I've had a Shih-Tzu Poodle (Loki) for almost 2 years. My wife spoils the crap out of him. We just got Anubis (Coonhound mix) 2 days ago and he's the same age as Loki. Anubis was a stray and stayed at the shelter for 4 months before we adopted him. I have no idea what his past experience is, but he's partially trained. He knew "sit" and "down" when we got him and the employees at the animal shelter said they didn't teach him anything, so I assume he was part of some other family before he was a stray.
However, he doesn't know how to interact with Loki, and Loki is irrationally afraid of him. Anubis tries to play with him, but he doesn't do it tactfully, and Loki responds by "attacking" Anubis.
The video below is how they interact any time Anubis pays any attention to Loki. They can be sitting next to each other and be perfectly fine, as long as Anubis ignores Loki, but the instant Anubis tries to smell Loki or anything, Loki retaliates.
I really don't know what to do to fix this, or if I should even do anything. I don't think either dog is in danger of the other, but it's still rather frustrating.
You cant really force them. Let them have their own space for a while. Then you ca try to mediate by introducing them to one anothers space, like playing on the same yard. then you can walk them together. Then let them naturaly bond to each other
My cousin just got her second dog and it's almost the exact same situation. It's been about a week or so now and they're pretty cool with each other. I'd say just give them some time to get used to one another. ^^
Yeah, I guess I should just give it more time. It has only been 2 days. Surprisingly, Anubis and my cat (who has never seen a dog other than Loki in her whole life) have met a sort of mutual agreement. They move slowly around each other but otherwise don't seem to mind each others presence.
I had a similar situation happen with my dogs. The only difference is that there was no size difference, and instead of being vicious like loki is, the older of my dogs would just run away whenever the younger dog paid any attention to it. Now they are inseparable best friends. It just takes time.
I'm assuming that the first time the dogs met were in your house, which was Loki's territory for however long you've had him. Exact same thing happened with me. Our first dog was aggressive to the second and we eventually let them meet at a neutral area and when they came home together they were better, then after a few weeks they were good friends. Just give them some time, maybe going to play at a park will help too.
On December 19 2011 19:01 Pibacc wrote: I'm assuming that the first time the dogs met were in your house, which was Loki's territory for however long you've had him. Exact same thing happened with me. Our first dog was aggressive to the second and we eventually let them meet at a neutral area and when they came home together they were better, then after a few weeks they were good friends. Just give them some time, maybe going to play at a park will help too.
Thisthisthisthisthithis*repeatedly used meme*!
Anubis straight went into Loki's territory and just stayed there. That is a clear sign of "dog violence"(sorry, don't know how to put this ... xD). Loki feels like he's in the defending position now but obviously sees that Anubis is a little bit bigger than himself. Thats probably also why everything is fine while Anubis ignories Loki.
Let them meet outside of Loki's territory, maybe a new park or in the woods... Just somewhere where both are on "neutral ground" so that they can get to know each other so when Anubis enters Loki's territory he's not bothered with it.
Further, if you haven't watched dog whisperer I recommend you at least youtube a few shows. (I did Schutzhund training for a few years and the animal psychology that Cesar Millan shares is awesome.)
Yeah, I guess I should have mentioned. The first time they met was at the animal shelter and Loki responded the same way. Im inclined to disagree believe its less of a territory thing and more of a fear thing because of this, seeing as he was the same on neutral territory.
On December 19 2011 22:08 ryanAnger wrote: Yeah, I guess I should have mentioned. The first time they met was at the animal shelter and Loki responded the same way. Im inclined to disagree believe its less of a territory thing and more of a fear thing because of this, seeing as he was the same on neutral territory.
An animal shelter is not really neutral ground... You should really take them to a friendly place where they both weren't before(at least not that often) and get them to know each other by playing with both at the same time etc. There is really no other way!
On December 19 2011 22:37 Hynda wrote: The small dog isn't in any way shape or form showing fear, it is trying to dominate the big dog.
Agreed. Not sure how many people have watched the video first, but I don't see anything there to worry about. I would still follow the general advice of: a) try to get them to interact at a neutral site (less dominance issues) b) give them time (to learn that neither can be dominant)
From watching the video I don't see anything unusual about the two dogs interacting. Give it a few days and as some have mentioned, try taking them to a neutral place like a park or something and let them interact for a while there.
Try going to a park where there's no other dogs adt the time and let them play.
I had the same thing for a while when we had two dogs and it never went away because the older dog disliked that she wasn't getting all the attention, and the new dog was a playful large puppy like that. Training the new dog to calm down is the quickest way
EPT
