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As yous know I have a Staff and have been contemplating getting a female (not for breeding) Staff for him to play with. What should I expect extra with another dog ? Has anyone ever noticed personality changes when they introduced another dog to the pack? reason I ask is Dakota is perfect right now and wouldnt want to do anything to throw him off.
As yous know I have a Staff and have been contemplating getting a female (not for breeding) Staff for him to play with. What should I expect extra with another dog ? Has anyone ever noticed personality changes when they introduced another dog to the pack? reason I ask is Dakota is perfect right now and wouldnt want to do anything to throw him off.
As you know, my husband and I have two American Pit Bull Terriers. About 11 months ago we got our male, Brooklyn (now 1 year and 1 month old) and he was the perfect puppy! He learned very quickly, very obedient, very friendly with dogs and people.. just all around a wonderful pup! Then about 3 months ago we got our female APBT, Destiny (about 5 months old now) so that Brooklyn could have a friend. At first Brooklyn didn't know what to think of Desi! lol! He didn't like her too much for the first few hours, but then they started to warm up to each other. They get along very well.. they play together all day and they even curl up with each other when they take there naps! But.. Brooklyn has changed some. It probably has to do with him getting older and because we have Desi now. He has never been protective over anything at all, but he doesn't want Desi near his crate, his food or toys! He doesn't hurt her or act like he is going to bite her or attack her, but he will growl at her. If food isn't around and as long as they aren't around his crate or toys they are perfect together! Its really not a problem though.. we just keep their toys put up unless we are right there with them or unless they are each in different rooms or in their crates, we don't feed them right next to each other and we keep the bedroom door closed when we aren't in there, that way Brooklyn wont be worried about Desi getting near his crate! When we go somewhere we put them each in their own crate with the tv on and some toys.. that way we don't have to worry about anything! We hardly ever leave them home alone though, and when we do they are never in their crates for more than a few hours. They also sleep in their crates at night so we don't have to worry about anything. So.. really the only thing that has changed is that Brooklyn doesn't like Desi around his food, crate or toys. As I said before though, it doesn't really cause any problems. 99% of the time they are happy and playing together or curled up together taking a nap! They love each other, but I think Brooklyn feels he has to be dominate over her. I am sure that everything would be fine if you got Dakota a friend.. I would just suggest that you get him a friend while he is still young.. you know? I know that bully breeds can be somewhat dog agressive, but as you know.. if they are properly raised, trained and socialized it shouldn't be a problem. Good luck and let me know how things go!
Last edited by PitBullMommie1206; 06-28-2007 at 05:35 PM..
Just make sure you make indivdual time for your first dog after the new dog comes. If you took a 20 min. walk together each morning, don't stop sharing that time together. Don't make your first dog always have to share you.
When introducing a new dog, do it on neutral territory. Bring both dogs to a place they both do not know and let them get to know each other. If there's a fence between them, all the better. This will let them sniff and see each other without feeling threatened.
You ideally want to introduce two new dogs together OFF leash. Dogs know they are restrained when they are leashed and become may become more defensive than when off leash. You want to give them the best chance to get to know each other. Spend at least 20 minutes at the fence letting them sniff and ogle each other. It takes time to know when dogs will at least tolerate each other or not. They may take to each other immediately but then go after each other minutes later. Later, give them at least an hour or two to play if you see them getting along. Be prepared to step in if they get too aggressive.
It pays to know signs of what is aggressive fighting and what is play aggression. If you're not used to having your dog play with other dogs, get to know the body language of dogs. Dogs can look like they're fighting when they're really playing. It's not unusual for two dogs who know each other well to get into spats now and then but true aggression must be watched for at all times they are together. A pit bull can kill very quickly and dog fights can happen instantly and unexpectedly. Learn to know what to watch for. Do not leave them alone together for at least several months to be sure.
Learn to use body blocking to keep your dogs apart and get their attention. Don't grab for collars if your dogs are getting aggressive with each other. That's a good way to get bitten. The best thing to do is to move your body between the dogs and own the space. It's what pack leaders do to defuse fights and you're much less likely to get bitten.
Though it seems counterintuitive, when you bring a new dog home, ignore it. Yes you can feed and water the new dog, but always do things with your original dog first. Pay attention to your original dog only for about two weeks. Doing this defuses tension between the original dog and the new dog because the new dog isn't replacing the old dog in the hierarchy. Let the two get to know each other as above, but if you want to be nice to the new dog, play, take him/her out, show affection, or whatever, do it while the original dog is in another room where he can't hear or see you.
You want your dogs to establish their own hierarchy. One will be dominant to the other. You may find that the new dog will come to be the dominant dog between the two and that's OK. Respect the order they work out. That means giving attention to the dominant dog first. Whether it's feeding or affection or anything else, acknowledge the dominant first. This lessens the stress between the two dogs and helps keep order in the home. It could mean just giving a little pat to the dominant and then playing ball with the subordinate. Just a token of recognition is all that matters. Can you break this pattern? Sure, on occasion it's fine to. You're the top dog and the top dog can do anything he or she wants. If you want to go running with one dog but not the other, go for a ride in the car, or anything else, go for it. If you're the boss, you get to decide these things.
