Attention dog people, got a question & need help

[okiegirl1]

We just adopted a new dog to our family. She's about 5 1/2 months old. She's a greyhound/whippet/hound of some sort mix. Sweet as the day is long, but very timid. She was dumped outside the shelter when she was just a baby along with a couple siblings. She's brindle and looks just like a tiger.
anyway, she is so timid, I'm wondering how long it will take for her to realize we are home and trustworthy. She's been in the shelter since she was dumped so she isn't very well socialized. She tries to play with Emma (our almost 4 year old chich/rat terrier mix)
she isn't quite sure what to do with toys, but is interested in how Emma plays.
She was fostered for awhile, but not sure if she was hit because she is so timid and can be startled easily, especially with my husband. He's a big ol' softy and will be her best friend if she would just realize he's a good guy.

at 5 1/2 months, will she come out of her being so scared? She'll live indoors, but has access to a doggie door. How do you train her not to jump on me? she only jumps on me, not hubby or DD. she seems to come to me when she's scared.

any insight?

 

[okiegirl1]

ok, new issue

we've had her since last night and she's been very sweet. Just now, hubby was playing with Regan and DD was playing with Regan. Regan charged Emma three times. She hasn't shown any aggression up until this point.

now I'm not sure if we should take her back to the shelter before we attached. Emma is smaller and Regan could really hurt her.

I'm so torn right now.

 

[framing fowl]

It is normal for dogs to establish a pecking order. Was your new dog being mean or growling or was it an unsocialized dog trying to learn how to fit in and being a dork about it? If you love the new dog and want to keep her, it may be a matter of supervising them until the new dog learns what is expected of her. Only you can decide if it is more than you want to tackle in your life right now.

 

[okiegirl1]

I understand the pecking order and Regan had seemed so timid and shy that I didn't think it would be a problem with Emma being dominate.

what makes me so sad is if we take her back to the shelter, she'll see our home and the love we showed her than have to go back into a cage.

I mis-typed. DD was playing with Emma, Hubby was playing with Regan, Regan saw Emma playing and tried to bite her.

I'm just sick about this.

 

[delia_peterson]

My dog was the same way, give her a week or two. The "pecking order" fell into place after a week. I just had to be patient and show attention to both dogs. They just need to adjust to each other....that was in January. Now they are inseparable... Like Laurel and Hardy...

 

[deb4o]

I too would just try and be pateint. The dogs will figure it out for themselves. As for her being timid it is part of her breed,whippets and greyhounds tend to be shy dogs, but Iam sure some of it is that she has never had a good loving home.It takes time, we adopted a pound dog for my son, and he too is timid,but is getting better. Just love her and wait it out, she will surely turn into a wonderful pet. As for the jumping up on you it may be that she is just bonding to you more than anyone else in the home, she just needs a little training. Hang in there.

 

[sylvie]

My best friend adopted 2 rescue greyhounds. Her female was very timid, developed separation anxiety issues. She spent a year working with the dog and it was well worth it. They aren't for everyone.
Hers was in need of constant visual contact or she would attempt to go through windows. That did pass, thank goodness.
I don't want to discourage you, but was it an impulse decision?
You may want to contact a greyhound rescue group for advice on the breed.

 

[fargosmom]

Hi Okiegirl. Your new pup is still a kid, and needs to learn proper doggy manners. If you give your other dog a chance she'll probably teach the pup a thing or two, and in the process both dogs will work out their relationship. If you really think the new dog is going to hurt your little dog you could put a muzzle on her, but keep in mind that she's probably just trying to play, and she may not have had much prior experience playing with small dogs. Your little dog, being a terrier, is probably feisty enough to stand up for herself. If you work on general obedience training, with both dogs, and apply the rules in a consistent and balanced manner, you'll be creating an environment that's stable so they know what the boundaries are, and their relationship will develop over the next few months, just as if you'd adopted a human child into your own family. Set rules, be fair, and let them work it out unless it really looks like someone's going to get hurt.

 

[delia_peterson]

Hi Okiegirl. Your new pup is still a kid, and needs to learn proper doggy manners. If you give your other dog a chance she'll probably teach the pup a thing or two, and in the process both dogs will work out their relationship. If you really think the new dog is going to hurt your little dog you could put a muzzle on her, but keep in mind that she's probably just trying to play, and she may not have had much prior experience playing with small dogs. Your little dog, being a terrier, is probably feisty enough to stand up for herself. If you work on general obedience training, with both dogs, and apply the rules in a consistent and balanced manner, you'll be creating an environment that's stable so they know what the boundaries are, and their relationship will develop over the next few months, just as if you'd adopted a human child into your own family. Set rules, be fair, and let them work it out unless it really looks like someone's going to get hurt.

Exactly!

 

[okiegirl1]

Emma was so easy to train. She follows commands, knows "no", can sit and is very well behaved. She's just smart.

Regan has NO social skills.

this is her when she was younger

this is her now

I just took them out to play in teh yard and they chased each other, tumbled and ran all over. When Emma would run by Regan, Regan would just lay flat on the ground and when Emma would get close to her, she'd roll over on her back. I know that's a submissive sign. Is Regan just trying submission and dominace to see where she fits?

It wasn't an impulse thing. Hubby and I talked about this for several days and looked on line at several shelters. We went to see one, but quickly realized she wasn't what we wanted. We took Emma so she could check out her new sister too, but by the time we got to Regan, Emma was so sick of seeing other dogs she just wanted out of there.