Husky Puppy Adjusting to New Home

[DEBRA WAGNER]

Hi, I just recently started the brain training program and reading up on all of the great information on this site, but I figured I'd post about my particular situation in hopes of any tips given that it's a bit pressing.

Dave is a 9 month old Husky/Malamute mix, and due to a job/circumstance change we had to relocate to a new environment with family and other dogs, probably just when he was really getting acclimated to our other home. We've been here for about a month and a half now, tried class training and now we're working through the brain training.

We have 2 older dogs here, a older female catahoula mix rescue that he loves and plays with constantly, and an older, bit immature male bulldog which usually erupts in aggression. I was hoping for advice with both situations, or just in general so I'll describe how he is with both of them. Given, Dave is young I know and we are getting him neutered late next month hoping that will help calm things down as well. It's just a majorly stressful situation, not being able to even have them in the same room anymore most of the time.

Female Rescue: They get along very well when calm, she acted as a sort of a motherly figure immediately to Dave, which is great. The problem is, Dave wants to play constantly with her and a lot of the time they'll run around and be cool, but even when she's resting or laying in a chair he's CONSTANTLY jumping up to her, squirming around and under her, biting her legs to take her down and pin her as playing I'd assume, but she's also had cancer and surgeries in her legs as well given that she's older. She just can't get a break from him unless he's absolutely exhausted. She gets more and more irritated as time goes on, growling louder until we stop it but she hasn't become actually "aggressive" in response yet.

Male Bulldog: This situation is much worse. When they first met, Roy (bulldog) sniffed around him, Dave rolled over and let him do whatever he wanted, submitting. It took about 10 seconds of looking and sniffing until Roy got to his underside, froze up for a second then just started lunging at him. He doesn't have a history of being aggressive, just whining and headbutting really. Roy would lunge while we tried to get him under control, but at that point Dave had a bad view of him I think. Since then, we've had times where we could all be in the room with all the dogs and everything would be okay until at some point Roy would just start hunting for Dave, trying to irritate him until they would fight each other, ignoring his owner's calls sometimes too. Now, I have to crate Dave and stay by his side just so Roy can travel through the house to go outside and Dave absolutely HOWLS the second he sees him. So far, we've tried walking them around together outside, keeping them calm together in the same room, giving them treats together, giving Dave treats every time he sees Roy as a stimulus, but we just can't get them to be friendly to each other. If we could just get them to coexist, we would feel like we'd have so much more breathing room to really give the rest of Dave's training the time and attention it deserves, not to mention saving us all some sleep.

I really look forward to any input you might have on our situation. Thanks in advance.

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Hi there, welcome to the forums,

It's always a tough situation when we introduce a dog to another household that has already established resident dogs, especially when the new addition is a younger dog who is full of energy while the others are older. It's stressful for all parties involved, especially the resident dogs who see all their routines going topsy turvy with a recent addition who may be perceived as a threat to their established sense of security. 

Here are some general guidelines on how to get puppies/young dogs to acclimate with older dogs. In your case though, since there are already some negative emotions at play, it would be important establishing boundaries and safe zones so that Dave won't be pestering the older female dog (who clearly doesn't wish to engage in boisterous play), and the older male dog can't go around "bullying" your puppy who seems to be suffering emotionally from his "attacks." 

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/how-to-introduce-a-puppy-to-an-older-dog/

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/introduce-dog-new-dog/

Establishing boundaries is the best management option so as to prevent the dogs from rehearsing problematic behaviors while keeping all dogs safe, while the ultimate goal would be training all the involved dogs to become more responsive towards cues while keeping on working on creative positive associations.

Training should always start at an individual basis first in an area free of distractions (no other dog nearby), then once trained well, you can add the distraction of each other, but maintain distance so all dogs are under threshold. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/ 

Here is a guide on training multiple dogs, but extra safety precautions may be needed in households with dogs who are prone to fighting. 

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/guide-for-training-multiple-dogs/

For example, Dave can be kept in an exercise pen or behind a baby gate and can be trained to search for dropped treats as Roy walks by at a distance which is a win-win because this will keep his mouth busy (so no howling) while also creating positive associations with Roy walking by, whereas Roy can be trained a solid response to a "leave it" cue whenever he shows any intent to want to start instigating "fights" with Dave. 

Until all dogs aren't responsive at fluent level, management is key to prevent things from escalating (you don't want the female dog to feel pressured enough to have to react more strongly to make her point across, and you don't want Dave to feel the need to have to constantly defend himself from Roy. 

The safety of all dogs and every dog's emotional wellbeing should always remain top priority. It's important to work on training now, because as Dave reaches social maturity, things can get more complicated.

Once the dogs are more responsive to trained cues, it may also help to have them on leash (one dog per handler, keeping distance from each other) and ask them to perform behaviors in presence of each other as part of a proofing exercise, but also a bonding experience (since they get treats for performing desirable behaviors when around each other). 

I hope this helps, let me know if you have any questions!

Happy training!

Disclaimer: behavior modification comes with risks. If your puppy or dog shows signs of potential aggression (lunging, barking, growling, snapping, biting) for safety, please consult with a dog behavior professional who uses force-free behavior modification techniques (no shock, prongs, or physical corrections) for direct in-person guidance. Articles, videos and general info found in the forums or course (or any online source) are not meant to replace in-person training/instruction. By using this course and forum, you are waiving any liability claims or other type of claims related to any dogs' behavior against you or others.