Introducing a new Dog into the Family

Rating: 5 after 2 votes

Hi everyone -
I have a bit of a dilemma. I have a rescued dog named Cha Cha who has gone through a bunch of trauma, and is now quite successfully rehabilitated with one exception - he does not get along with other dogs, except for one poodle who is his only friend. He attacks other dogs at the dog park, he bullies my friends and family's dogs, and he hates children which makes it hard to go and visit my neices and nephews. My son is already 17 years old, so he isn't a bother at all to ChaCha.

Recently, I have been considering getting another dog to add to our family in the hopes of providing some socialization skills to Cha Cha so he can know how to act around other dogs, and possibly have a loving companion. I am scared though, that Cha Cha might actually harm the other dog, even though Cha Cha has no teeth since they rotted out at the puppy mill from where he was rescued. I was thinking a puppy so that the dog does not have any issues when dealing with Cha Cha from the beginning, and he can't form any resentments? I don't know, I'm sort of confused, but I would like to address the socialization issue.

thanks for any advice!
I will post photos of my Chacha.

Tags: dogs, little, pekingese, puppies

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Permalink Reply by Joyce on December 13, 2008 at 8:56am: How old is Chacha?
I have a St Bernard cross that is similar to Chacha. The only dog he gets along with is my older dog. He wasn't mistreated the way Chacha is but just never learned to like other dogs. Mainly, our fault we were working insane hours when we got Charlie. We brought home our Great Dane puppy this summer. My Charlie, would not accept the Dane. The Dane as a younger puppy would do everything submissive he knew how to do and Charlie would not give. Now my Dane is still a puppy and towers over Charlie. We cannot let them be in the same area because the Dane will tear Charlie up. Charlie is the only dog my Dane doesn't get along with.

Check out your area to see if there is a certified dog trainer. See if she can give you any advice. We took our Dane to one for puppy training (we've never had a dog this big before) and it cost us $45 for an hour and a half.

Good luck.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by sylviaG on December 13, 2008 at 9:53pm: WOW a st. bernard AND a great dane?? those are some pretty big dogs! My dad has a Dogue de Bordeaux and Cha Cha loves bullying him and basically being mean to him. On the other hand, Cha Cha loooooves his BFF malti-poo friend Toady who lives next door and just cannot get enough of him.

I took Cha cha to dog training when I first got him, and he did well, he is a perfectly behaved dog as long as there aren't any other dogs around! Actually, sometimes when I take him to a dog park, there are certain dogs that he will be interested in playing with...and one of my friend's dogs he likes, but only sometimes. Sometimes he tries to attack him and other times he loves to play with him. Cha cha is a strange dog for sure, but I would love to be able to break him of that habit. Maybe I can get Ceasar Milan to come take a look at him! He can introduce him to his big pit bull Daddy and see if Cha Cha likes him. HAHA! Thanks Joyce for your input!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by sylviaG on December 13, 2008 at 9:53pm: Oh! Sorry, I forgot to say that Cha Cha is 9 years old.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Joyce on December 15, 2008 at 11:59am: I was just thinking-
Are you going to rescue another dog? From a shelter or from a breed specific rescue? They may allow you to introduce your dog to another dog on neutral territory and see what Cha cha thinks. Maybe a shelter or a rescue can refer you to a local behavorist/trainer and you can get advice that way? I'm sure rescues or shelters would be more than willing to help, especially in this economy.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by sylviaG on December 20, 2008 at 9:01am: that is a good idea! I have actually been trying to rescue for around 6 months now, but all the dogs in my area keep getting adopted before I have a chance to introduce the two. It is a good thing, I am indeed happy the dogs are finding forever homes!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Joyce on December 20, 2008 at 1:14pm: That is so awesome, that the dogs are being adopted. I keep reading how the Danes and the Giant breeds are being turned over in mass numbers because people can not afford them now.

I hope you find a dog compatible with you Cha Cha. You sound like you have a lot of love to give to another dog and a forever home.

sylviaG said:
that is a good idea! I have actually been trying to rescue for around 6 months now, but all the dogs in my area keep getting adopted before I have a chance to introduce the two. It is a good thing, I am indeed happy the dogs are finding forever homes!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by sylviaG on December 23, 2008 at 8:51am: yes, my mom is a realtor and she says that she sees abandoned big dogs left alone in the back yards when people loose their homes can you believe that??! Fortunately, we are a very big dog loving family and take them to various shelters. My dad has a Dogue de Bordeaux (french mastiff) my brother has a Neopolitan Mastiff and my other brother has a boxer. I am the only one with a small dog, because I only have a condo so it wouldn't be fair to get a big dog, but if I had a large home, I would LOVE 3 giant english sheepdogs.

my mom's neighbor has a St. Bernard named Whiskey and she is my dad's dog's BFF :)

I'd love to see pictures of your giant babies!!!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Joyce on December 29, 2008 at 4:09pm: I hope this works... this is my Great Dane with his "road kill"; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by sylviaG on December 30, 2008 at 11:05pm: what a cute doggy!! big doggy LOL!

and thanks for your advice. I am going to look into dog training first thing in the morning. over the holiday, cha cha attacked my 2 year old nephew, and now he is growling at all the little kids we see on our walks. My nephew randomly kicked cha cha about 3 weeks ago, and with the excitement of opening the presents on xmas morning, he started teasing cha cha by screaming at him and throwing his food (I realize that it was a big mistake to have the food out around the kiddlets) and he attacked. While no physical harm was done (cha cha lost his teeth due to poor living conditions before I rescued him) I do not want him to be on the prowl for any toddlers he sees!

Now it has gotten so bad that if he hears children laughing on tv, he goes bananas and tries to jump into the tv to attack them. :(; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Joyce on January 11, 2009 at 8:20pm: Just checking in to see how you are doing?

sylviaG said:
what a cute doggy!! big doggy LOL!

and thanks for your advice. I am going to look into dog training first thing in the morning. over the holiday, cha cha attacked my 2 year old nephew, and now he is growling at all the little kids we see on our walks. My nephew randomly kicked cha cha about 3 weeks ago, and with the excitement of opening the presents on xmas morning, he started teasing cha cha by screaming at him and throwing his food (I realize that it was a big mistake to have the food out around the kiddlets) and he attacked. While no physical harm was done (cha cha lost his teeth due to poor living conditions before I rescued him) I do not want him to be on the prowl for any toddlers he sees!

Now it has gotten so bad that if he hears children laughing on tv, he goes bananas and tries to jump into the tv to attack them. :(; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Erika Berry on January 19, 2009 at 7:39pm: I think you need the dog whisperer or his book if he has one. Best of luck!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Christi Paul on April 20, 2009 at 12:15pm: What a cute dog! Love the legwarmers. ;) I would suggest what a pp said - see if the shelter you're adopting from will let Chacha meet his new "brother" or "sister." My parents have rescued three dogs in the past couple years, and that's what they did - it worked very well for them. I'm thinking a puppy might be a little hyper for Chacha, but on the other hand would probably be submissive to him. That's a tough call.

Is it possible to expose him to children more frequently? Supervised, of course, to make sure nothing happens. I have an eight year old cocker, and we had a baby a year & a half ago. I was a little concerned at first, and he wasn't too sure what to think of her, but now they have lots of fun together. Here's a pic of them - Bailey apparently makes a very good bench. :D; ▶ Reply to This