First Male Dog

[ChildOfGod15]

Heya people!

I was wondering if you guys could give me a bit of advice. I'm actually supposed to be doing homework, but I got on for a second to post my concern really quick.

We got a new dog yesterday evening. He's a big yellow lab (95 lbs, but not overweight). His name's Rusty and he's 2 1/2 years old.

We have a black and white female cockapoo who dislikes change, so she's been barking a lot, which is normal. She's about 10 months old, I think. So she's still at that annoying stage. Rusty really tolerates her very well though, he ignores her when she's growling and snarling and jumping all over, but he'll run around with her in the backyard some, without hurting her. He's 'ran over her' once, but that was when we were on a walk and she tried to walk ahead of her and there was no way for him to get around her without getting off the street and into the mud...

On the other hand, our Golden Retriever LOVES him. We knew they would get along, but they've been acting a bit 'peculiar', I guess you could say.

Rusty keeps pinning Ginger down, which I thought was because he wanted to shove her out of the way 'cause he wanted attention, but once she's down he'll either lay on top of her (not all the way, mind you, just his upper half across her back), nip at her, lick her, or just circle around her, sniffing her all over. Ginger usually responds by laying still and wagging her tail, while trying to reach his head to lick him back. She sniffs him a lot, mostly around his rear (which dogs are...really prone to do, lol ) or his head, which she frequently licks.

My bro thinks they're flirting, but there's a 7 1/2 year age difference...or does that not stop hormones?

Lol, all of our dogs are fixed.

Anywho, just wanted to make sure all of this was normal.

We're trying to keep Rusty from becoming totally dominant; though I don't think the two other dogs would protest, we don't want him to become an 'alpha male' and get so ornery that he won't listen to us.

God Bless.

By the way : Rusty is my early birthday present!

 

[LegacyOfLove]

Well, just my personal opinion here (I have 5 dogs - all Golden Retrievers - 3 females and 2 males). From what you wrote, it sounds to me like Rusty is wanting to test the waters and vie for the "Alpha" position. This does not mean that he will become mean or aggressive. This is something quite natural and normal when you have multiple dogs living in the same house (and it could be the males or females who do this). We tend to see our dogs as members of our family - all equal with one another. But to dogs, they see us as their leaders - and the other dogs in the family - as either equal to them, inferior to them or dominant over them. There is a natural hierarchy in dogs, be it in the wild or in our homes.

Since Rusty is new and apparently the only male - he needs to figure out where he fits in to everything - wanting both acceptance and a place in the "pecking order".

The fact that your female golden retriever was laying down and allowing Rusty to stand over her ...and that she was wagging her tail - signaled to Rusty that she was being submissive and allowing him to take a dominant position. (Had your female been the Alpha and unwilling to accept a lesser-role, she would not have allowed him to stand over her and she definately wouldn't be wagging her tail happily.)

I wouldn't worry about it. It actually sounds like good news that your golden retriever female was so accepting of him. It just sounds like he and the other female will have to work out where Rusty fits into the positioning where she (the smaller female) is concerned. Even though the smaller one is just 10 months old, she's been there longer and Rusty is new. It may take her a bit to warm up to him and depending on her personality, she may or may not ever let him position her as he (Rusty) did with the golden retriever. They can still learn to get along and play nicely. This is just dogs reordering things. (I know...it sounds silly to us...but it's rather important to them). And the licking, sniffing, etc. are all a dog's way of checking eachother out & getting to know eachother.

Anyways, I hope that helps!

 

[ChildOfGod15]

Yes! That definitely helps a LOT!

Thanks a ton!

 

[ChildOfGod15]

Just an update :

As of last night, we've had Rusty for an entire week. Things have been good, so far. Rusty loves the animals, and though he doesn't understand what cats are and he's been chasing them every time he sees them, he's been pretty well-behaved. He also has a tendency to tear things apart when he gets bored, but overall, I think he's a great dog.

God Bless
Sarah