Hi! I have a dominant 3 yr old Shepard, she's super protective of me and my 3 girls, which is fine because she understands commands, and backs off when I tell her to. Fine, everything is ok for 3 years. Then my brother in law decides he can't "afford" to feed his little spayed feamle beagle who has been living outside for the past 2 years in Maine winters. SO we say bring her here, if not he was going to just let her go and wherever she wandered was her home. Nice huh? So we bring her here and get the kennel and everything set up for her, my dog is weary and barks and growls but I have no problems calling her off. What I', worred about is when I'm not home or I put them out in the yard to pee or whatever. I know my dog will attack her, but this beagle is so submissive it's not funny, she lays flat on the floor whe you pet her, she constantly walks around low to the floor with her tail betwwen her legs, when I raise my voice she runs to her kennel and shakes and will not come out. I'm worried about this dog and my dog when I'm not around. I kinda have 2 proiblems here. How to get the dog to trust people because to me it seems like she's been seriuously abused and how to get my dog used to her enough not to kill her if I'm not around to contantly babysit. Can anyone help with this. I'm not used to having 2 dogs and this is a very confusing dog to me, I've never seen a dog like this beagle before it's unreal! Thanks so much!
Cathy

Dear Cathy,
I felt sad when I read about your little Beagle, she has had such a bad beginning. She really needs a lot of love and reassurance. As far as your GSD, I would never ever leave them alone together. There is no doubt in my mind that she would hurt the Beagle, no matter how submissive the beagle is.

I have a multi dog family, male GSD 2 years old, Female GSD 3 years old, 10 week old GSD female, a 5 year old Jack Russell, and a female Sheltie Chow Mix 8 years old There are precautions that I always have to take. When I leave, the puppy is in her crate in my bedroom, the Jack Russell is also in my bed room on my bed he like it there. The other three all get along. When it come to feeding I feed them in different rooms of my house. I have three water bowls in my utility room so there is no problem there. When I let them out in the yard, I have a chair on my patio that I sit in so I can make sure that they do not get ruff with the puppy. At night they usually all sleep in my bed room.

You just have to be aware all the time. The Jack Russell has challenged my male GSD ( Typical terrier attitude) and that time I.C. just put his paw on JR's back. I know that these two will always have to be seperated when I am not home.

I am retired so as you can see my dogs are my family and I do have fun with them. I have the time and terefore it is not a hardship for me to have 5 dogs in my household.

I would really like to borrow a video camera and take pictures of all my dogs together and send it to Mr Frawley so he could see how they all interact. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

It would be great if you could find a home for the little Beagle with someone who could give her a lot of TLC. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Sincerely, Joyce M. Burrows

Yeah, I'd keep them totally seperated. The little Beagle cannot afford to be intimidated even in the slightest way. As for finding a home for her its up to you. Beagles are a VERY popular breed and I think it wouldn't be very hard to find a great family to love her to pieces.
This could be you of course -just please don't 'test' the GSD. Even if she doesn't 'really' hurt the beagle, she will most likely do her best to keep her scared and submissive forever, causing in effect, more serious damage. Tell your brother in law he's a big jerk and that I hope he becomes an abused little scared Beagle in his next life!!

Hi, thanks so much for the comments, I completely agree with finding the beagle a new home, but that's another problem, my husband won't allow it. So just overlook the problem with him and figure out a way to work this all out. I don't know what to do, for now I've just kept the beagle in her kennel when I'm not home and kept a close eye when I am home and she's not in there. My shepard I have noticed, herds the beagle back into her kennel when she comes out. I also caught them tonight doing soething I have never seen before, the beagle went to Shelby's (shepard) dish and just stood there, and Shelby just stood behind her, I called Shelby off and she turned around and walked away then I told the beagle no and she ran into her kennel. I have a feeling that no matter what I do this beagle will never come out of whatever it is. I think my Shelby has gotten used to her being around and just keeps an eye and if the beagle gets out of line Shelby wil do something. I have no idea, I'm confused, this is the first time I've ever come across a dog like this. Thanks everyone.
Cathy
P.S. I just found out my brother in law is putting his blind husky down to sleep. The guy is insane!

Shelby is just being a dog, no dog like another standing over there toy or food bowl. The Beagle needs some private time with you and a little obeidence training.

