# HELP! My puppy is attacking my new older dog



## Christina2187 (Mar 11, 2011)

Hello! I have a female 5 month old Lab mix that we've had since she was 10 weeks old. In the past month we've moved from GA to IL and she's had no socialization with other dogs or people. Now every time she sees a person walking their dog or walking by themselves she goes into a barking frenzy. Before the move she was great with strangers and my sister-in-laws older dog. We thought adding another dog to our family would make her happy and she could have a playmate like before we moved. So yesterday we adopted a 1 year old Siberian Husky. We really liked him because he's up to date on everything, neutered, and good with kids and dogs. Well, when we brought him home we took everything slowly. We kept them both on a leash to meet each other for the first time. Well, my puppy went into a crazy barking frenzy and lunged herself at him. He then pulled my husband forward (this husky is strong!) and stood over the puppy and nipped at her and she peed herself. The whole night we looked online for different ways to introduce them and every one of them didn't work. Our puppy is acting very aggressive towards him and we are at a lose. We had to keep them in different areas of the house throughout the night. This morning I tried to work on it some more while my husband was at work. I tied the puppy to a door and brought the husky out of the bathroom to tie him to our stairs. As soon as he walked out of the bathroom she went crazy with her barking and the husky literally pulled me all the way over toward her. He has not once showed he wanted to fight with her, he's just interested. I could tell if he got close enough she'd bite him so I pulled him away to put him back in the bathroom. When he figured out what I was doing he was not happy about it and pulled against me trying to put him back in the bathroom. He tugged so hard the collar slipped off his neck and he went straight to our puppy and all he'll broke loose. She was in full attack mode barking, showing teeth, hair standing up and of corse biting him. He stood over her and started biting at her head, though it didn't look near as hard as she was biting him but it still scared me since he is way bigger than her. I unhooked her from the door to pull her to the bathroom and was having to use my leg to keep the husky away. I really don't know what to do. She used to be good but in this one months time she's totally different. We really want two dogs and don't want to return him. Websites we've read said don't give up and if we give him back our puppy will think she can pick who can stay and who can't. It's just really frustrating. We don't know if it's really just him she doesn't like or if she feels treatened by his size. Or if we give him back and just get a puppy younger than her then would that be better but we don't want to give in to her. I was planning to take her to the dog park to play this weekend but now I see it will be out of the question. We are at a lose. Please help us with any suggestions. Also, I contacted a dog behavior specialist in my area and am waiting to hear back from him to get her enrolled but wanted some opinions in the mean time. Thank you!


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## newfiesmum (Apr 21, 2010)

Personally, and please don't take offence, I don't think you have given your puppy enough time to settle into her new environment before bringing in another dog. A move like that is very unsettling for a dog, sometimes takes months for them to feel secure and at home, and she needed more time with her new house and with her people being in that different place.

It is too late to consider that now, though, but I will say that she will not think she has won if you take the sibe back, dogs do not think that way. All she will know is that the cause of her fear has gone away, not that she made him go away.

There are a couple of thing you can try, but don't expect success overnight. Firstly put a babygate up between two adjoining rooms if you can, or preferably a dog gate. They are taller and the sibe is less likely to be able to jump over it. Let them get used to each other while being apart. You can get someone to bring the sib into the adjoining room, on lead, whilst feeding treats to your pup, just for a couple of minutes, then take the sibe out and stop the treats. The treats only appear when the sibe appears, never any other time. That will make the pup associate good things with the sibe. They must be high value treats, something like chicken, cheese, liver cake, and not something she can have at any other time. This is special - sibe appears, I get chicken.

You can try to same method to distract her on walks if she barks and lunges at other dogs, only in this case you must see the dog coming, make the pup sit and turn her away, hold treats in your hand and let her lick them or keep feeding them till the other dog is past. Again, eventually she will associate the sight of another dog with treats.

As far as these two are concerned, never leave them alone together, but I expect you already know that.


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## Sled dog hotel (Aug 11, 2010)

Christina2187 said:


