New Rotty

[Rot-Fan1]

Hi:

New to the forum here and have a question regarding bringing in a second rotty to my home. Kassy is a four year old female rotty that we have had for quite a bit and recently an opportunity to adopt a two year old male rotty has come my way. I am concerned though that integrating this second dog may cause problems with Kassy as well as in between the two dogs. Kassy is an absolute dream dog around people and although well behaved she is quite excitable qnd can definetely be an attention seeker. In the past she has sometimes shown some aggression to other dogs but it mostly seemed like she was just trying to assert dominance. Both dogs are spayed/neutered so there will be no problem there. Does anyone have any tips/experiences that they could share to make this integratrion as smooth as possible. I would hate for my current dog to feel like she is being replaced and I would hate for the new dog to not be comfortable in my house. Basically I would want to know what to expect and what to do if they do become aggressive and how to get them to get used to each other and become friends.

Thanks for any help you guys can offer.

[Judi W]

I am going to suggest that first you must determine whether your bitch is hostile, overly bossy, or aggressive towards other dogs. If she does not have doggy manners towards other dogs I don't think you should consider bring another dog into the household. Next you need to determine the same thing about any dog you are considering adding to the home. Two dogs neither of which know how to get along with others of their species are certainly not going to make for a happy home for any of you.

Males and females normally get along quite nicely without any special needs. That assumes however that they have been properly socialized with other dogs and understand the language. After you decide about your own dog's ability to get along, then you should go observe the dog you are considering around other dogs. No sense in even having the two meet if either is dog aggressive.

Passing that hurdle, simply arrange to take Kassy over to meet the new dog and see how they do. You can have each dragging a leash in case you need to pull them back from each other, but to restrain them by leashes is not a good way to make introductions. Let them fuss around each other for a while without interference.

If your girl is spoiled you will need to get to work on that or you will likely find her attacking the new dog when he comes to you or even breaths in what she considers her space.

[Rott-Wiley]

First of all they may never become friends. I would try to introduce the two dogs to each other at some netural place to see if they get along with each other and take it from there. It really is hard to second guess how they will feel about each other. Would it be possible for them to have a trial meeting before you have to commit to adopting the new dog?