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Guide To Australian Shepherd Training & Care

Problems With Second Aussie

by jcrply

Yesterday I took my female 18 month old Aussie to meet a 17 month old neutered male dog that was a referral dog with ARPH (still living with owner). They got along and played and I ended up bringing him home with me. They played okay in my big fenced yard. My Aussie is so fast she runs rings around him. He is a much larger dog. But inside, although we tried to keep their interactions brief and calm and intervened if they escalated, he is so rough and plays so aggressively that my girl is now afraid of him and hides from him if we let him into the same part of the house as she. (And I had thought SHE always played pretty rough with other dogs.) He grabs her ruff and neck and ears, slaps and jumps on her, tries to mount. Initially she was playing excitedly too, standing on back legs and doing the play-biting, etc. But he is just so rough and so relentless, even very short play periods are too much. I have seen my fearless, happy girl become subdued and unhappy. We have had him just over 24 hours, and my husband thinks we should give it more time. But I worry about what this is doing to her. She hides in a crate (which she has very seldom even gone into during the past year), and she even hides in my shower of all places. She did try to play with him again briefly this morning while I had him on a leash but leashed is the only way she wanted to be near him. I feel like I want my dog and my life back. Any quick words of advice?

Comments for Problems With Second Aussie

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Problems with 2nd Aussie
by: Anne

Exercise exercise the second aussie. He is also obviously more dominant, but when he gets to playing too rough...you need to stop him...he needs boundaries during playtime. Your other aussie will realize that there is a limit and will trust you to protect her, when the play is too intense.
You need to correct him and , I don't know what his situation was before, but your husband is correct...the new aussie may just need to get some energy out and will calm down. The other thing to remember is males mature slower than females...it could just be he is still puppies.
You MUST correct the new aussie when he gets too rough.
e-mail me if you have more questions.
Anne Calmes
Gold Ring Aussies
Louisiana, USA
goldringkennel@aol.com

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Guide To Australian Shepherd Training & Care

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