Bonding 2 dogs
Discussion
Right - so we got a little girl from Romania to try and calm Simba down and get him more social.
Cookie (new dog) is very friendly, playful and loves people and 99% of dogs.
Simba is a bit more of a grumpy lil git - only likes people after a bit of getting to know them, barks at most other dogs.
They both have their own crates, bed, bowls and toys. Get crated for an hour every few hours to have some quiet time, and throughout the night (despite the protests of both of them)
On walks, both as good as gold - sniff each other, pee and poop next to each other, and generally act like they've known each other all of their lives.
In the house - 90% of the time they ignore each other and just sleep in the hall/crate/floor, or try and come up for cuddles and strokes.
But the other 10% of the time, they have a few tiffs and last night they had quite a big wrestling match which i stepped it to break up, plus they had another one this morning so im told - resulting in a tiny graze to Cookie's snout.
Is this just teething problems and expected in early stages, or am i just being too optimistic and this will continue forever until one dog gets seriously harmed?
Or am i expecting too much considering they've only been together since Sunday lunch time?
Cookie (new dog) is very friendly, playful and loves people and 99% of dogs.
Simba is a bit more of a grumpy lil git - only likes people after a bit of getting to know them, barks at most other dogs.
They both have their own crates, bed, bowls and toys. Get crated for an hour every few hours to have some quiet time, and throughout the night (despite the protests of both of them)
On walks, both as good as gold - sniff each other, pee and poop next to each other, and generally act like they've known each other all of their lives.
In the house - 90% of the time they ignore each other and just sleep in the hall/crate/floor, or try and come up for cuddles and strokes.
But the other 10% of the time, they have a few tiffs and last night they had quite a big wrestling match which i stepped it to break up, plus they had another one this morning so im told - resulting in a tiny graze to Cookie's snout.
Is this just teething problems and expected in early stages, or am i just being too optimistic and this will continue forever until one dog gets seriously harmed?
Or am i expecting too much considering they've only been together since Sunday lunch time?
rj1986 said:
Right - so we got a little girl from Romania to try and calm Simba down and get him more social.
Cookie (new dog) is very friendly, playful and loves people and 99% of dogs.
Simba is a bit more of a grumpy lil git - only likes people after a bit of getting to know them, barks at most other dogs.
They both have their own crates, bed, bowls and toys. Get crated for an hour every few hours to have some quiet time, and throughout the night (despite the protests of both of them)
On walks, both as good as gold - sniff each other, pee and poop next to each other, and generally act like they've known each other all of their lives.
In the house - 90% of the time they ignore each other and just sleep in the hall/crate/floor, or try and come up for cuddles and strokes.
But the other 10% of the time, they have a few tiffs and last night they had quite a big wrestling match which i stepped it to break up, plus they had another one this morning so im told - resulting in a tiny graze to Cookie's snout.
Is this just teething problems and expected in early stages, or am i just being too optimistic and this will continue forever until one dog gets seriously harmed?
Or am i expecting too much considering they've only been together since Sunday lunch time?
They should settle down once they've determined the pecking order, in my experience it's usually the bCookie (new dog) is very friendly, playful and loves people and 99% of dogs.
Simba is a bit more of a grumpy lil git - only likes people after a bit of getting to know them, barks at most other dogs.
They both have their own crates, bed, bowls and toys. Get crated for an hour every few hours to have some quiet time, and throughout the night (despite the protests of both of them)
On walks, both as good as gold - sniff each other, pee and poop next to each other, and generally act like they've known each other all of their lives.
In the house - 90% of the time they ignore each other and just sleep in the hall/crate/floor, or try and come up for cuddles and strokes.
But the other 10% of the time, they have a few tiffs and last night they had quite a big wrestling match which i stepped it to break up, plus they had another one this morning so im told - resulting in a tiny graze to Cookie's snout.
Is this just teething problems and expected in early stages, or am i just being too optimistic and this will continue forever until one dog gets seriously harmed?
