[BNix]

Hey guys, so I got my male doberman pup Diesel on saturday night. We already have a lab mix, Gracie, and shes two years old. Gracie is a really good dog, friendly, shows no aggression ever, listens very well. She has never had to share my family and I with another dog. Right now she doesnt seem sure of what is going on. She isnt mean to Diesel but she trys to avoid him. He plays with her toys and lays on her bed (which im going to make stop by getting him his own stuff) but she doesnt seem to care. She just seems a little sad. So Im hoping its just the first phase and she will get used to him being around. I hate seeing her act differently, like shes second to diesel, though we havent treated her that way. Anybody else have a problem with this or know what I could do to get her more comfortable with him? Thanks

 

[monicaei]

Pretty common. Give her space, don't force the issue. One thing that I always found helps immensely is walking them together, and then some special time for the older dog. Dont neglect the one on one time with her. Crate training the pup facilitates this nicely. If you can put the crate in a "living space" all the better.

IME, it takes several weeks for them to get used to the newcomer. Think of it as suddenly adding a stranger to your house. It wouldn't be someone you considered family right off the bat. Your girl is probably confused!

 

[Toby'shuman]

When we brought Toby into our home my Boxer girl wouldnt have anything to do with him, in fact she positively avoided him, it was my small Terrier, Jack, who accepted him first, however, Sasha eventually after about 4 weeks gave him a kiss and from then on she was his mum.
I found giving my older dogs their own special time away from the pup helped establish they werent being forced out, also when we went for walks Toby had to fit in with them, (I ended up carrying him all over the place, but they didnt mind as they were out and about and they loved/ still love that).
I think given time your older girl will take to him, although watch that your pup isnt bothering her (as Toby did with my old girl), he didnt seem to know when enough was enough.

 

[BNix]

Awesome, guys thanks for the advice. I was thinking walking them together would help so i will do that when I get home from work. Crate training is definitely something im going to do for Diesel because Gracie is also crate trained. When nobody is home that's where my dogs go. I will definitely put some time aside away from the pup for Gracie then. So much stress is gone haha, i was a little worried about Gracie.

 

[DonutDobie]

I had a similar issue with my 9 year old female lab mix. Without going into all the drama (her sadness), my situation was remedied after a couple days when I would put jackson in his kennel and give the big girl some one on one time away from him. I still give her that time each day so that she knows she's still the golden girl. They get along great. So far walking them together has been a circus