Introducing a 3rd dog to the pack

[BestK9GSD]

My husband and I have a 12 year old Female GSD mix (Casey), a 10 month old Male (Kimber) and we adopted a 1yr 3mo old Male last Saturday (Ruger). We introduced the two boys on neutral ground, with the help of a trainer and everything went great. She helped us with the introduction at home and to the Female Casey. Casey laid down the law immediately, and the new guy Ruger is very respectful of her.

Here's the issue....Ruger is constantly trying to establish his dominance over Kimber. I don't think Kimber wants to be the dominant one, but does not want to be dominated either, so he is having to defend himself over and over and over. I am outside with them at all times and mediating the best I can (with the help of Casey - she is telling them to cool it also). When Kimber has had enough, he will come over to me and lay down, so I guard him and tell Ruger 'enough'....but he keeps at it. In the house, Kimber and Casey are calm and relaxed - we don't allow rough-house inside, but we can't seem to get Ruger to relax at all - he just wants to get to Kimber and mount him. Ruger licks Kimber's mouth and ears and male parts constantly too - which I'm sure is all normal - but I'm not sure what I can do to get past this stage or even what to expect as far as how long it will last.

So...I'd love to hear your thoughts on this and what you've done to get 2 males to live in harmony. I'm open to any suggestions and will do what I can to get past this, because Ruger is a great dog when it's just him by himself and I'm so glad we found him, we just want him to be happy with his new family.

Thanks everyone!

[BestK9GSD]

Here are a few pictures of the new guy - all we know about him is that he was picked up as a stray, but his 'owners' came in and identified him, but didn't take him with them. He is very smart, eager to please and very sweet with women - not too sure about men and children - but we are going to work on all of that as well.

[chelle]

That third pic is absolutely adorable!!! Love it!

Sorry I can't help you with advice. I can just say four years ago I brought home my second dog (female) to the female I already had. (both non-gsd). It was not good for awhile. I remember thinking they'd never be friends and I'd made a horrible mistake. Well, time can change things and thank the Lord it did, because now they're two peas in a pod. The puppy ended up taking the alpha position eventually, but she played **** taking it away from the adult. Then last May I brought in my third dog (male) and the whole thing got whacky. I didn't know how 2 dogs is 2 dogs, 3 dogs becomes a pack. We are establishing pack order. We are, finally, reaching a peace in the household.

I am sure you'll get some great feedback -- better than what I can say, since I am out of my element when it comes to your situation -- but my first instinct would to not allow the newcomer to "overthrow" the established pup, even if the pup is younger. I think I'd take the newcomer down a peg. He eats last. He is on the bottom rung. They may (will likely) re-establish their pack order... but for now... I just can't see the newcomer being allowed that "right."

[BR870]

When I brought Loki home and already had Kai, we kept them separated for about a month before we would let them interact. This gave them time to get used to the idea of another dog in the house and got used to seeing each through the gate and window.

Not sure it will help here since you've already thrown them in together. Maybe you just need really strict management and reduce the amount of interaction...

[Rott-n-GSDs]

Sounds like Ruger is getting too much freedom too soon. You've only had him a week, so you can't expect him to know the rules/boundaries yet.

I would recommend obedience classes... it would be great if you could even enroll both males on the same class and you and your hubby each handle one. We did this with our two males and it was really helpful.

You want to make sure they both respond quickly to voice commands... if there is a fight you don't want to have to physically break them up. Your young male may be content not being the dominant one now, but that may change as he matures.

I'm on my phone now so I can't type a whole lot, but can post more about managing a household with two males, one of which is same sex aggressive. By the way, my female GSD is actually alpha over the males... usually the top dog isn't the one puffing their chest out acting like they have something to prove.

[BestK9GSD]

Great advice - thank you! We do have the boys scheduled to begin obedience classes in two weeks and we can't wait! I think it will do all of us a lot of good! I've had just a male/female combination and have always introduced a puppy to the resident dog and that has worked incredibly well, so this is new territory for me. They haven't gotten in any major scraps and if it starts getting a bit too 'rough', I'm right there to step in and get them settled down a few notches. Thanks again - I really appreciate your help!!