Suzie and other dogs

Alright, so if we ever do get another dog, I have some questions that would need to be answered first.

1. When we had the golden retriever for a week, she guarded her items. We have a compost pit that she likes to dig in and if Carmen got close, she would stand there and bark. I don't think she ever growled or went after her, but I don't remember.
And we have a couple of bones lying around that she NEVER eats, but when Carmen came, she got all snarky and would bark if she got too close. Carmen would just back off and be bashful thank goodness.

2. Suzie used to bother our old dog until she chased her, and that is how she plays with our cat, bothering her until she runs and then they are off! But when Carmen tried to play, Suzie would just back off, occasionally barking. She did play a couple times, so I'm thinking that is just something she has to remember how to do.

3. She never minded if I petted Carmen, and was just fine with me petting both of them, so she doesn't seem THAT jealous.

4. She is slightly intimidated by larger dogs, but she will follow little dogs around and kind of bother them. I think her problem is that she doesn't know how to play. I think she thinks that barking is funner. Weird dog.

So basically, if you manage to read this all, I want to know what to do about question number 1.
Ad would a puppy would be a better way to start? Or do you think she would do better with an older dog?

I don't see anything out of the ordinary with Suzie. The fact that she doesn't care if the newcomer gets petted is really good. She is probably not well socialized. She and Carmen may very well have worked things out. Sometimes the dog that is bugging the other dog just needs the other dog to get fed up and lash out. Just to be safe, I'd try a puppy, but not a real young one. Have a place where the puppy can go to in order to avoid Suzie. Also, Suzie needs to be solid on leave it so you can call her off when necessary, just because constantly bugging the puppy isn't good.

Sounds good!

I don't know how she was socialized well or not, we found her as a stray.

I shall start working on the Leave It Command as soon as possible

MOST dogs are resource guarders.... It's instinctual, if early dogs didn't guard their resources they'd starve. When I have other dogs around, I'm extremely careful not to leave out valued resources, to manage the situation so that they don't have the opportunity to guard. I think, though, when two dogs get used to each other, you can start graudally introducing resources and see if they're ok. For example, Luna was guarding her food bowl today from my cat (I just discovered that he likes dog food ), and I let her do it because I knew that she was just communicating to the cat, and that he really needs to learn what it means when a dog is growling at him. But I also know that Luna's not going to attack the kitty, and that he's not going to hurt her either. If I wasn't so sure, I would be much more careful with the animals around the food bowl.

Sounds like just a socialization issue, I wouldn't worry about it too much. Your best bet is to find some dog-savy dogs for her to play with, who will be patient in letting her learn how to play. It would be best, too, if the new dog you're getting would be good at playing with other dogs.

That's good!

Yep, again, a socialization issue. Dogs have to learn social skills from other dogs, and if she wasn't exposed to a lot of social dogs as a puppy, then she hasn't learned those skills yet. She can learn them, though; Luna was, I think, undersocialized with other dogs, but now she's very appropriate and even enjoys playing.

I don't think it'll make a whole lot of difference. If you get a puppy, just keep in mind that you'll have to do a lot of socialization with other dogs to teach the puppy social skills; that Suzie isn't very good, socially, so the puppy will need better teachers. And if you get an adult, you'll need to make sure that they get along, with their respective play styles, because it's possible that the adult you decide to get will also not be very good, socially.... which is fine as long as they will be compatible. I worked with a dog in rescue who was VERY rude with other dogs in play.... but we found an adopter who had a dog who was also very rude, but they were rude in the same way. They were like two peas in a pod, it was really cute. So it worked out because they were compatible.

Thanks Lizzy! This is really helpful.

my dog is rude too most of the dogs...
Over time I learned to give your dog to play with other dogs
Otherwise it will close before the other dogs

I have the feeling I'm missing half of each of these sentences.

Same here.... But thanks for the thought