How do I know if my dog would accept a new puppy?

[CantFindTheBeat]

Do dogs who don't really enjoy other dogs company ever change? Or is there a way I can test if a new puppy would be okay with our boy?

My dog is 5... a male retriever. He was castrated aged 3.

He does not like any dog in his house at all. He will resource guard and snarl at them.

He's fine in other dogs houses, and fine in pubs etc.

My dilemma is over getting another dog.

I would love to have another retriever puppy from around 8 weeks. My dream is that the new puppy would encourage the 5 year old to play and have fun, and be a pal for him as he gets older.

But in reality, he's not the sort of dog that welcomes others onto his turf.

Any tips on how I could test the water, or should I leave well alone? My 5 year old is my priority so don't want to do anything that could have lasting repercussions.

"He does not like any dog in his house at all. He will resource guard and snarl at them."

Isn't this your answer?

I think it probably is, @Lougle, but we've never tried to overcome it because there has never been a need.

If we did get a new puppy, wouldn't expect to just bring the puppy in and get on with it... we'd introduce, separate, take it slow etc.

My question is , I guess, does anyone have experience of similar.

We introduced a puppy to our 10 year old retrieverX. He isn't resource guardy or aggressive, but can get a bit overwhelmed with other dogs in his face.

We brought the puppy home in a crate, and allowed our big dog to go to the car boot and sniff. Then we put the crate in a puppy pen in the garden and allowed him to sniff. Then we took him out of the pen and let the puppy out of the pen, so the big dog could see and sniff through the pen but not get near the puppy. After a while, we allowed him to go in with direct supervision.

When we were inside, we largely kept the puppy in a pen, with occasional meetings between them, for the first few days. Gradually, they spent more time together.

I'll be honest. It wasn't love at first sight. Our big dog took a while to acclimatise and for the first couple of months, whenever they were together they were play fighting. We spent a lot of time telling them to calm down and separating them after a minute or two of play. But then they started to settle down more and gradually milled around.

Puppy is now 7 months old and they only play fight for a few minutes, a couple of times per day. They quite happily settle down in the lounge of an evening. The big dog doesn't want to cuddle up with the puppy, though, despite her desire to.

We make sure that we never, ever, allow the puppy near the big dog when he's eating his food. They're fine to be together when they have treats/carrots, etc., but we make sure there is no opportunity for snaffling of food.

Big dog sleeps upstairs and puppy sleeps in DD2's room downstairs.

My dog was eight when I introduced a puppy. He had always been fine with other dogs in the house. But it was an utter nightmare for months. Never again.

Did you have play fighting too? I found that really exhausting - constant vigilance to make sure puppy wasn't hurt, big dog wasn't pounced on too much, nobody got trod on, etc.

My dream is that the new puppy would encourage the 5 year old to play and have fun, and be a pal for him as he gets older

I think deep down you know your dog does not share your dream!

I have recently added a puppy to my 2.
DanceDog#1 is of the opinion that if he does not acknowledge it, it doesn't exist. (But puppy food bowl does very much exist for him to raid!!)
DanceDog#2 is delighted with her new toy! So much so that I have to separate them to give the poor puppy a break from the endless play!
And then there is the fact that this puppy/ toy arrived with a selection of other squeaker toys that obviously also exclusively belong to DanceDog#2!
It's full on to accommodate the 3 of them!

This in spades.

We had a Lurcher who was good with other dogs( born and raised on a Traveller’s site for first weeks of life)
She was very stand offish with a new puppy ( Lurcher was 18 months old approx)
She was grumpy faced, but never growled
We got a dog as dog/ female a better combo- she was spayed.
She accepted him completely after a month .

But she was easy going with dogs.

With an aggressive dog- I’d definitely not get another dog.

Pups have been killed or seriously by jealous older dogs.

Don’t risk it.

