Anyone with more than one dog?

I have four, all mixed breeds. And they all came at different times. Three of them are rescues. It's normal for there to be tension when introducing a new dog to the "pack" but it shouldn't be taken lightly. Dogs are pack animals, whether in the wild or domesticated. There will always be one head of the pack, or dominant dog, and the rest will be followers. There may occasionally be challengers to the head of the pack, like when a new dog joins, but they will work that out and there will always be ONLY one leader. In your case, having dogs as pets, you want them to know that YOU are the leader of the pack....the dominant one. When you establish yourself as the head of the pack they willingly follow your lead. The best advice I can give you is to watch THE DOG WHISPERER with Cesar Milan if you can get that where you live. He knows exactly how and why dogs behave and how to get them to behave properly. In fact, the information I have just given you is primarily what he explains on his shows. As Cesar often explains it you must train your dogs in a calm-assertive manner. Be assertive with your dogs but be calm and always let them know you are boss.

I bought my male dog, Secret, in November 2004. Then I bought my female dog, Magic, in March 2006. They are both miniature poodles. At first they sat far apart looking at one and another. Then they began sniffing and next they started playing together. Soon they became the best of friends. I suggest you give your original dog lots of love and attention. It can take some dogs longer than others to get used to having a new dog in their house. In time I am sure your two dogs will get on really well. You seem to be doing the right sort of thing. You are giving your dogs lots of love and patience. Well done.

Ok, first of all your 2 year old has been the only dog and now you are bringing in competition. In dogs they look at life as living in packs and the relationship between you and your dogs should be that you are the alpha, the one in charge, the leader of the pack. In some cases the newer dog can become the alpha, it is something they have to work out for themselves. But as the main alpha, you need to make sure it does not become too violent..I have two one year old puppies, but they are sisters and have been together since birth. Penny and Ciara also have had a few fights, and yet they also play and they play rough. One thing to look for the difference between playing and fighting are the tails, if one or the other is straight, that is serious. But if both are wagging their tails, even if there is a little growling, they are playing. If they do start to fight, never use your body to stop them, get a spray bottle of water or even a chair to break them up because when dogs fight, they don't see you and you may get bit. Also, if you have had any experience with children, whether brother and sisters or a friends, or your own, you know they fight. Jealousy is a big problem I have with my girls. I will start petting one and the other will literally push them away with their bodies. This is another time you need to assert your authority and pin the aggressive one down and tell them "no and stay" Then after you are done giving attention to the one, then you go to the other, praising them for obeying and give them attention. Let me put it this way, I am sure others also have great tips and I will keep an eye on this post because of that. But once your dog bond, it is the most wonderful experience you will have. Watching them play and their antics as they have fun. It is real entertainment for you and them..

Hi We have 3 dogs too and they all joined us at different times with no knowledge of each other previously. It does take a while for them to learn to get along sometimes - they have to work out who is the head of the pack and what is acceptable behaviour for the new member lol. When you say that your 2 yr old has tried to bite the puppy a few times, was she just giving her a warning nip to show that she had over stepped the boundaries? If so that's normal and shouldn't cause too much concern. She would have just been showing the little one that she needed to calm down and show a bit more respect.. We have two pointers and a Jack Russell cross, the JR being the baby and she still gets the occasional growl or pretend nip (3 years on) from our oldest pointer now and again when she is being too bouncy and energetic, whereas majority of the time they are happy to snuggle together and play..

It will take a long time in order that your dogs can be closer. You should take them communication together in the same house.

I have 5 dogs pet dogs in our house. My oldest dog is more than 4 years old. He is quite wild and he kills every cat or a puppy that he can reach from the corner where he is tied. When I got my second puppy, the older dog seemed to be angry at him. So I separated them. I let the puppy stay in the kitchen. When he grew, he won't be attacked by my older dog anymore because he is much taller than him now. The same thing happened to my other dogs. I currently have a new puppy which again, I'm keeping in then kitchen. Older dogs need to be trained to get used of having another friend. It is not that much difficult at all. Maybe you could do the same thing as I did.

i never experience this before because i never have more than one dog... and i also don't own the dog for a long time... only for about 2 years and a bit... so i'm not really experienced in this matter and i don't know how to help you... may be separating them for the time being will help until they grow to know each other and eventually will like each other as the time passes by... good luck... take care and have a nice day...

Oh it can not work out if your dog is used to all the attention. My dalmatian is one spoiled dog, and he is extra friendly. But when we rescued this 4 month girl(she was afraid, cold and very very afraid, she hide right under our window under bash, somebody had been cruel to here and tossed her our), at first she was so afraid that we will hit her or toss her out - she used to expose her belly and madly move her tail even when we rosed our voice. Then she understood that we are good and never will hurt her and she became more arrogant, started demand our attention, the other dogs toys and his place to sleep. While she was so submissive - our dog mostly ignored her unless when he saw us to feed her, but now - he started to fight with her. It was funny because he never ever hurts a girl dog, never bites them and usually lets them walk all over him. He was trying to drive her from our home without hurting her and she was getting more arrogant by the day. It was great to see her so brave and in good spirit after the state we rescued her but it was getting impossible to keep both of them in home. Finally we started to search new owners, it wasn't hard - she was golden Labrador. She was so picky... let me tell, you, he refused three owners until finally found her owner. And she chose well- they have big yard, she slips with her new owner - a 20 year girl who loves her to bits. I hope your dog and the new one will get together, but if that is not the case, girls can be feisty, try not to be upset. Just fin her a very good new owner. Have a good luck and all the good to you:)

For me the god in my house nothing at all because only i have is cat.

for me i think it's normal. we have 3 dogs and at first, they doesn't like each other and they always fight. but weeks pass by, they get used with each other and play like little puppies.