:
: We have a 5 yr old
: male Bichon $& a 2 year old female Shi-tsu. They get along wonderfully. Both
: are nuetered. Last week a stray Sheppherd mix adopted us. (snip)
: he is aggressive with our other two dogs, mostly in the house.
: We had him neutered hoping this would help.
Neutering will help lots of things, but it isn't like an on/off switch.
It takes a while for the hormones to get out of his system and I doubt
that it is the source of your problem, anyway, since he has been aggressive
to both the male and female.
You are asking too much to simply expect a dog off the streets to
peacefully integrate into an existing home situation with other dogs in a
week, without clear indication from you of what the rules are. You need
to limit the length of time the new dog is in contact with the existing
dogs, supervise all interactions, and quickly correct any unacceptable
behavior.
I would get a crate and let him become used to it, letting him join
the other dogs in a room with you and your existing pets for periods of
no more than 20 minutes at first. Put him back in the crate before
he causes a problem. Increase the time, and number of times per day,
when there are no problems. If he shows aggression, drop back on time
and frequency. (And correct him immediately, of course. You may want to
have him wear a short tab or lead from his collar so that you are in a
position to quickly administer a correction.)
At the same time, start lots of obedience sessions and active play with
him. A young shepherd mix has whole bunches more energy than your
existing dogs, and will continue to be a problem without sufficient
daily exercise.
You don't say how old this dog you think this dog is or what he knows.
One of the first things I would teach him is down/stay. 30 minutes in
a long down each night can be a wonderful tool to calming him and making
him control his aggression and recognize you as the rule-setter. Sit
on his lead and keep him at your feet while you watch television, if
necessary.
Lynn K.
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