Bringing a new dog into a house with an existing dog

gazzer

Myself and my partner have a dog (Cocker Spaniel cross) for the last 6 years who is just the most energetic and loveable dog that I have ever had (I have had a fair few dogs over the years). She has the run of the house and sleeps in the bedroom (but not on the bed). That doesnt bother me at all as she is part of the family and we dont have any kids.

I was thinking of getting a new dog as we recently moved into a bigger house and there is a fairly big garden where a dog/s can run around and play. Our dog looks lost out in the garden as it is about 3 times the size of the one she has spend most of her life playing in.

The thing is (and I really mean this) I am convinced that my dog thinks that she isnt a dog. She shows absolutely no interest in other dogs. When out for walks and a dog comes over she just ignores them. If any dog sniffs her from behind she snaps at them. She just doenst seem to like other dogs at all.

What I am wondering is if it is possible/advisable to bring an additional dog into the house after such a long time with just the one dog?

Thanks

woofie87

Yes, very possible and probably beneficial to your dog. We had woofie for a year and half ( he is a rescue) when we decided to get another one. I was worried and had my reservations as with woofies history of abuse and neglect he could be quite possesive over food, treats, attention and space in his house and did not seem to be too social with other dogs. Sasha arrived from WSPCA about 7 months ago. Ok, it was not all roses at the begginning and a lot of grounds rules had to be made and obeyed for the first months ( like each dog eats from their own bowl only, woofie gets fed first and receives a little bit more attention than Sasha so he does not feel threatened, etc.). 8 months on, they are best of friends and cant live without each other. Woofie is calmer, enjoys Sasha's playful character and is quite protective of her and what is most important to us- they keep each other comapny when we are in work. So, i would strongly recommend getting another one but please be prepared to put some work in it and the rewards will be amazing. There is a thread from about 7/8 months started by me asking similar questions and people gave me lots of good advise- check it if you have a mo.
Attached the pic of my two chilling on the sofa after walk!

Allgäuerin

I can really recommend it. We have a westie who was an "only dog" for 12 years and was treated like our baby. 2007 then we decided to get another dog. at first we had the same doubts as you, that he wouldn't tolerate another dog next to him, that he wouldn't feel loved anymore, etc. But Molly was an asset not just for us, but for him as well. Where he is is she. Where she is he. they acting really now like "she is my little sister, he is my big brother!

gazzer

Just an update on my original post. We got a new dog 3 days ago. A Springer Spaniel named Chloe and she is lovely. Very playful and seems to have a very nice temprement. She is one year old.

However our existing dog is not taking to this new addition very well. She is almost constantly barking at her and whenever Chloe comes near her she is showing her teeth, tail rigid and snapping at her. She hasnt bit her yet but I am worried she might.

Chloe keeps trying to sniff under her tail but the other dog will not have a bar of it. She keeps jumping away and growling.

We have kept their food/bowls seperate and while our original dog sleeps upstairs Chloe is sleeping downstairs.

I know it is early days so I really hope things calm down. I have taken today off work so that there is always somebody here and my partner is taking tomorrow off. So I suppose Wednesday will be the acid test when they are left on their own for 4 hours.

crally

hi. just curious what cross is your dog. i have a cav x cocker spaniel and he is a great dog.

Nelson Muntz

gazzer wrote: »

Just an update on my original post. We got a new dog 3 days ago. A Springer Spaniel named Chloe and she is lovely. Very playful and seems to have a very nice temprement. She is one year old.

However our existing dog is not taking to this new addition very well. She is almost constantly barking at her and whenever Chloe comes near her she is showing her teeth, tail rigid and snapping at her. She hasnt bit her yet but I am worried she might.

Chloe keeps trying to sniff under her tail but the other dog will not have a bar of it. She keeps jumping away and growling.

We have kept their food/bowls seperate and while our original dog sleeps upstairs Chloe is sleeping downstairs.

I know it is early days so I really hope things calm down. I have taken today off work so that there is always somebody here and my partner is taking tomorrow off. So I suppose Wednesday will be the acid test when they are left on their own for 4 hours.

It can be difficult introducing a new dog of the same sex. The age difference may not help. Are they spayed? It is a big change for your dog to learn to share space that was always hers. We have a male collie & fostered about 25 females. There was always tension at first but they eventually found a balance. Usually after 1-2 weeks they were fine.

lil-evil

1) Did you bring the new dog to the house or did they meet on neutral ground ???

2) You have 2 bitches which prob wasn't the best idea but now chloe is there it will prob be just a matter of time & patience.

gazzer

lil-evil wrote: »

1) Did you bring the new dog to the house or did they meet on neutral ground ???

2) You have 2 bitches which prob wasn't the best idea but now chloe is there it will prob be just a matter of time & patience.

Well just another update. Our existing dog Buffy is still barking at Chloe. We are trying our best not to interfere when Buffy is growling at Chloe. She nips at her a fair bit and I am afraid that full scale fight is going to break out soon. Chloe is so playful and it seems to me that all she wants to do is play with Buffy but she is just not into it at all. After about 8pm all is quiet as Buffy is on one char and Chloe is on the other but once it comes to one of them getting attention the other one is muscling in.

Night time is fine as Buffy is upstairs and Chloe is downstairs but come the morning time the barking and growling starts all over again. We are lucky in that we can come home at lunchtime to check on them so the most they are left alone is 3 hours in the morning and 3 hours in the afternoon. We would like to leave them out in the garden to play but I am almost certain that Buffy would spend most of the time barking at Chloe.

I just want them to get along but no matter what I do I cant get Buffy to stop barking. Prior to us getting Chloe Buffy was a great dog, very obediant and very playful. She is still this way when Chloe isnt in the room but once both of them are in the room together all hell breaks loose.

They are both females and they are both spayed. When they met originally it was on neutral ground for around 2 hours and then we brought them both into the house. BTW here is a photo of both of them

Allgäuerin

i made really good experience with bach flowers for dogs. Have a look trough the internet. It takes a time but the result will be great!;)