Train them separately. This is very important. You want your dog to be focused on you exclusively, not on the other dog. Take each dog to a separate place and do training that way. It's good to think of separate things to do with each dog so it reinforces the fact that you are the boss and each will get special time alone with just you. You will also want to teach your dogs group commands later on when they've mastered single commands. Group commands are important.
Last, getting dogs of single sex isn't necessarily problematic. One of each sex is generally the way to go if you can, but two males can get along just fine if they're both neutered. Two males may fight but they rarely fight to kill or maim each other. What you want to avoid are two females together. As one breeder said, "They don't call them b*tches for nothing." This surprises most people but sadly it's true. I even know of one breeder who had to rehome her b*tch's own daughter because the mother and daughter would try to kill each other if permitted.
I highly suggest getting Patricia McConnell and Karen London's booklet, Feeling Outnumbered? How to Manage and Enjoy Your Multi-Dog Household. It's short but good. McConnell is one of the true dog gurus out there and is highly respected by just about everybody in the dog world. It's extremely useful and will help the transition to a multi-dog home be easier for the family and the dogs.
One other thing. Consider not using traditional collars.
When dogs play, sometimes one dog will grasp the other dog by the collar and inadvertently get his jaw under the collar causing the other dog to be strangled. This is a nightmarish situation and more common than you'd imagine. I highly suggest using an Easy Walk harness (broken link) or a breakaway collar. The harness is particularly useful because it prevents dogs from pulling while walking. Harnesses actually encourage dogs to pull against them but the easy walk is different in design and the more a dog pulls, the more it forces him to stop.
As yous know I have a Staff and have been contemplating getting a female (not for breeding) Staff for him to play with. What should I expect extra with another dog ? Has anyone ever noticed personality changes when they introduced another dog to the pack? reason I ask is Dakota is perfect right now and wouldnt want to do anything to throw him off.
been there and did it. My 3 year old aussie, wanted ot a think to do with an 8 week old Bichon. we did not force anthing. they both had crates toys and treated the same with the older being loved , and yes the puppy also. then history did repeat, when the first aussie did pass, and I did decide to get an older puppy. Yes, the puppy, doggie day care, why the now adored Bichon
her home, however it all did work out. now the bichon is in doggie heaven, and it is the aussie and me. if you have a vet you trust ask. also another dog is more money etc and work
As yous know I have a Staff and have been contemplating getting a female (not for breeding) Staff for him to play with. What should I expect extra with another dog ? Has anyone ever noticed personality changes when they introduced another dog to the pack? reason I ask is Dakota is perfect right now and wouldnt want to do anything to throw him off.
been there and did it. My 3 year old aussie, wanted not a thing to do with an 8 week old Bichon. we did not force anthing. they both had crates toys and treated the same with the older being loved , and yes the puppy also. then history did repeat, when the first aussie did pass, and I did decide to get an older puppy. Yes, the puppy, doggie day care, why the now adored Bichon
her home, however it all did work out. now the bichon is in doggie heaven, and it is the aussie and me. if you have a vet you trust ask. also another dog is more money etc and work
We've been a two dog family for years and years.
FWIW, We always have opposite genders, but I know of other households with two males or two females (seems like more pairs are females) that are just fine.
We got new puppies rather than older dogs, but I am not averse to ever getting a rescue.
Our dogs have always gotten along fine, but little things would come up and we would have to change this or that routine. Example, when we still had Tucker, Rosie would wolf down her food then calmly go over and eat Tucker's--and he would let her! So we began feeding them separately.
Right now we are down to one dog, and Elwood is lonely and bored, he had been very close to our old Rosie.
We'll probably get another dog but having just relocated we have other priorities at the present time. It definitely is more money, but IMHO the extra work it entailed was a trade-off for each dog having a built-in playmate.
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Then about 3 months ago we got our female APBT, Destiny (about 5 months old now) so that Brooklyn could have a friend. At first Brooklyn didn't know what to think of Desi! lol! He didn't like her too much for the first few hours, but then they started to warm up to each other. 
But.. Brooklyn has changed some. It probably has to do with him getting older and because we have Desi now. He has never been protective over anything at all, but he doesn't want Desi near his crate, his food or toys! 
He doesn't hurt her or act like he is going to bite her or attack her, but he will growl at her. If food isn't around and as long as they aren't around his crate or toys they are perfect together! 
Its really not a problem though.. we just keep their toys put up unless we are right there with them or unless they are each in different rooms or in their crates, we don't feed them right next to each other and we keep the bedroom door closed when we aren't in there, that way Brooklyn wont be worried about Desi getting near his crate! 
