got a new rescue dog, I'm stressed!

onestep

hi all

We went to our local rescue kennels at the weekend and saw Bella, a Beagle/Lab x. We took our 4 yr old collie cross with us - they met with a sniff and wagged tails and then pretty much ignored each other. Same again on Monday. Bodes well we thought - wrong! We brought Bella home yesterday. Tess - the collie - has a crate but we never shut her in, it's just her den. We bought Bella a crate, and we're going to use it with her so that both dogs can have some time apart. Bella was a stray before she found herself at the pound, so she's very thin. And quite possessive over food. So we're feeding them separately (Bella in her crate in the snug, Tess in the kitchen), and just taking it slowly. I tried sitting down last night, only to find of course that they both wanted some fuss. Tess was not prepared to let Bella anywhere near, so they've had a couple of spats, which I've stopped. It's just so stressful! I know it's really early days, and I think they'll be fine, but at the moment I'm thinking 'what have I done?'.

Bella is quiet in her crate, so I think it's definitely the way forward, and she's so good natured on her own. She's intact at the moment, so we'll definitely get her spayed in the future. I think we're going to try the NILIF approach with her - (nothing in life is free) so she has to do something for me, whether it's a sit, or being quiet, before she gets a reward, like playtime, or attention etc.

Tess is a timid girl, so to see her upset (from her body language she's sulking at me) is really hard too. Must remember to be calm and assertive!! Just wanted to vent - any advice gratefully received

Bailey101

I haven't got any advice, but I had the exact same 'what have I done' feeling when I got my second cat. The first week or so was a bloddy nightmare, but they eventually got used to each other and now they're great wee friends.

It's always going to be harder rehoming an adult dog then a cute little puppy, but there's so many needing homes that it's so worth it :beer:

xx

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

If she's a typical Beagle/Lab cross (or a lemon beagle), the NILIF approach translates to IDIFAS - I'll do it for a snack.


I'm sure you're doing everything right - making Bella's appearances good ones for Tess, keeping stress out of mealtimes - but they still have to establish where they stand in relation to one another, and there's initially going to be moments when they aren't behaving as you would like.


I'd be thinking of walking them as a couple (if you have someone else), so they are together, but not, IYSWIM. And having fusses separately for the time being. So they get used to one another being there without being cheek by jowl all the time.

krlyr

Imagine if you'd just upped and moved in with a total stranger! You might well be polite when meeting in a coffee shop, but then having to share a house with them 24/7 would be a bit of a shock to the system! Sounds like they've not had any major fallings out or anything so hopefully it'll settle down fairly soon.

Feeding separately is a great start. I would make sure there are no other resources to fight over either, so certainly don't leave any toys or chews down for free access at the moment. Does the crate have two doors on it (I know many do), it might be worth propping them both open for the moment so neither of the dogs feel cornered (or perhaps shutting the door and only allowing access when you're there to watch the body language carefully). Keeping them separate when you're not home, and lots of rewarding both dogs when they are in each other's presence and not fighting (even more rewards when they exhibit the kind of behaviour you want, like looking at each other but looking away rather than fixating, giving the other dog space, etc.

You mention "calm and assertive" and although I think the calmness will help loads, but it does reek a bit of Cesar Milan to me (one of his beloved phrases I think!) - if that's the case I really would recommend against many of his methods as he has quite a poor understanding of dog body language and has been under quite some criticism recently for pushing dogs beyond their threshold.
I would certainly recommend someone like Patricia McConnell and Jean Donaldson as alternative trainers to listen to and they have books on both the subjects of resource guarding and managing multi-dog households which may be worth a read for you.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Feeling-Outnumbered-Manage-Multi-Dog-Household/dp/1891767062
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mine-Practical-Guide-Resource-Guarding/dp/0970562942/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1354801009&sr=8-1


I second the suggestion of separate walks - had to do this with my two, as well as giving them space in the house (used babygates to keep them apart for a bit to give the existing dog a time-out from the rather boisterous new dog!) as well as keeping the new dog on-lead in the garden as he had a rude habit of chasing her around when she didn't want to play. He calmed down, she relaxed, and now they are best of buddies (and both get a bit OTT at times so need time-outs together to chill out a bit!)

