hi all.

Apologies for the delay in my messages im actually from Australia and with the time difference when youre all wake im sound asleep and so are my doggies

I would like to thank you all for your contribution to my thread and problems.. i really appreciate it!

Ok so an update of whats happened since yesterday. I know i have probably done some things wrong but hopefully you guys can give me guidance... as you can probably tell i want both my dogs to get along

So yesterday i arrived home to the sounds of the two dogs barking at me coming home, i ignored them for about 5 or so minutes till they calmed down and greeted them both at the same time.

I noticed that millie wasnt jumping on andy like at the end of the video. I also noticed yesterday that millie wasnt trying to hump Andy which was a first for the week.

I took both of the dogs for a walk, both were quite calm, millie is scared of big mack trucks so she freaked a little when one drove past...i just continued walking pretending it didnt exist. After about 2 hours came home.. gave them a rest and then it was feeding time.

I told andy to sit where he ususally eats and told millie to goto her kennel. I fed them both at the same time millie again finished first but gave andy some space without me doing anything... the two were about 5 metres apart

then i went in to watch tv... andy went to have a nap... millie was wondering around the garden.. she started bothering him when he was sleeping... he gave her a warning bark, then she left him alone for the rest of the night

this morning when i fed them all seemed to be good again.. they were playing and i fed them with the same routine as i did the previous night...

i don't know if im just looking on the positive side of things, but it looks like they might have sorted something out... i am in the process of getting a webcam where i can watch what they do while im at work.

Ill try to answer some questions or make some comments.

Mike: I completely agree with what you have written in your post. This is the way we have trained all our previous dogs. Millie was a special case but now she is starting to realise that im boss... she is more attentive and more obedient. I think the fact that im spending more time training her is helping

Steve: When they are playing and andy has had enough i dont think he knows how to tell her thats enough. He will either goto his kennel and sleep or lie down (not belly up) and if she keeps trying to play with him he will bark at her and she now gives him his space...

is there a way i can train andy to tell her playtime is over without being so confrontational?

Wendy: Yes Andy has bit millie on the nose before.. This was on the first night we had her... we fed them in separate areas of the backyard.. my wife wasnt able to contain millie and she charged to andys bowl... stuck her face in it and he bit her..

Cheri: This type of play happens every now and then. I find that the two are playing with each other. But sometimes andy will be say lying down and she will be trying to get all on top of him.. its happening less and less now.... it seems that they are happy to give each other a bit of space...

Apologies on this huge post... but i hope it makes things a bit clearer on what time doing and how they are interacting..

Appreciate the feedback guys!

 Quote:

When they are playing and andy has had enough i dont think he knows how to tell her thats enough. He will either goto his kennel and sleep or lie down (not belly up) and if she keeps trying to play with him he will bark at her and she now gives him his space...

is there a way i can train andy to tell her playtime is over without being so confrontational?

I think he knows Darrell. All you can do is teach her some manners while you're home. I think it will carry over with her. I think you're allready seeing some of that.

Darrell...that's how dogs communicate. For me, a warning bark is him showing some manners.

It would be easier to try and teach Millie that when he's lying down he's off limits.

I wouldn't want to have a dog that didn't give a warning of some sort. I wouldn't correct Andy, you don't want to have a dog that bites first and asks questions later.

When you are with them, I would still try to keep Millie from pestering him too much. If he lays down keep her away from him for his comfort. He's getting into his senior years...so he deserves his quiet time without that pesky little beagle nosing around...lol

bump

hi all another update,
looks like everything is going okay now

andy is getting plenty of space and millie is still wondering around the backyard

andy give off any warning barks yesterday so all seems well

now all i have to work on is millies behavior, shes quite naughty still jumping up and barking to get attention. shes also trying to get me to pet her ... but for all these things i just walk away

It sounds like things are moving in a positive direction. You mentioned setting up a Webcam. Not a bad idea. Would enable you to see what is going on while you're not there. (I'm stating the obvious, I know.) But I think it's important to make sure Andy is not being pestered to the point of harassment.

I would continue to spend as much time as you can with the dogs, working with Millie both separately and in the presence of Andy. Sorry if I missed this in previous posts, but are you doing marker training?

In the video, I see two dogs that are not particularly compatible in terms of energy level and playing style. I have a 2.5 year old GSD and a 16 year old Cairn Terrier. The GSD is absolutely not allowed to pester that CT. He's been taught this since he was a young dog and he follows the rules. On the other hand, he will play rough with my 6 yo GSD. He knows what's appropriate and what is off limits.

IMHO, Millie needs to be taught that Andy doesn't like rough play - easy enough with a quick "no" when she's bothering him and a redirection to something more fun. But that's hard to accomplish if she has many opportunities to reinforce her pestering behavior because they are unattended.

Millie looks like she could really benefit from additional "thinking" exercise and obedience. Tiring her mind AND body out will go a long way towards helping Andy keep his peaceful lifestyle.

How's it going, Darrell?

Delete double post

Edited by Connie Sutherland (02/16/2013 03:35 PM)
Edit reason: delete duplicate post

Things between the dogs are OK...she keeps her distance but occasionally we notice her trying to play with Andy when he doesn't want to.

When we see this we try to separate them. Right now I'm trying to teach her some obedience. She's not good at listening as she has a short attention span.

She also has quite bad separation anxiety? Every time o move out of view or go out she barks like crazy. I was thinking of getting a bark collar for now but would rather find a proper solution.

I still don't think she sees me as a pack leader. I'm trying to work on this as we speak.