY fighting. Blood was drawn; and I had to physically separate them. They calmed down, relaxed for a few minutes; then went at it again. I brought them home in separate vehicles and observed them throughout the night. There was no repeat of the aggressive behavior… until this afternoon. The same behavior occurred. I separated them until they settled down, then let them meet each other again. They’re laying down together on the couch with me, right now, like nothing happened. It’s like Dr. Jeckyl and Mrs. Hyde. I’m sickened by their extremely violent interactions and very concerned about how to stop this behavior. Please help.
With my dogs, I have noticed that when there are new or less familiar dogs about, things may change. For example, my Shiba may start wanting to protect my Siberian from the other dog. Also, sometimes both dogs may want access to the new dog, which creates conflict.
I supervise all of their play sessions, even now. During play, they are in a highly excited state, and that is when they are most likely to lose their self-control. With my dogs, it really helps to always manage their excitement level and frequently refocus their attention into working for me.
Based on what you describe, it is difficult to tell what is triggering the aggression. Probably best to get help from a professional trainer who can observe the dogs, read their body language, as well as observe their environment and routine.
Hi there
We have a 6 month old male Siberian Husky Zeus, his been an absolute champ with training and everything else and had him since he was a puppy:) We just recently got a 7 week female puppy as we felt he was just ‘too alone’. Unfortunately Zeus seems very protective over everything and we had an incident where he went for Maya because she got to close to his unfinished food, and basically ended in tears for her as he seemed to have really hurt her. We keep the under constant supervision, yet all he can seem interested in is Maya and being a big brut with her. We feed them separate unfortunately Maya is slower to eat and Zeus wants to be stingy and eat hers and then lands up not eating his food. We try give equal amount of attention but our male feels overpowered by this little munchkin. What is the best solution for this?
Thanks
Dani
Hello Daniella,
Congratulations on your new Husky puppy.
Here are some things that helped when I first got Husky Lara –
1. I made sure to set clear dog-to-dog interaction rules. Absolutely no stealing and absolutely no bullying.
2. I am always there to supervise puppy closely, especially during meal-times and play-time. I make sure that each dog has enough space to work on their own interactive toy. If Sephy or Shania gets close to puppy’s comfort space, I body-block them away so that nothing gets started and the dogs know that I am there to protect them and enforce meal-time rules. I do the same thing if puppy gets too close to my other dogs’ comfort space.
3. I put a drag-lead on puppy when she is roaming about (only with a flat collar and only under supervision). This allows me to easily control her movements and teach her how to interact politely with my other dogs. I also put a drag-lead on Sephy when I first got Lara.
The key with introducing Lara, is to set everyone up for success. I want to maximize positive interactions among my dogs (e.g. through group obedience training) and minimize negative interactions (by using play-breaks, and being proactive about interaction rules, as well as meal-time and play-time manners).
Prevention is much better than cure. I manage and prevent, so that my dogs learn that I handle conflicts, and they need not do it themselves.
I talk more about what I did in the article above.
Thanks for all the really great info on your site. We have 2 shibas. Rex is 4 years old and Merlin is 3. Rex really is the typical shiba. He’s super stubborn, loves to play chase and can be quite a challenge to get him to do what we want. Merlin, however, just wants to please. He follows commands fairly well. He is actually the one that I have a question about though.
He is not aggressive when it comes to guarding his food, but is very anxious/eager to get food. We are working on making sure that he is calm when he is fed. The problem we are having is with his “things”. Merlin has always been VERY protective with his toys and bones. At times, he will pack as many things in his mouth as he can and run around whining. He has never guarded his things from people, just Rex. We make sure that Rex doesn’t steal and gives Merlin the time to play with toys and chew on his bones. Merlin, however, will growl and “scream” at Rex even though he is unprovoked.
How do we handle this? I feel like if I take the item because he’s responding this way, I’ll teach him that it’s me that he needs to guard against, but I can’t continue to let him behave this way.
Heh, yeah Sephy does a similar thing with high priority chews such as bully sticks and Greenies. He runs around everywhere, looking for a place to hide them. He does this even when the Huskies are in a different room working on their own chews. It really reminds me of that insurance commercial where they dog keeps worrying about his bone and finally puts it in a safety deposit box. 😀
One thing that helped Sephy with his Greenie is that we let him work on it at night, in his crate, with the door closed. In the beginning, we also showed him that we have another Greenie in reserve that we are keeping for him, so if he loses this one, he will get another. Once he learned that we have more of the stuff that we are keeping safe for him, he was able to relax and work on it.