Or am i expecting too much considering they've only been together since Sunday lunch time?
h who is the boss.I'm by no means an expert...but they just sound like they're indulging in a bit of 'rough and tumble'. a lot of people forget dogs are animals, animals fight...some for territory and dominance, some for fun or entertainment. Just keep an eye on it. If it persists then maybe look for triggers. A certain toy they fight over, attention, food? Or does it happen in only one part of the house? Once you isolate the reason, if it was any of those...you can prevent it happening.
It often seems as if our two are trying to kill each other:
Then there's the rest of the time:
We've had one since a pup & he was spoiled rotten right up until the day we went to see the other one (a rescue) about 15 months later.
Our first is a friendly chap, always wanting to play, often quite rough. He's not violent, actually quite gentle but the play with his mate has evolved into a take no prisoners approach.
That said, they never draw blood - not even a scratch. There has only ever been one nick on the face, during the first week. They both know where the limit is - doesn't stop me & the mrs having to wade in regularly to stop them as it is very full on & not always what you want to see.
It should settle down once they work out who is top. That said, I'm not sure ours have worked that out yet (8 months later).
Both are dogs, both around 2.5 years old, both neutered & size wise, fairly evenly matched (one is shorter but with longer body & 2kG heavier then the other).
Both terriers. Both fantastic dogs.
Then there's the rest of the time:
We've had one since a pup & he was spoiled rotten right up until the day we went to see the other one (a rescue) about 15 months later.
Our first is a friendly chap, always wanting to play, often quite rough. He's not violent, actually quite gentle but the play with his mate has evolved into a take no prisoners approach.
That said, they never draw blood - not even a scratch. There has only ever been one nick on the face, during the first week. They both know where the limit is - doesn't stop me & the mrs having to wade in regularly to stop them as it is very full on & not always what you want to see.
It should settle down once they work out who is top. That said, I'm not sure ours have worked that out yet (8 months later).
Both are dogs, both around 2.5 years old, both neutered & size wise, fairly evenly matched (one is shorter but with longer body & 2kG heavier then the other).
Both terriers. Both fantastic dogs.
If they aren't drawing blood then I wouldn't worry too much. Obviously it's not pleasant to see but hopefully they'll grow out of it. By what you've said they're adolescents rather than 'mature' dogs so i'd hope they'd grow out of it. Having said that, are you making sure they know you don't accept the behavior and are punishing them accordingly, if not...that may be an option to look at?
We're doing both positive and negative re-enforcement.
Both sit and play nice, lots of treats and strokes.
Both start growling or playing up, they get a bit of water misted on them. They now stop at the sight of the bottle, so it's slowly working.
The 'fighting' just seems to be random, but i think it's just territory or pack placing.
Simba was an only dog for almost 2 years, and only lived with another during his foster, where as cookie has always been with other dogs in both her previous life and in foster.
She's a quick learner though- gone from barely knowing sit, to sitting by the roadside when waiting to cross in the 3 days we've had her.
Both sit and play nice, lots of treats and strokes.
Both start growling or playing up, they get a bit of water misted on them. They now stop at the sight of the bottle, so it's slowly working.
The 'fighting' just seems to be random, but i think it's just territory or pack placing.
Simba was an only dog for almost 2 years, and only lived with another during his foster, where as cookie has always been with other dogs in both her previous life and in foster.
She's a quick learner though- gone from barely knowing sit, to sitting by the roadside when waiting to cross in the 3 days we've had her.
The more i watch dog wrestling on youtube, the more im convinced its this rather than fighting - lots of teeth and snarling and trying to nip at the base of the neck rather than on the face (i've had that before with a staffie and a bernese cross- that took a lot of effort to break up)
rj1986 said:
The more i watch dog wrestling on youtube, the more im convinced its this rather than fighting - lots of teeth and snarling and trying to nip at the base of the neck rather than on the face (i've had that before with a staffie and a bernese cross- that took a lot of effort to break up)
Do they bow at each other at all during the "fight" or before it? Does one roll over and the other one jump on, then later on it is the other one on the floor?Jasandjules said:
Do they bow at each other at all during the "fight" or before it? Does one roll over and the other one jump on, then later on it is the other one on the floor?
