I got the dog!!!!!

[Aussiemum]

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!
I got the dog!!!!!!!!!!!! After EVERYONE telling me NOT to get the dog - stupid, henceforth known as me - went out yesterday and got the dog.
Why??????? School holidays are here and after Elysia asking all her friends who could come over in the holidays NOBODY could! Her best friend was spending EVERY day of the holidays with her horse - (why wouldn't she invite Elysia along, beats me!) Other friend, going away, other friend was going to be busy (don't know doing what??). Poor kid, we live near the playing fields and every Saturday all you can hear is the cheering from the soccer mums and dads!

So..... Stupid went out and brought the pup, it's a female terrior, but the German Shepherd is obviously NOT a happy boy. I'm exhausted from spending all weekend with him, walking him, playing with, treats, attention attention attention! Tonight he was inside as he usually is but upstairs with hubbie while the little girl was down stairs with her mum (Elysia - who is in heaven and haven't seen her this happy in a long time) - Elysia took the little girl into our laundry while I brought the boy downstairs to have a sniff around before taking him back outside, (we have a huge undercover area which is all his with his bed and he sleeps inside at night next to our bed.)

Well he had a good sniff around especially where the new pups bed is, lifted his leg AND PEED ALL OVER MY CURTAINS!!!!!!!!! I was remarkably calm, I didn't scold him, just told him no and put him outside and proceeded to scrub everything clean. I'VE NOW MADE A ROD FOR MYBACK!!!!! What have I done!!!!! I'm on the dog forums reading like crazy about how to introduce a new pup, most people just tell me off, for heavens sake we're not the first family in the world to get a second dog!!!!! Okay - German Sheppard Killer and tiny little princess.

I just had to share this with you all as I know I provide a good laugh to everyone with my pathetic life!!!! And my stupidity!!!!!!

As hubbie and I stood at our window and looked out onto our front lawn, there lay Elysia on the grass with this little lady on her chest, happiest girl in the world..... I said to hubbie, "One very happy girl - one very stressed mother - one very jealous dog - one very stupid husband" - he started it all if you remember by giving into her when she woke up from surgery and saying okay to the request for the dog.

Oh well, I just look at myself in the mirror and shake my head. I hope I can get this worked out so I don't have to spend the next 12 years playing mediator between these two dogs.

Note: - Elysia wouldn't even try to bend before this - 9 weeks post op - guess who's bending and moving about like she never had surgery!!!!!!! Pets as therapy!

Sending out cyber love to everyone
Del
xx

[Susie*Bee]

Del-- well at least Elysia is happy! It could be worse! And seeing her happy makes you and your hubby feel better. You'll get through this ok. I'll be thinking about you as you struggle to get into a routine/system that involves both doggies... I'm sure your german shepherd was just marking his territory with the curtain fiasco--since there's a "threat" he's found from other doggy smells... so maybe a real meeting needs to take place, with both dogs on leashes. Maybe then he'd see she's no real threat! I don't know that much about it though. Hope you get some good advice!

What kind of terrier? My daughter and her husband recently got a Welsh terrier-- he's awfully cute.

[ElleBelleCurvz]

Bahaha....

I'm sorry but that's hilarious. I saw it on the main page and I literally smacked myself in the forhead. As someone who went through getting a new second dog. Let me tell you it's bad. It's still a huge power struggle. We had the same thing, our big boy dog tried to take over (he was always destructive) But guess who is in charge now? The newer dog. As I'm typing this our boy dog is whining because he feels left out like always. It's really hard for the first "born" to get used to a second dog but it takes time. Hold on to your hat, and don't lose it (yet) It'll work out.

[christine2]

Dear Aussiemom

Is the Shep aggressive towards other dogs? I just lost my male after 14 yrs, I have never introduced him to a small pup but have brought other dogs in to the house. The prob with a small pup is a lot of damage can be done fast!! Perhaps you should get the shep a basket muzzle (less confining than cloth muzzles) for introduction purposes. You will have to get him used to it 1st. You can actually cut the front of the muzzle out so you can give him treats with it on and get him used to wearing it. Then when he stops fighting it start your intros.

Take them for a walk together, keep both on leash for control, then gradually increase time together. Make sure there are no "triggers" around like food or favorite toys. My shep ate in a utily room for all of his life to avoid trouble with my other dogs. He was a all german high caliber dog that I needed to be carefull with. Feel free to PM me. I am a trainer.

[spine'[chicka]]

Like someone said previously, at least she is happy. And, puppies are fun to have! (not like I would know, my parents [ehemm, dad] won't let me have one) Maybe you could do a little bit of convincing? Just kidding.

[cherylplinder]

I read that if you give them treats whenever they are together, they begin associating pleasure with the other animal. I did that with our new dog and kitten. The kitten was there first. Every time we got them together in the same room, I gave them treats for a couple of minutes.
I your old dog is jealous, ignore him if he starts acting out against the puppy. I mean cease enjoyable attention by saying "ignore".
That is the extent of my knowledge. I love that show on Pet Planet called It's Me or the Dog. They have a lot of great tips on there, and I wonder if they have a website.

HUgs
Cheryl

[rtremb]

Oh Del. Hope it all works out okay.

I find it is so hard saying no to Esme these days. I feel like she has so much to put up with that denying her things seems unfair. I understand why you caved in and got the new dog.

Dogs are pack animals descended from wolves so logically the two dogs should get along together eventually. I'd introduce them slowly on leash at a distance preferrably each tied to a separate tree or something solid - not held by humans who could get hurt if the dogs get too excited.

