Rescue Story and questions

[chicagojosh]

Hi all! happy holidays!

While driving from IL to OH on the freeway we saw a husky run across and almost get hit! So, we pulled over, and I ran across the freeway to get him. used beef jerkey to lure him over. he was hesitant at first, but i gained his trust quickly. by the 4th piece he was taking it from my hand.

no collar on at all, so we couldn't do much more than keep him over the holiday. we arrived at my wifes moms, and our rescue had to deal with Roxie (mother inlaw's snippy, mean cattle dog) and Pebbles - the friendly one lol. he put up well with Roxies little outbursts.

He is an escape artist and got away TWICE while we were in ohio. 1st time we opened the door after getting back from dinner and he bolted out and ran off. we chased, couldnt keep up of course, lost track of him on foot. on the way back to the house to get the car he popped out and came right up to me LOL. ok. got him back

the next day (xmas eve) the vet was open for a half day, so i took him over there to be scanned. I had his new collar and leash on him. I pop the hatch on the murano, and was READY to grab him quick......well, the sneaky little guy jumped out when it was barely open and ran off again!!!! right from the vet parking lot!!! after another 20 minutes on foot and an hour in the car looking for him, i went back to the vet. Sure enough, he came back there. they had just let him go with the sheriff to the pound. I missed him by 2 minutes!!! so now, i go to the pound, talk the sherriff out of fining me for having a loose dog, pay him impound fee, pay to have him licensed in ohio, and get theh dog back again oh yeah, he had NO CHIP either

in the mean time, we had called every sherriff department, animal control, shelter and humane society within a few counties of where we found him. none were open.

so, our holiday comes to an end. now, we have to introduce him to our dogs (Cody 3 y/o male GSD, and Mandi 7 y/o GSD/lab/husky mix). they were back at our house, being watched by my brother. After some pretty good leash introductions, we let them all off leash. What ensued was literally 2 hours of "I'm the Alpha dog contests". wresting, humping, hump attempts, neck bites, chasing, barking, howling...you name it. we watched closely and made sure things were not too aggressive, we also tried to step in if our 2 were double teamnig the new rescue.

At this point, they are all nice to each other and all, but i still cant get them to just play without it turing into a dominance/rank contest. I should add all 3 know im alpha and they are just battling for lower ranks haha. they eat together without issue, and dont fight over toys, treats, bones or water either.


Questions:

why didnt hte "alpha dog contest" go on at my mother in-laws?

why does it last so dang long back at our house? you'd think they would have figured it out by now lol.... we let them do it thinking they would sort it out, but now we stop any hump attempts. little do they all know, that all this stress over new pack rank is for nothing, because the owner finally called!!!! Sambuca is the huskies name! he escaped when they broke down. and his owner is coming to get him tomorrow night

should we have not let them sort out back order with wrestling and all? again, it was like they'd rough house and all, then go drink water together. but this was not normal play, it was clear the point was to pin/hump the other one or get them to submit...

here are a couple pics of our rescue buddy...

[Jelpy]

No advice, but what a handsome guy!

Jelpy

[chicagojosh]

yeah he is! it's gonna be hard to see him go...

[chicagojosh]

any thoughts on my questions?

[JakodaCD OA]

I'll fathom a guess, sounds like the dogs at your MIL's, even tho one didn't particularly like Sambuca, were more respectful of him so , no need to have a three ring circus..They were probably secure in their positions.

WHAT A STORY!!! LOL,,I had to laugh tho, at the vets, you pay the vet, the impound fee, that sambuca led you on a merry chase ..but a nice thing you did for him and his family I'm sure they are having a happy xmas to be reunited with their dog

[chicagojosh]

Hi Diane,

I could see that at the MIL's. plus her dogs are 9 & 12. Ours are much younger and more energtic.

it was quite a story.

Anyone care to comment on whether or not I should have let the "I'm alpha dog contest" go on? I mean, I could have just kept Sambuca seperate or caged, but at the time we got home we hadn't even heard from the owner, and didn't know how long we'd have him...possibly forever.

also, i feel so emotional (for a guy i guess lol) about this. Like for example, Cody came and slept next to my bed. then I saw Sambuca peek around the corner like he wanted to lay by me. I didn't call him over, because I didn't want to make my boy Cody feel like I was choosing Sambuca over him. yet, I felt like man this poor guy is looking for a cuddle buddy and wants to fit in, and hated to see him walk out of my bedroom. lol

[gsdraven]

Originally Posted by chicagojosh

Anyone care to comment on whether or not I should have let the "I'm alpha dog contest" go on? I mean, I could have just kept Sambuca seperate or caged, but at the time we got home we hadn't even heard from the owner, and didn't know how long we'd have him...possibly forever.

I don't think anyone really can comment on it since only you know your dogs. I have a lot of dogs in and out of my house and how I let them establish their spot depends very much on the individual dog.

Raven usually lets others know to not even bother right off the bat and she doesn't care for other females so I don't allow a lot of figuring out between her and other dogs because she will take it too far.

Kaiser on the other hand is very appropriate with other dogs and much more tolerant in what others can get away with so I will let them figure it out longer.

I also usually avoid introductions with more than one dog at a time to prevent the ganging up because I know no matter what my three will back each other up, especially Kaiser and Raven.

[Lauri & The Gang]

As long as no-one was getting hurt I would just let them be.