To be honest it's always when my head is turned or just out of my sight line.Yesterday they kinda (for lack of a better word) rumbled out of the room, and she was trying to sort of get at the back of Simba's neck when i lifted her off him. Luckily she weighs nothing.
moorx said:
tedmus said:
They should settle down once they've determined the pecking order, in my experience it's usually the bh who is the boss.
And mine (quite right - this bh who is the boss.h is the boss too 
)h). He's quite a bit older than her now, she's quite submissive in play but if he's somewhere she wants to be she only has to look at him, he gives a little nark and then moves off for her.To the OP, I think if you go from one dog to two you go through a spell when they're sorting things out when you think "have we done the right thing?". As long as you monitor it and don't let things get out of hand when they have the spats it'll be fine.
He's quite an independent boy and likes his own space from time to time but I still catch them both having a sneaky cuddle up now and again, she loves it.
Sounds like rough play to me. Our two are at each other pretty much all the time they aren't working, sleeping or being fed. They've never had a proper altercation, but the barking / snarling goes up, the tempo increases and one of us tends to break it up before anything happens.
It's just how dogs play.
It's just how dogs play.
Echoing what others have said. My two 5month old pups are constantly biting eachother, trying to pull eachother ears off and pouncing on eachother. It sometimes gets abit silly usually due to a new toy or chew toy but you will be able to tell as its hard to get their attention. I shout very loud and break them up when it gets too much as i want them to know that isnt acceptable.
Little Update - they haven't been rough housing over the last couple of days, just a bit of Simba showing his teeth at most.
But Cookie is now lying down in front of him, initiating nose touches (some are gratefully received, others have a low growl behind them)and Simba is slowly coming back out of his shell again and started to liven up a bit.
he's still quote protective over "his" side of the living room with his crate.
And when Cookie went to investigate the rabbits, Simba soon let her know that they were under his protection as well, the silly bugger.
But Cookie is now lying down in front of him, initiating nose touches (some are gratefully received, others have a low growl behind them)and Simba is slowly coming back out of his shell again and started to liven up a bit.
he's still quote protective over "his" side of the living room with his crate.
And when Cookie went to investigate the rabbits, Simba soon let her know that they were under his protection as well, the silly bugger.
rj1986 said:
Little Update - they haven't been rough housing over the last couple of days, just a bit of Simba showing his teeth at most.
But Cookie is now lying down in front of him, initiating nose touches (some are gratefully received, others have a low growl behind them)and Simba is slowly coming back out of his shell again and started to liven up a bit.
he's still quote protective over "his" side of the living room with his crate.
And when Cookie went to investigate the rabbits, Simba soon let her know that they were under his protection as well, the silly bugger.
This is not unusual.But Cookie is now lying down in front of him, initiating nose touches (some are gratefully received, others have a low growl behind them)and Simba is slowly coming back out of his shell again and started to liven up a bit.
he's still quote protective over "his" side of the living room with his crate.
And when Cookie went to investigate the rabbits, Simba soon let her know that they were under his protection as well, the silly bugger.
During the early morning "bed-fest", our first one will often lay close or on the second one. When the second one moves, the first one growls.
There's other behaviour which is odd. We have a plentiful supply of rawhide bones, always more than two lying around. If the second one decides to chew the scraggy end of one, the first wants it. Not the relatively new one next to him, oh no. He wants the bit that the second one is chewing.
If however the second one opts for the new bone, then that becomes the focus of obsession for the first one. This goes on for hours.
Smiler. said:
There's other behaviour which is odd. We have a plentiful supply of rawhide bones, always more than two lying around. If the second one decides to chew the scraggy end of one, the first wants it. Not the relatively new one next to him, oh no. He wants the bit that the second one is chewing.
If however the second one opts for the new bone, then that becomes the focus of obsession for the first one. This goes on for hours.
I have two small children and several collies, this behavior doesn't seem odd at all, in human children or dogs. If however the second one opts for the new bone, then that becomes the focus of obsession for the first one. This goes on for hours.
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