Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hello, i am new to this forum. i am the owner of a 10 year old bichon frise male (Bing). unfixed. slightly immature for his age (is mistaken for a 2 year old constantly) however i have noticed he IS more docile over the years, and has developed a lazy streak.

five years ago i moved up to RI (from new jerz)for college and Bing stayed behind with the rest of my family in the house he grew up in. I visit constantly, and Bing has even made the trip up for visits.

I still live in RI with my boyfriend and his 8 year old chocolate lab, Tucker. Also unfixed as he is a stud. very docile, social animal. the two of them are inseperable. Anyhoo, my boyfriend is a professional sailor... he races sailboats for a living and had sailed for Key West as of Thursday leaving Tucker in my charge. so to begin with, Tucker is missing his daddy very very much.

i took off for Jersey yesterday with Tucker. he was excellent the whole car ride. when we arrived, the two dogs met outside a few houses down in neutral territory and went for a walk together to get used to one another before bringing them both in the house. Bing was VERY hyper and VERY finnicky. it took us hours to get him to calm down. he kept bothering tucker... sniffing him EVERYWHERE and yipping... being VERY annoying. Tucker wanted no part of it. he warned him by growling but not showing his teeth... which would have been the next step undoubtedly. i had to get a baby fence and keep tucker downstairs and bing upstairs. after so long they both got tired and seemed to get along better. this morning Bing has come around 100% from his behavior last night.

is there anything else i can do to make it easier on both of them for the next two weeks tucker & I are visiting?? is there anything anyone can tell me about having two unfixed older males near eachother? in their own seperate environments neither one is an alpha dog, and Bing already went to the bathroom on my parents' oriental rug in the living room this morning.

Sounds like they need their space from each other, and are trusting you to provide it. That would be easier and safest!
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series articles at http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=SRC&S=1&SourceID=47

last night we went for one more walk. by the time we came back they were so tired that they could stand to be near eachother with not much drama. still kept the gate up. this morning the gate was still up but both dogs were well behaved so i brought it down. they have been best of friends since... even playfully chased one another around the house for about 20 minutes are so.

the trick i've learned is to get them really tired lol. they seem to be slipping into the swing of things. has anyone else had any experience with a similar situation? i've heard that dogs which are unfixed seem to be more set in their ways and are not as apt to make compromises.

We always say on the Shiba board that a tired dog is a happy dog. I would keep doing what you are doing but do not let your guard down. Two unaltered males as you probably know could lead to a huge altercation if you are not careful. It could be that Tucker doesn't view Bing as a threat to him. Dogs that are not neutered do tend to be more standoffish and a little less lovable than dogs that have been altered.
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Bob

If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.

Sounds like things are going well. Just make sure to seperate them when you are not able to supervise interactions and absolutely do not add food to the mix right now. Treats and toys for them to "share" are unwise as well. Keep up the good work and keep tiring them out!
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Chelle and the rest of the crew including, but not limited to Kita and Taiko (the shiba inu wrestle maniacs), Adi (reserved and dignified tabby cat), and all 28 reptiles