introducing dogs
We rescued a neglected male akita with minimal socialization after his first year and is now 3 years old. We have a 6 month husky who thinks everyone should be her friend, an adult shiba and an older akita all female. The husky is not spayed yet. We have him locked in the living room. There was some growling through the door yesterday but it mostly went away. I made the crack in the door (sliding hardwood doors) a little bigger to see what he and the husky would do. Unfortunately there was a lot of growling and the husky decided all noises mean play so she bounced around the door and barked at him the more he growled and barked at her. I have the door just far enough they can see each other now but his nose doesn't fit through if he wanted to bite. I'm not sure he's actually aggressive. When we met him he would bark or growl whenever he got nervous but not in the particular direction of anyone. Should I leave it so he can watch the husky bounce around the computer room or keep him completely enclosed longer? I wish I had some type of screen door or a sturdy and tall enough gate so they can see but not touch.
Comments
I think he is actually getting used to bouncy puppy at least on the other side of a door. There is some stained glass by our normal livingroom door so they can kind of see each other and there was some wiggling and interested barking back and forth. My female akita still thinks he is dangerous. She got quite upset when my husband locked them out of the computer room to let the new akita in with him. I'm not sure if it was all worry for his safety or that the dog might spread to other areas of the house. My husband feels really bad about confining him alone in a room. I'm trying to explain to him it's necessary, temporary, and far better than where he came from. The shiba is staying out of it all.
I personally don't think it's a good idea for you to let your dogs interact the way you have them set up right now. Just gets them more agitated and possibly hate each other.
I would have to agree with @gerrygelin as that is the best way to get your dogs comfortable with each other. But yes... -10F is darn cold.
Weather permitting, walks together is a good step toward getting them used to each other. My dog does best meeting new dogs off leash with a chain link fence separating them. If the other dog is nice, then he is too. I don't know if you have a park or somewhere you could try that? Also, I prefer the martingale collar since they won't tighten completely (and cut off the air supply), but will just enough so your dog doesn't get loose. My dog can easily pop out of a regular collar, so he only uses it for his rabies tag. I wouldn't feel safe walking him without a martingale collar or choke chain.
A secure baby gate (or maybe those ready made trellis panels?) would also be a good next step, where the dogs can sniff/meet but not touch. I think it's harder being separated by a solid door and feeling confined but hearing your other dog, especially if they are nervous. Good luck with everything!
We got a really good trainer involved, the biggest thing is patience. Keeping them totally separate is not a good idea, they should always be "around" each other. He had us put crates on either side of the room and tether them so they could get close but not close enough to do any damage. And they had to always be walked together.
8 months into owning the puppy is when the change happened and our Shiba no longer attempted to kill the puppy. It's about a year 1/2 later and they luv each other, no aggression at all. There are times when we thought it would never get better but all the hard work and time was so worth it.
It helped that when I first got my food/toy aggressive Akita mix that he had a two hour car ride back with all the dogs in the house and me sitting in between them all to monitor. I also sat on the floor in between the Akita and my other dog to keep them apart but so they could still see each other and traded one toy in between the two of them for about an hour. I've never had an issue with possessive aggression between the two again, they just both had to know that they would get the toy eventually.
Once I was sure the two wouldn't kill each other I took them both to an empty neutral dog park and turned them loose to get to know one another. I kept a close eye, there was some growling and funny looks at first but then they decided to play and have been best friends ever since.