With bully sticks, what has helped is to give him much smaller pieces. Then he can finish it in one sitting and he does not feel like he has to hide it for later.
Sephy gets stressed over items that-
1. He cannot finish in one sitting.
2. Is rare – he does not get it every day.
3. Is highly desirable – e.g. chewy, smelly edibles, like bully sticks.
We also try to give him things that do not fall into this space, so that he can better enjoy his rewards without worrying about getting a safety deposit box :D. I think it is the same with people and things like expensive jewelry; it often creates more worry than anything else.
What kind of toys and bones does Merlin protect? Is it everything, or just very specific things?
Hello
I would like some advice. I have read most of the comments and many of your articles. We have a black male cocker spaniel, Mokka He’s just over a year old. We want to get a new puppy of the same breed and colour. He has been going to obedience classes since he was 5 months old and we go to the park regularly for socialisation. He does not like small breed dogs. He loves to play and gets very lonely during the day when we are at work.
We wanted to get a female, but they are very scarce and we have settled on another male. Our dog is not fixed yet, but we are planning it for later this year. Do you think its a good idea to get another male? We are scared of the fighting that may occur between 2 males.
Thankyou
Chantell
As I understand it, there are fewer sources of conflict between a male and a female. However, this is not to say that dogs of the same gender cannot get along.
I have two female Huskies and they get along very well. Some things that help with my Huskies-
1. I picked more submissive puppies. This is because my male Shiba Inu is a more dominant dog. I find that submissive dogs are easier to train and tend to get along better with other dogs. I just make sure to positively socialize them to various sights and sounds so that they build confidence, and don’t become fearful.
2. I set out clear dog-to-dog interaction rules from the beginning and carefully teach those rules to my dogs.
3. I supervise and manage my dogs’ excitement level, especially during play.
4. I set the rules, I supervise, and I step in to resolve conflicts *before* they escalate. In this way, my dogs learn that I settle disputes consistently and fairly, and they do not need to do it themselves with aggression.
I think that if possible, there is less risk to get a male and a female. My Shiba Inu is a male, and I got a female Siberian Husky (Shania) as our second dog. I took my time getting a second dog because I wanted to make sure that we got a compatible companion that will fit in well with our family.
Shiba Sephy is more picky and particular when it comes to other dogs, and Shania is a lot more relaxed and easy-going. Therefore, when we got a third dog, we got another female Husky, Lara.
I have a 1 year old Lab/Maremma female dog, and just about a month or so ago adopted my neices 6 year old female Chihuahua. My 1 yr old is obsessed with the little one. She follows her, she stares, she occasionaly will try to push her with her snout. It’s driving all of us crazy!!! I have tried a number of different things. More walks for the bigger dog etc,etc…. She just wont stop obsessing over her. What can I do before we all go crazy. Especially my Lab. I swear she is going crazy!
Here are some things that worked well while introducing my Sibe puppy Lara to my other dogs-
1. I set up a fixed schedule and routine for puppy. Most of the time, puppy is with me and under supervision. If I cannot supervise, then I put puppy in her enclosure.
2. I set up a consistent set of rules for Lara and do not let her bother my other dogs when they want to rest. During the training period, I put a drag-lead on her when I am around to supervise. I only use a regular flat collar (*not* an aversive collar) and only under supervision. If she bothers my other dogs, I no-mark, and then redirect her into doing something else (using the drag lead if necessary). If it is her playtime, then I step in to play with her.
I describe more of what I do in the article above.
my second dog has gotten along very well thanks to all your tips…
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!
Hi there
I very much enjoy your posts and learn alot from your tips. I’ve gotten involved in Shiba rescue and would love to foster and someday adopt an older shiba to join my family. I currently own Penny, a 2yr old female. She is a huge fun personality, gets along with 95% of dogs on leash, and is pretty good off-leash at our Shiba meet-ups. Sometimes she is too rough with the puppies but overall, she plays well (minus all the crazy shiba noises!). I love her and because of her, have gotten involved in the breed.
This brings me to my issue. She is pretty good with neutral toys/balls at the park. However, if another dog comes into my home – she goes on attack mode. This happens with dogs that she plays well with in every other instance. I have to pick up everything- her crate, her toys, her bones, her water /food bowls and even the mat that her water bowl sits on. Then, she isn’t attacking but definitely watching the other dog’s every move. I know the house should be mine- but she obviously feels it is hers. How can I work on this without endangering other dogs in my home? At this point, I’ve only had 2 other dogs in my place (multiple times though). I should also add that I have to watch her in other peoople’s homes with toys, too. She is definitely an ‘alpha’ girl.
