Hey, guys, how long does it take before your Dobe and your other dogs are friends?
I don't remember it taking this long when we brought Jiggy home. Choco and Chuckie (kids of our late dogs) established the hierarchy and then they were all playmates. I think it took only a couple of days to a week, about the same time that Jiggy took to get settled in and get mischievous.
Jules has been with us almost a month now and she's still treated as a transplant. Am I just being impatient or are there things we can do to speed up the process?
When she tries to initiate play, she always gets rejected, growled at. Poor girl. My brother says this is because the other dogs are older. Jiggy is only 10 months old, though. We thought he'd make friends with Jules, but no-go.
They've also got this territorial thing going. If one of the other three beats her to a spot (my lap, my bed, my side, etc), they growl when Jules approaches. Jules does this now, too. ARGH. She was submissive and shy when she was still settling in, but now she's also staking claim. Like, if she's sitting with me on the sofa, she'd suddenly growl if one of the other three tries to come over and join us.
In the mornings, I sit down by the front door, have a cuddle-fest and then watch them mess around in the yard. Choco would invariably climb onto my lap and then growl at Jules when she tries to get to me or enter through that door.
We reprimand them but it's not working. We feed them separately. I even made them meet properly. My brother took the other three for a walk just before the breeder arrived with Jules. And then we let Jules roam the house detecting the scent of her housemates. And then we made them meet outside on the opposite sidewalk. No territorial fight then. Lots of butt-sniffing. But that's that until now. They calmly sniff-sniff. I did manage to train them not to fight for/bark for/try to get at me for treats when I'm training Jules. They don't snap at each other when we walk them together, but they don't get along either.
Anything I can do to help them make friends? Jules is friendly, really-- she's even mothering the wind-up duck toy. But the others are snubbing her. Of course, the other three are all of 1 foot of silky-fluffy, full-grown, and Jules is 22 inches tall at 5 months. Is that a factor here? Are the other three intimidated and bewildered at this huge creature acting like a puppy?
Captured a ceasefire earlier. They shared the couch! Maybe it was different because we dumped stuff there while we're repainting the other room but they sat there peaceably enough. But Choco rumbled like a Harley when Jules touched her.
Can't wait for them to be all buddy-buddy like Ramsey and Pablo. Any tips?
WHOA: ETA: Just found out about same-sex aggression. Or is that just male-male? Glad Jules is a girl. Choco's a girl. Jiggy and Chuckie are guys.
Are Jules and Choco gonna duke it out til kingdom come?
My 5 (2 dobes, 3 chihuahuas) are not what I would consider close but they all tolerate each other for the most part. If I am holding a Chi and another dog approaches and they growl, snarl anything other than ignore they get told no and put down on the ground. The worst offender (and the smallest dog in the house) is often kicked off my lap she seems to be a slow learner. 
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