Older Boxer not getting along with New 1 yo Boxer

[harg311]

Hello all,
Well i just posted my first question to the training forum and thought i would post another quick question in here.
We just adopted a boxer from the Southern Arizona Boxer Rescue. He is a lovley 1 yo fawn male. We already have a 3 yo brindle female.
The problem is that since we got him, our 3 yo does not seem to want anything to do with the new guy on the block. She totally snubs him everytime he wants to play. He will lick her face and she just walks away looking very unhappy. She growls at him when ever he wants to play. She doesnt even like being next to him it seems. She seems very unhappy whenever he is around.
Is this normal? Is she just jealous? We got him becuase we thought she was lonley during the days when we are at work all day. He is a good pup and dont want to give him up but if our little Daisy is completly unhappy...well we dont know what do do.
Do you think she will open up to him as time goes on. We were told that since she is older and a female she would be dominate but she actually seems very passive when it comes to him. She lets him sleep in her bed, eat her food and play withj her toys, seems more indifferent really.
Are we just over reating or should we be worried?
Thanks
Steve

 

[Jan]

I would give them more time. They will probably soon become best buddies. Make sure that you give her lots of one on one time and take her walks by herself.

 

[sandy's mom]

I am having almost the same problem.
My Sandy is 3. We have just adopted 6 month old Nepoleon. He also outweighs her by almost 10 pounds.
She is very loving and laid back. He is high energy but very sweet.
They started growling and chewing on each other from the beginning.

Nepoleon growls loudly when he plays, Sandy usually doesn't growl at all.
So this is new to us. He will not leave her alone for 5 minutes during the day. She will play for a few minutes but then wants to stop. Of course, he doesn't. She grabs his ear or jaw and makes him yelp, but he comes right back and continues. I really have a hard time standing by and watching this but I have been told by my vet and other pet owners to let her dicipline him. This will show him she is the "Queen". I have also been told to feed her first, pet her first, treat her first, etc. This should all end in a few weeks.
I hope this is true.

Good Luck!

 

[VTbxrFan]

Give it more time. My boy has been that way with some of my previous fosters - he has no interest in them for a few days and then all of sudden he warms up and then it's non-stop play!

 

[rog1006]

FYI--not a good idea to let the dogs "correct" each other's behavior. This can lead to some serious issues down the road. YOU are the ALPHA and only the alpha should correct behavior. If the new baby is bugging the older dog and you can tell that the older dog has had enough, then give the new dog (and give the older dog one in a different room) something to keep him occupied, like a kong or a chew toy. If he still won't leave her alone, then leash the new boy in the house and keep him next to you THEN give him a toy or chew. When he can't get his own way every second, he'll soon learn that you are the boss and that everyone needs a little time out from play once in a while. This gives him something positive to do while giving your older dog a break. I use the "Enough" command with my dogs when I want them to take a break. My older ones know and stop playing and lay down and the new ones learn it fairly quickly, also.


Christine
Boxer Luv Rescue

 

[harg311]

Sandys Mom.... that sounds exaclty what is happening with Daisy and Dodger. Dodger is relentless in his efforts to play with Daisy but she will only play for a couple minutes or two and she is done, after that she wants to be left alone.
We have been told by a lot of people that we need to have Daisy be first in everything and we have been doing that. She is first out the door on walks, first to eat, firswt with the treats, first to get attantion. Dodger gets right in our face when we do it though and we have to pull him off to the side and keep him occupied. Sometimes we even put them in seperate rooms and my wife and i give each of them some seperate attention. Seems to be working so far. We are not crate training him an di know some people think we are crazy for not doing that be he is doing really well.

Everyone is saying to give it a little time, it has been less then a week and we did catch them sleeping in the same bed last night so that was a big step forward. I am sure with a little more time they will be getting along just fine.
Thanks everyone for your help. Feels better knowing so amny others have gone through this and it has worked out.

 

[Adelle]

Finnegan used to act like that everytime we got a new foster, sometimes it lasted a couple of days sometimes a couple of weeks, he wanted nothing to do with them, but once he got over it they would play play play.

They will figure out between them who is going to be the dominante one.

Good luck and let us know how it goes

Adelle

 

[hudson78]

I'm not sure how long it's been but if it's been less than 3 weeks I would give it more time. When we adopted Ally(female boxer) our other guy Hudson hated her for atleast 3 weeks, everytime she came around he'd growl and sometimes show his teeth. After about three weeks they started to love each other and now 1 year later they are the best of friends, i couldn't ever see them being apart.

Hope it all works out for you. Make sure you share the affection equally, that's one thing i've always made sure that I do.

 

[harg311]

Well it has been one week since we brought Dodger home fromteh Rescue. It was a little rough at first. The peeing and pooping onthe floor, Daisy, our older boxer, not getting along and a few other 'messes".
Now though, everything is waaaay better. Dodger learned very quickly not to use our carpet as his bathroom but instead use the doggy door and go outside. He and Daisy are not getting along a lot better and are starting to play better together. We still here a couple snarls and she will show her teeth once in a while but not often. They seem pretty happy together and im sure it will only get better. I posted some pic of the two playing as well as some others.
We are just happy that things are better. Now we just need to get him to stay away from our blinds and stop chewing things. We are also working on soem of the basic commands.
So thanks everyone for the advice and encouragement. Everything you said pretty much happend.
Thanks
Steve
http://www.boxerworld.com/photo/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=20626