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Siberian Husky
I have a 1 yr old male neutered siberian husky that loves to play. I got another male 1and1/2yr old husky from the pound. i got him neutered and the two of them live in a fenced yard together. The problem is that the new husky is protective over me and his food, blanket etc. If I am not around, the two dogs play and have fun. When I am around, the new husky growls and has even bitten the other husky and tends to start a fight.
Will he overcome this attitude or is it just his personality and needs to find a new home with no other animals?
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Want to answer more questions in the Domesticity category?
Maybe give some free advice about: Pets?
I don't know if you consulted w/ your vet before getting your new dog but when you put 2 males together its not as good as 1 male 1 female...
spend time w/ the new one when your previous one is not there...it will strength your realtionship.
remember, patience though
hope i helped
drop me some!
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I think that it is just it's personality and no I don't think you should himt him/her up. I wouldn't give my dog up. You should just take him/her to obidiance classes.
~*~Britt~*~
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This is normal. He just needs time to get comfortable with his surroundings. He might even be feeling jealous of the other dog. If they have fun though, its a sigh that they are getting used to each other. Hope my advice helps!
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Your new dog is trying to protect you. It sees you as the head of the pack. While you are around, you are the alpha dog. When you leave, your absence allows him to assume some of what dogs have as alpha traits - that means that he will try to subjugate the other dog so that he can become #2. This is normal. Your old dog is used to how thing work in your pack - he hasn't had to worry about pack politics (dog style, that is), so he's just trying to go about his business... and his business is being disrupted by the new dog. Right now, only time can tell what the outcome will be. However, if the biting continues, you might have a problem. Let your vet know, and keep an eye on the situation. If it worsens, you'll probably be forced to address the situation somehow.
p.s. - selectopaque's advice rules.
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No, he doesn't need to find a new home with other animals, if you work at it, you can get him past this.
Dogs really do need some other canine companionship in their lives. Since he gets along fine when your gone, then it proves that he likes having another dog to play with.
Here's a few exercises you can do to stop the protectiveness.
For the food and blanket:
Try taking the food away from him, but when you give it back, have an extra goody in it, like a piece of meat or other treats. He needs to know that when food goes away, it will not only come back, but it will be better when it comes back. You could also try to take the food away, and bring it towards your other dog, but don't let your other dog eat any of it. Then put a yummy treat in it and bring it back to the protective dog. Do this at each meal time, a couple times durring the meal and he will slowly lose his protectiveness over the food.
The same thing should be able to work with the blanket/toys/etc. If you take it away from him for a half minute or so, then bring it back with a treat, then he shouldn't feel the need to be protective. Basically, if he knows that these things will be safe when they aren't under his care, then he won't need to be aggressive when someone or something tries to take them away.
With you:
If your dog is protective towards you, then you basically need to show him that your other dog is not going to harm you. You need to let him see you petting your other dog, giving him treats, hugging him, getting licked by him, etc. BUT-- DO NOT GIVE YOUR OTHER DOG MORE ATTENTION THAN THE PROTECTIVE ONE. You need to give them both an equal amount of attention, and show them both that neither dog is going to harm you or "steal" any attention. If you need to, then keep them separated while you are doing this at first, but make sure that they can see all this happening.
If it's possible to have them close enough to be petting both of them, then that is great. Always have treats handy, so that when the protective dog is being friendly to both you and your other dog, then you can give them treats.
Reward him every time he is being good, even if it's for only for a few seconds. Once he starts to be bad, ignore the behavior as much as you can. He will soon learn that being bad gets him ignored and being good gets him treats.
If you have any more question you can just ask me. But if there is a professional dog behavioralist in your area, you might want to call and see what advice they can give you.
Good luck.
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