SSpiro
Boxer Booster
We just rescued a new puppy. 3 month old male (will post pics later). He's fantastic.. Yesterday was day 1. He has a ways to go as far as potty training and crate training, but he'll get there. He seems extremely intelligent. He loves to howl and cry when he goes in the crate.. but once he realizes no one is running to him (takes about 2 minutes), he lies down and goes to sleep.
Introducing him to the other two dogs in the house was a chore, but following the ill-written suggestions in the sticky helped a bit although they were confusing.
The female (Vizsla/Lab Mix, Zoe) took to him right away. She has some strong motherly instincts which I love about her. She's fantastic with young dogs and children. She's a great dog.
The male (Boxer, Zeus) is stubborn. He accepts him, but does his best to show dominance any time he can. Anywhere he walks, Zeus walks RIGHT next to him (practically knocking the puppy over). Anytime the puppy starts to run, Zeus chases him and sometimes barks. Zeus used to be well socialized, but the dog park near us went to crap and its more a prostitution and crackhead hang out. I question where his socialization is now - this needs to be addressed, and I'm aware. :(
I guess my first question - is this sign of dominance a negative thing? Or is he just showing his place in the order of the pack? Should Zeus be waiting for me to show this leadership? Am I thinking too much into it? The puppy acknowledges and typically will roll over and show submission. What, if anything, should I be doing here? I haven't really noticed any aggression. The fear is in the back of my mind, though. I DO trust my Boxer completely - but this is a new situation to both of us.
Second question is in regards to feeding time. I follow Cesar's technique in that the pack should eat together. Therefore, I have Zoe and the puppy next to each other, and Zeus on the adjacent wall (only because thats the only remaining space - the three are still side by side). They did FANTASTIC. No aggression, and all three tails wagging the entire time. The problem here - once the puppy finished, he thought it would be fun to travel to the other dogs to investigate their bowl and help finish. Although we didn't have incident, I could imagine what could happen? Attempts at correcting with positive redirection went unnoticed and we had to resort picking him up physically and bringing him into another room.
What is the best way to train the puppy that this is not acceptable - that each dog has their bowl; and once the bowl is clean dinner is over?
Sorry for the long thread. Thanks!
Introducing him to the other two dogs in the house was a chore, but following the ill-written suggestions in the sticky helped a bit although they were confusing.
The female (Vizsla/Lab Mix, Zoe) took to him right away. She has some strong motherly instincts which I love about her. She's fantastic with young dogs and children. She's a great dog.
The male (Boxer, Zeus) is stubborn. He accepts him, but does his best to show dominance any time he can. Anywhere he walks, Zeus walks RIGHT next to him (practically knocking the puppy over). Anytime the puppy starts to run, Zeus chases him and sometimes barks. Zeus used to be well socialized, but the dog park near us went to crap and its more a prostitution and crackhead hang out. I question where his socialization is now - this needs to be addressed, and I'm aware. :(
I guess my first question - is this sign of dominance a negative thing? Or is he just showing his place in the order of the pack? Should Zeus be waiting for me to show this leadership? Am I thinking too much into it? The puppy acknowledges and typically will roll over and show submission. What, if anything, should I be doing here? I haven't really noticed any aggression. The fear is in the back of my mind, though. I DO trust my Boxer completely - but this is a new situation to both of us.
Second question is in regards to feeding time. I follow Cesar's technique in that the pack should eat together. Therefore, I have Zoe and the puppy next to each other, and Zeus on the adjacent wall (only because thats the only remaining space - the three are still side by side). They did FANTASTIC. No aggression, and all three tails wagging the entire time. The problem here - once the puppy finished, he thought it would be fun to travel to the other dogs to investigate their bowl and help finish. Although we didn't have incident, I could imagine what could happen? Attempts at correcting with positive redirection went unnoticed and we had to resort picking him up physically and bringing him into another room.
What is the best way to train the puppy that this is not acceptable - that each dog has their bowl; and once the bowl is clean dinner is over?
Sorry for the long thread. Thanks!