2 Dogs in the home

[CoraBoxer]

Hey guys,

Just curious if anyone can share their experiences introducing a second dog/boxer into the home. I was wondering how your dogs got along at first, what you maybe did to get them to interact. Maybe a rough timeline of how long it took for them to be totally comfortable together? be able to share a toy and play together, nap together that type of thing?

I've had Kahner for 3 weeks now. We visit my parents and Cora every weekend. I realize this is less time together than a full 3 weeks in the same home. Pretty much since day 1 Cora has been trying everything to get Kahner to play and while they do have some pretty good play sessions for the most part he ignores her. I thought maybe he would acknowledge her once she calmed down. Or that it would take some time. By now he's completely comfortable with the people in the home, and people that come over to visit. He isn't jealous and there is no dominant behaviour from either one. They just sorta do their own thing. Cora tends to follow him around and immitate him more than anything. If he's napping, she's napping if he's outside she's outside. etc. They don't really play with the same toys yet either. I play tug-a-war with two kong tugs one in each hand and the two dogs pulling their own :P

Day to day Kahner is a very mellow 2.5 year old. He loves his walks but his play is very short lived and he loves to either chew his bully stick or nap (when i'm home). Cora on the other hand is a very bouncy energetic 2.5 year old. While her daily routine includes a lot of nap time (people at work) in the afternoon she'll go for a good long walk and then she'll want to play and then play some more.

Long term, are they bound to just 'co-exist' or to bond/interact.

Curious how your experiences different, or how maybe they were the same. And where things are now?

[GDOGS1]

Well when we brought out GSD into our home GDOGS was not quite sure what to think or do with this new house guest as our GSD was very small and she was 3 months old,but I think GDOGS knew that she (Delmi) was sick so he didn't bother her at all matter of fact GDOGS would just watch over her,Then as she finally started to get bigger he would play with her a little bit at a time until she got a whole lot bigger/better and now that Delmi is all well they both romp through the house and outside until one or the other tires out which to my amazement is mostly Delmi and not GDOGS and there is almost 6 years of age difference between the two.That's our story and I have always thought that dogs are like people as the personalities can be similar or can be totally different from each other.I hope this helps you in some small way.

[Gatorblu]

They may just have two different speeds. Thor has always been more laid back the either of my girls. We had Star when we got Thor and they played together, but Thor always wimped after a short while. Later as Star was slowing down with age and arthritis, we got Arabella. Thor and Arabella got on great when she was a pup. Puppies would go for a short while and then need to nap. This really suited Thor. Arabella has however grown out of the nap times and would go non-stop 12 hours at a time if we let her. My two will play together for 1 or 2 twenty or sessions a day. Other than that it is upto my dh and me to entertain Arabella. Lets just say we go thru a lot of tennis balls.

[Caney Creek]

Sounds like my two girls. We brought Caney home when she was 8 weeks old and she has always looked up to Creek, and 5 years later she still tries pretty frequently to get Creek to play with her but Creek has never really been much for playing with other dogs. I've seen them play tug with a toy maybe 10 times, ever. Creek really prefers to play with her own toys, by herself, with no interference from other dogs; and Caney would rather wrestle, run and be chased by a doggy playmate. But, even though they don't interact all that much, there's no doubt in my mind that they enjoy the companionship of simply having another dog in the house, and each one would be depressed if the other was gone. I sometimes wish they would play together but as long as they're both happy doing what they're doing then that's all that matters.

[CoraBoxer]

Its kinda funny, this weekend Cora tried to squeeze her but into the free corner of the blanket Kahner was laying on and after a short time he just got up and left. Other times it'll be Cora that moves, free's her pillow cause Kahner wants to lay down. I'm not worried just curious Definately totally different personalities.

[Sansal]

Happy and Sky also don't play a whole lot with each other (Happy is not a boxer, though). They used to play more when Sky was a puppy. Now they play maybe every other day or so for 5-10 minutes. They don't nap together either. I think your boxers might still be getting used to each other. Maybe they will start playing more.

[CrazyStella]

Watching this thread! We have Stella who is 1.5 years old and brought home Kenya, 3 months, a week ago. I was very nervous how Stella would react with the puppy as she is used to being the only dog and having all our attention but she's done great. Kenya is a spitfire and keeps Stella on her toes. ALL they do is play and wrestle. Ruff and tumble these 2 are. I try to distract them and have them play with a toy together or something else, but that only lasts a minute or so before they are back all over each other. Stella is very gentle, but Kenya with her baby teeth is not so much. Poor Stella's chest and neck is pretty scratched up. I wonder how long this will go on though... I'm hoping they will get to a point where they can play together but it's not ALWAYS wrestling and biting/chewing on each other!

[CoraBoxer]

Talk about opposites :P

We'll see with time if they get more comfortable with one another during the time they have together. So far still about the same. And hopefully yours, as they settle with age keep that close interaction... manifested in cuddly nap times together.