Own two boxers and need help...

[herndobr]

I currently own a 4 year old female brindle that I purchased from a breeder. Her name is Kasie. She is very friendly. She has been around dogs since she was a puppy because we sent her to doggie daycare. Kasie is very spoiled!! My wife and I have recently purchased a second boxer from a breeder. We wanted the second boxer to be a playmate for Kasie. She is 11 weeks old and is a beautiful female fawn. Her name is Lola. The puppy is very loving and very friendly. The new boxer puppy has been with us now for 1 week.

My current problem is Kasie does not appear to be interested at this time with the puppy. Kasie will isolate herself from Lola. Sometimes Lola gets to close to Kasie and Kasie will run upstairs to get away and be alone. Also, Kasie shows aggression towards Lola and tries to intimidate/bully her when they are in the same room or area. Kasie has NEVER caused any harm to Lola and has not bitten her in anyway. Kasie does not even get mean when Lola takes a toy away from her or puts her face in Kasie's feeding dish while Kasie is eatting. Their are times that they have appeared to be playing normally and friendly. I want them to be friends and great playmates, that is the reason I got Jordan. What should I do? If this is a temporary behavior when will it go away? Right now I am very sad because I feel like I am damaging Kasie's happiness.

Thanks,
B

 

[rowdyroxie]

I can relate to what you are going through. We had gotten our first boxer last October and she ended up being very lonley. So we got a second boxer in April. Roxie was 8 months old when we brought home 7 week old Riley. We thought we had made a HUGE mistake. Roxie wanted nothing to do with Riley. All Riley wanted to do was lay and cuddle with her. Roxie would get all upset and snarl at her. Never would bite, just made noises and would get up and walk away from her. It took about a good three weeks before they were starting to become buddies. If it is any comfort whatsoever, they are TRUE buddies now. They love being with eachother. When one has to go the the vet, and the other one has to be home, they are sooo sad. But as soon as they come back in the door they are sooo excited to see one another. It is too darn cute.

I must say, it was the longest three weeks of my life, but we pulled through it. I even called my breeder and voiced my concerns. I would just give it time and remember to not neglect baby number 1. They really go through a tough time adjusting to the new pup. As long as you try and still keep the older one to a normal routine, they should be OK. I know it is hard with a new pup, but if you and your wife can take turns spending time with the pup and Kasie. If you need any more advice or tips, please let me know. I can give you my work e-mail.

Good luck and congrats on the new addition!

 

[herndobr]

Thank you for your reply....

I appreciate your time in replying. I hope that they do become buddies. We got Lola because lots of times Kasie would be laying in the floor or just sitting their looking bored. We continue to give Kasie (Dog #1) attention. I still take her on walks and rides and of course, continue to give her lots of love and kisses!!!

We currently keep Lola in her crate at night since she is so small and is not pottie trained. Lola and Kasie's crates our together in our spare bedroom. We have to shut the door to the spare bedroom and our bedroom to soften the barking and whining that Lola does at night. Kasise has free roam at night to sleep whereever (which means mostly in our bed....which I do not mind) Kasie is very well behaved. Our future plan is to let Lola sleep whereever she wants at night when she is pottie trained. We have a king size bed. Any thoughts on that?


B

 

[Tulsa-Dan]

Time and patience are most important here.

First off, you need to give the older dog special attention, all by herself, as much as you can. Then you can engage both her and the puppy in play time together.

The older dog is obviously not interested in puppy antics and is doing her best to stay out of the way. But you also need to reassure her that she is still top dog in your house. You can do this by feeding her first (or filling her bowl first), going out of the door first, putting leashes on the older dog first, calling the older dog first when calling both dogs in recall, etc., etc. She needs to be reassured that her place in the pack is not being taken over by the new puppy.

When playing, engaged both dogs. Make them see that playing together is fun and you have fun and enjoy it, so they will understand that is what you want from them.

Good luck.

 

[herndobr]

For Tulsa-Dan (and anyone else)..

With regards to feeding her first, I am having trouble keeping the puppy away from the older dogs food. I prepare the older dogs food first and put it down and before I know it the puppy has her face in the bowl. I yell to her no, but she continues to go back.
The puppy seems more interested in the older dogs food then hers. Any suggestions?

 

[boxerprincess]

What an exciting time. Congrats on the new pup!

Dan has given you some great advice - time and patience are a must! When I brought home a new pup (Mackenzie), my female (Princess) was sooo upset and concerned about her place in the family - unfortunately it resulted in a few months of fights and tension. Yuck!

Now the only fighting going on in the house is the 'vicious killer' game which consists of boxing and biting and pretend growls. They both LOVE having a playmate around all the time, they share toys (even the REALLY good ones, like the leftover peanut butter jar they are sharing right now), they snuggle and they look after one another.

