Own 2 dogs at the same time, for the first time in my life. Struggling to navigate the situation

[liturgynerd]

(TLDR at bottom)

A couple days ago, my boyfriend convinced me to rescue another dog.

I’ve spent days upon weeks upon months, cumulatively, reading up on training. I consider myself pretty knowledgeable at this point. But I have never in my life had more than one dog at a time, so this is all suddenly new territory for me. I didn’t know it’d be this tricky.

Context:

-They’re both males. “Old” dog (O) (had since puppy) is actually younger, 1.5 years, “new” dog (N) is 3 years.

-N lived with his littermate sister at his previous home. This is the first time he’s been separate from her, and now he’s in a completely new environment, and I’m sure he’s very on edge.

-O is fixed, N is not (though that will be happening very soon)

-They met on neutral ground, and got along great. My dog O acquiesced happily to any displays of dominant behavior from N (old owners warned us N likes to be The Boss, so to speak, and O seemed fine with that)

Once we took him back to home turf, my dog O has changed his stance a bit. He resource guards me. I never saw this coming, he always plays extremely well and has never shown any signs of jealousy or resource guarding ANYTHING. Problem is, N is ALSO trying to resource guard me.

I’ve worked in the dog industry for a while, I know the signs of a fight about to happen. It hasn’t gotten to the point that I’ve been very worried about that, not yet. They’re both doing well with backing off when the other one gives a “warning.” That’s encouraging I guess..

~ TLDR ~

They’re both CONSTANTLY following me around, vying for my full attention, like it’s a contest, and they grumble and growl at each other when the other is “winning.” O won’t let N on the couch or the bed. It’d be kinda hilarious, if I wasn’t worried their little grumbly growls might escalate into getting one of them hurt.

They eat their food side by side just fine, no arguments. So apparently, the most valuable resource is ME.

And I don’t know how to mitigate that! How am I supposed to behave around them when they compete for my attention like that??

Anyway, this is way too long. Just. ANY tips?

 

[matt123]

@liturgynerd Not a dog trainer but have two dogs who don’t get on and are a work in progress. Crate training was a godsend. I recommend it as a temp solution for now.

 

[liturgynerd]

@matt123 Truly a godsend, I agree. I feel comfortable enough when I’m in the room supervising them (have broken up plenty of actual full-on fights, by myself, at the dog daycare), but I’d be very anxious giving them full access to each other without my being present.

Rn I can hardly walk around the house, they’re big boys and so are their crates lol, but we’ll get it figured out!

 

[cathyj]

@liturgynerd We brought a rescue into our home (where we had a 8 year old lab mix). - during that time frame we were very structured with both the dogs.

The OG dog had access to area the new dog don't.

Both dogs were fed separately. OG in her crate new fed by hand (due to severe reactivity issues)

Lots of structure - if either dog got tetchy about the other being in a place, or they want to resource guard a place, they would be banned from that place. New dog is still not allowed on furniture because he has been a jerk about it, and why change when it's working....

Crate and rotate.

Also - might be worth checking out the free course "from the rescue to the home" on Leerburg.com

 

[mellowyellow]

@liturgynerd Maybe set up two beds/cots side by side and teach them to stay there until called. Then release one and give attention, send back, and then the other and give attention. Alternate. This should at least give them something to do while the other is getting attention. Once they are better about being patient watching the other one gettin the luvin, then start releasing both together.

We did this when we added a second dog to our family to keep them separate when eating. One dog takes heart meds which would be dangerous to the other dog, so we can't afford to have them fighting to eat at the same time. Our O is also a little food protective from N, doesn't mind me messing with it or taking it away from him mid meal, but will growl as his sister when she used to get too close.

So now we feed O first, send him back, and release N to eat. I do the same when passing out high value treats, like whimzees or tendons. Set both in their "rest" place, then release one by one to get their treat.

Not sure if this method will work for you but worth a try.

 

[liturgynerd]

@mellowyellow I like this! O has mastered stay and release when he’s alone, so it could be a fun challenge regardless, to test him a step farther. And I’ve gotta get working on N’s training anyway, I’m not 100% sure what he came “preinstalled” with from his previous owners lol.

Sounds like a good idea to me! Thanks

 

[1s4b3ll4]

@liturgynerd Make it very clear that YOU decide who is to be pet, and whose turn it is. For example, I will announce, "I am petting N now!" and turn my back on O. Worked for me when I'd get an occasional guardy foster. One of my breeds is GSD, so you're gonna have that sometimes. Humans are def a resource!

 

[liturgynerd]

@1s4b3ll4 O is GSD/Rottie/Husky and N is GSD/Retriever. it’s honestly so insanely touching and heartwarming, but obviously I do need them to stop hahaha.

Thank you! Good tip!!

 

[draroras]

@liturgynerd I recently adopted a second dog as well. I was surprised that my first dog didn’t resource guard me, but she did resource guard everything else at first. She wouldn’t let the new dog into our bedroom at all because she knew the storage bin with treats was in there. We were able to train her by intentionally bringing the new dog into the bedroom while holding onto the old dog and feeding her treats, basically trying to create a positive association for seeing the new dog in that area. This luckily worked pretty quickly for us, and the dogs get along great now! You could try a similar method where one dog gets attention from you while your boyfriend gives the other dog treats, then switch. Hopefully, this will teach both of them that it’s good when the other dog gets attention from you.

 

[clintpauljohnson]

@liturgynerd More practice with both dogs being calm around each other before they're loose in the house. Use tethers or bed stays.

Practice taking turns. You pet one dog in their space, then go over to the other dog and pet them in their space.

You decide when to give attention and affection, not the dogs. You decide when the dogs are allowed on the couch (I wouldn't until they stop guarding.) Consistent rules now means you can give more freedom later. Too much freedom too soon creates bad habits.

 

[rebelde]

@liturgynerd Did you read the leerburg guide to introducing new dogs to a home where there are already dogs?

 

[liturgynerd]

@rebelde No! But thank you! I’ll check it out