Introducing a second dog into the home...please help
Does anyone have any advice on how to introduce a second dog into a family with an existing Corgi? We recently brought a tiny (4 lb) 4 month old Maltese puppy, Nemo, into our home. Despite his tiny size, he is fearless and not afraid of the Corgi, Winnie, and even tries to tease/tempt him. We've been keeping both dogs in their own separate play pens. To allow interaction between the 2 dogs, one person holds the Maltese securely (so that he can be whisked up and away to safety, if necessary) and allowing the 2 dogs to sniff each other out. They sniff each other's noses out, and Nemo keeps licking at Winnie's mouth. If I even attempt to put Nemo at a lower height or onto the floor, Winnie will hover above him, try to hump him, or roughly wrestle her large arms around him. Winnie is a very dominant and alpha dog, so I know that she is trying to assert her dominance. But Nemo is no meek little lap dog - at least in spirit. He is energetic and bold, and doesn't know his tiny size. I am afraid Winnie may inadvertently hurt him since Corgis are so much bigger, bigger boned, and rougher.
Of note, we've been careful to try to avoid unnecessary jealousy and have paid the same amount of attention to Winnie as we have when we didn't have a second dog. We do everything for her first (feed her, take her out, play with her, etc) before we do the same with Nemo.
Does anyone have any advice on how to deal with this situation? I know it will take time for Winnie to get used to having a second dog in the home, but I want to ensure I'm taking the right measures in a stepwise manner...I can't hold onto the Maltese in my arms forever!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Bev Levy on
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Keep a leash on Winnie so you can get her to back off when she gets too rough. It is normal for a puppy to lick at an adult dog's mouth as the mom with chew food and regurgitate it for her pups. However, Nemo isn't too young to learn to back off when you tell him to also. If your older dog doesn't growl a warning when the puppy is too pushy you should intervene.
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Permalink Reply by Anna Morelli on
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Agree with Bev. Keep a long leash on Winnie and teach her the command "easy" if she is not gentle, while giving a tug at the leash. The more you keep them separated, the longer the adjustment will take. Separate when you are not home, not able to be in the same room to supervise, or when the pup needs quiet time and when you feed. The licking you describe is a sign of submission by the pup, which is as it should be, at least for now. Make sure the pup does not pester Winnie. Normally, it shouldn't take more than a couple of weeks to work it out. The newness of the situation just has to wear off. However, after reading your second separate post about Winnie, it seems there are other issues you need to work out. It is not a good idea to add a second dog to the home until the first dog is considered "delightful". If you want this to work, your best bet is to stop thinking of Winnie as "your husband's dog" and maybe enroll her in an obedience training class where you learn how to elicit her cooperation and she learns to respect you. Best wishes.
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Permalink Reply by Jane on
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I'd recommend obedience classes and lots of exercise for Winnie. I'd also google NILF (nothing in life is free) and implement that immediately. Keep her on a leash as others have said. You could also try putting up a baby gate and allowing them to interact through the gate.
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Permalink Reply by Beth on
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Agreed with what everyone else says. I also wanted to add that Winnie is still very young and will want to play with the puppy. When Jack was about a year old, he played nicely with my aunt's tiny little under-sized Jack Russel who was about 5 months old at the time. After two attempts at wrestling left the puppy flattened, they learned that chase was a better game. Frequently (but not always) if you let different-sized puppies have a chance, they will figure out the rules themselves. The puppy will yip and the older or bigger dog will back off. Or the older dog will air-snap at the puppy if it's too much.
Unless someone is not responding to the other dog's signals (not backing off for a yip or a growl), I would give them half a chance to work things out on their own.
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