Thanks in advance!
When Sephy was young I did a lot of dog-to-dog desensitization exercises with him to get him more comfortable and calm around other dogs. I also did a slight variation of this when I brought Lara home.
For example, I first had Lara on-leash and in the front-yard. Sephy was on-leash as well with a friend. I make sure they are far enough from each other to be calm and both are able to listen to their handler. Sephy is no-longer very reactive, so he was calm and able to handle this part. Then, we moved into the backyard, again with both on-lead and far enough from each other that they are still calm. Then, we let Sephy off-leash. I did this because Sephy only guards his own space. If other dogs don’t bother him, he doesn’t bother them either, so I was quite sure that he would be ok. I would take it much more slowly and keep him on-leash for longer, if he guards objects or what he considers to be his territory.
I kept puppy on-leash and with me the whole time and for many days afterwards, until I was sure that Sephy was comfortable with having her around, and Lara has learned some of the house-rules. Also, Sephy does not like new dogs sniffing his butt, so I made sure that Lara didn’t do that until Sephy was willing to let her. Other than that, I try to create positive and rewarding opportunities for them when they are calm and together.
With desensitization it is important to go slowly, and to go at a pace that our dog is comfortable with. In general, I want to retrain Sephy to associate other dogs with positive and calm experiences, so I do not want to expose him to situations where he would experience stress or be in high alert. Instead, I try to always make encounters be low-stress, calm, and very rewarding.
Getting help from a professional trainer can also be very helpful. In the early days, we visited with a trainer at our local SPCA to do desensitization exercises with the dogs there. It was great because they have a variety of friendly and calm dogs that we could train with.
When Sephy was young, we didn’t have a backyard, so I also cleared out one of the rooms in the house and made it into a playroom. When his play friends came over, we would go directly into the play room and they would have lots of fun in there. In this way, I can supervise more easily, and have better control over the environment. For example, I make sure that there are only low priority toys in the room and no food toys at all. However, I only did this after Sephy was already more calm and comfortable around other dogs.
Hope this helps. Let us know how it goes with Penny.
Hi there,
We have a 11 year old male boxer. He is a big attention hog lol. He always wants to be sitting on your lap when youre on the couch, and he doesnt like to be left alone for a long time. He became this way when his mom died a few years back. We now have the opportunity to bring in a new boxer puppy into the house. Another male. I think it would be good for our older dog, because it will give him someone to be with when we are not around ( at work etc). The older dog doesn’t really like to play or go for walks. Hes quite lazy actually. But there have been concerns that with a new puppy, our older one will feel left out and want to die? Is this common? We know we have to keep the attention equal between the two. But its we want to know if it is even safe to attempt.
Thanks
Hello Tabitha,
When I got my recent Husky puppy, Sephy, my older dog did not get along with her at first. From Sephy’s point of view, the puppy is noisy, disrupts his schedule, he has to share his toys, and the attention of his people. Therefore, I spent a lot of time showing Sephy how puppy Lara can be a positive influence on his life.
I made sure that all of their interactions are positive, or at worst, neutral. I set a fixed schedule for puppy, and *do not* allow her to disturb Sephy when he just wants to rest. Older dogs need a lot more rest, so it was important to supervise puppy Lara and redirect her energy.
I did group obedience training, and showed Sephy that he gets a lot more rewards when he is calm and working together with puppy. I describe more of what I do in the article above.
A lot of getting a new dog also depends on the preferences of our older dog. Does your Boxer enjoy the company of other dogs? What type of dogs does he like being with? Here are some things that I considered while looking for a companion for Sephy.
I have two 3 year old Shiba Inus. My female Shiba is extremely aggressive with other dogs and has gotten into a serious fight with a German Shephard that landed her a very serious trip to the vet.
We want to adopt a 10 year old Husky from an elderly lady that is going into a nursing home. We have fallen in love and want to give this Husky a loving home. I read all of your tips and tricks but I am not sure if I should even consider bringing another dog in. Is it possible to break my female Shiba’s initial reaction to attack other dogs???
What is the best way to have them meet. Should it be done on neutral ground away from our house so our Shiba does not feel threatened in her home? I don’t know how to have them meet without having them both pulled back tightly on a leash which you said is not good.