I don't think you can reliably test at all. He might tolerate a pup but not happy when that pup hits its teen years/maturity and poses a challenge. Either way it is a big risk and you might find with a larger breed you are having to be wary and take precautions for at least a couple of years until the pup is fully mature.

"He does not like any dog in his house at all. He will resource guard and snarl at them."

I think you need to take this as a big indicator that it is probably not a good idea. Not sure if you have young dc in the house, but that would also need to be a consideration to not make your resource guarding dog more anxious due to a new dog.

No, puppy would have liked to play but older dog just displayed naked aggression.

I do.

Introduced two dogs to resident dog(s). Original dog was 100% friendly. Never had a fight in her life. Soft as anything. Used to roll on her back when she saw other dogs as she was so submissive.

Introduced her (then 7 and a cocker spaniel) to a Dalmatian rescue (3 years). Took a year before they could even be in the same room without them fighting. Not play fighting. Actual fighting. Both were lovely dogs - no guarding issues, perfectly sociable. They just didn't 'connect'. It's taken a long time for them to be able to get on.

Then, 18 months after I had my Dalmatian, I got my golden retriever (at 8 weeks). Took a year before I would allow all three to be in a room together alone even though they all got on.

It is not easy. Even with friendly dogs it is blood hard doing it properly. It can go horrible wrong in two ways:

1. The fight and it gets nasty
2. They bond with each other so strongly that you cease to exist - and that is a whole other issue that is, IMO, even worse than the fighting.

Quite frankly, OP, you sound bloody naive. Your current dog would traumatise a puppy. Don't even consider putting puppy through that for your own selfish desires.

Please don't do this. It would be totally unfair on your existing dog and could end in absolute disaster.

Thanks all. We don't have DCs at home anymore so feel like we have time and love for more dogs, but in my heart I know it's not the right thing for our boy,

He will just have to have even more cuddles from me then!

.

No need for the horrible comments, @Devilshands

At least I'm asking here first. You sound like you actually went on to traumatise your own dog TWICE so perhaps it's you who need to look at yourself.

There was a need. You're putting your desire for a new dog above your current dogs needs by even considering it. The first post answered your question perfectly, but you ignored the advice. You haven't even tackled your current dogs issues ('there wasn't a need) and you're considering bringing in a new dog. Focus on your current dog and sort out its issues first before you start window shopping.

I have a big enough house that keeping two or three dogs separate is fine - hence taking a year. A sensible person introduces new dogs slowly, you don't just dump them in a room together and pray for the best. I think your idea of taking it slow was 3-4 weeks, which is why I made clear how hard it is. You needed the reality check.

It's not shits and giggles like YouTube makes it look. Introducing two dogs properly takes time, dedication and patience.

And, as I said, when it was three they all got on WELL. I chose to keep them separate because that's what responsible owners do. Puppies are liabilities, push boundaries and wind up adult dogs. Only a fool leaves a puppy with an adult dog, let alone two adults.

What issues do I need to sort out with my dog, @Devilshands, if I am not bringing other dogs into his house?

Something like resource guarding needs to be solved and not just left in a blasé 'but if I'm not bringing dogs in what's the issue,' manner. Behaviour like that does not improve with time - very often it gets worse. It escalates to guarding against humans, or guarding in public etc. It sounds like luck that your dog hasn't done anything outside the house yet.

I'm surprised you need to ask and that you're so blasé about it.

I'm not discussing with you any more, @Devilshands - you've clearly made your mind up that you are the oracle. Well done you, go and snarl at someone else.

Thanks everyone else for their measured delivery.

A house full of dogs is my pipe dream but I'll settle for the gorgeous one I have 😍

Ah, that's no bad thing OP

You're doing the right thing and your existing dog will be much happier on his own. I'd also love a puppy but realistically I know my dog would hate it so it's never going to happen, lol.

I work with dogs though and get my multiple dog fix that way instead!

You know the answer to this.

I would love a doberman to go with my gsd but i know he'd hate to share his home so i put him first

I never understand why some people on this board have to be so bloody horrible. It's unnecessary and counter-productive.

