Hi all,
I currently have a 9 year old shepherd mix, who is generally a v good girl. When I first got her, she had really bad separation anxiety and we worked on that a lot, so now she's chill most of the time. She loves all people (though scared of children and the elderly lol), and due to the separation anxiety, still has a pretty big meltdown when folks return home/visitors enter. Reactivity wise, she doesn't do this with me generally, but she can get possessive/growly over the couch/certain toys, where she growls pretty consistently if anyone gets too close (particularly once it's night). She also can get weird about certain dogs, particularly those that are bigger than her or dogs that play too energetically/don't take boundary cues, and gets reactive on leashes. She's lived with other dogs before, and it's generally been fine (as long as she initially met the dog outside of the house the first few times), but those dogs were all ones that mostly left her alone/ignored her and let her come to them in terms of initiating play etc.
My boyfriend and I moved into a house together recently, and he's initiated the adoption process on a one year old hound, and we're going to meet her tomorrow (w/ my dog). When talking to the foster, she disclosed that the dog nipped a young child (that tbf was not respecting its boundaries) on one of the last adoption visits, and that the dog, b/c she's skittish, has a tendency to bark/growl when new people approach. That said, the dog is currently living happily with 3 other dogs who the foster said are all kinda neurotic/reactive and that she's really good w/ obeying boundaries when their older dog sets them.
I will admit that I'm a bit nervous. My boyfriend wants this to be *his* dog, since he's wanted one for so long, so I'm a bit hesitant to express concerns b/c I don't want to co-opt this process. First, I love my dog and she's def. chilled out over the years, but there have been times when it's been super hard to deal with a dog that can be aggressive toward other dogs. Since this dog exhibits reactivity toward dogs and people, I've never dealt with that before, but I can only imagine that's even harder to navigate. And I don't think my BF understands, since all his childhood dogs were not reactive, how difficult it can be.
I know there's a good chance the dogs will get along fine, especially with time and letting them get a feel for each other, but I guess I'd just like some advice for folks who have added a new dog into their home (or who have fostered etc.) about tips for peacefully transitioning a new dog in, ways to mitigate the two dogs amping each other up/teaching each other bad behaviors, any relevant experience etc.. This dog honestly seems sweet and like she could be a great addition to our family, but I think I'm feeling a bit pessimistic right now and would love a hype up.
Edit: Also, since we're meeting the dog/foster mom tomorrow, if you have advice about questions we should ask or things we should do during the meet, that'd be great too!
I currently have a 9 year old shepherd mix, who is generally a v good girl. When I first got her, she had really bad separation anxiety and we worked on that a lot, so now she's chill most of the time. She loves all people (though scared of children and the elderly lol), and due to the separation anxiety, still has a pretty big meltdown when folks return home/visitors enter. Reactivity wise, she doesn't do this with me generally, but she can get possessive/growly over the couch/certain toys, where she growls pretty consistently if anyone gets too close (particularly once it's night). She also can get weird about certain dogs, particularly those that are bigger than her or dogs that play too energetically/don't take boundary cues, and gets reactive on leashes. She's lived with other dogs before, and it's generally been fine (as long as she initially met the dog outside of the house the first few times), but those dogs were all ones that mostly left her alone/ignored her and let her come to them in terms of initiating play etc.
My boyfriend and I moved into a house together recently, and he's initiated the adoption process on a one year old hound, and we're going to meet her tomorrow (w/ my dog). When talking to the foster, she disclosed that the dog nipped a young child (that tbf was not respecting its boundaries) on one of the last adoption visits, and that the dog, b/c she's skittish, has a tendency to bark/growl when new people approach. That said, the dog is currently living happily with 3 other dogs who the foster said are all kinda neurotic/reactive and that she's really good w/ obeying boundaries when their older dog sets them.
I will admit that I'm a bit nervous. My boyfriend wants this to be *his* dog, since he's wanted one for so long, so I'm a bit hesitant to express concerns b/c I don't want to co-opt this process. First, I love my dog and she's def. chilled out over the years, but there have been times when it's been super hard to deal with a dog that can be aggressive toward other dogs. Since this dog exhibits reactivity toward dogs and people, I've never dealt with that before, but I can only imagine that's even harder to navigate. And I don't think my BF understands, since all his childhood dogs were not reactive, how difficult it can be.
I know there's a good chance the dogs will get along fine, especially with time and letting them get a feel for each other, but I guess I'd just like some advice for folks who have added a new dog into their home (or who have fostered etc.) about tips for peacefully transitioning a new dog in, ways to mitigate the two dogs amping each other up/teaching each other bad behaviors, any relevant experience etc.. This dog honestly seems sweet and like she could be a great addition to our family, but I think I'm feeling a bit pessimistic right now and would love a hype up.
Edit: Also, since we're meeting the dog/foster mom tomorrow, if you have advice about questions we should ask or things we should do during the meet, that'd be great too!