2 Dogs & 1 Home!

Question
Patti:

My boyfriend and I have just moved in to the same house together, and we both have dogs.  His dog is a Male shepard mix, and mine is a female Golden.  

My Golden is a very confident, relaxed dog, and his Shepard mix is an anxious (though submissive) dog.  

We have moved into his house (the male dogs territory) and as of this writing, are getting through the first 2 days.

The male dog WILL NOT leave my female be.  He is by her side each and every minute and is constantly licking her, smelling her, driving all of us NUTS!  When she isn't near him he paces and pants and loses his mind!  

We are using a spray bottle and letting him get used to her, she is doing her part by gently nipping and letting him know when she has had too much.  

How can we help them settle in together?  And will they ever be able to cohabitate peacefully?  We plan to crate the male tonight as he hasn't really slept in the last 48 hours because of his constant vigilance.

Any advice to ease this transition will be welcome!

Thank you in advance for your time.  

Answer
Hi Kay,

You didn't say if the male dog is neutered, and if your female dog has been spayed.  If these dogs are "intact", this can be a your problem, and an unwanted letter of puppies WILL be the the result of these new living conditions at some point, if you don't address this problem.

You and your dog have only recently moved into your boyfriend's home. It can take a month or longer for dogs to adjust, anytime a new dog is introduced into their home. It doesn't sound so bad to me, neither dog is being aggressive! So it could be a lot worse!

You are right to use the spray bottle as a deterrent, hopefully when you spray you're also using a verbal command, such as "leave it" as you spray.  Reward the male dog when he's laying peacefully, and not bothering the female. That's the behavior you want to reinforce. It can help to keep a leash on the male dog when he's in the house, so you can easily keep him at your side, and not allow him to even make a move towards the female. Preventing the bad behavior from not even starting is more of what you want!

Crating the dogs is a good idea when you can't be supervising. You need to be as vigilant in preventing the unwanted behavior, as the male dog is at perusing the female. If the male dog isn't neutered though, nothing other than having him neutered will stop him.

Best of luck,

Patti