2 dogs living together.. one wants to play constantly the other not bothered

[Rachel2832]

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I've just moved into a new house and my new housemate (who was here before I moved in) has a 4 yr old male springer spaniel. Mine is an almost 2 year old female labrador. When they first met (before we decided if it would work with me moving in) they got on fine and played together. Since moving in it's become obvious that mine is annoying the other quite a bit! It's nothing too serious, she just constantly wants to play with him/follow him about and he's very chilled and not too bothered about other dogs. The most he's done in way of telling her to p*** off is a little grumbly growl. Which she doesn't seem to understand as him telling her off! I'm hoping they'll learn each others ways and get used to each other but any tips would be appreciated!

 

[Violet Turner]

So your dog hasn't lived with another dog? So it could be that your dog is confused and following around the other dog to see what its doing there... they should grow into each other as the days pass by

 

[JoanneF]

I know this may sound a little harsh, and it isn't meant to, but I'm not sure how else to put it. But this not really fair on the dog who is being pestered, he shouldn't have to tell yours off - YOU need to step in and keep your dog more under control. In the house keep her on a house line so you can stop her from pestering him. If no humans are in the house keep them in separate rooms. What you don't want is for him to get so annoyed with her that he retaliates more seriously, which could result in a fight and injury.

Once she has been taught not to pester him (using the house line to keep her away and distracting her with other things) they may be able to live quite happily together.

 

[JudyN]

I would separate them whenever the male shows he's fed up with her attentions - you could put her in another room behind a stairgate, or put her lead on her to restrain her. Just remove her calmly without saying anything - she should soon get the message that if she pushes his buttons, the fun ends.

In my experience labs are very bad at recognising other dogs' body language.

 

[JudyN]

@JoanneF, we must stop doing this

 

[JoanneF]

@JoanneF, we must stop doing this

At least we aren't suggesting different things!

 

[Rachel2832]

Hi, thanks everyone. Been in the house since Friday and the dogs have settled into it really well now! My girl has started to leave my housemates spaniel alone more, think she’s realised he doesn’t want to play but also realised he’s there all the time so doesn’t need to play constantly They even respect each other when they’re eating - neither goes to the other, no growling or anything.

(Also, I did step in when she was annoying him but didn’t separate them as it wasn’t serious ‘telling off’ and thought separating them might stop the above from being possible)

 

[Rachel2832]

So your dog hasn't lived with another dog? So it could be that your dog is confused and following around the other dog to see what its doing there... they should grow into each other as the days pass by

Think this was exactly it, all is fine now!

 

[leashedForLife]

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are the dogs in separate spaces, whenever they are at home unsupervised?

If not [& this is, of course, IMO & IME], U are taking a chance - that she'll get hurt when he's out of patience, or that the relationship will turn sour when he can't communicate with her any other way, & is forced to escalate to get some PEACE.

- terry

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[Violet Turner]

Think this was exactly it, all is fine now!

Great to hear!

 

[Rachel2832]

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are the dogs in separate spaces, whenever they are at home unsupervised?

If not [& this is, of course, IMO & IME], U are taking a chance - that she'll get hurt when he's out of patience, or that the relationship will turn sour when he can't communicate with her any other way, & is forced to escalate to get some PEACE.

- terry

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My housemates dog goes to work with him and mine is either at home or with dog walker/sitter when I’m at work so they’ve not yet been unsupervised for longer than 30 minutes, but she’d given up trying to get him to play by this time. I thought it was gonna be worse than it’s turned out to be. It only took a couple of days of her trying

 

[leashedForLife]

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this might be an excess of caution, but i'd use a baby-gate or some other separator, like a closed door, even if they are only unsupervised for 30-minutes. A half-hour is plenty of time for a scuffle or a few snarks!
At the very least, consider a CC-TV camera to capture video so that U can actually *see* if she pesters him while they're unsupervised. If she were to get hurt, U'd never forgive Urself, or if he learns to hate his k9 housemate, U might need to move or confine her, & the potential risk is worth the extra effort, IMO.
CC-TV systems are only about $30 per camera, & need basic WiFi to network with the home computer - they're easy to set up.

CC-TVs that allow us to monitor our pets in real-time are marvelous - i especially appreciate the ones that let U talk to the pet at home. // Many years ago, I had an answering-machine from Radio Crap that let me listen to my household over the phone, & i could talk to my pets - depending on what was going on, I could tell my dog to settle, talk to my parrots, or just confirm that everyone was relaxed & all was well. It was a lousy answering-machine, but a GREAT remote monitor for the pets when i wasn't at home.

- terry

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