Re: acclimating new JRT

In Reply to: Re: acclimating new JRT
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Posted by:  Marie Evans
Posted on:  September 22, 2002 at 21:49:07

: : Okay, so I thought I researched everything about JRT's, and now have a new precious girl, Zoe, in the house. 2 issues: 1)I have a 5yr. female rescue greyhound - she is fixed, I will have Zoe fixed when appropriate. I am worried about future SS aggression. what can I do to ease this, and when should I expect this to crop up?

: : 2) Zoe is 7 weeks (from a breeder, though not JRTCA), and I see that they shouldn't be taken into the house until 8 weeks ideally. Do I need to do anything special?

: : I've got a crate, and I'm doing my research, but I want to make this transition as seamless as possible for both dogs. Any suggestions?

:
Response:

: Hi Wendy,

: Congrats on your new addition!

: At this young age there shouldn't be any aggression regarding same sex and hopefully if you spay your terrier early it will help to lessen any chances of it by not giving her female hormones a chance to kick in.

: The biggest thing you need to look for is who establishes themself as dominant over the other. When you can determine this (and don't count on largest dog being the most dominant) then you treat this dog as just that. Feed her first, pet her first, treat her first. This goes a long way in keeping peace in your house. Most people want to lavish attention on the "under dog" but many times this can cause more problems for that dog. So the kindest thing you can do for it is treat it as the under dog in the eyes of the dominant dog.

: Remember not to leave the two of them alone together. A puppy and an adult dog should always be supervised.

: For more tips and info do a Go-to-Ground search and use words like "new puppy" to help you find more posts regarding this subject.

: Regards,
: Marie

Response:

Dear Wendy,

In addition to Marie's advice, I would add that you remember that your greyhound was trained to chase a small object; Zoe is a small object. I've seen a sweet, docile rescued greyhound go after my JRTs when they started running amok in the yard; thankfully, we caught her before she caught them. Prior to the incident, all three dogs had been peacefully hanging out together...

Be smart, be careful --