rehoming ..potential problem with introducing two dogs, advice please if possible

remy17

Member
i may possibly have the chance of a golden retriever,neutered 2 1/2yrs old male (with all jags)which a neighbour can no longer look after.

the problem i have is that i have a 7 yrs old male black labrador (intact) who is a rescue dog (ex drugs dog) who is insanelly possesive when it comes to ANY type of dog coming within 5 ft of me,

with my missus this is not a problem with her praising or giving other dogs treats or scratching thier ear, but if i try to do the same thing he suddenly turns into a green eyed monster and will not tolerate any form of contact between me and any other dogs.

so my question is ..., is there any way possible for me to introduce the two dogs without the two of them tearing each other apart,
trying to establish who is a "intruder in the home and the most dominant male", while at the same time trying to apease my missus that everything will be okay between them and they wont kill each other (not to mention me staying in possession of my vitals!)

any helpful suggestions would be appreciated, as the only other course of action my neighbour has is to give the dog to the dogs trust.

thank you remy17
 
Hi Remy17,

With this one you will probably not get 2 replies the same as no 2 dogs are the same!
What I would say is that ensure the introductions are on neutral territory if the dogs do not already know each other.
Are you sure your own boy is only aggresive when you are there or does he show aggression to other dogs when the good lady has him out.
This one could sort itself very quickly or it may prove very difficult. I have had some experience with dog socialising and rehoming and still have the scars to show for it.

Was interested as to why your boy is "ex" drug detection dog as for that line of work excellent social skills would be necessary.
I once introduced a dog into my home and if I as much as touched him my Shepherd would look on that as me somehow promoting him within the pack structure and take it upon himself to demote him by giving him a good seeing to. I got by for some time by virtually ignoring this dog whilst my shepherd was there but all it would take was a kind word or praise from another family member to the new boy for it all to kick off again.

The best of it was that both these dogs were very friendly and sociable at all times, only not with each other.

I would start with ensuring that your own boy does not see that you favour the new guy and ensure that you praise, feed, play with your own boy first and simply see how it goes.

If the fighting starts and shows no sign of being quickly sorted out between them, its time for plan B.
 
hi bobthedug, my "pup" was actually a gundog that was made gunshy, and then donated to the prision services, he was then trained up and failed on the last part of his exam which we think was the stairs in one of her majestys residential care facilitys.(the stairs are open and you can see through them to the ground floor, which i pressume can be quite daunting if you are two flights up looking at the ground through a bit of cast iron!)

he is also fine with the missus and other dogs, the missus has just said its only me he has the problem with.....not quite sure what way to take that :-|.

i must admit there is nothing i would like more than to have the two pups together but i hate the thought that they would rip each other apart, and i dont want any of the dogs distressed just because I thought it would be a good idea.

remy17
 
Hi Remy17,

The stair thing is very common. One of my own was terrified of them and would just keep running up them until he came to the top. Suppose from a dogs perspective you are asking them to go up what they see as slats an inch or two wide, going up in the air.
Bottom line is that there was no personality "issues" with your boy and as you know that type of staircase is the norm in such establishments!

My thoughts are that its very much a pack thing with him and hes keen to put other dogs in what he sees at their place, all for your benefit as pack leader.

As he is not inherintly aggresive, I would go with some socialising with this dog, along with another adult in neutral territory and just watch to see if anything does happen between them.

It may be settled by the new dog being submissive from the off and as the previous poster has mentioned, it could be a worry over nothing. In my experience, these type of issues are usually sorted out quickly by the dogs and dog fights, although quite distressing are sometimes the answer in sorting out pack issues. If indeed it became serious, along with another adult, the best and safest way is to each get a dog.

If you then grab each of the back legs and "wheelbarrow" them away from each other, they will break off. Be prepared to get a bite yourself though.

Sounds crazy but much safer than going with your natural reaction and get in between them!

Keep us posted if you decide to give it a try and good luck!
 
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thanks "bob" for the advice, i am hopefully going to hear sometime tonight wether or not my neighbour is willing to let me have the dog, or to donate him to the dogs trust. thank you for your help and taking the time to respond, its very much appreciated.

remy17
 
I will give you a very different theory. IMO the interesting bit is that your lab is not aggressive when with your wife only you. You believe that it is cause he is jealous of attention being given to another dog but why not so when it is your wife who is giving the attention. I believe that your lab does not see you as the pack leader but sees you as one of his subjects that requires to be protected from another dog. Your wife is IMO total right, in your dogs eyes your wife is the pack leader and can give affection to any other dog she likes simply because of her position - she does not need protection.
You need to sort out your relationship with the lab before you take on any other dog.
 
gazza, the only thing i can say in my defense is, when my missus and i literarlly got my lab,within the first day or so when my missus had went to work and the dog and i were playing around with his new squeeky toys and tug ropes, we were playing on the floor and he started to become a bit too aggresive and then decided to snap at me, now some of you may or may not agree with what i did ....but its done now.
i grabbed him, threw him on his back and "bit" held him by the throat as a wolf would do as pack leader, he then took the submissive position when i let him go ie lying on the floor on his back with his paws in the air and his tail turned under him.

so now if i am out with him and he attempts to kick off i can usually get away with growling an him and bearing my teeth (before you all fall about laughing in utter hysterics....i aint no wolfman) he usally goes nuts when the dog is on the same side of the road as myself and i cannot avoid it.
ps the missus also mentioned that about 7 or 8 month into having him, he was atacked by two other dogs at the same time (a mental spaniel and a jack russell, the spaniel grabbed him by the throat and the jack russel literarlly grabbed him by the jewels) my missus did her best to fight them off, and she wasnt worth a button afterwards, the vet checked him out and said that he wasnt badly injured but was quite shaken and hyper, and for weeks afterwards he was a nervous wreck when we tried to take him out.

pps the retriever has since been handed into the dogs trust (i think the neighbours wife couldnt bare seeing him every day, so decided to donate him to the trust so they could find him a good home)
remy17
 
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Not going to say much about your wolf man antics other than it takes more than "growling and baring your teeth" to become pack leader. Whilst the attack on your dog by other dogs may have made him a bit wary it does not explain why he will not tolerate other dogs near you but allow other dogs to come near your wife. The outcome with the retriever is maybe for the best.
 
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