Hi all, Sorry if this has been asked before but I am in serious need of advice. We currently have a 12/13 year old lab x collie bitch. She has a fantastic temperament especially with our 4 year old and is very protective. My brother has a 2/3 year old chocolate lab bitch but needs to find her a new home. He says she is too rowdy and is really difficult to walk as she goes for anyone and everyone. A few weeks ago the possibility started to rise that we could take her in. We took our dog round and took them both out for a walk together. We slowly introduced them by bringing them together for short spells before separating them and praising good behaviour. The young dog mouths quite a lot and did it to our dog a couple of times when out. Our dogs response was to shy away and almost cower. This was better by the end of the walk though. By the end of the walk I had them walking side by side and had no problems whatsoever with other people or dogs. My brother then changed his mind and wanted to keep her. Today he called to say she needs to go and he wont change his mind. The issue we have is that we don't know how they will be together in our home. We don't want our dog feeling "put out" as she was here first. Is there any advice to help us all live together happily in our home? Thanks, Ben.
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Introducing a 2nd dog to the home.
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Decisions decisions ! Do you make the right one or will it be wrong, who knows. Phew!
It sounds to me as if your brothers dog has taken charge of her own life and no one has been there to guide her properly (adolesence ) maybe.
Do you really need to upset your "happy " household with a problem dog, does your old lady 12/13 years really want the bother of this unruly upstart ? Your old lady should be re assured at all times that she is the best and most important. (oh how I love the "oldies")
Your brothers lab is perfectly young enough to learn who the "BOSS" is (this is you) and with some good "no nonsence" guideance and corrective training she will hopefully become another valued family member.
Will someone be at home with the new "upstart" most of the time or do you both work, you could consider a dog crate for times when you are not around (just for peace of mind) at the begining. A crate should never be a place of punnishment though !
You will probably know more about your brothers dog than any other prospective new owner. You will not be a first time dog owner either which will help too.
A young free unwanted lab will be snapped up in no time, but who knows how many more times in her life she will be passed on, and maybe end up in rescue kennels somewhere!
Not sure if this really answers your question.
Best wishes.
It sounds to me as if your brothers dog has taken charge of her own life and no one has been there to guide her properly (adolesence ) maybe.
Do you really need to upset your "happy " household with a problem dog, does your old lady 12/13 years really want the bother of this unruly upstart ? Your old lady should be re assured at all times that she is the best and most important. (oh how I love the "oldies")
Your brothers lab is perfectly young enough to learn who the "BOSS" is (this is you) and with some good "no nonsence" guideance and corrective training she will hopefully become another valued family member.
Will someone be at home with the new "upstart" most of the time or do you both work, you could consider a dog crate for times when you are not around (just for peace of mind) at the begining. A crate should never be a place of punnishment though !
You will probably know more about your brothers dog than any other prospective new owner. You will not be a first time dog owner either which will help too.
A young free unwanted lab will be snapped up in no time, but who knows how many more times in her life she will be passed on, and maybe end up in rescue kennels somewhere!
Not sure if this really answers your question.
Best wishes.
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Hello,
It sounds like your brother has a lovely bouncy dog who just needs kind but firm training. Admittedly this requires time and patience. I think it's very kind of you to consider taking her but you shouldn't feel obliged to, especially if you don't feel you can.
You not taking her does not necessarily mean she won't find a good home. There are good rescues out there, some Labrador specific, that will ensure that she is homed with someone who understands her needs. Your brother just needs to do his homework.
It sounds like your brother has a lovely bouncy dog who just needs kind but firm training. Admittedly this requires time and patience. I think it's very kind of you to consider taking her but you shouldn't feel obliged to, especially if you don't feel you can.
You not taking her does not necessarily mean she won't find a good home. There are good rescues out there, some Labrador specific, that will ensure that she is homed with someone who understands her needs. Your brother just needs to do his homework.
Hi and thank you both for the speedy replies. In my opinion, the problem they have with the Labrador is down to the way she is treated. I never had a problem with her and feel that she just needs reassurance and security as well as more excersize. I have started running (at least 3 miles a day) and would take her with me everyday. We both work but I work nights so there is someone at home almost all the time. Don't get me wrong, that's not to say shes neglected, far from it. It's just the way she's looked after at the moment and is given mixed signals from the family members. We actually want to take her, she's a braw looking dog and the runt of the litter and both dogs are the same size. We had considered getting a pup before our old girl passes (I feel it's easier to train a pup using an old head) but my wife said no. This is a different situation though as he was told she could be put down and also his kids don't want her to go. If we have her they will still get to see her. I was more wondering if anyone had experience in introducing two dogs and any advice. Thanks again for the replies. They HAVE helped. Regards, Ben.
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Hi ,
I'm sure you will get things right.
I have never had any problems bringing a new dog into our household, we have a family of 5 dogs and if a stranger arrives in the garden or house they are all running free, lots of sniffing/smelling goes on and introductions are made, all friendly and life just carries on.
