Can You Get Another Dog To Like Your Dog?

[far_kenell_73]

Hi Guy's,

Just after some advice, both myself and my friend have male dogs that are both about a year old. Mine is a golden retriever and his is a Hungarian vizsla so similar size. The problem is they don't get along, I guess i'm a bit bias but my dog has never done anything wrong and if it comes within 5-10m of the Viszla the vizslas hackles will go up and it will start foaming at the mouth while really growling, my dog just ignores it. My friend hasn't really socialised his dog as it grew up and it hasn't met many other dog's, it lives with another dog but has dominated it and gotten away with it since young. How can I get the dog's to get along is their any tips, we have introduced them on neutral turf and when off leash they are ok until close together. It would be great if we could get them to get along so we can leave dogs with each other when we go on holidays etc. Any tips would be great.

[Guest Ams]

Hi Guy's,

Just after some advice, both myself and my friend have male dogs that are both about a year old. Mine is a golden retriever and his is a Hungarian vizsla so similar size. The problem is they don't get along, I guess i'm a bit bias but my dog has never done anything wrong and if it comes within 5-10m of the Viszla the vizslas hackles will go up and it will start foaming at the mouth while really growling, my dog just ignores it. My friend hasn't really socialised his dog as it grew up and it hasn't met many other dog's, it lives with another dog but has dominated it and gotten away with it since young. How can I get the dog's to get along is their any tips, we have introduced them on neutral turf and when off leash they are ok until close together. It would be great if we could get them to get along so we can leave dogs with each other when we go on holidays etc. Any tips would be great.

male dogs that are both about a year old In my experience the short answer is probably not unless you are willing to keep them totally separated for now and invest in the advice and tutoring from a good trainer/behaviorist. If it does happen then it is going to take quite some time.

[Dogsfevr]

I would never risk looking after a dog that has dislike issues unless you are truly set up to cater for it & be prepared to keep separated.

Nor would i knowingly expose my own dog to one that displays such behavior,your dog is young & at this stage doesn't react back but one day things may change greatly ,don't let your dog pay the price

This person needs to make the effort & go to training or seek so help

[Salukifan]

No offence but if I had a few dollars for every dog owner who thinks "my dog isn't doing anything wrong" when it's not the case, I'd be well off.

Are both dogs desexed? It's not really all that uncommon for adolescent males to be a bit standoffish with other males (or adult males actually)

Do they have the same play styles? I know quite a few Golden Retrievers who favour the "full body contact" style of play and just bore right in and want to jump on other dogs. I know just as many dogs who simply will not tolerate that kind of behaviour. Given that your dog may be up to 10kg heavier that the Vizsla, I'd not be surprised if it wanted to warn your boy off a bit.

My advice would be to engineer ways in which the dogs can spend time together without contact initially. Long onlead walks would be my opening gambit.

Not sure I'd ever be leaving them alone unsupervised.. it's just asking for trouble.

Edited June 28, 2012 by Haredown Whippets

[far_kenell_73]

Thanks for the replies. My dog defiantly could be doing some wrong things, that I Haven't picked up on. It just shocked me there first encounter my dog was yawning and looking the other way and his dog was still really aggressive. Dex has never had any other problems with other dogs, so I just found it weird. My dog was desexed a few months ago and his is still entire.

The dogs havn't actually played together either when they are both of lead his dog shows no interest in mine, and is very loyal to his owner and eager to please. Next time we are out I will give the long walks on the lead for awhile. Sounds silly but when we got are dogs we kinda of planned that if one of us goes away the other can look after the dogs rather than Kennels.

Any other advice would be great.

[german_shep_fan]

Thanks for the replies. My dog defiantly could be doing some wrong things, that I Haven't picked up on. It just shocked me there first encounter my dog was yawning and looking the other way and his dog was still really aggressive. Dex has never had any other problems with other dogs, so I just found it weird. My dog was desexed a few months ago and his is still entire.

