Can't we all just get along?

[Vizsla Vince]

Questuon one:
I have an 11 yo Vizsla, and am dog-sitting a 2 yo Wiem for a friend. The dogs had spent a day playing together in my back yard this summer, but when my buddy brought the w over shortly before Christmas, my v was rather aggresive & territorial, to the point that he peed on my buddy's foot right in the middle of the kitchen. The w has no problem with my v. He's just got alot of energy. But my v keeps growling anytime the w comes near. To avoid confrontations, I have been doing "dog juggling" to keep them separated. As I don't know how long our visitor is staying, I don't know if I should try to get them to get along. BTW, both are male and entact. As I am writing this, I am experimenting. Nobody else is up. Both dogs are in the living room w/me. My v seems to be settling a bit, but gets territorial & growly when the w tries to get any lovin' from me.

Question two:
I'm supposed to get a male v pup @ the end of the month. Will I get more of the same from my old boy?

Question three:
This wiem has never been trained for hunting. He's about two yo. He's rather intelligent, will come when called, and will sit on command. Is he a good candidate for gun dog training? Is he too old to start? Should I dangle a pheasant wing to test him?

Alot of questions, I know. But any help will be appreciated.

[Ryan]

I started training my setter when she was 2 and she is fine. Alot of people say this is too late but she has turned out to be a fine gun dog. She wont win any field trials but she is good enough for a foot hunter on an afternoon hunt.

Now the weim may not have bird in him you will have to see. Try taking him to a bid field and see what he does. Weim have been so popular like the setter the hunt is being bred out of them and show is being bred into them. Dont get me wrong there are some exellent weims out there for hunting but as the years go on they are harder and harder to find. The only way to tell forsure is to put him on birds.

As for the aggression you could try rolling the V on his back and let the weim walk around him and sniff him.

[Ayres]

As for the aggression you could try rolling the V on his back and let the weim walk around him and sniff him.

Since being on their back is a posture of submission, I could only see how this would really piss off the vizsla, and I wouldn't force that upon him in the least bit. The V is being territorial, and rightly so. The weim is a new, intact male, coming into the V's domain where the V had always before been top dog.

I think it's best to reassure the V that he is the top dog still. Sounds like the weim couldn't care a bit to challenge that status anyway. Just don't give the weim any lovin' before giving to the V. Feed the V first, pet the V first, only let the V be the dog to curl up beside you... you know... all the "top dog" rights and privileges. That kind of reassurance can calm aggression as it really takes the edge off of a conceived threat to the chain of command.

If you get a male puppy you won't know what's going to happen until it happens, but puppies are always taken as much less of a threat to hierarchical balance than older, intact males. I'm guessing you won't have near the same problem with a male pup as you are with the 2 year old weim.

[dhondtm]

Question three:
This wiem has never been trained for hunting. He's about two yo. He's rather intelligent, will come when called, and will sit on command. Is he a good candidate for gun dog training? Is he too old to start? Should I dangle a pheasant wing to test him?

I started my Weim at 2 yo she is now a SH after about a year of training. I am sure that bird instinct is in there, you just have to bring it to the surface.

[jjackman]

You are introducing an intact male of breeding age into your own dog's environment where he has been the boss for 11 years....

Ever see a guy flirt with another man's wife..... It's not going to go all that well.

Unless you put a lot of effort into repeated, frequent, friendly encounters, it's not likely these two will get along. Don't be too harsh on your boy and don't overly correct him, it's just nature. If it's just for a short time, it's likely best to keep them separated. Encounters should be supervised, don't leave them alone together.

As for introducing a new puppy, male or female to the home, you should have any major aggression problems. You might make your adult male a little jealous, but he will still be the boss over the puppy. His size, strength and experience will teach the new puppy who runs the house. Let them establish their own pecking order and all will be ok. Now when your new puppy grows up, there will come a time when your puppy reaches 2 - 4 years old when he will challenge your old dog for dominance. There will be barking, showing off, fighting, and maybe even a little blood. Eventually the younger dog will replace the older as the alpha male.

Either way, a multiple dog home can be easily acheived with proper training, obeidence, and discipline. The most important thing to remember....which ever is the alpha dog, you are the alpha person and the boss over all. Teach them what is acceptable and let them work out the rest with appropriate behavior.