You and your old lady (the dog) oops!! will have to lay down the ground rules right from the start. The dogs have already met, so they know each other and appear to get on well with each other.
Hey easy, no problem !
Best wishes
I'm sure you will get things right.
I have never had any problems bringing a new dog into our household, we have a family of 5 dogs and if a stranger arrives in the garden or house they are all running free, lots of sniffing/smelling goes on and introductions are made, all friendly and life just carries on.
You and your old lady (the dog) oops!! will have to lay down the ground rules right from the start. The dogs have already met, so they know each other and appear to get on well with each other.
Hey easy, no problem !
Best wishes
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Hi cbr_benjy, and welcome to DogForum 
It sounds like you have done a great job in introducing the two dogs in a way that is going to be productive for the future, so good on you for that. You'd be amazed the number of people who just walk a new dog into an old dog's territory and then are surprised when there's an inter-dog issue which then takes huge amounts of time and effort to sort out. Of course an incumbent dog will have a problem with a new dog just plonked in their territory.
I've got a bit of a query which worries me from your OP. You say that your brother's dog 'goes for' people? Do you mean that she wants to go and say hello to other people, or that she does actually go for them? If she's just rowdy and looking for fuss then that can be worked upon, but if there's a hint of really going for people then I wouldn't take her into any house with a small child.
If you did just mean that she wants to approach for fuss then the next question is about where in your house you can have a way of keeping her contained. A baby gate across a doorway, a closed door on a crate, a conservatory, a utility room- anywhere that can act as a timeout space, your brother's dog's hidey hole bed and also a place where she can be happily contained while your dog has full run of the house.
I think that it would be quite tough on your dog to bring in a new and bouncy dog and not give her a way to not be in the middle of all of that bounce when she needs to escape it all, and given that it was her house first, it would be a bit unfair for her to be the one that is restricted on space. The new dog can come out when she's being a good girl and then go back into her space if she gets too bouncy, until she learns what her house manners need to be.
It sounds like you have done a great job in introducing the two dogs in a way that is going to be productive for the future, so good on you for that. You'd be amazed the number of people who just walk a new dog into an old dog's territory and then are surprised when there's an inter-dog issue which then takes huge amounts of time and effort to sort out. Of course an incumbent dog will have a problem with a new dog just plonked in their territory.
I've got a bit of a query which worries me from your OP. You say that your brother's dog 'goes for' people? Do you mean that she wants to go and say hello to other people, or that she does actually go for them? If she's just rowdy and looking for fuss then that can be worked upon, but if there's a hint of really going for people then I wouldn't take her into any house with a small child.
If you did just mean that she wants to approach for fuss then the next question is about where in your house you can have a way of keeping her contained. A baby gate across a doorway, a closed door on a crate, a conservatory, a utility room- anywhere that can act as a timeout space, your brother's dog's hidey hole bed and also a place where she can be happily contained while your dog has full run of the house.
I think that it would be quite tough on your dog to bring in a new and bouncy dog and not give her a way to not be in the middle of all of that bounce when she needs to escape it all, and given that it was her house first, it would be a bit unfair for her to be the one that is restricted on space. The new dog can come out when she's being a good girl and then go back into her space if she gets too bouncy, until she learns what her house manners need to be.
Lol. Sorry , yeah I should have clarified. What I mean is she really pulls just wanting to interact. With dogs she can be aggressive at times. Of course all that is based on what he has told me. From what I saw in the one walk, she was aggressive towards one dog (it tried to get her first so I'm not deeply concerned by that) but was fine with other people. Yes, she did pull but again I feel it's down to her prior training. There are young kids in her current home and she's fine with them. My daughter has been there a few times and never had a problem either. We still have stair gates in place and we would either get a LARGE crate for her time out space or out her in the kitchen (with a stair gate) until she learns our house rules.
We have decided to take her if all goes well but we will not be rushing things. We will walk them together some more so they are used to each other more. Then we will slowly introduce her to our home. For 30-60 mins at first and slowly increase the time as long as there are no issues. If all goes to plan, she will join our family and they will both be happy. I also spoke to the vet and he said our plan sounds solid and feels were I doing the right thing so far. He also suggested a plugin for the house called adaptil which releases pheromones to calm dogs down. He said it will help integration. Fingers crossed. Thank you for the replies and support. Ben.
We have decided to take her if all goes well but we will not be rushing things. We will walk them together some more so they are used to each other more. Then we will slowly introduce her to our home. For 30-60 mins at first and slowly increase the time as long as there are no issues. If all goes to plan, she will join our family and they will both be happy. I also spoke to the vet and he said our plan sounds solid and feels were I doing the right thing so far. He also suggested a plugin for the house called adaptil which releases pheromones to calm dogs down. He said it will help integration. Fingers crossed. Thank you for the replies and support. Ben.