If the german shepherd is well trained and obeys verbal commands things should work out okay in the end.

You probably know this already - the peeing on the curtains is just the German Shepherd marking his territory. Have you read the book or seen the movie "Never Cry Wolf" by Canadian Farley Mowat? This shows the wolves marking their territory by peeing in the area around their den. This tells other wolves to stay away this is their territory. Anyway, the male character in the movie pees around his observation camp to keep the wolves out of his area. I guess eventually the new dog will pee on what it considers to be its territory too - just hope it isn't inside your house!!

Good luck. Please keep us posted.
Ruth

[txmarinemom]

I'm with Danielle ...

Sorry, Del ... but ...

Bahaha ... !

On the upside, if it's a good dog, terriers live a long time ... on the downside, if not, terriers live a long time ...

[cameol998]

She deserves a puppy after that surgery. I would have done the same thing. I dont have any advice on introducing a new puppy to the old one. I am doing the same thing myself. I have two golden retrievers and stupid me, fell in love with a bischon/poodle. Had to have it.( I think its an empty nest thing.) The goldens are 5 year old sisters from the same litter. One of them(Tessa) is great with the new puppy, but, the other golden(Taffy) is very angry. I have to keep her away from the puppy. I never expected her to behave like this. We really thought she would be great with a puppy. Shes the playful one. Boy were we wrong!!

Good luck
cindy

[txmarinemom]

She deserves a puppy after that surgery.

What??? ...

Has anyone thought far enough ahead to consider what happens if these older dogs (previously pretty happy with their previous lives, it seems) don't *ever* learn to like - or even tolerate - the newcomers?

It's extremely difficult to introduce a new puppy under the best planning, and unfortunately, most people don't plan - they just assume "Aw, Spot will have a new friend!". (Spot didn't ask for a new friend, so Spot really can't be blamed for weird behavior at the forced "friendship" - which involves lots of sharp puppy teeth - and the previously friendly voiced family yelling at Spot for self-defense and trying to claim his/her territory.)

This is actually a serious topic because sadly, it's most often the cute new dog who gets to stick around when things go south.

Pam

[Aussiemum]

O Oh!!!! Del Strikes again with another controversial topic!!!!

Nobody's going South in this family - so whilst I understand many families who can't hack it (I HOPE I can hack it) I did try and think it through.

We have a large backyard and pergola area for Jaffa. We have a seperate side fenced area of the house with access, soon to be completed, doggie door into the laundry area for puppy, once she's older. They will NEVER be left alone together. For the time being, she's inside and my floors have never been washed more in their lives. Trying to paper train her along with regular trips to the FRONT of the house! So far no luck with paper, lots of misshaps, but some success in taking her out after meals, naps etc.

Jaffa has had two "visits" with her today while on his lead and she on hers and he's improving every day, she is as well, she even tried to lick his face. Today he even laid himself down at her level so he could get a good look. When we go out we leave the backdoor open a little with the security screen door still closed for the two of them to try to "safely" get to sniff and know each other. Lots of praise for the big boy and lots of treats. Everytime he's a good boy around the pup, we then take him away afterwards and play his favourite game, so he'll associate pup with "I get to play stick afterwards".

I'm going very slowly and using every trick on the net to see what works best. He's always been a lovely dog, always wants to be friends with other dogs, but they are always so aggressive towards him, I think he doesn't know how to go about making friends slowly, he just charges right up and says "want to play" and they tell him to "take a hike"

Just thought I'd post this in case anyone was having a heart attack!!!

Cheers
Barking Mad Del

[rtremb]

Del:
Sounds like you are coping splendidly as usual.......
Ruth

[Susie*Bee]

Way to go!

Ditto what Ruth said... and it sounds like you have a very workable plan. It also, unfortunately, sounds like a fair amount of extra work, but will undoubtedly pay off in the long run--

nice doggies + happy girl = content mama

In the meantime, hang in there! You're doing great!

[emma12]

I know what you were going through, my daughter was begging for a bird just before her surgery. I almost caved in, then suddenly, she decided she didn't really want one! Just as I was ready to go buy it for her--whew, I didn't know how it would work with our cat and 2 dogs, so I'm lucky she changed her mind. With everything they go through, you want to do anything for them to make things easier and happier for them.

My suggestion is to try a crate for the new puppy--we had no problem introducing the new puppy to the first dog (but the older dog was only 1 at the time, so still a "pup" herself). The crate may seem cruel to some, but, the puppy really began to "love" it, and it gave him a safe place to retreat to. Also, really helps with housetraining, as they tend to not want to mess in their "bed". And, you can trust that nothing will happen to the new puppy when you are not around. The older dog will be able to sniff around...without being able to "sink his teeth in". They can get used to each other without being able to hurt each other. Gradually, I think they'll become good friends!! (hopefully) Good luck with whatever you work out, puppies certainly add new challenges to the daily routines!

[christine2]

Aussiemom

It sounds as though you are making progress. Just keep plugging along and you will look back at this time and not even remember the work. I remember when we introduced our 10 mos old setter to our G Shep (8yrs) I thought he was going to kill her. It worked out great. They will develop a sibling relationship, you just need to get through the establishment of peaking order.

We picked up our newest pet, a Brittany pup on the way back from a Docs appt in Montreal, August of 2007. That pup is so fun and we completley enjoy her company!! I always have 3 to 4 dogs in my home at once. We love our dogs!!