Dog help!

[blueshirt2003]

I have an almost 3 year old small breed dog, Bella.

Just over 3 weeks ago we rescued a small/medium breed dog, Roxy. She is maybe 1 or just over 1 year old.

I don't know how to address 2-3 issues.

1. Roxy will charge at Bella and at times it's all fun and games but other times Bella is highly annoyed by Roxy and will whine/cry. I feel the issue is the size difference. Roxy can make Bella fall down and/or roll. Bella has always used my under side of the bed to rest/hide from my kids (5 and 9) and now she has Roxy all up in her business.

How do I keep Roxy from playing SO rough?

2. When Roxy gets all hyped up I'll crate her. I use the crate for both dogs (they have their own) for naps, rest time, and over night sleep. So, the crate is her safe haven. Roxy gets very hyped up (maybe scared?) when we try to reach down to pick her up/or take her by the collar. She will crouch down and bark at us. Or run from us and/or jump all over like dogs do when they jump through tall grass. If we are seated on the couch she is all over us allowing us to pet her and love on her. As soon as we are standing all bets are off and she's hyper. She also seems to sense when we want to crate her because if we are sitting on the couch she wont come to us. She will get all excited and crouch/dodge to and away from us. We have also simply opened the back door to send Roxy outside to run off her excitement but she does the crouching and "I've lost my marbles" behavior.

You think this is an issue with her previous owner and she will eventually learn to listen to us? What should I do?

3. They keep humping each other. Both are fixed but I assume it's them trying to determine their position in the pack?

Short Version: I do think they're getting along great and I don't foresee any issues with fighting or aggression. It's just Roxy is so rough with Bella and she won't allow us to pick her up to send her to the crate or outside. Roxy gets all kinds of riled up and won't listen.

[awick14]

1. Don't crate roxy when she is being too hyper. You are punishing her by putting her in her crate, this could be one of the reasons she doesn't like to be in there. Never use a crate to punish a crate trained dog.

2. Try sitting on the floor and petting her, and slowly work your way up to kneeling, crouching then standing. This should be done over a month or two, so she gets use to the sitting before you kneel etc.

[blueshirt2003]

I don't feel like its punishment to crate her when she's excited. She goes into her crate and lays down. If she were to whine and cry once she's in it I wouldn't.

Also, I'm not sure where I said she doesn't like her crate. ?

She becomes so riled up that she can't think straight to allow us to approach her to crate her or take her outside. I 110% know its not about fear of the crate. She is sleeping happily in it right now for bed. She doesn't have any issues with it. She gets upset when we approach her while standing.

I'll slowly work into it front sitting to kneeling, etc. I do anticipate it taking a long while to help her learn its ok to be approached by us while we are standing.

Her previous owner surrendered her at the pound and we have no clue what her behavioral history is.

[blueshirt2003]

Aug 19, 2013 23:34:19 GMT -5 awick14 said:

1. Don't crate roxy when she is being too hyper. You are punishing her by putting her in her crate, this could be one of the reasons she doesn't like to be in there. Never use a crate to punish a crate trained dog.

2. Try sitting on the floor and petting her, and slowly work your way up to kneeling, crouching then standing. This should be done over a month or two, so she gets use to the sitting before you kneel etc.

Ah, that's a good idea to slowly transition to standing. I don't know why I hadn't considered it.

[awick14]

Aug 19, 2013 23:36:15 GMT -5 blueshirt2003 said:

I don't feel like its punishment to crate her when she's excited. She goes into her crate and lays down. If she were to whine and cry once she's in it I wouldn't.

Also, I'm not sure where I said she doesn't like her crate. ?

Reading fail on my part. If she will go in there herself then she obviously likes her crate, and if she isn't whining or getting upset then its not a punishment. Maybe try giving her a small treat if she goes in her crate. I'm not sure.

[blueshirt2003]

Aug 19, 2013 23:41:35 GMT -5 awick14 said:

Aug 19, 2013 23:36:15 GMT -5 blueshirt2003 said:

I don't feel like its punishment to crate her when she's excited. She goes into her crate and lays down. If she were to whine and cry once she's in it I wouldn't.

Also, I'm not sure where I said she doesn't like her crate. ?

Reading fail on my part. If she will go in there herself then she obviously likes her crate, and if she isn't whining or getting upset then its not a punishment. Maybe try giving her a small treat if she goes in her crate. I'm not sure.

I have been giving her a treat to get her to go into it. It's honestly all that will work to take her focus off of jumping/crouching/dodging.

I used treats to teach Bella (she was a young puppy when we got her) so I do know that this is how I plan on teaching Roxy the command "go to your crate."

I will work on the floor to kneeling over time. I'm not sure what to do about her playing rough also.

[montereybride]

At one year she is still a puppy.

Give her a ton of exercise.. walks, ride your bike with her on the leash, put a backpack on her, play fetch, play tug-o-war, etc.

A tired dog is a happy dog is a happy owner and a happy doggie sibling.

[mala]

#1&3 will just work out with time. You have to let them figure it out. Is possible Roxy doesn't have much experience playing with other dogs.

#2 sound like she's frightened of you when you're standing. You're.big and threatening to her, even though you'd never hurt her. It's possible this stems from her previous owner but knowing for sure is impossible. When she's running around like crazy you can try ignoring her. Giving her any kind of attention, positive or negative, is reinforcing the behavior.

[crazycakes]

Aug 20, 2013 0:01:03 GMT -5 montereybride said:

At one year she is still a puppy.

Give her a ton of exercise.. walks, ride your bike with her on the leash, put a backpack on her, play fetch, play tug-o-war, etc.

A tired dog is a happy dog is a happy owner and a happy doggie sibling.

This. Taking our husky on bike rides with her back pack seriously turned her into a different dog. She is kind of a jerk, especially to her doggy b brother, when she's not getting enough exercise. 

Doggy daycare is also great for exercise and socialization, if that's an option in your area. our dogs love going and are worn out for days after.

[Jalapeñomel]

You need to burn out more energy, and if possible do it without the other dog.

We crate Camote when she gets super hyper, and although it took a while, she now understands that her crate is a place for her to calm down and recharge.

[spitforspat]

Hyper dog needs to get its energy out. What are you doing for exercise?