Hello. A year ago I adopted a male lab mix from a shelter, with little information about his background. He is now 4 1/2 years old and a very good dog. We initially had some problems with him being the "alpha dog" in our home, but once I learned how to correct that, we've had no problems since. Last week, while on vacation, I found a very sweet, people-loving stray dog. We took him to the vet, got him vaccinated, etc, and discovered that he is about 9 months old, predominately pit-bull with some other breeds mixed in. At the moment he is not neutered-we are getting that done tomorrow. He's extremely underweight, but still weighs 60 pounds-the same as my healthy lab mix.
We came home from vacation with this dog, and introduced him to my original dog, who had been taken care of by a pet-sitter. I realize that this was probably not the best way to introduce them, to bring home a new dog when I'd been gone! But it did happen. At first they barked and were aggressive, and both dogs had to be leashed. My first dog, after awhile, realized that the new animal was a puppy and stopped being aggressive. Since it's his house, I assumed he should be the dominant dog, and I let him off the leash. He now enjoys the privileges he had before....he is allowed to roam the house and sleep in the hallway at night, while the new dog has to be in a crate-he chews everything and also has been "marking" everything that belongs to my first dog. I feed the older dog first, greet him first, let him go through doorways before the other dog....and it seemed fine for awhile.
Both dogs were off-leash, checking each other out, sniffing, tails wagging, and I turned my back for one second, and the next thing I knew, the new puppy had jumped on my older dog and had him around the neck, biting his head. I yelled and tried to pry him off with my foot, tried pushing him with my foot, and he wouldn't let go. I knew it was dumb but I ended up grabbing the puppy (the attacker) by the collar and pulling him up...he had such a grip on my other dog that the other dog actually came off the ground with him...I had to literally push my other dog to the floor just to separate them. I immediately yelled at the puppy and locked him in his crate so that I could take care of my other dog. He is ok, just some scratches and a little cut on his ear, but there was blood involved. He is now scared of the puppy and will not go near him. I don't want the puppy to become the alpha dog of the house-my other dog was there first and of course still has a bigger part of my heart....if they can't get along, it'll be the puppy who has to find another home. Does anyone have any advice how to stop it? Since the incident, I always keep the puppy leashed and far away from my other dog. I don't know what else to do. I want them to coexist-maybe not be best friends, but I'd like to be able to let them roam the house freely without constantly following them to make sure they're not killing each other. If anyone can help, I'd appreciate it. Thanks...
