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Hey, everyone. I know I should probably be posting on a dog forum, but people are nicer here.
Basically, the situation is I have a 4-5 year old, 15lb, female Chihuahua x Pom named Stella. She's what I call people-confident. She loves everyone, always happy to see people. But she wasn't properly socialized as a puppy and was/is afraid of bigger dogs. However, she's gotten a lot better and even got playful with a dog that was a little bit bigger than her the other day.
My dad has a five month old lab mix who needs to be socialized to other dogs. I go to my dad's every other weekend to visit and, after a lot of thought, ended up bringing Stella with me. The puppy needs socializing, Stella needs socializing, and it's a good chance to work with Stella in places outside of home and the neighborhood. We can work in a less familiar neighborhood and my dad likes to do thing and go places, so that way I can start bringing Stella to new places.
I didn't make this decision lightly and I didn't go in without plans though. Stella's been here before, so it isn't totally unfamiliar territory, but it's been a while and Max(puppy) has been here for a few months now. Stella can get aggressive in familiar territory, so it seemed like a good mix of familiar, but not too familiar. And, if it came down to it, they could be separated. The house has two floors and a basement and a good backyard though it is snowing. Fortunately, both dogs seem to enjoy the snow at least to an extent.
Today was their first day together and, honestly, it went better than I expected. Maybe not as well as I had hoped, but better than expected. We started by letting Max out back and Stella in to sniff around. Then let them see each other through the glass door and then cracked the door open. Eventually Max was put on collar and leash and let inside. Since then he's been off leash, but always wearing a harness so we can grab him. My dad, sister, and I all kept a close eye on them and did our best to keep Max from harassing Stella. Stella, all things considered, has done well. She doesn't like him in her space and has snapped and growled at him, but hasn't hurt him. Her hackles have never gone up which is usually the first sign of her feeling insecure and defensive.
However, she did start resource guarding some of his chews. My dad doesn't have a problem with her chewing on them (and is rather impressed by the damage caused in less than a day), but at this point I think that might be the biggest problem. I'm going to pick those toys up tomorrow so she can't guard them.
What I'm not sure about is how to manage Max wanting to be in her space. He really just wants to play and be close to her, but she isn't having any of it. It's actually sort of cute though because he'll sometimes settle down to chew on a toy a couple of feet from her, like he just wants to be near her. But I just need advice on how to handle them and what to do get Max to ignore her. If anyone has any advice then I'd be happy to hear it. And if I remember I'll post pictures of them tomorrow.
Basically, the situation is I have a 4-5 year old, 15lb, female Chihuahua x Pom named Stella. She's what I call people-confident. She loves everyone, always happy to see people. But she wasn't properly socialized as a puppy and was/is afraid of bigger dogs. However, she's gotten a lot better and even got playful with a dog that was a little bit bigger than her the other day.
My dad has a five month old lab mix who needs to be socialized to other dogs. I go to my dad's every other weekend to visit and, after a lot of thought, ended up bringing Stella with me. The puppy needs socializing, Stella needs socializing, and it's a good chance to work with Stella in places outside of home and the neighborhood. We can work in a less familiar neighborhood and my dad likes to do thing and go places, so that way I can start bringing Stella to new places.
I didn't make this decision lightly and I didn't go in without plans though. Stella's been here before, so it isn't totally unfamiliar territory, but it's been a while and Max(puppy) has been here for a few months now. Stella can get aggressive in familiar territory, so it seemed like a good mix of familiar, but not too familiar. And, if it came down to it, they could be separated. The house has two floors and a basement and a good backyard though it is snowing. Fortunately, both dogs seem to enjoy the snow at least to an extent.
Today was their first day together and, honestly, it went better than I expected. Maybe not as well as I had hoped, but better than expected. We started by letting Max out back and Stella in to sniff around. Then let them see each other through the glass door and then cracked the door open. Eventually Max was put on collar and leash and let inside. Since then he's been off leash, but always wearing a harness so we can grab him. My dad, sister, and I all kept a close eye on them and did our best to keep Max from harassing Stella. Stella, all things considered, has done well. She doesn't like him in her space and has snapped and growled at him, but hasn't hurt him. Her hackles have never gone up which is usually the first sign of her feeling insecure and defensive.
However, she did start resource guarding some of his chews. My dad doesn't have a problem with her chewing on them (and is rather impressed by the damage caused in less than a day), but at this point I think that might be the biggest problem. I'm going to pick those toys up tomorrow so she can't guard them.
What I'm not sure about is how to manage Max wanting to be in her space. He really just wants to play and be close to her, but she isn't having any of it. It's actually sort of cute though because he'll sometimes settle down to chew on a toy a couple of feet from her, like he just wants to be near her. But I just need advice on how to handle them and what to do get Max to ignore her. If anyone has any advice then I'd be happy to hear it. And if I remember I'll post pictures of them tomorrow.