Integrating new dog into household

Hi there!

We've just acquired a new dog - a timid, neutered 1 year old Fox/Jack Russell terrier we call Neo (after a character in the movie 'Matrix.') We also have a gregarious 2 year old unspayed, (well behaved) ****z/Poodle cross named Misty... Not sure we really have issues as of yet, but since I am very new at this and never owned more than 1 dog at a time, I would welcome suggestions.

I can tell for certain that our shi-poo is the alpha dog, as she has shown in the past with other dogs. She had lived the first year of her life with a German Shepherd, and has no fear whatsoever of larger dogs.

At this early stage, they are positioning themselves several feet away from each other, both of them laying down facing each other. Misty gets up every now & again & walks over to Neo, wagging her tail & whining some. She has already sniffed his butt :o !! Neo seems to wait until Misty walks by & will then lift his head & sniff as she walks by... if she gets too close though & she does this periodically (she seems to want to play) he will bare his teeth & growl a bit. She leaves then, only to return again soon after. They both sometimes will sit, one on either side of me while I am on the computer, so they are seeming somewhat comfortable in close proximity to one another.

So far, we have given them separate feeding & sleeping areas and we are working with him on his dominance with the sofa - it seems he was allowed on the sofa with his previous owners. I've also found him in bed with us, which is also not allowed. Will work on that too, by gently (but firmly) placing him back in his own bed next to me. Misty sleeps in her bed on my husband's side of the bed.

Neo seems uncomfortable with a collar, but at this stage, it is necessary until he learns the appropriate boundaries of our property, which is quite large. We have alot of wildlife here and he has already had a roll in some goose poop. Misty is allowed the run of the property, up to a point where the geese are, and no further, as she has had a few rolls in their waste as well - not a pleasant experience having to clean green spots off white dogs :eek: !

I am not really anticipating too many problems, but I welcome feedback, suggestions or encouragement.

Thanks,

Dean

Why is Misty not spayed at the age of 2?

Intact animals seem to cause anxiety with spayed/neutered animals and it would be better to get Misty spayed.

The only advice I have is when they are outside together either be with them or pen them because 2 dogs no matter what size will run. :o It sounds like they are doing okay and they will establish dominance with each other. Unless it gets vicious stay out of it, at least that always worked for us :rolleyes: . Definitely keep eating areas seperate less hassles. Also what L.R. said it might make it easier.
BTW welcome! :)

My experience in this area was adding a puppy to the household with a 6 yr old dog.

My advice is supervise the interactions between your 2 dogs, but let them figure out their positions on their own, and interfere only if it is getting out of hand or unacceptable behaviour for inside the house. We found that with toys sometimes the older dog (who happened to have very little interest in these toys previously) would sit right with a toy and might growl when the puppy approached. when he left the puppy would move right in after for the toy. It was really neat to watch them figure it all out. I have read that to interfere in little fights over things will actually just prolong the process of them finding their positions in the pack because they need to do this. In a while they will settle in to their positions and calm down a bit.

Another tip we got was to treat our older dog as the alpha by greeting him first when entering the house before the puppy and feeding him first etc.

Also try and spend time separately with them as well as together.