2 Boxer madness.

[cmslone]

What a long day this has been. We are fostering to adopt a 1.5-2.0 year old male named Camden. We got him yesterday about 4:00 and he has been the sweetest thing. Needs work on housetraining, but doing well so far. My problem is with my 14 month old Cooper. Cooper WILL NOT stop pestering Camden. Although Cam does his share of instigating, it was to the point last night that we had to hold Cooper down to go to sleep. Cam was dead tired, as was Cooper, but Cooper would go over and try to hump Camden(Cooper is neutered). Poor Cam was wondering what in the world is going on. Also, I'm sure it's a dominance thing, but Cooper will walk beside Cam with his head directly over Camden's neck, forcing him to go wherever. Poor Cam just wants to chill in his new home!

I know they'll settle down soon enough, but I just want both of them to feel comfortale quickly.

 

[lafsalot]

Hang in there - I went through the same thing with each new addition ~ Cathy

 

[boxerchick12]

I go through the same thing every time I get a new foster. I swear that Roxy and Ruckus always give me more trouble than the "newbie". They will calm down soon, HOPEFULLY! It usually takes my guys right at a week to get used to each other.

 

[digiboxers]

i think it will get better as someone already stated. if they arent snapping at each other they will be ok. are they both males?

when my husband and i fostered once, the female dog did NOT like rocky at all. she had just had a litter of puppies and did not want to play be sniffed or anything. it was a tough two weeks.

kk

 

[cmslone]

Thanks for the replies!

Yes, they are both males. As of now, they have REALLY calmed down and are actually sleeping. Camden layed down and Cooper layed with this paw touching Camden's. Maybe that means truce. They can actually go into other rooms without eachother right now. Not too bad for 24 hours turnaround. Now, let's see what happens at bed time.....

 

[cmslone]

Well, they are still going at it every waking moment. They slept well last night together, in their own beds. The problem is that Cooper STILL will not quit pestering Camden. Cam tries to lay down and Cooper keeps going for the ears. Camden will growl a bit, but nothing serious. They are both so tired that they stand there with their eyes closed until the other one moves.

I really hope this settles a bit because we are fostering to adopt right now and need to make achoice on wether this will work or not. We would like them to co-exist because Camden it a really sweet dog. Of course the wife hates it because she thinks that they hate each other.

 

[boxerchick12]

Good luck with your decision. Nothing like making a choice under pressure, huh? I always fall in love with my fosters and cry like a baby when I lose them. Actually, I cry until I get another one!

 

[dmartin]

It sure sounds like camden and cooper are playing and playing hard. Cheetah was over a year old when we got guinness....and unless they are asleep..Guinness wants to play with cheetah..ALL THE TIME. When she gets completely worn out and has had enough..she slides under the coffee table
and growls at guinness. Which of course, does not phase him a bit. I think its perfectly normal. And Cheetah still stands over Guinness to show she's alpha..and he still humps her even though he's fixed.....Crazy kids!

 

[ladyluck_t]

Not sure if this is possible, but what I do when my girl and/or foster baby is annoying the other dog/dogs is everyone goes to a time out! I do this mainly as a settling thing, everyone goes to their crates with a chew toy or treat and we all sit quietly for 10-15 mins, I make sure when I do this timeout that even myself and my son do the same thing. (i.e. no-one is running around the house) I use it when the dogs seem to get wound up in playing. It is a very short hop from rough-housing to fight. In my house, we are not allowed to get aroused to the point of a fight. I always do a 10-15 min timeout. I just say "time-out" in a calm but firm voice (not angry) and put everyone in their crate (with a smile or pleasant expression) and then i sit down with a book.
Mind you, this is NOT a punishment, it is a way for me to control the arousal level of the dogs in my home. Certainly makes for less fights or tiffs around foster dogs.

 

[AndyandSonny]

When I first got Sonny, Andy didn't want to leave him alone - they want to establish their order amongst each other.

A good thing to do, if you're getting Camden used to a crate, is to crate him in the center of activity of the house and let Cooper sniff and look at him. When Cooper starts to torment him, let him outside or have him take a break. This not only gets Camden used to the house routine, but Cooper comes to accept that Camden is a part of the pack.

When you let them play, let them play outside - and tell your wife, Boxers are the noisiest, growliest, loudest and most boisterous players out there. Anyone walking in on my two (neutered) boys would assume it's all out dog wars going on here the way they growl, bark and wrestle but it's all in good fun. A way to tell is to look at their teeth when they're playing. If the upper lip is bared and the ears and tail are held high (or wagging) - that's aggression. If the upper lip is down - that's playing. Let them growl and wrestle it out somewhere safe and bear in mind my boys are STILL playing that way after a month, although they're a lot better now. (I think it's the age of the dogs in my case as Andy is 1 and Sonny is 6 months).

After a few weeks they will have periods of cuddles and rest together then periods of play.

Just sort of ease Camden into the group and let Cooper check him out real good before letting them to their own devices again - that way it'll be easier on them.