> Hello! I have a female 5 month old Lab mix that we've had since she was 10 weeks old. In the past month we've moved from GA to IL and she's had no socialization with other dogs or people. Now every time she sees a person walking their dog or walking by themselves she goes into a barking frenzy. Before the move she was great with strangers and my sister-in-laws older dog. We thought adding another dog to our family would make her happy and she could have a playmate like before we moved. So yesterday we adopted a 1 year old Siberian Husky. We really liked him because he's up to date on everything, neutered, and good with kids and dogs. Well, when we brought him home we took everything slowly. We kept them both on a leash to meet each other for the first time. Well, my puppy went into a crazy barking frenzy and lunged herself at him. He then pulled my husband forward (this husky is strong!) and stood over the puppy and nipped at her and she peed herself. The whole night we looked online for different ways to introduce them and every one of them didn't work. Our puppy is acting very aggressive towards him and we are at a lose. We had to keep them in different areas of the house throughout the night. This morning I tried to work on it some more while my husband was at work. I tied the puppy to a door and brought the husky out of the bathroom to tie him to our stairs. As soon as he walked out of the bathroom she went crazy with her barking and the husky literally pulled me all the way over toward her. He has not once showed he wanted to fight with her, he's just interested. I could tell if he got close enough she'd bite him so I pulled him away to put him back in the bathroom. When he figured out what I was doing he was not happy about it and pulled against me trying to put him back in the bathroom. He tugged so hard the collar slipped off his neck and he went straight to our puppy and all he'll broke loose. She was in full attack mode barking, showing teeth, hair standing up and of corse biting him. He stood over her and started biting at her head, though it didn't look near as hard as she was biting him but it still scared me since he is way bigger than her. I unhooked her from the door to pull her to the bathroom and was having to use my leg to keep the husky away. I really don't know what to do. She used to be good but in this one months time she's totally different. We really want two dogs and don't want to return him. Websites we've read said don't give up and if we give him back our puppy will think she can pick who can stay and who can't. It's just really frustrating. We don't know if it's really just him she doesn't like or if she feels treatened by his size. Or if we give him back and just get a puppy younger than her then would that be better but we don't want to give in to her. I was planning to take her to the dog park to play this weekend but now I see it will be out of the question. We are at a lose. Please help us with any suggestions. Also, I contacted a dog behavior specialist in my area and am waiting to hear back from him to get her enrolled but wanted some opinions in the mean time. Thank you!


If you had the original pup since 10 weeks old and she is 5 mths now, and you say she is not socialised with other dogs and people, how come, shes not been socialised? Does that mean she doesnt get taken out to mix with people and other dogs? You mention now she sees people walking alone or with their dogs she goes into a barking frenzy. Do you mean when you take her out or when people and dogs go past your property? If you have only just moved, then the move could have disorientated her still further if she was unsocialised in the first place, especially if she has now had changes to her routine on top of the move, say you have suddently left her for longer periods, or something like that. Also if you didnt introduce them away from the property on neutral territory, and then take them for a walk, before bringing them in together, and just brought the new boy into her home, then that would have likely got them off on the wrong footing. Also if you both introduced them on a lead in the house (A confined space) then she would have had no opportunity to manoever or get out of his way, if she was unsure about him, hence why she probably had to revert to the snapping and 
lunging it was her only method of trying to get him to go away. When that didnt work, because he got free, that was why she probably peed herself, part probably from fright, but also possibly from submissive urination, it can be an appeasement thing. Also if he is a young buck siberian husky, who hasnt got a lot of manners himself,(Not uncommon at this age) Huskys do play really rough, they nip,bite and really rough house in play,dumping each other on the ground and even dragging each other along by loose skin. Most people with more domesticated breeds usually cringe with horror when they watch sibes interact and play for the first time, especially with their own breed. If she is unsocialised shes probably doing what shes doing out of uncertainty and fear especially as you say shes not socilised and unstable after the move. When you said he got loose and was biting her about the head, im pretty willing to bet there was likely not to have been a mark on her, they put there jaws over each others heads and play bite and as mentioned before grab at the loose skin on the face. having each others heads in their mouths is pretty standard play.

Did you do any research on the siberian Husky as a breed and ownership before you took him on? You do realise that you cant let them off a lead because of their instinct to run and hunt is so strong, they are not known for recall. They are also capable if they feel like it of easily jumping a 6ft fence.
They also need vast amount of exercise, and a bored under exercised husky that is left alone for long periods can become very vocal and destructive.
Also the age he is now is a classic age when they usually find themselves in welfare and dogs homes.

Have you got a dog crate or indoor kennel, If you have it might be an idea to introduce them that way, so they can get used to sharing space, although if neither of the dogs have been crate trained, that would have to be your first priority. I would also suggest that ideally you need to take them out and walk and exercise them, having one of the dogs each and two of you going, so they can "mix" on neutral territory. However as you said your pup is unsocialised and has behavioural problems because of it already, under the circumstances, Im not sure what sort of success that will be. Before you do it, however, I suggest that you purchase a well fitting stong harness and collar and a double end training lead, with strong clips on both ends and attach one to the collar and one to the harness of the husky for security, as
it seems he has already given you the slip twice.

Hope this might be of some use, however under the circumstances Im not sure how much of it will be relevant.


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## Jonesey (Dec 30, 2010)

No advice here, though sounds like you're getting good advice already. I just wanted to say I hope you can work it out.


