January 23, 2007

  • before I continue with my update on my newest dog, I thought I'd repeat the edit I did last week.

    After a couple of days and different
    opinions from other dog lovers, pet groomers, and the vet, I have to
    say that the Baldwin Park Animal Shelter made a mistake in saying that
    my new dog is a purebred Old English Sheepdog. In actually, he is in
    fact a mix, that is most likely a soft-coated wheaton terrier mixed
    with quite possibly an old english sheepdog. So there you go folks, I'm
    just going to start saying that he is just an "Old English Sheepdog
    Wheaton Terrier mix" (OESWT).

    It's just about one week since I got my new dog, and it's quite the feeling having to re-train a new pet. I guess I got so used to my knowing what to expect from my Akita-Shepperd mix, that it can be pretty frustrating dealing with the unexpected in my Old English Sheepdog Wheaton Terrier mix. He isn't completely house broken yet, he still has an oral fixation by chewing on things he shouldn't chew, and he still has a habit to "paw" someone / somethings when he shouldn't. My Akita-Shepperd however has also been acting like the big sister from
    time to time by telling the OESWT some of the rules.... at least that's
    what it looks like to me.

    For the most part the two dogs are getting along, but the problem with my Akita-Shepperd not necessarily willing to share food with the OESWT has caused some fights between them. Some were pretty violent. Unlike the first couple of days, my OESWT is now willing to fight back as opposed to just submit to my Akita-Shepperd. The OESWT has longer legs than my Akita-Shepperd, so he is twice as fast and is willing to use them to attack with a pounce. I don't know if that's necessarily a good thing though.

    With the extra work and some issues, am I still happy I adopted a new dog? Yes I am. This is just some growing pains we have to live through, before things are in complete control again.

Comments (2)

  • haha patience is everything! my cat used to attack our ankles/calves. he still does it here and there but wayyyyyy less often now. good luck

  • Well here's an article on it:
    http://leerburg.com/2dogs.htm

    We aren't this extreme with our dogs but the younger one is very submissive to the older one and plus he's past the worst of it.

    Just remember male dogs will test their boundries at around 12-18 months. You'll have the worst fights at that time unless their ranks are really established.

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