Help!!! We have so much love to give but we are scared we will never be able to have another dog because of our female Shiba.
When Sephy was young, he used to be pretty reactive towards certain types of dogs. I did a lot of desensitization and counter conditioning exercises with him to help raise his reactivity threshold and teach him alternative behaviors for dealing with stress.
We did a lot of training sessions at our nearby SPCA because the trainers there had many friendly dogs that they were able to use to work with Sephy. Each dog is different, and especially with dog aggression, it was very useful to get help from a professional trainer.
Desensitization training will take time, and during the training period, it was important that we did not let Sephy practice any reactive behavior with other dogs. I really wanted to get a Husky at the time, but I decided to hold-off on that until after I dealt with all of Sephy’s issues.
Here is a bit more on the process I went through while thinking of getting a second dog.
Hugs to your Shiba. Hope this helps and let us know how it goes.
Hi!
I have a 9yo black lab who’s been with me since he was 6 wks. He’s always been a momma’s boy, and I even brought him with me to Chile when I moved here 7 years ago to be with my now husband.
We recently bought a Great Dane puppy (3mo), but she is still living with her parents who are owned by some friends of ours. We haven’t brought her to live with us definitively, because my black lab has still not been able to accept her. In the three meetings they have had he has attacked her. My lab is very people friendly and even used to get along with other dogs when I would take him to he dog park when he was younger (not anymore because they don’t exist here in Chile). He does have anxiety problems at times and gets really worked up in strange new situations (like with the new puppy). In the past, I’ve known him to attack smaller dogs, including my parents Bichon, and it usually has something to do with them getting too close to his bone or food. With our new pup, it seems he gets jealous when she demands too much attention from me.
Is he too old to be trained and socialized with other dogs? Will he ever accept out new pup and stop attacking her? Today we got them together for the third time and things went a little better than the other two times. We went on a walk, my husband with the new pup and me with my lab. This time our lab seemed more interested in the walk than in getting to know he puppy, which means that while he didn’t attack her, he also didn’t make much effort to sniff her and basically ignored her. After the walk we came back to our house and took turns with one of them inside and one outside, until we felt comfortable enough to leave the sliding doors open between the living room and the back yard. Everything was ok, with both seeming to do their own thing and ignore each other, until one time I got between both dogs in the entry to the kitchen and our lab went at the puppy.
Is there anyway to eradicate this behavior for good? If my older dog is jealous of the attention I give to the puppy, will I be able to train her at home by myself? Thank you for any advice! I’m desperate.
Hello Kimberlyn,
When I first got Lara (Siberian Husky puppy), my Shiba Inu, Sephy (5 years old then) did not really care much for her either. From Sephy’s point of view-
1. Lara is competition for food, affection, and toys,
2. Lara is noisy,
3. Lara disrupts his schedule,
4. Lara unbalances play dynamics with Shania (our other Husky)
5. He does not know what to expect from Lara because she is a new “quantity”. This causes stress.
Some things that helped with Sephy-
1. I made sure that there are no negative puppy encounters with Sephy.
I do not allow puppy to bother Sephy when he only wants to rest. I supervise all play sessions carefully and I make sure that there is no stealing or humping. I teach puppy house rules and set up a fixed routine so that it is clear what Sephy can expect from puppy and vice versa. I.e., I establish clear interaction rules for all the dogs so that Sephy knows what is acceptable behavior with puppy, and puppy knows what is acceptable behavior with both Sephy and Shania. If there are conflicts, I will resolve the issue in a fair and consistent manner.
2. I showed Sephy how puppy can be a big positive influence on his lifestyle.
I enticed Sephy to approach rather than forcing puppy’s company onto him. For example, I would do a lot of obedience exercises with puppy. During this time, Lara gets very well rewarded. This usually attracts Sephy to come over and join in as well. Then I do group obedience training sessions, and reward both dogs especially well for working cooperatively together for me.
I would start playing with puppy, and this would often get Sephy interested and then he would join in.
3. Desensitization and counter conditioning.
When Sephy was young, I did a lot of desensitization and counter conditioning exercises with him. This helped him to be more comfortable around other dogs.
Note that the actual details of retraining will be very dependent on the dog’s current behavior, temperament, routine, environment, and other surrounding context. Therefore, it can be very helpful to have a professional trainer visit with both dogs, observe their body language, and identify how best to manage and redirect the aggressive behavior.