Help!! New dog not adjusting well

[Diesel10]

Hello everyone, I'm in need of some help and advice as I'm at my wits end. We have a 2 year old male neutuered bulldog. He is outgoing and playful, although has some resource guarding when it comes to toys. We were asked to take in a 4 year old male neutured rescue Bulldog mix that was from an abused home. It all happened rather quickly but we brought Winston home. We tried introducing them in a neutral place, with scents, they go for walks together and do great. But in the house they can't be off leash or in the same room without trying to fight. They got into one major one where Winston latched on to diesels head and neck and we couldn't get him off until we sprayed water on him. There was quite a bit of blood. We just don't know what to do from here, we want to help Winston have a home, but Diesel is our baby and we don't want to see him hurt again.

 

[ddnene]

I'm SO sorry to hear this, but it does happen...

I'm going to tag some members that will be able to advice you... I have NO experience w/fosters.

 

[Manydogs]

I have never had this problem,though I have had many rescues-but never two males together. I know the best one to advise you would be [MENTION=9370]brutus77[/MENTION] as she has been through this, and worked it out very well. I would seperate them with a gate,first of all. Have it where they can see each other-but not get together.
Feed them where they can see each other,but at a distance. You can take turns giving each one family time. It may take a couple of weeks,as it did for Rosalie.
Hoping she comes on,and hope it works out for you,as it did for her!

 

[oscarmayer]

simplified, maybe over-simplified, this sounds like territorial aggression. I don't think you will cure it. It will likely have to be managed as long as they live in the same home.
IF(big IF) this is the case, you must ask yourself if it's fair to either dog and yourself. As much as you may want to help, this may be something that cannot be overcome without altering the family dynamic...in an undesirable way. Both dogs have laid claim to the home and will likely not relinquish to the other. I hope I'm wrong.

 

[midiaz]

Oh no! I hope someone is able to give you some feeback on how to make things better for both of them. My husband and I adopted a dog from Houston SPCA back in Dec, unfortunately, things didn't go so well for us. The dog ( terrier mix) was very aggresive towards our Bentley. We tried everything you mentioned aboved and the rescue dog just didn't like Bentley. The rescue dog was 3 years old and apparently had an aggresive behavior ( we were told this after the fact). We were hoping things would eventually workout between them, but when we noticed our Bentley was acting different.. sitting in the corner alone and not eating, we knew the rescue dog was just not a good fit for our home. Sadly, he was returned to the shelter

 

[helsonwheels]

Not much you can do there. Like [MENTION=15364]oscarmayer[/MENTION] said not fair for all of you. You're just going to spend more money on training but are you ready to go through all that when it's not guaranteed? The rescue one should basically be rehomed but to a house without any dogs as he's already 4yrs old and you cant do much when their brain has escalated that high. My GS was from an RCMP breeder in Quebec. Had an extra litter. Guess his back was turned too long lol.. anyway, I took one but as Major was getting older, brain kept escalating to rip any dog apart even though he was trained to a "T" and loved people....The breeder which only trains K9 for the RCMP said it himself.....not much anyone can do when a dog's brain escalates. Will go down for a few days but will go right back up if an incident is about to happen. Like a drug....flashbacks. It's observation 24/7. It's a mission trust me. Had to put Major down 2yrs ago n he was 8yrs old. His new targets were very small children. That was it for me. Dog issues like so will start on each other then it "can" progress to children, or walking down the street coming face to face with other dogs etc. Im telling you all this as you got a lot to think about. Might not be like my Majors issue but having 2 dogs in a house that have to be leashed is not normal. The rescue needs to be rehomed without any other dogs and Diesel needs to be the only dog in your house. That's my 2 cents.

 

[cefe13]

So sorry to hear things are not working out. Although I have no experience of fosters or of two dogs at the same time, it does sound as if Winston needs another home where he will be the only dog. It's not fair to Bentley having to fight in his own house. I hope you will find a solution that works for all of you.

 

[Dollys Owner]

I agree with all the above, and I would rehome Winston to be fair to Diesel. I don't think because Winston is attacking Diesel he is going to progress to attacking small children though. In the meantime you could try muzzling Winston or keeping him in basement or some other separate area until you can rehome him. If you do muzzle Winston I would take the muzzle off and cage him when you aren't around.

 

[2BullyMama]

simplified, maybe over-simplified, this sounds like territorial aggression. I don't think you will cure it. It will likely have to be managed as long as they live in the same home.
IF(big IF) this is the case, you must ask yourself if it's fair to either dog and yourself. As much as you may want to help, this may be something that cannot be overcome without altering the family dynamic...in an undesirable way. Both dogs have laid claim to the home and will likely not relinquish to the other. I hope I'm wrong.

Great post and I agree.... this is a tough situation especially since you have stayed Diesel has resource guarding issues.. very difficult to correct.

Sending lots of hugs of support


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[Diesel10]

Thanks everyone for your advice. Update is after talking to a professional dog trainer we have decided to return Winston. We are heart broken but it's for the best

 

[oscarmayer]

we have decided to return Winston.

Tough call, correct call, IMO. You would not be doing Winston any favors by keeping him, isolating him from the rest of the family. His stay with you would turn into an existence rather than a fulfilled life. Diesel's happiness and well-being would be diminished with Winston there.
You did right. I expect that in time Diesel will find the right home and all will be better off.

 

[brutus77]

Hi [MENTION=15134]Diesel10[/MENTION] I would recommend keeping them separate for a while and let them get used to each other. Get a baby gate they can see and smell each other through. you will start to see body language that says they are accepting each other. Let me ask you this, is Diesel an alpha dog? is Winston alpha? Sounds like Winston might be the Alpha since he started the fight that led to blood shed. what you want to see is them smelling each other through the gate and interacting without any signs of aggression. When acceptance occurs you can see one or both going into a kind of downward dog position, upper body down and butt in the air. This is a playful stance and a good thing. Also, one or both can put the length of their body against the gate, this is a submissive position and also a good thing. NEVER let them stare at each other or growl. You will know the difference between play growls and fight growls. This could take up to a month or more for acceptance. I keep an air horn handy and if they start to get into it, I pull the handle and they break apart. I have three bulldogs, one I bought and two rescues. Brutus is my anxiety boy and he is 4. He is the alpha and gives me the most trouble with aggression to the others. Frankie is 5 and is submissive and Jack whom we just rescued 6 months ago is sumissive but no push over so he tends to fight back with Brutus where Frankie wont. I have learned to read their body language really well and that is very important to keeping peace. Brutus will get a very nervous look in his eyes and stare at whomever he is going to go after (ususally Jack as he is the new comer). When I see this, I immediately yell "NO BRUTUS" or "ENOUGH" and he will break the stare. If he doesn't, he gets a time out in his crate so he understands that behavior will not be tolerated. He is much better and will continue to adapt as he realizes Jack isn't leaving. When you feel like they are at a point where they can be together remove all toys. This is very important especially if you already acknowledge that Diesel resource gaurds his toys. They will have to learn to interact peacefully and then you can try to introduce some toys. The success of introducing a newbie into the pack really depends on you and everyone in your family. Everyone has to be on the same page with using the same commands and training for the boys. I will say that sometimes a leash is stressful for dogs and could be contributing to the aggression. I would keep them separate for now and take them on two walks per day. This is going to be a two person operation. you have one dog and someone else has the other. This helps with pack intergration and pack mentality. Always keep them under supervision. I would recommend this for a really long time. Absolutely no time together without and adult around. This will also help you to learn their body language that will be displayed toward each other. Good luck, it is a long process but one that will pay off in the end. Message me or you can certainly call me anytime for help. I will message you my phone number.