My GF’s mom has two dogs, let’s call them L and X. Next month she’s retiring and moving out of state, she will be taking X with her but can’t take L with her.
X is an 8 year old female chihuahua lab mix (yes, really), with no behavioral issues. They have had him since 2016.
L is a 3.5 year old male Dachshund mix. They got him in 2020 as a puppy when she still lived at home with her mom. She socialized him decently and trained him well, we used to take him to dog parks in late 2020 and 2021 with no issues. He’s always been shy and stubborn but he was curious with other dogs. He wasn’t the type to run around and play and chase, he’d just kind of go up to them, smell them, wag his tail, and carry on about his business. He loved going up to people and letting them pet him. He much preferred getting pet by strangers than playing with other dogs, but he wasn’t afraid of dogs. He just liked being pet.
In 2022 he was introduced to a pair of Boxers, both female and both “twins”, meaning from the same litter. They’re great dogs, behaved and trained well, they belong to my mom’s friend. Being boxers, they’re significantly bigger, errr, taller than L. None of the dogs were on leashes, we didn’t think they were necessary because none of the dogs have had any kind of behavioral issues. L kind of got trapped in a corner of the house and the two boxers just kinda started pawing at him playfully, just tapping him with their paws. No barking, not biting, no growling, they were just pawing at him. Well, this scared the absolute shit out of L, he let out this scream we had never heard from him before, and that scream quickly turned into barking and defensive snapping. That was the first time we ever saw him snap at another dog.
His behavior towards other dogs changed drastically from here. During this time we were also really busy with college so we didn’t have the time to take him to dog parks, and my GF’s mom never took him out either. He became generally more anxious, he stopped wanting to get pet by strangers and stayed as far away from other dogs as possible when out in public. He still didn’t mind going on car rides and walking around parks, he’s just hide between our legs when people or dogs got close. He never showed any aggression towards his sister X, ever. Before or after this incident.
In fall 2023, we moved in together got our own dog, a Corgi, let’s call her M. I took M to their house when she was a wee lil pup, right around 7 weeks old. L’s reaction wasn’t good. He growled, showed teeth, and ended up snapping at her. We were holding them both to keep some distance, but he went for a get tf away from me snap.
The second time we introduced them, M was on a leash to keep some distance, but we looked away for a split second and L had backed himself into a corner and M was walking towards him. L snapped at her nose and got her pretty good, she was bleeding a good bit.
My GF’s mom is retiring and moving out of state taking X with her, she does not want to take L because of his behavioral issues and there are small dogs where she is moving to, she isn’t willing to put in the effort to correct his behavior. She isn’t budging. We have tried rehoming him privately but no luck there. We don’t want to take him to a shelter and he has been turned down by humane societies because of his behavior. Rehoming the puppy is something we have also considered, we just aren’t sure if we’re there yet.
At this point, it looks like we will have to take in L as my GF’s mom leaves in a few weeks. We plan on keeping them separate rooms in the apartment. We have taken him to the vet and they prescribed him anxiety meds, we will be filling the prescription when he moves in here.
M is now 9 months old and roughly the same size as L.
Last week we brought L to my apartment complex and walked him around. Again, he doesn’t mind walking around New environments, but when people and/or dogs would get close, he’d hide between our legs. We wouldn’t let him get too close to M because he’d growl if she got close, same with other dogs. He won’t approach them, but if he is approached, he’ll growl and show teeth. All dogs were always leashed. To our surprise, he let a stranger pet him. He’s never shown aggression towards people, he’d just hide. He was hesitant to let a stranger pet him, but eventually he would give in. He’s been okay about letting strangers pet him since. Very hesitant at first, but gives in.
How can we get L to get over his fear of other dogs, or at the very least, learn to cohabitate with M?
TIA
X is an 8 year old female chihuahua lab mix (yes, really), with no behavioral issues. They have had him since 2016.
L is a 3.5 year old male Dachshund mix. They got him in 2020 as a puppy when she still lived at home with her mom. She socialized him decently and trained him well, we used to take him to dog parks in late 2020 and 2021 with no issues. He’s always been shy and stubborn but he was curious with other dogs. He wasn’t the type to run around and play and chase, he’d just kind of go up to them, smell them, wag his tail, and carry on about his business. He loved going up to people and letting them pet him. He much preferred getting pet by strangers than playing with other dogs, but he wasn’t afraid of dogs. He just liked being pet.
In 2022 he was introduced to a pair of Boxers, both female and both “twins”, meaning from the same litter. They’re great dogs, behaved and trained well, they belong to my mom’s friend. Being boxers, they’re significantly bigger, errr, taller than L. None of the dogs were on leashes, we didn’t think they were necessary because none of the dogs have had any kind of behavioral issues. L kind of got trapped in a corner of the house and the two boxers just kinda started pawing at him playfully, just tapping him with their paws. No barking, not biting, no growling, they were just pawing at him. Well, this scared the absolute shit out of L, he let out this scream we had never heard from him before, and that scream quickly turned into barking and defensive snapping. That was the first time we ever saw him snap at another dog.
His behavior towards other dogs changed drastically from here. During this time we were also really busy with college so we didn’t have the time to take him to dog parks, and my GF’s mom never took him out either. He became generally more anxious, he stopped wanting to get pet by strangers and stayed as far away from other dogs as possible when out in public. He still didn’t mind going on car rides and walking around parks, he’s just hide between our legs when people or dogs got close. He never showed any aggression towards his sister X, ever. Before or after this incident.
In fall 2023, we moved in together got our own dog, a Corgi, let’s call her M. I took M to their house when she was a wee lil pup, right around 7 weeks old. L’s reaction wasn’t good. He growled, showed teeth, and ended up snapping at her. We were holding them both to keep some distance, but he went for a get tf away from me snap.
The second time we introduced them, M was on a leash to keep some distance, but we looked away for a split second and L had backed himself into a corner and M was walking towards him. L snapped at her nose and got her pretty good, she was bleeding a good bit.
My GF’s mom is retiring and moving out of state taking X with her, she does not want to take L because of his behavioral issues and there are small dogs where she is moving to, she isn’t willing to put in the effort to correct his behavior. She isn’t budging. We have tried rehoming him privately but no luck there. We don’t want to take him to a shelter and he has been turned down by humane societies because of his behavior. Rehoming the puppy is something we have also considered, we just aren’t sure if we’re there yet.
At this point, it looks like we will have to take in L as my GF’s mom leaves in a few weeks. We plan on keeping them separate rooms in the apartment. We have taken him to the vet and they prescribed him anxiety meds, we will be filling the prescription when he moves in here.
M is now 9 months old and roughly the same size as L.
Last week we brought L to my apartment complex and walked him around. Again, he doesn’t mind walking around New environments, but when people and/or dogs would get close, he’d hide between our legs. We wouldn’t let him get too close to M because he’d growl if she got close, same with other dogs. He won’t approach them, but if he is approached, he’ll growl and show teeth. All dogs were always leashed. To our surprise, he let a stranger pet him. He’s never shown aggression towards people, he’d just hide. He was hesitant to let a stranger pet him, but eventually he would give in. He’s been okay about letting strangers pet him since. Very hesitant at first, but gives in.
How can we get L to get over his fear of other dogs, or at the very least, learn to cohabitate with M?
TIA
