Naughty behavior? Bringing a second dog in.
We got our collie Opal last May. She was about 9 months old, and a woman was selling her and another on craigslist because of "health problems". I don't know if she really had health problems or if she didn't want big dogs, or maybe she had a conscious and realized that her husband's plan to become a BYB were stupid. I think it was all three. Anyway, Opal came to us knowing basic commands, but with no leash training. She had some bad mats but no other signs of neglect. She had only briefly been walked on leash or ridden in a car or been outside a fenced backyard. She picked up new commands fast, walking on leash easily, now has a handful of neat party tricks, and has always been pretty awesome. It was obvious she had been raised with other dogs, and she socialized relatively well with people and dogs. She is obviously intelligent, although she's not Lassie--I'm pretty sure if Timmy fell down a well, she'd eat his sandwich before sauntering off to get help. We just brought Amy our 4 year old rescue sheepie home a little over a week ago. As Amy gets more comfortable, her behavior gets better. She's learning commands and getting better about walking on leash. She handles distractions better every day. She does have a few quirks and problems, but not as many as I anticipated. So as Amy's behavior gets more in line with my expectations, Opal's behavior gets worse. Where Opal used to be a doll when on walks, now she pulls, and whines and barks. She'll jump and shy away when she hears a loud sound (she used to be fine). Even when I get the leashes and collars out for our walks, Amy will sit and thump her tail and try not to wiggle her bum too much, but Opal will try to slink away. Here I was thinking my well behaved, outgoing, social collie would be a great influence on a sheepdog that needed training, socialization and confidence. Instead, the collie is showing all these new issues I wasn't expecting. I'm making sure both dogs gets 1-on-1 training time with me twice a day, and the older two kids are still putting in their 1-on-1 time with her. She still gets plenty of people play time both with Amy involved and without her. What do I need to do to get the dogs both stable and confident? |
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