Some treats and TLC then take the GSD and keep showing her love. I think it best that these two stay separated for now until Beagal if ever gets more sure of its self. This will never happen if the GSD keeps trying to heard or guide the Beagle. Its time for you to step in and decided how you want things to work. The Beagle needs some me time.

Your brother putting his dog to rest is a personal thing, some people after a dogs lived such an active life can't stand to see them suffer and helpless. He was not neccessarily crude. In my eyes. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

HI Don, thanks for the advice about the dogs. I've noticed a lot more today that when it's just me and the kids, Shelby is fine with Daisy the beagle. Daisy is getting testy and keeps going to Shelby's bowls. I prefer to stay out of it and let Shelby teach Daisy that this is either ok or not ok, my husband keeps stepping in. I feel the dogs have to work it out on their own. The herding deal, this I've noticed when there are other people in thehouse or if I try to give the beagle any attention. Shelby tries to get in the middle and the beagle will stay there as long as I don't raise my voice or push Shelby away. I don't know. I think I should try to let this resolve itself and just make sure Daisy is in the kennel when there is no supervision. That's the only solution I can come to. My next goal is to get this super submissive dog to come out of it. Any ideas with that? She doesn't eat from my hand and I still can't get her to get her head off the floor when she is being petted. I did have her playing a little bit today until Shelby decided that she didn't like Daisy getting attention. I don't know. Cracks me up I have 3 daughters and I can't even handle 2 dogs LOL!!! Anyway any advice would be extremely appreciated. Thanks
Cathy

for the submissive dog, don't coddle it. 'feeling sorry' for it will only encourage more ultrasubmissive behavior. it's very hard, but just ignore the behavior and you should see improvement.

Cathy,
I cannot stress to you the seriousness of the mistake you are making.
You should feed the dogs separately. Feed your GSD first, then put the GSD in the crate or another room secure, then feed the beagle.
After the eating is done, you should take up the food bowls. There should be no food or bowls for them to fight over.
You don't want them to work it out on their own - trust me on that one. The GSD could kill the beagle in a bite, or injure her very severely. You may be tredding on thin ice with this one. In fact, you are. In the same way that the beagle should not have to fight for her food, the GSD should not feel she needs to defend her food from the new comer - think about what kind of pack leader you want to be.
I suggest you read Ed's article on bringing home a new dog into a home with an existing dog.
When you are giving the new dog attention and training, you should kennel the GSD so the beagle does not feel intimidated.
If you continue forcing the interactions, the beagle will take a lot longer to come out of her shell.
The bottom line is that both dogs must respect YOU as the pack leader. You probably have some work to do with both dogs.
Michelle

I agree. What you have here is an undersocialized dog (the Beagle) who in all likelihood doesn't know how to be a dog, which is why she is so ultra submissive. A dog that does not understand basic doggy rules is going to break them, and in the GSD's mind, correcting her for her breaches of protocol is perfectly acceptable.

I disagree with letting them work it out. If you had two well-socialized dogs, you could let them work things out to a certain extent, and I would only recommend that to someone who knows dog behavior and can read their own dogs well. Under those circumstances, you can tell when the dogs need to settle something, and can do so without violence, and when things are heating up and intervention is needed. But this is not YOUR situation.

I think the Beagle would be better off as an only dog. Since you say that's not an option, the only choice here is to maintain constant vigilance; don't expect them to get along and be "friends". Don't expect them to share. Do NOT let them "work it out on their own". YOU are the leader, and YOU must be in control at all times.

Hello All:

Cathy, I would not let the dogs "work it out for themselves." I agree with seperate feeding and toys and also seperate kennels for both of the dogs. You can't watch them 24 hours a day and sooner or later they will get into a "scrap" and this has the potential for a very dangerous outcome.

What I would do is always rotate the dogs. When you put the GSD in the yard, do so on a leash and then let the beagle in the house. When the beagle needs to go outside, put the GSD in her kennel or garage or shed or in the front yard where she can't get to the back yard, etc.

Are you 110% sure you have "complete" control of your GSD if she is in drive and decides that she wants to fight with the beagle? Don't give them a chance and set either one up them up for failure and besides, who needs an extra trip to the ER to get stitched up from a dog bite?

Hope this helps,
Brandon