Help - Failed Foster With Lots Of Baggage & A New Pup In The Mix

[Loreley]

We had a 12 month old girl then our foster boy came along. There was no problem initially, but after about 12 months he started to resource guard my hubby & myself. Not just with our other dog but the cat as well. We went through the putting her first, not allowing him on the lounge/bed etc and eventually things did settle down, we have had no trouble for a couple of years now. He is good at the dog park, and we recently had a tradie with a 12 week old pup and he was fine with that, didn't really play with the pup, basically showed no real interested after the initial meeting which had much tail wagging.

Then my daughter brought home an 8 week old puppy, they (the original dog & the pup & daughter) are due to move out on the weekend. My boy has been aggressive a number of times to the pup, even when there is no obvious fussing over it. The pup put his paw on the our boys leg yesterday wanting to play and that was enough to spark off a growl & snap. We have reprimanded & kicked him outside, and he certainly knows that he is doing wrong.

We have slacked off a bit with the rules and he is allowed on the furniture again, but there hasn't been a problem with him and for a good couple of years.

There has been a couple of weeks of mad packing which has unsettled him, he doesnt seem to cope with change very well. I'm hoping that this will settle once they move and the household calms down.

My next dilema is once this happens he will be the only dog in the house and I am keen to short term foster or adopt a pal for him, is this a recipe for disaster do you think? Will him being on his own make the situation worse with trying to introduce a new dog? Dizzy our daughter's dog has been with us & our boy for nearly 4 years now.

Is there anything that i can do to help him over this or is it just something that i will have to constantly manage?

and would he just be better off being an only dog? He does really enjoy my daughters dog, and they play beautifully, i really would like that for him again if i possibly can. When he first came to us, he didn't know what toys were, had no idea how to play, its been a long hard road and he has come so far with unpacking his luggage. I would hate it if he had to be alone if there is a way to help him move forward.

I watched him interact with the pup today, he even stiffed it today, only 1 sign of trouble this evening when the pup got too close to him, by the look in his eyes he was afraid. of what I'm not sure, the pup, of being reprimanded .... god only knows. My son in law mentioned that his older dog at his place appears to be afraid of the pup also, is this normal for dogs that don't have regular access to pups?

I am hoping with the other dog moving out, that has a very high prey drive, I can finally let my chickens out for green pick in the afternoons and am keen to continue with his herding training which he absolutely loves.

If its just a case of waiting for the dust to settle, and when selecting a new friend looking towards an older pup or young adult for a playmate.

Any suggestions, help would be much appreciated.

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

what sort of breed is the puppy?

[Loreley]

what sort of breed is the puppy?

The dogs are Koolie, the pup is a pure German Sheppherd, he's a big pup at 8 weeks old he is like 8 kilos.

[wuffles]

What do you mean when you say he has been "aggressive" towards the pup? You described a growl and an air snap, but has he done anything more than that? Both my dogs are quite quick to growl at an unruly pup but they will not hurt them. My older dog does NOT like other dogs initiating body contact when he is lying down and when we got our puppy, she was made to know that very early on on their relationship! However, I am confident in my dogs' temperament around other dogs and find their behaviour very predictable. If you are not confident about how your dog will react to other dogs the best thing to do would be to get a trainer out to see their interactions.

[persephone]

My son in law mentioned that his older dog at his place appears to be afraid of the pup also, is this normal for dogs that don't have regular access to pups?

I have seen it many times :)

We have reprimanded & kicked him outside, and he certainly knows that he is doing wrong.

Not really ..he is more likely responding to your reprimand , and being forced outside ....while not having any idea that what he has done is 'wrong' in human rules . It is completely 'right' for dogs - they guard their resources .. ;)

Edited April 11, 2013 by persephone

[Dame Aussie]

My big boofer is sometimes afraid of puppies, one time at the park two lab puppies bailed him up and he looked absolutely terrified!

My Aussie doesn't take kindly to rude puppies and has growled and snapped at pups which have been in her face before, I don't think it's an issue, just an older dog telling a puppy off.

If you are worried about your dog I would consult a trainer.

[Loreley]

Nothing more than growl & a snap, not really had much experience with bringing pups in so what i'm seeing could well be normal dog behaviour.

lots of buildup to them moving out and he doesnt cope with change either very well so will let the dust settle and if it continues will consult a trainer.

thanks guys much appreciated.

[Pretty Miss Emma]

What you've described is what my Kenzie does with puppies, she's only 3.5yrs. Pretty much it is the older dog telling the pup where to go and to get out their space (that's how I see it and it's been explained to me). I don't quite understand why you've kicked the older dog out and reprimanded him (I'm assuming from what you've written that I got it right who got kicked out)? The older dog was just communicating with the younger one and teaching him that you don't just walk up to any dog and get in their space and touch them. So long as he's not hurting/bullying the pup then really it's probably just a polite telling off of "find your manners".

I've found with Kenz she tends to do this for a little bit and then as she gets to know the pup it eases up. But she is also very much a dog that likes to meet other dogs on her terms and in a very calm way, so if they push those boundaries they will be told that they are being rude.

[Jigsaw]

It's possible he's just telling off the pup. If he's not actively harassing the puppy and he hasn't made contact and drawn blood, he's probably just laying down the rules to the puppy and telling it to get out of his space. Some dogs who don't see many puppies can sometimes be less tolerant and much quicker to tell puppies off. Make sure you give them both time apart and don't leave them together without supervision.

You might find he's a different dog when Dizzy is gone. Just keep an eye on him, and be consistent with your house rules. He's more than likely responding to your body language and voice tone when you think he's feeling guilty.

[Loreley]

Happy to say that things are travelling reasonably well overall. He only reacts to the pup (now 4 months old) when he's right in his face and allows the pup to play with them although he chooses not to interact fully with him. He does resource guard us but is not overly fanatical about it and his threshhold is increasintg the more time the pup is around, which is basically the same pattern when he first came to live with us. He does the growl and air snap and stops there, he has never carried it further than that. I am sure that he is telling off rather than being outright aggressive towards the pup.

What I have noticed though is his overall level of anxiety is higher than it use to be, particularly after they have gone home. I can't quite put my finger on it, but he seems more anxious, its not hugely obvious (hubby certainly hasn't noticed) but I have noticed the paw licking and sucking on things again, not alot of it but it is there. I'm not sure if this is because he is now 'alone' and that is what is causing the anxiety or its the changes themselves (loss of dizzy, Mel, Pat) thats the issue or its the addition of the pup, or all 3, its now been nearly 2 months since all this started.

I am considering getting him a buddy but my hubby is saying that if he resource guards and reacts like this to the pup then it wouldn't be a good idea to bring another dog in.

Thats the dilema, do you think the anxiety is beng caused by the lack of another dog (another stable animal in his life) or would this just make things worse? If we go for another dog I would be looking definately at an older dog, nothing even remotely puppy which I am hoping would help. But I would not want to bring another dog into this mix if it is doomed to fail.

In the meantime I have put his thunder shirt back on during the day while he's on his own, generally only use it for really bad storms now and will see whether this improves his anxiety overall.

As always - thoughts, opinions, comments very welcome.

Edited June 6, 2013 by Loreley

[Jigsaw]

To be honest, I'd sort out his anxiety before bringing another dog in the mix. If he's already anxious, bringing another dog in could just escalate things, especially when the other dogs visit.

Does he eat bones or Kongs? You could try giving him something to occupy him when the visitors leave. If the anxiety has been ongoing over a period of time, and you think it may be escalating, consider medication. Living in a state of anxiety continuously is not pleasant for humans or animals and creates a lot of physical stress on the body as well.