Resident Dog and Rescue Dog - Advice Needed

Have recently just posted that we brought home Bonny today. Well Hamish and her haven't really been that interested in each other, they did play a bit in the paddock this morning when we went to collect her. Hamish usually plays with EVERY dog so this was strange for him, although we put it down to the fact that he was out of his comfort zone and there were so many smells etc around.

Since we came home things have been ok, although they havent really paid much attention to each other, however just now, we're not sure exactly where it came from but I had to pull them apart, there was a lot of snapping and growling (and Hamish squealing) - although there was no damage and both dogs are ok now, sleeping on different sides of the room.

Bonny has been staying in a house with 10 other spaniels but sleeping separately in a crate and has been fine with all of these dogs and Hamish is usually fine with other dogs, so is this just because they are both feeling a bit unsettled? Obviously we understand this is a big change for both of them. We know they could take some time to get to know and like each other, so is this sort of behaviour to be expected just now? And what is the best way of dealing with it? We just want to make sure we can do all we can to make both dogs happy here with us. Any advice would be really appreciated.

I would be inclined to take them for a decent walk (about 30 mins) together to build their pack together. When I introduce any dog into the house, I let them meet in the house, and then immediatley take them for a walk together, and touch wood, it has always turned out ok.

I hope they sort out their differences

Thats a hard one unless you can really see what happened. I'd sleep her seperately probably for a while until they are settled. Be careful around food and toys and don't let either of them monopolise you or other people.

I would imagine it is teething problems and they just aren't sure of each other yret,

Good luck!

rune

Well we got through the first night... we put Bonny in a crate in the office but she was barking the place down so eventually moved her crate into our bedroom.. She pretty much barked/whined until around 4am when she went quiet. We have always been told to ignore it and I want her to get used to staying in a crate and she stayed in one at Julie's but it was REALLY hard, we persevered tho. Bit worried my neighbours will be round this morning as our house is semi-detached!

Still not really showing much interest in each other, Hamish seems really subdued and strange which is hard to see as we are used to him being so happy..

Deedee x

Which rescue was she from?

If its a good rescue, their should be follow up support available.

Did you have to go thru proper procedures before getting her home, ie, the rescue girl dog assessed and/or with a dog friendly history, 2 or 3 meetings between both dogs, the rescue dog bought on the homecheck, then both dogs walked at least half hour on neutral territory before bought home?

I have had 2 rescues both from good reputable rescue centres and neither have done this. They both did home checks without the dog and then we brought them home on the day of the meet, one after a walk and the other after meeting in a large room. Both worked out ok though.

Think i will answer this, she is from Nessr and she has been living with 10 other spaniels on Foster, Dee was homechecked etc , but due to Dee being in Scotland and Bonny in Yorkshire it wasn''t possible for her to meet her first.

The fosterer lives on a farm and has access to a large secure paddock for the dogs to be introduced to each other and i know from Dee's post on the Nessr forum that this was done and both were fine, they then travelled back to Scotland together no problems.


I feel this is just settling in Hamish now as a new dog on his turf and is just settling i'm sure in a few days they will both be fine, this is not at all unusual

ETA it doesn't stop with the rehoming with us Dee will get a;; the support she needs

Oh hun, I am sure this is just a settling in period love.

Funny thing about dogs really, IMO you can take them as often as you like to meet at the rescue and I am sure there all is fine, but this is Hamish's house....and they need to sort things out between themselves....obviously you supervise and don't let things get out of hand.

If only we could say...this is your new mate and they understood Huh!

I am sure given a few days things will be sorted and hopefully in a few weeks you'll be posting....these two are driving me mad with thier playing


Best of luck hun xxxxxxx

Actually, all those procedures are good practice with a lot of rescues.
For the reason to try and help avoid such situations as that you have described.
I worked in rescue 15 years, we alwasy did that.
Naturally, there are alwasy exceptions to the rule, ways of working round it, and practical considerations, all of which Lizzy has indicated.

Seems all fair enough to me.
Re the last sentence, that was what i mainly had in mind when the OP asked what she should do next.
I know a good rescue, such as NESSR, would have offered post homing support and would have been happier to know that they have also been referred to when a problem crops up.

It probably is early days yet

Ok.. I appreciate all your replies. We received great support from NESSR and they have been excellent with everything.

Unfortunately, yesterday my mum visited with her dog and Bonny went for her and bit her muzzle. We rely on my mum quite a lot for dogsitting and she is quite scared of dogs, so when this happened she made it clear that she would not feel comfortable having Bonny in her house. I know what my mum is like and she is not likely to back down. So yesterday night we took Bonny to the boss of NESSR.

I take full responsibility for what happened, in hindsight I can see the poor girl was probably so unsettled after all that had happened, moving here etc and scared and that we should never have let my mum visit with her dog until Bonny was settled in our home. However at the time I thought that as Bonny was used to having at least 10 other dogs to play with and Hamish wasn't really going near her that she would have liked a friendly dog to have a play with. I can see how wrong this was now and feel so awful that I made the poor girl feel so bad that she felt she had to lash out to protect herself.

There have been a lot of tears here as I really think Bonny could have fitted in here with us as she is so lovely and cuddly and the only reason she acted the way she did was because I put her in a situation which made her feel so scared. I know she will find a lovely home but it was still so hard leaving her last night.

I just wanted to explain what had happened in case anyone was wondering about the outcome etc.

deedee x