My previous dog wasn't a fan of other dogs. He was never aggressive but he avoided contact whenever possible and really disliked being approached directly by another dog. He was a rescue and had at least one bad experience with a huge German Shepherd that I witnessed, and possibly other such experiences before I brought him home. Although I would have liked to have had a second dog, it was clear to me that even though he would tolerate another dog he would not enjoy sharing his space and family. We had him for more than 14 years, such a loving gorgeous boy. I'm glad we made the decision for him to be an only dog, because that was the right thing for him.

I currently have a 2-year-old dog who is very friendly to all (dogs and people alike). I have idle thoughts of possibly getting another and I think he would be happy to welcome a puppy, but my husband is not on board with a second dog. So I think we will continue to be a one dog family. Good luck with whatever you decide, @CantFindTheBeat

Please, please don't do this. I worked in welfare for many years and witnessed this problem frequently. Even if your dog accepts other dogs when outside, he clearly has issues inside (his own territory), and it would be absolutely awful for a puppy to find itself taken away from mum and into a home where he is not welcome and possibly endangered by your retriever. Puppies learn from older dogs and at best, it could turn the pup into an anxious mess, at worst, it could result in another reactive dog, injury or death. Resource guarding is very difficult for an untrained person to resolve. And many dog trainers try to resolve it can't resolve and can't, as as most owners don't have the patience or resilience to work through it. I know this is not relevant to your post, but this problem is rife with foreign rescues being brought into the country. They have often had to fight for every scrap of food (resource), so are reactive to other dogs and sadly sometimes people. Of the 6 I have known personally, 2 had to be returned to the rescue, one has been pts because of aggression starting with resource guarding, then ending up attacking her owner, twice, another was living (seemingly happy) for a few months with the older family chihuahua; owner left them for half an hour and in that time, a fight erupted and her chihuahua lost its life. It's too risky and your retriever is telling you in his own way he does NOT want to share his home (and/or you) with another dog.

Thanks all - rest assured, I am a sensible person who loves her dog, and am merely musing and wishing for hundreds more like him 💕

Suffice to say, our dog is beautiful, loved, and will not have to suffer the trauma of any other four-legged friend honing in on his territory.

@CaptainCarrot - thank you for your kind words. Your boy sounded perfect - I can only hope we have as long with ours 💕

@yorkshireteapot9 my experience couldn’t be more different. Unlike you, I’m not relying on other people reports, this is MY experience. We’ve had more than 35 rescue dogs and some of them have been “foreign” None of my 12 foreign rescues have been any different to my English rescues ( apart from the the fact that they have been clean in the house from day one. No idea why that is, it’s just a fact) The fact that they have been feral/stray/abused hasn’t made one iota of difference and not one of them has gone any where NEAR my English rescued Chihuahuas! My chis rule the roost. In fact the most aggressive dog I have ever adopted was an English chi rescued from travellers. He’s golden now though.
@CantFindTheBeat you decide what happens in your house. I can introduce whatever dog I want into my house, because it’s my house and my rules. My dogs are spoilt rotten, they sleep on the couch, they sleep on the bed, they live a life of luxury and that is how it should be. They are loved and adored and they know it. But, if I want to bring another dog in? I decide that. And the pack all shuffle up and make room accordingly. Not one of them have been “traumatised” by the addition of a new dog because they look to me as leader and if I’m good with it, they are good with it. And that is my job, to make sure they feel safe ,no matter what happens.
If you took that approach op, you could very easily introduce a second dog. Your house, your rules. And they would be very good friends after about 2 weeks.

If you want another dog then you can do it but you’d need total separation maybe for ever. Lots of trainer friends do it and it mostly works out ok but it’s A LOT of effort and worry.

A good friend has a severely reactive rescue and introduced a pup as she needed another working dog. They were fastidious about management and it worked well. But they were prepared for it not to work.

In short yes it can work but it’s not going to be easy.