We just yesterday introduced a 6 month old female English Springer Spaniel to our home. She is not spayed yet, and quite possibly will be bred. We currently have an 8 year old male neutered English Springer Spaniel, who we've had for about 6 years. He literally has his run of the house, is very friendly with our three young boys, and friendly with other animals. We've even had other dogs come into our home for visits or to play, and our male gets along fine. However, yesterday, when we brought in our female, our male showed signg of aggression. Of course our six month old female wanted to play with everyone, including our male, but he groels at her if she gets to close, and actually set off a warning bark when she tried to paly with him. We've never seen this behaviour from our male before, and would like to take corrective action before it gets nasty and someone, either our female or our kids, get bitten. Although our male has not showed his teeth in a threatening manner, he shows signs of aggression. When our female pup gets close to our male, he walks away and avoids her. If she gets too close, he growls. We've even noticed a tenseness in his behaviour, he's doesn't seem as relaxed as before. Please help.

Hi Kerry,
You'd probably feel pretty odd if your spouse brought home a new partner out of the blue and expected you to accept him or her! You'd probably feel that your position in the household was threatened by this new interloper, and you probably would not exactly welcome him or her with open arms. I'm thinking your dog feels similarly.

Gradual introductions are always best, and time is the best remedy for getting a dog used to having another pet around. Let them each have run of the house with the other put away, and have them take turns being out. Gradually let them both be out at the same time, but make sure that the male has an escape route should he feel the need to get away from the new dog. And, make sure that the new dog gets put away if she gets too obnoxious. Don't expect them to share anything, and don't try to force them together. Just let it happen naturally, and intervene if things get too tense. You might make a scent article for the male dog. To do this, just rub a towel or old tshirt all over the new dog, then leave it out for the male to sniff and get to know her scent without having to deal with her neccessarily.

Thank You very much J. Very thoughtful and insightful. We will try this approach. I think you right in stating that a gradual introduction of a new family member to the existing is the most prudent way to approach this situation. Any other suggestions would be appreciated by you or other menbers. How do we determine, show and teach each dog who is the Alpha?

Hi Kerry,
I fully agree with J Parker. You cannot take away any "priviledges" that the older dog was accustomed to. For the time being, he is the alpha. He should get the first petting, the first treat, lay his food bowl down first. Everything he was used to before. As the puppy gets older, they will determine for themselves who will be alpha. The puppy may just accept her junior role and be fine with it. Or she may try to vie for alpha position as she matures. You cannot choose who will take what position. They will know. Your responsibility is to make sure they don't cause physical injury to one another and most importantly, that they know that you, your husband and children are alpha over everyone. This is done basically in the same way. First of all, through obedience training. They MUST obey your command. They only play with toys that are given to them.
You eat first. You go through doorways first. You should always be in a physically higher position than the dog, such as not allowing them on furniture with you. I hope this helps <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Thanks Beth.

I do this a little different. I leave the dogs out as long as they are supervised. Neither dog should establish an alpha role. If the dogs are allowed to "work it out", that translates to "fight it out". That should never be allowed. If they do start to get into it break it up immediatly and put both in their crates.

In most cases adult dogs take a while to warm up to a puppie. Over time you will find the adlult start to try to iniate some play with the pup. After awhile it will be like they are old friends. The only exception is when you are dealing with breeds of radically different sizes. In this case the big dog is not allowed to hurt the little dog at any time. If the little dog wants to take a bone from the big dog that is ok. If this is not done it is too easy for the little dog to be injured.

This is what our local search and rescue lady does who uses malamutes which are known to be quite aggressive with other dogs. She says, whenever she gets an addition, she puts the new dog inside the house in a kennel. The dog is never allowed out while the other dogs are in the same room. She stated that a dog's memory seems to be around 2 weeks. This regimen is done for 2 weeks she lets the dog out and mingle with the current dogs, who by now think she has always been with them. She says it works for her and has never had any problems doing it that way.