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## newfiesmum (Apr 21, 2010)

Sled dog hotel said:


> If you had the original pup since 10 weeks old and she is 5 mths now, and you say she is not socialised with other dogs and people, how come, shes not been socialised? Does that mean she doesnt get taken out to mix with people and other dogs? You mention now she sees people walking alone or with their dogs she goes into a barking frenzy. Do you mean when you take her out or when people and dogs go past your property? If you have only just moved, then the move could have disorientated her still further if she was unsocialised in the first place, especially if she has now had changes to her routine on top of the move, say you have suddently left her for longer periods, or something like that. Also if you didnt introduce them away from the property on neutral territory, and then take them for a walk, before bringing them in together, and just brought the new boy into her home, then that would have likely got them off on the wrong footing. Also if you both introduced them on a lead in the house (A confined space) then she would have had no opportunity to manoever or get out of his way, if she was unsure about him, hence why she probably had to revert to the snapping and
> lunging it was her only method of trying to get him to go away. When that didnt work, because he got free, that was why she probably peed herself, part probably from fright, but also possibly from submissive urination, it can be an appeasement thing. Also if he is a young buck siberian husky, who hasnt got a lot of manners himself,(Not uncommon at this age) Huskys do play really rough, they nip,bite and really rough house in play,dumping each other on the ground and even dragging each other along by loose skin. Most people with more domesticated breeds usually cringe with horror when they watch sibes interact and play for the first time, especially with their own breed. If she is unsocialised shes probably doing what shes doing out of uncertainty and fear especially as you say shes not socilised and unstable after the move. When you said he got loose and was biting her about the head, im pretty willing to bet there was likely not to have been a mark on her, they put there jaws over each others heads and play bite and as mentioned before grab at the loose skin on the face. having each others heads in their mouths is pretty standard play.
> 
> Did you do any research on the siberian Husky as a breed and ownership before you took him on? You do realise that you cant let them off a lead because of their instinct to run and hunt is so strong, they are not known for recall. They are also capable if they feel like it of easily jumping a 6ft fence.
> ...


I read the post that the puppy was socialised until they moved. Now I read it again I am not so sure; which is it? As Sled Dog says, they need to be on neutral territory and with two of you walking them together, but not too close, that could help. If you cannot hold the sibe, though, you do need a headcollar or non pull harness or perhaps even both to start with.


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## Christina2187 (Mar 11, 2011)

Hey! Sorry I'm just now replying. I haven't been on here in a few weeks. 
Anyway, our original puppy, Marley, was very well socialized before we moved. She liked other dogs and people just fine. It was when we moved that she changed. We believe it was due to us having to live in a hotel for about two weeks until we found a house to live in. (We moved for military.) When we took her out for walks we never saw any other dogs out and about. We also could only walk her in the dog designated potty area outside and it was away from the main enterence of the hotel so she rarely saw other people walking unless it was inside the hotel (she never barked at them though.) We were gone everyday while in the hotel looking for a home to live in so she was by herself about 6-7 hours of the day. I just didn't think that almost two weeks of this would change her totally opposite of how she was originally.
When we finally found a home, she would always look out the sliding glass door and that's when she'd bark at people and dogs walking by our house. We really didn't think too much of it.

About the husky, yes I do know the breed. I grew up with a Siberian Husky and know all about them. The one I had has sadly passed away now and I really wanted another one so that's why I got this one. 
Well, we tried a few days more to introduce them and nothing worked. So we gave him back to the orininal owners which was agreed upon in case things didn't work out. We really felt like it was just something about him she didn't like, maybe his size. Turns out we were right. We adopted a female 9 week old Great Pyrenees/Lab mix puppy a few days later and they do GREAT together! When they first met Marley barked a little (nothing like toward the husky) but was soon over it and they played for hours! We've had this puppy, Bella, about two weeks now and they still do great together. Our neighbor adopted a female pit bull mix puppy that's about 5 months like Marley and the size exact size and we let them all play together. When first meeting the neighbors puppy Marley did bark at first but we took it slow with both on leash and they started playing soon afterward! We guess it really was just the husky's size or something about him she just didn't like. She still barks at people and dogs walking by our house and are working with her on it. She's getting much better at it! Sometimes she'll bark, other times just looks at them. A stray cat even walked through our back yard once while she was outside and she just layed there and watched it leave.

Any suggestions on how to get Marley to stop barking at people and dogs walking by? Our method is working ok so far, just want to see if there are any other things we can try. Also the new puppy Bella hates her crate and will bark for about 20 mins then finally give up. The method we're using with Marley is not working for Bella in the crate. Any suggestions? House potty training tips are appreciated as well! Thanks!


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## RobD-BCactive (Jul 1, 2010)

Christina2187 said:


> Any suggestions on how to get Marley to stop barking at people and dogs walking by? Our method is working ok so far, just want to see if there are any other things we can try. Also the new puppy Bella hates her crate and will bark for about 20 mins then finally give up. The method we're using with Marley is not working for Bella in the crate. Any suggestions? House potty training tips are appreciated as well! Thanks!


How can we suggest alternative methods, if you don't explain your method?

Hopefully you are desensitising to strange dogs/people by building a positive association, so they are viewed as a good thing. The same as is best with the crate.

For house training, there's masses of material in forum, a sticky & threads to find via the search button. In a nutshell, supervision spot when they'll go, take outside, reward the going; keep anything and any place they do go, clean and try to remove the smells with Biological wash powder.


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