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The doghouse

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Original poster

Is it possible to get my dog comfortable with having other dogs in the house?

14 replies

CantFindTheBeat · 23/07/2023 19:23

Hi everyone,

We have a 7 year old male Labrador.
Very early on we made a newbie error of looking after a friend's dog for a night to stay over when he was about 1 or 2. The friend's dog was older and as two males, they didn't get on at all.

My dog was terrified, they growled throughout, we had to separate their areas and since then he's never 'allowed' other dogs in his house, even after a long walk with them where he has been totally fine (albeit not interested in them).

Many of our friends have dogs. We love dogs. We would love to be able to offer to look after them when they went on holidays, or go out for walks and have the people and their dogs back to the house.

Does anyone have experience of fixing this problem?

Ultimately our dog's happiness comes first. My instinct its a no go, but it it's a potential training opportunity then we'd give it a go.

Thanks for your thoughts.

OP posts:
Hotgoose · 23/07/2023 19:41

No advice but following out of interest as I’ve a similar issue with my dog.

IngGenius · 23/07/2023 19:43

Is he ok with dogs if he goes to their houses?
Is he ok going to the pub or cafe with other dogs?

BarrelOfOtters · 23/07/2023 19:45

Ours doesn’t like it but seems to know she has to behave. We feed them separately, make sure there’s 2 dog beds, keep her toys out the way. We’ve had dogs stay for a week and managed without any unpleasantness.

Original poster
CantFindTheBeat · 23/07/2023 19:52

IngGenius · 23/07/2023 19:43

Is he ok with dogs if he goes to their houses?
Is he ok going to the pub or cafe with other dogs?

Hi @IngGenius

Yes, he's okay with other dogs in their houses - he's very nosy and enjoys hunting around.

He's also fine in pubs in general. The odd growl back if a dog starts with him, but overwhelmingly fine.

OP posts:
IngGenius · 23/07/2023 19:54

I would work on getting him comfortable in other places before your home.

By comfortable, being calm and able to settle and relax with other dogs around in their homes or other locations.

I personally would not be rushing to introduce dogs into his home.

tealgate · 23/07/2023 19:55

We met our friends male dog in the garden, sat outside, ignored the noises (her dog wasn't as reactive), we finished our coffee, took them for a walk around the garden and after that, it was fine.

You can only start trying, with the most peaceful dog you know.

cinnamonfrenchtoast · 23/07/2023 20:01

Your updates kind of say to me that he's probably not very dog-social anyway if he's not interested in dogs on walks and has growled at them in pubs, so personally I would leave it.

He's made it clear he's not comfortable so any visitors would be overwhelmingly for your benefit rather than his.

Not all dogs are happy to share their space and that's okay. There's no real benefit to pushing him into accepting other dogs in his home.

Seasideanticscanleadtosandybuckets · 23/07/2023 20:05

We used to have walks with a family member and her ddog. Maybe monthly or less. Ddog tolerated them off lead on the walks in the woods.. After about 5 years that ddog moved on with us without a single rough moment!
Walks on neutral territory worked well for us.

Original poster
CantFindTheBeat · 23/07/2023 20:10

@cinnamonfrenchtoast

You're definitely right that he's not a social dog.

We actually have plenty of opportunity to walk him a couple of times a day ourselves, but still have a walker to take him on
a further two social walks with other dogs each week.

He's happy to go, but he doesn't play with them - just does his own thing and plays ball with the dog walker who he idolises.

I'd love him to have a 'friend' and play, but he's just happy with his humans.

OP posts:
Original poster
CantFindTheBeat · 23/07/2023 20:11

Seasideanticscanleadtosandybuckets · 23/07/2023 20:05

We used to have walks with a family member and her ddog. Maybe monthly or less. Ddog tolerated them off lead on the walks in the woods.. After about 5 years that ddog moved on with us without a single rough moment!
Walks on neutral territory worked well for us.

@Seasideanticscanleadtosandybuckets

That's lovely. Do they play together/sleep together in your house?

OP posts:
cinnamonfrenchtoast · 23/07/2023 20:12

@CantFindTheBeat honestly in light of that, I would be even more inclined to leave it.

He's clearly not interested in playing or socialising with other dogs, so what would be the benefit in trying to force it on him?

LaviniasBigBloomers · 23/07/2023 20:12

Ours is the same. He can tolerate being in another dog's space if we're not there or there's no food around, but that's it - and we can't have another dog in our space at all. We've stopped trying tbh, it's too stressful for us and for the other (nice) dogs that wanted to visit.

Original poster
CantFindTheBeat · 23/07/2023 20:21

@cinnamonfrenchtoast

You are right, it's mainly my personal day dream to have a house full of dogs, happily getting on, playing together and living (my) ideal life,

My dog, however, doesn't want or need that, so I'm probably always going to dote on him, and dream!

OP posts:
Original poster
CantFindTheBeat · 23/07/2023 20:21

LaviniasBigBloomers · 23/07/2023 20:12

Ours is the same. He can tolerate being in another dog's space if we're not there or there's no food around, but that's it - and we can't have another dog in our space at all. We've stopped trying tbh, it's too stressful for us and for the other (nice) dogs that wanted to visit.

@LaviniasBigBloomers

I think that sounds very familiar, Lavinia. Thanks for sharing.

OP posts:
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