The dogs havn't actually played together either when they are both of lead his dog shows no interest in mine, and is very loyal to his owner and eager to please. Next time we are out I will give the long walks on the lead for awhile. Sounds silly but when we got are dogs we kinda of planned that if one of us goes away the other can look after the dogs rather than Kennels.

Any other advice would be great.

Yawning can mean that the dog is nervous and looking away can mean that the dog is avoiding eye contact, hence not wanting to take up the challenge that your friends dog is putting out there. Sounds like your boy just wants to be out of the situation completely.

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

Thanks for the replies. My dog defiantly could be doing some wrong things, that I Haven't picked up on. It just shocked me there first encounter my dog was yawning and looking the other way and his dog was still really aggressive. Dex has never had any other problems with other dogs, so I just found it weird. My dog was desexed a few months ago and his is still entire.

The dogs havn't actually played together either when they are both of lead his dog shows no interest in mine, and is very loyal to his owner and eager to please. Next time we are out I will give the long walks on the lead for awhile. Sounds silly but when we got are dogs we kinda of planned that if one of us goes away the other can look after the dogs rather than Kennels.

Any other advice would be great.

And here's the answer - "My dog was desexed ..... and his is still entire". As a rescuer, I can tell you I would never rehome a dog to a home where the existing dog was entire, it normally (not always) leads to issues.

Is his dog definitely a purebred Vizsla? I don't think that is typical of the breed. I have noticed that in certain places in NSW they are calling dogs "Viszla crosses" when actually they are most likely pitbull crosses. Vizslas aren't all that common.

You need to either get him to desex his dog (if he's not showing or breeding then there is no reason not to) or separate your dogs permanently, asap. Hoewver, you've still got to come home and presumably interact with the dogs in the house? then someone has to move out, this is a very stressful situation for both dogs and therefore responsible owners who don't want to see their dogs stressed.

[Polgara's Shadow]

Dogmad, I may be the one reading this wrong but I don't think the two dogs are living together.

I understand that far_kenell_73 and friend hope to dog-sit for each other but are worried about doing so because of the Visla's behaviour.

far_kenell_73 I don't have any advice, but can sympathise with your situation. I don't like putting Vulcan in kennels either and am fortunate that he gets along well with many of our friends dogs and they are happy to dog-sit for us (and vice-versa).

Edited June 28, 2012 by Polgara's Shadow

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

Dogmad, I may be the one reading this wrong but I don't think the two dogs are living together.

I understand that far_kenell_73 and friend hope to dog-sit for each other but are worried about doing so because of the Visla's behaviour.

far_kenell_73 I don't have any advice, but can sympathise with your situation. I don't like putting Vulcan in kennels either and am fortunate that he gets along well with many of our friends dogs and they are happy to dog-sit for us (and vice-versa).

Thank you, I was obviously tired - i have certainly been overdoing things lately in my world of dog rescue, so apologies.

I just reread the OP's first post and I can see that the plan is they hope to look after each other's dogs when on holidays. However, it also mentions that there is another dog living with the Vizsla cross that it dominates. That would mean that the GR would be with 2 other dogs rather than just one and that those two dogs already have issues. It would def. not be advisable to add the GR to the mix.

Can I suggest (if you don't want to kennel the dog) that the OP finds an organisation like "Don't Fret Pet" or someone who could move in to the OP's home and care for the dog. There are other alternatives to kennels but even that would be preferable to placing the GR with the Vizsla cross and it's friend.

[Whippetsmum]

You can't make 2 dogs "like" each other, they can get to know each other better, but you need to be very aware of their signals, what they are sending to the dog and what they are sending to you. You also need to be careful what signals you send to your dog and to the other dog- e.g. "my dog needs protecting, so it's weak". I know my dog needs a few meetings before he learns new body languages especially if it's not another from the Hound Group, once he can relax when he sees the other dog, we may get closer, but it can take several weeks of him seeing another dog before I would let him close in a class. It annoys me when other people don't respect this, they may think they know their dog and can trust it with any dog, but not as well as I know mine and his needs.