Might be gettin myseslf a Terv - Need advice

You guys may have seen SummerRiot's post about the Terv that needs a home. So, I told her I'm interested and, if I can figure out how to get him down here from Canada, Charlie might have a brother!

Question is - Charlie is sooooo territorial. Aside from having them meet off of my property, what can I do to get Charlie to accept the new guy? Keep in mind, the new guy was recently attacked and spent 2 weeks at the vet clinic getting all stitched up so he will likely be nervous already.

Well, it will probably take time, and if the pup is s hy, might keep away from Charlie. Of course don't feed them together. Are y ou going to crate the new guy, and is charlie ever crated? That would give them their own space. I'm not to helpful here, sorry. I have to go , I think Baby is chewling on the floor again.

One the two dogs meet up on neutral property dont give them time to sniff or say their "hellos" just stand with Charlie and have whoever is holding the Terv's leash approach you from the opposite side that CHarlie is on (keep him on his own side!) and then the four of you walk together with each dog on the outside. Dont allow them to cross in front or behind you to get at eachother. IF both dogs seem settled and comfortable with eachother's presence (which may not happen for 10minutes into the walk or more) bring the new dog into the middle between you two and keep Charlie on the outside. Keep going like this till the dog relax again then have the dogs walk side by side, still not allowing any interacting. Once the dogs are comfortable being shoulder to shoulder, stop and allow them to greet eachother. If they start getting huffy immediately start walking again with them side to side or maybe with a person between them again. Sometimes all it takes is one walk for them to accept eachother other times it may take a few before they are totally comfortable enough to interact. One you have a good interaction going on walk them home and calmly walk both dogs straight into the house together. Dont make a big deal or fuss about it saying things like "Oh here is your new home! Now Charlie behave....so on" just keep it calm and neutral. If the dogs get huffy seperate them and repeat the above process the next day. They may need to get a little huffy with eachother just to sort stuff out (typical dog thing) but dont let it excalate to the point where one dog may get seriously hurt.

This is how I got BOTH my BF's highly dog-aggresive and territorial AmBulls to accept OC living with them for 3 months. We never got to the point where they could all be loose unsupervised (even for "just a second") but all the dogs could be loose in the house together and tolerate OC's presence. They didnt *like* him which was fine by me, but they tolerated him. I'm sure with more time they would've accepted him more though. Near the end Tank (the more dog-agressive of the two) even started playing a bit of OC!!

There is a mental thing that goes on when a dog is walking in a pack, its hard to explain but its just not the same as when a dog is just brought up nose to nose and epected to be a happy greeting. When dogs are walking as a pack even hated dogs become a valued memeber of the pack. I dunno how to explain it in more detail...

BTW, if you need a lay over stop, a place for the dog to pee and stretch his legs or even spend the night if need be, my place is open

Thanks Ren! Charlie loooooooves other dogs when we are anywhere but at my house. He goes to doggie daycare and runs around with 20+ other dogs and never has a problem. I am just worried about being at my house. He does NOT like other dogs to come on my property.

I'm still waiting to hear back from SummerRiot, who went to the cottage this weekend and isn't going to be back until tomorrow, to see if this whole thing will even work out. But I'm hopeful!

Good luck! I hope you can get him

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh a Terv!

Wow. Jealous doesn't even begin to describe how I feel.

Lucky! I hope it works out! Tons of photos needed if it does.

For some re ason everytime I see terv, I think perv. I must be crazy.

I don't mean to rain on any parades- but you might want to find out what is going on with Charlie before taking on another dog- especially one with baggage.

It's really frustrating to have one animal with severe medical problems because it takes away from the others at times. That's just my viewpoint and something to think about.

Also- didn't Charlie have some issues with aggressiveness? It could be another dog, sorry if I'm barking up the wrong tree. I have a hard time remembering.

I think Ren gave some good advice, though. Neutral territory is a must. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

Along with the other advice, one thing that helps with Meg is to have the other dog in the house before she gets there. It seems to be that crossing of the doorway that bothers her; if we come home from a walk and the other dog is already there, there is never as much grumbling.

Believe me, I have been thinking on this for a few days. But the conclusion I have come to is that Charlie's medical problems are not anything that can be cured overnight, if at all. I'm going to be dealing with his problems for years, and that's fine and I'll do whatever needs to be done for him. I'm not going to let it deter me from having a 2nd dog though. In fact, Charlie is a big reason why I want another dog, so that he has someone to play with and be more of a dog, instead of the child I am turning him into.

Yes, Charlie attacked a dog that came into my (his) yard, hence my concern. He really loves other dogs, he's just so freaking territorial. He's OK until another dog tries to pick up one of his toys or go into his doghouse (which he won't go into himself ) I don't know if that's something that can be overcome or not, which is why I'm asking. But, considering how well he does at doggie daycare, or when I take him to friends' houses who have dogs, it certainly seems that he would be OK, once he got over the initial territorial thing.

I'm still thinking on all this, and have lots of questions for the person who currently has the Terv.

Maybe Doc or Dober can answer your questions about the territorial stuffs. Good luck.

Yes, I was hoping one of them might chime in.

It's already well established that, compared to most people on this board, what I know about dogs could be written on the back of a postage stamp, but i was just wondering...is getting a male dog more of a problem than getting a female, since Charlie is a male?

I have read that male and male do fine, male and female do fine, but you usually have more problems with 2 females. I have no idea how true this is.

I, personally, would hesistate with two females than with two males, lol. But that's just because Bella is full of herself.

We thought long and hard before we got Banzai. Buddy is a very dominant dog. We had to work through his issues before even thinking about adding anything to the family, much less another male dog. It's a good thing that a) Buddy learned real quick who the bosses were and b) Banzai is so laid back.

I would really be concerned with Charlie's need to protect his territory and bringing in a dog with baggage. Wish Doc or Carrie or Melanie would come give some insight....

I PM'd them, so hopefully they will.

I know nothing about how to help you but if Charlie does not use the dog house and is protective of it, then I would sell/toss it.

But it's such a fabulous doghouse! And my parents made it for him!

Seriously, if I ever have a tornado, I'm going in that doghouse.

OK - I know......you're right.

Oh I feel the same way.


I would have to agree 110% with Nikki here. Before commiting to taking on another dog -whole could have some unknown problem pop up- I would make seriously sure that Charlie's medical problems won't be a problem(money wise) a year from now.