Other Dog Question ... to protective?

[corie161]

I work for a municipality, close to our Police Department. It's a small town. Yesterday the police brought in a stray dog, which looks to be a golden retriever female. If I had to guess she's about 4-6months old. Instead of the police bringing them to a neighbor cities vet clinic to be held and possibly euthanized if not claimed I offered to take her home. She seemed really sweet.

We currently have a 1 year old English Cocker male who is not "fixed". He's a very happy go lucky kind of dog and wants to play with everyone. Upon first meeting they stiffed each other out and generally got along, except when Toby (our dog) got into him male mode and tried to have relations with her. She got defensive and basically warned him to back off. (Can't say I blame the girl )

Today I let them out together and she (the stray) was really protective of her food/water dish and growled, barked and chased him away whenever he got remotely close to it. I also tossed a ball out and she got it and was very protective of that too.

It has yet to be determined if we will keep her or where she will go if not claimed, but I'm wondering if the protectiveness is something she would get over in time after they learn to play together? I really haven't had a lot of experience in having 2 dogs together to know if this is normal or just a phase since they just met.

Thanks for any input!

Corrine

 

[Pea-n-Me]

It might be best to keep them separated until you sort this out, she could be in heat (which can cause a change in behavior and personality, and could also explain why she was loose). Best of luck.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

I'm not sure about the male/female, fixed/not fixed part of things since all of our animals were fixed, but to me it sounds like she is wanting to be alpha dog. When we brought our second dog into our household she quickly was alpha, which didn't really bother our existing dog. They worked it out within a few days and have been best friends. I felt bad for him at first since she took all of his toys, put them in a pile, and wouldn't let him have any at first, but she loosened up after a few days. She was obviously the boss.

Good luck with your possible new addition. I really like having two dogs.

 

[FairlyOddFairy]

Make sure to give the spaniel things first( food, treats, and Praise) and more attenttion to show the new dog who is the alpha! Good luck!

 

[corie161]

It might be best to keep them separated until you sort this out, she could be in heat (which can cause a change in behavior and personality, and could also explain why she was loose). Best of luck.

Oh, I most definately wouldn't allow them to be together with out a watchful eye. How long is the heat cycle?

 

[Anewman]

I would let them work things out, when your 1 year old gets thirsty he will have to show aggresion and drink out of the bowl. IMO he has to show her who the alpha is. And I also feel that she is trying to play with the male, she is daring him to try and take the toys away. Kinda like when little kids say to each other, "you cant catch me."

The play may need to get a little rough but the whole ALPHA/partner thing should work itself out.

 

[hiwaygal]

I agree that most of it is probably them working out the pack order for themselves (which you should not try to do for them). The only thing you should do is make sure YOU are the alpha over both of them.

Your resident male was probably trying to show dominance ("humping" is one way that do that). Especially if, all of a sudden, there was a new dog on his turf.

Some folks with more than one dog must feed them separately, and that may be the only problem you have with these two.

The heat cycle (if I remember correctly) is about 2 weeks.

I would just keep an eye on things...they may become the best of friends in a few weeks!

 

[MOMTOMOOTOO]

It might be best to keep them separated until you sort this out, she could be in heat (which can cause a change in behavior and personality, and could also explain why she was loose). Best of luck.

I don't think at such a young age the pup can be in heat

 

[corie161]

I don't think at such a young age the pup can be in heat

I wondered that also. I'm only guessing at her age and could be entirely wrong. If I get a chance I'll post a picture tonight.

 

[hiwaygal]

I don't think at such a young age the pup can be in heat

Six months is not unheard of, in fact, that's about the age I've always heard, but it can come as late as 8 or even 12 months.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I don't think at such a young age the pup can be in heat

My dog went into heat before 6 months, she was just about to be spayed but we had to wait. Her personality was different during that time.

Regardless of whether she's in heat, I still think you should keep the dogs separate and be very careful of these "high value" items like toys and food dishes when they're both around, you don't want a fight.

Not sure where she came from, but the dog is probably not at her best right now, surely scared and homesick. Proceed with caution.

 

[doxdogy]

Not knowing her background, she may not be use to having another dog around her dish. We got a dachshund (Clara Beau) from a lady that basically would throw the food bowls down and let her the dogs eat. Unfortunately Clara did not like to "share" food or treats. Luckily our dogs are fed in a crate so we had no food fights.