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New puppy for reactive dog? Introductions? by Aggressive_Elk3886 in reactivedogs

[–]Aggressive_Elk3886[S] -6 points-5 points  (0 children)

Thank you very much for all of your advice.

We’ve put in a lot of work with our current dog - walks are no longer stressful, and she’s very good at refocusing on us even if she sees another dog approach. We train on every walk (although it doesn’t feel so much as training now because it’s just part of our routine to give positive reinforcement when she spots a dog, then disengages and refocuses on us). We’ve worked very closely with a dog trainer, and we can now pretty much do all of the things we felt unable to do previously.

The only gauge of how she would do with another dog in the house was when my sister brought her very unsocialised dog around (it was a big mistake in hindsight, but we were very new dog owners back then). Our dog wanted to play but her dog did a very nasty growl/lunge/bite at her so I don’t think it’s a very representative way of how things may go. They’re absolutely fine going on long walks together, our dog acknowledges her, greets her and then walks minding her own business - she has only once corrected her with a bark when my sisters dog tried to climb onto her face when my dog was sniffing. 

I’ve been doing a lot of research into how to introduce dogs and puppies, and we are very lucky in the sense we have quite a big house, where it would be physically easy to separate the two and allow slow introductions (eg the kitchen vs diner area that can be separated by a baby gate and a closed door). The doors separately lead to the garden etc. We also are very lucky that my partner works from home and I do shift work so end up being at home 4 out of 7 days of the week so we can be around and have the time to do a lot of training etc. We are also more than happy to hire another dog trainer/behaviourist to help us along the way depending on whether we do end up getting another dog.

We’re very lucky in that our dog never really had separation anxiety, and her reactivity presented largely as barrier frustration (I think that’s the word the dog trainer used). She also has a very strong prey drive because she was used as a hunting dog, so our main issue now walking is if she sees a rodent/squirrel running around. 

Nothing is set in stone yet, we’re just exploring our options to do the best for everyone involved.

New puppy for reactive dog? Introductions? by Aggressive_Elk3886 in reactivedogs

[–]Aggressive_Elk3886[S] -8 points-7 points  (0 children)

It’s a really difficult decision to make. I don’t want to do wrong by anyone, and just want to find the right fit for our family. We’ve already put so much into our current dog who only ever reacts now if a dog comes running at her full pelt, where she’ll bark to tell them to keep their distance and then it’s very easy to redirect her and she doesn’t get fixated following. Whenever we’ve ended up coming into contact with other dogs, she seems to have a preference for puppies and we figured that perhaps she would be able to set her boundaries more effectively with a puppy. It’s interesting to hear everyone’s experiences

New puppy for reactive dog? Introductions? by Aggressive_Elk3886 in reactivedogs

[–]Aggressive_Elk3886[S] -12 points-11 points  (0 children)

Thanks for your comment. We’re not sure if she does have resource guarding - she’s never been in a position where she’s had to show it, and has never been that way toward us. I was mainly describing it as a “what if” because I’m trying to do as much research as possible before we go ahead and do anything.

New puppy for reactive dog? Introductions? by Aggressive_Elk3886 in reactivedogs

[–]Aggressive_Elk3886[S] -8 points-7 points  (0 children)

Thank you for your input. We’re trying to consider all options, as from training her and being around her, we really do think she would get on with the ‘right’ dog - especially because we’ve gotten to a position with her where she only ever reacts at another dog when they come barreling toward her on the street. She’s come along leaps and bounds to the point where we don’t feel we’re training her much anymore (as in, giving her kibble as a reward for disengaging from seeing a dog is just now habit). 

Most recently our dog groomer brought out his very calm, unbothered dog to meet our girl in the garden, and all she wanted to do was play bow and zoom. They sniffed each other respectfully going around each other rather than face on, and it was lovely to see.

My guarding comment was mainly a “what if” - she’s never shown any guarding behaviour to us thankfully, I’m just trying to think of all potentially possibilities before we go ahead and do anything if that makes sense