You might also want to consider some calmative products for both dogs, e.g. an Adaptil plugin in the main room of the house, a course of Zylkene or other oral supplement (Calmex, Stressless, herbal products like valerian, holistic product like Rescue Remedy, etc), using Thundershirts (or homemade equivelants with snug fitting t-shirts) to calm the dogs, even perhaps some T-Touch (videos and photos available online explaining some basic touches) to relax both dogs.

Also, you might want to consider having Bella checked out thoroughly medically for her resource guarding and other behaviour if things don't improve once she settled. For example, Beagles are a breed that can be prone to hypothyroidism which can cause weight loss, aggression, a lack of concentration/failure to grasp training, etc. and would need treatment (quite simple, just daily medication) which could make a huge difference to her temperament.

spacey2012

There will be a spat or fight, one will yield and the problem will be sorted.
Dogs are pack animals and they have a pecking order.

krlyr

spacey2012 wrote: »

There will be a spat or fight, one will yield and the problem will be sorted.
Dogs are pack animals and they have a pecking order.

Not really. While they have a social structure, and many dogs can live well together and form strong bonds, it is far more complex than "big strong leader of the pack, submissive followers" and this kind of black and white attitude can cause a lot of stress and unhappiness in the household dynamics. For example, OP says her current dog's body language gives the impression of a "sulk". While a sulk is quite a human concept, OP may well be seeing the body language of a slightly stressed, slightly uncomfortable dog, which may be throwing off stress signals, or perhaps appeasement signals to the new dog in an attempt to avoid conflict.

http://www.jeandonaldson.com/jeans-blog-mainmenu-51/64-are-dogs-pack-animals
http://www.4pawsu.com/stresssigns.html
http://diamondsintheruff.com/calmingsignals.html

Believe me, I have owned two !!!!!es that did not get along, if we had left them to it we would have had one or two dead dogs. Unfortunately we were not in an ideal situation to try to work around their fallings out or keep them entirely separate with no chance of slip ups, so the safest thing for everyone (two GSDs fighting viciously at the drop of a hat proved a risk to everyone in the household, which included visiting children) was to rehome one, but many smaller spats and disagreements in dogs can be worked out by human intervention. For example, conditioning a better emotional response to the presence of the other dog by rewarding the calm interactions.

onestep

Thanks so much for your input - off to investigate the links. Don't worry, I'm not a huge fan of Cesar's methods
It's been calmer this afternoon, Bella has been mostly in her crate apart from numerous loo breaks and her walks. Tess is happier, Bella is content & I'm relaxing about it a bit. Think I was expecting a bit too much too soon.
I'm back to work tomorrow, and I think I'll take Bella in her crate. It'll give Tess a break & I'll be happier.
Thanks everyone

krlyr

Fab I know it can seem a lot worse when you're right in the depths of it, I felt so guilty when I got Casper because Kiki wasn't happy at all initially! But it soon all settled down within a couple of weeks, and 2 weeks of having her nose out of joint has reaped so much more reward for her now they're best buddies

mee1973

Lots of walks together as dogs can form bonds while out walking, on lead though at first until you are sure they are both fine with each other. When you are walking forward thats what the dogs are doing too, it's also off of the home territory

Make sure they both have their own space at home too. It takes a while for a second dog to settle, the first dog is usually wondering what on earth is going on as they have had the home and you all to them selves. I'd make sure you give your first dog lots of attention when you first come home too, feed first, put the lead on first etc..

It sounds like it will be fine

krlyr

This free webinar seems quite apt for you OP, "Helping Adopted Dogs Adjust to New Homes". Apparently if you miss the live broadcast, you can watch it a couple of days later
http://www.thebark.com/content/free-webinar-patricia-mcconnell

hethmar

You can always ask the rescue for help too.

If you can trust both dogs to run free, that would be a good way of them bonding.

Persevere for a while yet, my two boys have healthy respect for each others space but its lovely to see both of them cuddled up in front of the fire together at the moment Took a while for the newest little one to settle - poo and wee in the house for quite a while, but we got there and they are both wonderful dogs.