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The doghouse

If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.

Please tell me your positive tales of resident dogs and new rescues ending up loving each other....

6 replies

spiderlight · 18/02/2015 01:08

If you've brought a new adult rescue dog into a home with a resident dog, how long has it taken for them to settle in and properly relax around each other? We adopted a lovely, lovely rescue bitch on Saturday because we hoped she'd be company for our ten-year-old dog who's been heartbroken since our other dog died at Christmas, but I'm finding it all very emotional and feeling disloyal to our beloved dog who died - they got on so well and were a total 'old married couple', and it just feels so strange having another dog here who's not her. Our dog and the new arrival lurved each other when we first introduced them before she came home, but they had a bit of a spat on the second night and now they're not so sure and our dog is looking depressed again. The new girl is still settling in and I'm sure with careful management they'll get used to each other, but I could do with some perspective and tales of happy endings.

OP posts:
spiderlight · 18/02/2015 13:27

Anyone...?

OP posts:
tabulahrasa · 18/02/2015 18:05

I'm a one dog at a time person, so no practical advise... But, it's really really early days and you're all still strangers.

If that helps any.

moosemama · 18/02/2015 18:17

It wasn't love at first sight for our two and like you, we only took on another dog because our remaining dog was grieving, lonely and depressed after we lost our old girl.

Pip tried really hard to get Lurcherboy to love him. He frequently got into bed with him, only for Lurcherboy to get out again as soon as he could. Lurcherboy was wholeheartedly unimpressed with us for bringing Pip into his home to begin with and demonstrated it by being really grumpy with lots of huffing a sighing.

Despite that, Pip's arrival did result in Lurcherboy's separation anxiety finally stopping, so although he seemed grumpy about the new little interloper he must have taken some comfort from him being there.

It's been a gradual process ever since. First Lurcherboy realised it was fun to run with another Lurcher after previously living with an old lady dog and they started really enjoying playing together on walks. Then he started tolerating him lying near, but not really with him.

Pip's now 20 months old and Lurcherboy will now let him have a paw or even his head on him while they sleep. He also seems genuinely pleased to see Pip if they've been separated for any reason and he can't wait to get off lead on walks so they can play chase. He still acts like a grumpy old man towards Pip around the house much of the time, but he is nearly 10 and Pip's a lively youngster, so that's probably understandable. We also see him occasionally go up greet him totally unprompted every now and again, just a little snuffle and tail wag, but definitely affection. Last night he actually instigated a game in the house by rolling his beloved tennis ball at Pip - now that was a momentous occasion.

It's very early days for your dogs. If you think about how you'd feel if someone new came to stay in your house. Even if you really liked them, it would be a bit awkward at first, until you got used to each other and your old dog may still need time to grieve, even if she does actually like the new dog.

EasyToEatTiger · 18/02/2015 22:26

Our first dog accepted the next at first bitesight. For the following 12 years they became like a married couple. The next dog was a bit of a big nightmare, and he and dog 2 wound each other up big time. . Dog 4 is very damaged but fitted in with 1 and 3 after 2 died. Now we have dog 5 who is a puppy. A whole new set of relationships and problems. Gah.

JoffreyBaratheon · 19/02/2015 01:02

Depends on the characters involved, like it would with people, I guess?

I have a happy story for you, though.

We had a 2 year old staffy, much loved 'only dog'. For some reason, I decided to look into getting a mini bull terrier and when I rang round breeders, they all had 2 year waiting lists but one breeder said she had no pups but there was an adult female show dog she was thinking of selling on... would I be interested?

Staffy was great with other dogs on walks, etc, but I had no idea how he'd take to another adult dog the same age as him sharing his house... I felt it would be easier with a pup but what the hell, went to look at the 2 year old bullie anyway.

And it was love at first sight, me and her. She literally hurled herself into my arms the moment she saw me, and into my heart, too. I had to have her.

We had young kids so by chance still had baby gates up. That proved useful. Brought her home - she was a show dog so used to being around other dogs. But still no idea how she'd feel about sharing a home with another pooch.

Put him in the kitchen one side of baby gate with the door wide open so he didn't feel excluded (it was summer which helped). And the other side, she was in the living room. I read up on it and read to make the first thing you do with the dogs something on neutral territory they'll both love. So we walked them. They seemed to like eachother. But we kept them either side of the gate and would have done for as long as it took. By about Day 4 or 5 it was obvious they were mad about eachother. Both spent all day sat next to the gate, looking longingly at the other. Gate was opened... voila. Two bonded dogs.

That whole first week we walked them together - with at least 2 of us so each had a lead and a dog, separate but together. We fed them either side of the gate at the same time as eachother. All the nice things happened with them close to eachother.

Sadly he died only 4 years later, aged only 6 and she grieved appallingly. Even so I took the decision not to get another dog, and it took her months to adjust to being alone. But it was better for her than to risk getting another dog she hated or who hated her as she was quite a sensitive little soul. She died last year aged 14.

I think we managed every second they spent together that first week, and limited it. Always 2 of everything though - 2 dog chews (she'd eat faster than him and then steal his which sometimes he was unimpressed by). 2 bed - he had his crate he'd had since a pup and she slept on the sofa. She never went in the crate and it was always his space. That helped a lot, too that the original dog was crate-trained.

spiderlight · 19/02/2015 13:58

Sadly I don't think our gorgeous new girl is going to be able to stay. They've been fine and calm with each other most of the time, and we're managing them carefully with baby gates, feeding separately, rewarding positive interactions, happy walks together etc. but she has flown at our resident dog (who is much older and smaller than her) three times now and started periodically resource-guarding me, all the dog beds, doorways and the hall and landing, and our original dog is looking ever more stressed and miserable and worried about moving round the house. It's mostly noise and she's done no damage to him at all, but the unpredictability of it, especially with a child in the house, worries me a lot and I think we have to put our oldie's needs first. The rescue have been brilliant and said they'll have her back; I know the person running it and she understands how heartbroken I am, because I really genuinely do love this dog already. But I think she would be happier as an only dog - she's bonded to me like glue and she needs someone she can have all to herself. Gutted though :(

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