Introducing a new husky to the pack.

Question
QUESTION: Hi Michelle,
I have a 5 yr old spayed female siberian husky/australian shepherd mix and I've had her for 6 months now. I also have a 3 yr old un-neutered male maltese. Today I just got a 2 yr old neutered purebred male siberian husky. When he first arrived he was very nervous towards the female he did fine towards the maltese then later tried to dominate him. The female was constantly following the sib then we made a mistake of trying to feed them together and that was not nice but the female showed food possesiveness and we had to break them apart. We then seperated the food bowls then they were fine. They interacted well with one another for sometime. Then, the female began to growl at the male and from there they resumed calm and everything is good it only seems to really happen when the food and water are present. At night we didn't want any conflict so the female who usually sleeps in our bedroom is out in the living room and the male is in our bedroom. What can we do to help the new dog be part of the pack? I greatly appreciate your feedback.

ANSWER: I wouldn't change anything with the female Siberian. You better put her back in the bedroom and return her life back to as normal as possable. She will resent the new male for any changes made in her life style.
She is trying to show the male that she is the alpha there by controlling the food and water. This is what they do in a wolf pack the Alpha says who can eat and who should not. But you should be the alpha not her. The only changes I would do is when feeding them, if she gets ugly with the male, take way her food. If she harasses the male put her in another room, kennel or put her on a leash and make her sit next to you while the male eats, when he is done return her food again, in the same room the problem happened in. Do the same with the water. You want to fix a behavior not make her uncomfortable about the new dog.

If you want me to clarify anything or have further Q's please ask!
-Michelle B

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QUESTION: Thank you so much for your response; it was extremely helpful. We tried to feed them together once again and a little scuffle erupted. It seemed that the male backed down but then began to eat as the female walked away. We thought this is what needed to happen so we tried feeding them together again and now the male walks over to her not letting her eat. Given that we'll definitely try this technique with both doggies. The female sleeps in our room as we said before, but we did switch it up for the past four days. They did have a little scuffle when he tried to enter the room and she growls at him if he approaches the bed or the couch that she is laying on. What techniques can we use to fix this behavior? I greatly appreciate your feedback.

ANSWER: Sounds like it is all going well!
Here is what you can do with this territory dispute.
When she is up on the bed and coutch she is in a higher position. In a wolf pack the alpha always sits in the highest position in the area. There is a simple way to fix this. When she growls pull her off of whatever she is sitting on. If she is good and ignores him allow her to keep her spot. When you do this you re-afferm your position as the alpha and you get to choose who allows to sit where not her.
When you pull her down make her stay on the floor for a bit. When the male settles in let her get back up on the coutch but as soon as she gets huffy again, remove her again.
Any more Q's please ask!
-Michelle B

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Great! Thank you so much for your great advice. Can we use the same punishment techniques when the male gets rough with the maltese? Thanks again!

Answer
Yes a Siberian hates missing out on anything more then anything in the world. So if they misbehave pull them out of the situation. Award good behavior however so you can shape behaviors you want. So if the dog is doing what you want them to do, make a big deal out of it the first few times you catch them doing the correct behavior. Like if your female lets the new male up on the coutch without any complaint, praise her and give her a good prize, something you know she loves. Like a belly rub or a small peice of lunch meat or something. :)
Any more Questions please ask!
-Michelle B