How to manage doggy houseguest in tandem with our own dog...

[eslteacher]

Hi all

Just looking for a bit of advice. We have a 12 year old labrador, in very good health but obviously in his old age so pretty docile and calm, spends a lot of time sleeping etc - though can still run like a demon when off the lead and gets excited and worked up at times etc.

Anyway, for four days we are also hosting a 1 year old labrador, who is the dog of a friend. This friend looked after our lab last summer when his lab was just a puppy, and now we are returning the favour.

My DP has gone away for the weekend, so I am on my own with these two dogs, and I am already feeling overwhelmed by the situation...having two dogs is completely different to having one. The other dog has been here for 24 hours and it is still constant chaos...they just don't stop chasing each other all over the house, humping each other, play-fighting etc...plus Other Dog drools EVERYWHERE, literally every time his head brushes against me my jeans end up wet through to the skin. Overnight he chewed up everything he could get his chops on...

Anyway I can cope with the chewing and drooling, just about, and the fact that he doesn't know any commands except "sit"...but I am worried about the constant level of energy...our lab is an old boy, and I am worried that it is too much for him. He does join in with the play fighting and humping and chasing, and seems excited and generally happy, but he also often tries to lie down and rest, only to be instantly roused by the young doggy guest.

So, as I am in no way a dog expert I wondered - should I try to keep them separated more, or am I just worrying too much? Is a 12 year old lab able to keep up with the pace of a young doggy friend for a few days or is it likely to be too much for him? He's not showing any signs of distress so maybe I am just worrying too much...

[SnoopyKnine]

Take control! The visiting lab is sooooooo excited he is just running on adrenalin. In your house he behaves a certain way. So take him for a walk and then give him enforced rest. It may be you need to have him on a lead by your side while you have a quiet cup of coffee! If he has been exercised he needs to have some down time. Do make sure your own dogs routine is kept , so if he sleeps all afternoon let him and keep the other dog away.

Let them have some doggy play but do side track the new dog when you think your polite old boy does not want to play anymore.

I would love the challenge of training the new lad and giving him back to his owners with a fantastic down, stay and settle command

[daisydotandgertie]

It's only for four days. Your old boy will be able to manage himself over that time - and will probably rediscover his lost youth.

That's not to say he won't be knackered when the house guest goes home, but that's not the end of the world.

Drooling is possibly stress related and will improve as he settles in.

And everything that Snoopy said.

And yes, I think you are worrying a bit too much.

[eslteacher]

Thank you both for the advice - I feel better! Luckily things have calmed down slightly today. Am having to walk them separately as I feel very unconfident in my abilities to handle both at once, and trying to wear them out also by periodic runs around the garden and games of fetch. Other Dog is getting more accepting of Our Dog's snoozes, and is happy to snooze next to him - the problem is that this only works as long as I am sitting still in one place, as soon as I get up, Other Dog gets up and gets excited and rouses Our Dog...so I am spending my day mostly sitting on the sofa being as still as possible, in between periodical manic runs round the garden...it would look very strange to anyone from the outside...

I'd LOVE to train Other Dog to stop jumping up at me...but I have absolutely no clue about dog training. I wasn't on the scene when the dog I live with now was trained (he's actually my DP's dog, but since we moved in together I count him as mine as well). If anyone has any advice about the best way to get this dog to understand and obey "down", that would be great....

It's surprisingly difficult when dogs understand nothing you say! Our dog responds to "pas bouger" (stay), "viens" (come here) "assis" (sit), "tu sort" (leave the room) and "pousse-toi" (get out of the way). I use all of these commands without thinking just to navigate a normal day with him, and am at a loss how our friend manages his dog without any of them. I can't get him to wait outside the front door while I disable the alarm, I can't get him to move out of my way when he is blocking my path, I can't stop him jumping up at me....the jumping is the most annoying one, so yes I'd appreciate any advice though am sceptical of what I can achieve in just 3 more days...

[RedwingWinter]

When he jumps, fold your arms and turn to the side. When he parks his bottom on the ground, give him a fuss then. If he starts to jump again, just turn away. He will learn not to jump on you very quickly. Dogs jump to get attention so he will learn that he only gets attention when not jumping.

It's lovely of you to look after him for your friend :)

[eslteacher]

Thanks RedWing! That's great advice - I've been trying this out with him, and I'm convinced that he's jumping much less now...though it could also be due to generally having settled in and calmed down a bit. I have some friends coming over later, I'm gonna ask them to all follow your advice...we'll see how it goes!

Actually I was intrigued by what you said and read some of the other threads on the forum about dog training, and it's really fascinating! I've been trying to do the positive reinforcement thing with him, i.e. randomly making a fuss of him when he's just being calm and still, or when he's sitting down nicely next to me instead of rubbing against my legs when I'm doing something. And I think he is responding. The only problem is that I don't want to leave my own dog out, so I've been making a fuss of him at times as well...Other Dog does not respond well to this! As soon as I go to pat or stroke my dog, Other Dog gets really excited and starts jumping up at me and/or trying to wriggle between me and my dog and/or trying to mount my dog. Am not sure how to handle this. It's difficult to just ignore because it generally ends in my dog removing himself from the situation very quickly (he is too old to fight against this 1 year old ball of energy) i.e. he loses out on being petted, and Other Dog gets me to himself again, which doesn't seem fair! The last time the other dog did this, I put him in the conservatory and closed the door for a few minutes, and made a show of petting my dog while other dog was watching through the glass window, but I don't really know if that was the right thing to do. Any advice on how I can get him to accept me petting my dog, all you dog training experts?

[RedwingWinter]

I'm glad the jumping thing is working. It's great that you will get your friends to do this too. The hardest part about teaching dogs not to jump is that it helps to have cooperation from other people - too often people reward the dog for jumping, so at first they learn just to not jump on the person who turns away but keep jumping on everyone else.

As a general principle, it helps to ignore behaviours that you don't like and reward the behaviours that you do like. And apart from that, to try to set things up so that the dog can succeed (so it's easy for him/her to learn the good behaviours, and the bad behaviours don't get a chance to become ingrained).

If you ignore the new dog when he barges in when you are petting your own dog, he will get the hang of it eventually. Otherwise if he has a good sit or down you can ask him to do that. Since you have two hands, you could pet both dogs at once, and whenever the new dog gets too bouncy just stop, then restart when he settles down again. It sounds like you are having fun with the dog-sitting :)