Giving Princess her 'special' time was critical, and like Dan said, ensuring that she was fed first etc made a huge difference in their interactions. Also, her having an 'alone time' place was important. Princess goes under the bed when she is done with Mac...he tries to jump in her crate with her - so she avoids that as an alone space! I found I needed to be extra diligent with toys and treats..they can pose a problem if one dog gets jealous!

I feed Mac and Princess in their crates - closed doors for the first few months - and now I leave the door open and they swap back and forth.

I'd read sooo many stories about the instant bonding that many experienced when they brought home a second pup.... well... we took the LOOOONG route to get to that point, but now that we are there it was a journey worth taking. Princess is soo much happier with a buddy then as an only dog....well most of the time - Mac can still annoy us both!

I found the bed to initially be a huge source of tension between Princess and Mackenzie... now they lay on top of one another (try moving that at 3am!) in a bid to be closer.... :rolleyes:

I'm continually reinforcing that its a privilege and not a right to sleep on the bed - they have to be invited up, and when they aren't invited, they have to sleep in their crates. Thats the only way it works for me, otherwise I have two big lugs who think they run the show.

Good luck! Can't wait to hear more great stories and see photos!

 

[TatianaB]

We have two as well, and the older one is 8 years (Pisu). It took several months before he allowed Ani (they puppy) to be with him on the same sofa, or be very close to him. We had strict rules for Ani until she was old enough to understand Pisu's rules. Regarding the food, for the first few months we fed them in separate rooms. Pisu would get very upset if Ani came close to him. In time, Ani learned when Pisu is not happy, and she reacts accordingly. Now they each eat from their own dish, which are on a doggie table, side by side, but she knows not to get in his dish. When we feed them, I have both dishes in my hand, and I put them down one by one and say "for Pisu, for Ani", so they each wait for his/her own dish. I know how you feel, because I felt the same way, but give them a few months, and you will not believe how much they will love each other. In our case, it was the best think we could have done for Pisu. Pisu still hides upstairs in our bedrooms when he has enough of her, but he knows he is the alpha. We followed what Tulsa-Dan said, and it worked great.
Tatiana

 

[boxermom5]

I agree with Tulsa-Dan. Tess was 4 when we brought Tenaia home, and she had her nose pretty bent out of shape at first. But I made sure she got extra time and attention, she was fed first, hugged and kissed first and last (so she really got extra), and I even took her out for rides in the car alone if she was looking particullary upset. She got over it pretty quickly, and discovered that Tenaia made a pretty good fling toy-since she was so small Tess would engage her in a tug war and then proceed to spin her around and then let go of the toy, flinging Tenaia into the sofa (sounds bad but was really pretty funny and nobody got hurt). Tess also found that if she played submissive, got on her back and let Tenaia stand over her, she could get all four feet under Tenaia's belly and launch her across the room. We decided Tenaia was part cat for two reasons - one, she always landed on her feet when Tess flipped her, and two her favorite toy when she was a tiny puppy was a cat toy fleece string thing on the end of a pole - you wiggle it across the floor and she would use her paws like a cat and bat at it and chase it for hours on end.

Tess is now 7 and Tenaia just turned 3. The two are inseperable best friends. We have constant entertainment - always at least one clown - Friday nite it was Tenaia jackhammering the floor and growling for 30 minutes at the Xmas tree while Tess searched the house for her stocking (she knows Santa puts cool stuff in it).

Be very patient and extra loving and tolerant. Soon you will have the best of friends and it will be hard to even remember the time they didn't really get along.

Jen, Tess and Tenaia

ps: I have a king size bed, no partner, and I only get the edge of it. Can we say "spoiled"....:rolleyes:

 

[Tulsa-Dan]

Re: For Tulsa-Dan (and anyone else)..

Originally posted by herndobr
With regards to feeding her first, I am having trouble keeping the puppy away from the older dogs food. I prepare the older dogs food first and put it down and before I know it the puppy has her face in the bowl. I yell to her no, but she continues to go back.
The puppy seems more interested in the older dogs food then hers. Any suggestions?

Stop yelling "NO" and feed them in separate rooms.

 

[herndobr]

Feeding them both.....

I actually started last night feeding them in seperate areas. I have a baby gate between the kitchen and the foyer. Lola is kept in the kitchen and Kasie (the older dog) is fed in the foyer. Worked well last night and this morning for breakfast!


Any suggestions on things I can do to make her love her crate more (Lola, that is). Kasie does not mind her crate. She will go into her crate pretty well and is usually very quite when she is put in there. However, Lola (the new puppy) continues to bark and whine. We have put some of her toys in there. One lady suggested I take a Kong and tie it to the back of the kennel and put something in it.