We have a 1.5 year old Boston Terrier ("Elvis") that we have raised from a
puppy, and this past Tuesday we adopted a 2 year old Beagle ("Kandy") from
the local animal shelter, to give him a companion while we're at work. Kandy
was raised (and spoiled) by an elderly couple who had to give her up because
of their ailing health. She is housebroken and well behaved.

We introduced Elvis and Kandy at the animal shelter so they would be able to
get used to each other on neutral ground, and they seemed fine with each
other. But when we brought kandy home, the 2 dogs started to play kind of
rough, exhibiting "mounting" behavior from both dogs, which the other dog
did not like. This lead to mild barking and light nipping from both dogs,
and eventually we decided that they should be separated.

So now I only let 1 dog roam the house at a time, while Elvis is kept in
another room, or Kandy is kept crated so Elvis can sniff her and get used to
her. When she's in the crate, they're fine with each other. No growling or
barkng or anything bad. But as soon as I let them out together they start
off sniffing each other and then it leads to running around the house, which
builds to mounting and nipping again.

On top of this, Kandy has started to chew and pull fur from her tail,
leaving a red, raw, bald spot.

We're not dog experts by any means, and we're afraid we might be over our
heads here. We would hate to bring Kandy back to the shelter, but at the
same time, we don't want to see the dogs fight, and Kandy must be upset to
keep chewing at her tail. Elvis is also very upset at being locked in a room
when he can hear people moving around the house.

Any advice anyone could give us would be greatly appreciated!

-Brad & Joudi

sorry for the double post!

B. Rhodes wrote:

We introduced Elvis and Kandy at the animal shelter so they would be able to
get used to each other on neutral ground, and they seemed fine with each
other. But when we brought kandy home, the 2 dogs started to play kind of
rough, exhibiting "mounting" behavior from both dogs, which the other dog
did not like.

Could you clarify this a bit? What to do you mean by "the other dog did
not like."? Did the other dog get the dog off itself, growl at it, go
after it, etc.?

This lead to mild barking and light nipping from both dogs,
and eventually we decided that they should be separated.

What does the dog that is being nipped do? Are you sure that this is
not all in play? Just wondering, because depending on the dogs
involved, this could all be just normal play behavior (Check out the
'Playtime' pictures he
http://www.scs.gmu.edu/~spanaval/Khan/index.htm or the dog pictures,
especially the Copper and Tori pics at
http://photos.yahoo.com/spanaval). When my dogs play with some of their
best friends, it often looks and sounds like someone is getting killed.

On top of this, Kandy has started to chew and pull fur from her tail,
leaving a red, raw, bald spot.

This may or may not be related to what is happening in your household.
She may well do this due to allergies (environmental or food).

Any advice anyone could give us would be greatly appreciated!

Have either dog been introduced to other dogs? Do you know if they play
well with others in general? If the dogs seem uncomfortable with how
rough things are getting, you may have to teach them to be 'gentle' with
each other. To me, this doesn't sound like two dogs that dislike each
other, but I'm not there to see their interactions, so I may be missing
something.

Suja

"B. Rhodes" wrote in message
news:iJKpd.61161$_g6.28490@okepread03...

Well done for adopting a homeless dog.

On top of this, Kandy has started to chew and pull fur from her
tail,
leaving a red, raw, bald spot.

I would get the vet to have a look at her just in case she has a
problem with her anal glands or allergies.

We're not dog experts by any means, and we're afraid we might be
over our
heads here. We would hate to bring Kandy back to the shelter, but at
the
same time, we don't want to see the dogs fight, and Kandy must be
upset to
keep chewing at her tail. Elvis is also very upset at being locked
in a room
when he can hear people moving around the house.

It could be play figthing. dogs can keep this up for hours and it
look and sounds worse than what it is. You could put up dog gates so
they can be in seperate rooms and still see each other, If kandy has
not been crated before and is not used to it, she might find it
stressful.
When you first get a new pet , it takes a while for things to settle
down and it can be a strain on the household but I'm sure it will work
out with a little time and patience.
Alison




Any advice anyone could give us would be greatly appreciated!

-Brad & Joudi

"B. Rhodes" wrote in message
news:iJKpd.61161$_g6.28490@okepread03...

Any advice anyone could give us would be greatly appreciated!

There could be any number of causes & solutions for what you describe to be
honest. It doesn't sound like you've given the dogs a proper chance to work
things out on their own. Either that or you've downplayed their actions
when describing them here.

Whenever a person brings a new dog into the home of an existing dog they
have to expect a pecking order/feeling out stage to take place. That's
Elvis' home, his territory, his people and now Kandy is there and he may not
be very happy about that. Kandy, on the other hand, may be trying to just
fit in, to take over the household & its territory, or to just get her
bearings without any regard to territory.

Dogs who have been recently rehomed go through the same kind of stress you
can imagine a person going through when they're suddenly thrust into strange
surroundings with strange people. For the very timid it makes them act
frightened and easy prey to the existing dog. For the very dominant it
makes them very bossy in an overt attempt to become number one. For the
midline dogs its a bit of both plus a real possibility of having the
existing dog trigger a defense reaction.

In other words, it depends entirely on each dog and what body language they
are displaying. Is Elvis being truly aggressive and bossy towards Kandy?
Is Kandy acting timidly, midline or dominant towards Elvis? Have you
noticed any particular items or issues that are more prone to sparking the
behavior you describe? Things like being near food, at feeding time,
getting attention from you, vying for the preferred spot on the sofa, etc.

As for the reaction you describe, as others have pointed out, it could be
play, it could be a feeling out stage, it could be mounting aggression. You
should know though that dogs, including females, often choose humping as a
means of feeling out a new dog. In my female's case its a purely dominant
gesture. If the other dog allows her to mount him/her then she accepts them
and they allow her to be leader in all things. If they don't allow her to
hump them, or they continually try to hump her (and her reaction is *not*
pretty to that), then I'm in for several days of an "I'm the real boss"
tug-of-war which requires close supervsion to keep a serious fight from
occurring.

Either way though, I think you need to allow them to do this ritual and see
where it goes. If one of them gets very nasty and the other doesn't take
the hint and back off then separate and reassess. You won't really know
what they're doing, why and if it'll end until you allow them to do it...but
supervise them closely and don't be too quick to jump in and interrupt.
Dogs have a habit of making alot of ferocious noise and gestures when
they're not actually acting on them. Its common for me to see bared teeth,
hackles raised & some truly scary snarling taking place between two dogs who
are feeling each other out. As long as they're not latching onto each other
and physically trying to harm each other then I let them be.

The spot you describe on Kandy's tail sounds like a medical condition that
needs to be checked out. Its probably may be a hotspot, an infection
setting in, an allergic reaction but probably requires attention and
possibly an ointment of some type. Having Elvis intentionally or
accidentally nip her tail in this area will not be pleasant for Kandy and
may result in Kandy attacking Elvis for his actions. IME dogs with hotspots
(using that term generically) are very particular about not wanting anyone
or anything to touch the area affected and from what I've gathered those
kinds of ailments generally tend to be 24/7 burning, stinging spots that the
dog can get no relief from.

--
Tara