Advice needed for dog behavior!

[beanjelly]

So, can any of you dog behaviorists out there help me out?

We have two dogs; Cooper, an 8 lb Miniature Pinscher and Yewkey, a 65 lb shepherd-chow-husky mix (at least that's our best bet ).

Cooper and Yewkey coexist pretty peacefully. Cooper is a typical Min Pin and rules the house. He bosses Yewkey around, and Yewkey is very submissive--so there's never been a real issue.

As of Saturday, we've taken in a friend's dog, Jezebel, who is a 50 lb shepherd mix as our friend recuperates from a horrible car accident she had back in November. Jezebel is not quite as well behaved as our dogs--she jumps on people, can't be taken off leash, doesn't always listen, isn't quite as well "mannered" etc...but she's a sweet girl! Those are things we can definitely work with her on.

My biggest concern is her and Cooper. Cooper and Jezebel are NOT getting along. He tries to dominate, then she snaps back, then we've got a scuffle on our hands. Currently, we've stopped feeding Cooper in the same spot all the time, as he can be food dominant. He also constantly tries to "protect" his dog bed and where the toys are kept. Of course, Cooper is also a typical neurotic 8-yr-old Min Pin, which means he's extra vocal and nervous right now.

We've been keeping them separated unless one of us is home. So that means that Yewkey and Jezebel stay on the front porch until we come home for lunch; then we bring the big dogs inside and Cooper gets locked in the bedroom until the end of the workday.

I guess my question is--how do we work on getting Cooper and Jezebel to get along? We've got Jezebel for an undetermined amount of time--it could be anywhere from months to a year or more. I'm really hoping we can get them to coexist peacefully as I know that if I was in the position our friend is in, someone would be able to take our dogs until I was healthy enough to care for them again.

Any suggestions????

 

[Pyronymph]

I copied this from pupslife.com:

Steps For Introducing New Dogs To Current Family Dogs

1) Don’t force your “home team” dog to protect their home turf. If the dogs meet in a neutral location, they are less likely to view the other as an intruder. Start in a neutral zone such as a neighbor’s fenced in yard or enclosed park that your resident dog has not visited. Each dog should be on a leash and handled by a separate person.

2) Positive reinforcement works. You want your dogs to have positive experiences with each other right from the start. Let your dogs sniff each other and greet each other normally. Give them positive reinforcement through calm verbal affirmations. After letting them play for a while, put both dogs in a “sit” or “stay”, then let them interact again. Finally, take them on walks together, allowing them to sniff each other along the way.

3) Play close attention the both dog’s body posture. Watch out for body postures that show a defensive response. Defensive body postures include hair standing up the back, teeth-baring, deep growls, a stiff legged gait or a prolonged stare. If a dog goes into these postures, immediately switch into positive reinforcement mode and get your dog to follow your teachings. Let your dogs interact again, shorten the distance between the two.

4) Once your dogs seem to be tolerating each other, it’s time to bring them home. Whether they ride in the same car or not is really a judgment call on how well you think they are getting along and the size of your car or SUV. We have found that allowing the new dog to enter the home first can reduce the chance of your family dog feeling that they need to “protect their turf”.

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I would also stop moving Cooper's dish around... you want his life to be as stable as possible right now, since there's already a big change in having another dog around. I would also not lock him in a bedroom, as this can make dogs more nervous and act out more. Maybe crating him or getting a baby gate to separate them while you're gone would work, but completely shutting him off from the rest of the world is likely to only make him more anxious.

Basically, you need to let them work it out. Obviously keep an eye on them so no one gets injured, and let Cooper (and Jezebel) know that he's still the alpha dog -- he gets everything first, including your attention. She should come last behind your dogs, since she is the newest addition to the pack.

 

[beanjelly]

So it would be less stressful for him to be in a crate where he can see the other two dogs than being in the bedroom? He was originally crate trained as a puppy, but we have not used the crate in years. He's also got a bed in the bedroom that he uses every night.

I just don't want anyone to get hurt!