New dog while having problems with another?

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IMO, everyone's situation is different. As others have said, there in differences in what people are able to handle.
 
If we're talking about PET dogs, I personally would not add a puppy to the situation if one of the dogs in the home were aggressive. That's just me.
 
If we're talking about WORKING dogs, that depends on the situation. A flock guardian dog, which is what I have, does not need the same amount of attention as a pet, or some other types of working dogs. Very little real "Training" is necessary, and contact with the puppy beyond necesseties MUST be kept to a minimum to ensure that the puppy bonds with the flock, rather than his human caretakers.
 
Waiting to get a LGD would have meant that my livestock would have been exposed to predators for an even longer period of time. I guess you have to live on a farm to understand- not being able to keep your animals from being killed by wild animals is a scary thing. I chose to go ahead and find a way to protect my livestock in the best way possible- with a dog bred specifically for the purpose.
 
As for the puppy taking time away from the aggressive dog? Not an issue here, since I'm not supposed to be spending much time with this puppy anyway, so that isn't an issue.
 
So in my situation, I think that what I did was a good decision. I needed a working dog to protect my livestock and I got one, and I do not regret that. IMO, as long as the puppy is not taking time away from addressing the problem, and as long as it is not exacerbating the problem, it's fine. People know what they can handle, and as long as they are well aware of their limits, only they can decide what's right or wrong for their situation.

Rats I did have a q....but I'll PM ya. Good to see you back BTW....

ORIGINAL: Ratsicles
 eople know what they can handle, and as long as they are well aware of their limits, only they can decide what's right or wrong for their situation.

and how do people learn what they can handle? they take a chance. you will never know your limits until you test them.
i know MY limits, but my husband doesnt..but he knows HIS limits... which is one dog and one cat. which is just silly in my world... what i have now is bloody boring compared to what i used to have... herds of over ten horses, twenty different dogs to feed, cattle(with bulls) to avoid while heading a trail ride with dippy dopey city slickers.. add to that everyone elses opinion on how things should be run... i was just the worker... doing what i was told and getting yelled at by someone else for doing it.
for all that experience i can honestly say right now... bringing in a puppy would be childs play (IF it were not for Kaydee needing rehab) SHE is the jealous one, she isnt a mad mauler of cute fuzzies... but her idea of helping is every bulldog's idea of helping "Grab it and hold on to it!" she is also a thinker and a second guesser, more mental work on my part to out guess her and head her off before she does her own thing (purely out of the goodness of her heart).. many people here would label her dangerous, unpredictable, and a potential hazard to everyone/thing involved. but i know otherwise because i know her better than that.
Even with Ben, the scaredy dog, i dont think bringing in a puppy would be overwhelming. In fact, since Cindy the stray showed up Ben has opened up a lot more. he never used to play or romp around in the yard.. now he does. it turns out that Ben loves to meet strangers, especially dog strangers. it would probably be a good idea to get a puppy (or at least foster one temporarily) because its proven to be good for him. Also, with Cindy being here Kaydee has regained more and more use of her legs and tail. she can actually wag it now! when i am busy with babies... Cindi does physical therapy for Kaydee, and Dog Psychology 1o1 with Ben. helpful little mutt....

Good job, folks! []

Keep sticking to telling your own stories, and sharing your own knowledge and experience!

if we are talking about dog aggression, i would not bring another pet dog into our family until and unless those issues were resolved. my brother and his wife brought a dog into their house (where they already had 2 dogs), and the new dog eventually became dog aggressive. it created a situation that wasnt fair to the existing dogs in the house or the new dog.

of course, all our dogs would be pets, as we do not have a need for a working dog that stays outside 24/7. i am not sure for us it would matter though. our training time is limited. so it would be hard to rehab an indoor pet and train an outdoor working dog at the same time.

*disclaimer: my opinion refers to my particular situation and life experiences, and in no way reflects or directs my thoughts about or to anyone else's situation.

We've had times where things like fear aggro were helped by adding another dog who simply WASN'T lol. They reall can bring the best out in one another when one's careful about the personality matches. Puppies tend to go up to people pretty willingly...and that older fearful snippy dog might just see their fear is unfounded and venture over too. In controlled and carefully supervised small doses I could see this really helping a fear aggressive or borderline such, dog.

What constitutes "aggressive"?  

Dog_ma,

I'm guessing you're referring to the OP:

ORIGINAL: espencer
Would you get a new dog while you are having problems with one you already have and that is aggressive?

We've had times where things like fear aggro were helped by adding another dog who simply WASN'T lol. They really can bring the best out in one another when one's careful about the personality matches.

Excellent point.  The behaviorist does this every day at the shelter.  The volunteers are obviously not trained or knowledgable enough to be effectively rehabbing aggressive dogs, so sometimes we use the dogs to help each other based on her careful pairings.  Her goal is that every dog be in a pair (the little guys are in 2-4) b/c a dog is of course a pack animal.  She tries to match shy dogs with more outgoing/dominant dogs, as long as they have the same styles of play and aren't hurting each other.  With kennel pairs, we prefer to turn them out together and walk them together.

[font="trebuchet ms"]We've had times where things like fear aggro were helped by adding another dog who simply WASN'T lol.

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This helped Ogre ALOT when he was still very fear aggressive. When we took him places, we tried to take Axl along too since Axl has never been afraid of anything in his life and has never, ever met a stranger. When we brought Axl along, I noticed a marked difference in how Ogre reacted to people. Rather than acting cornered, terrified, and aggressive while Axl got attention from a stranger, he stood still and watched. There were even times when he would overcome his fear and approach a stranger for attention after watching Axl for a while. Axl's presense alone didn't cure his fear aggresion by any means, but I do believe it helped the situation immensely.

This doesn't truly apply to the question, but having added a dog to what we thought was a stable situation only to find that it wasn't, I will likely never have 2 dogs again. Dealing with aggression, in our case it's aggression towards each other, is no fun and I'm not cut out for it.  Others seem to do it really well and don't have any problem at all, so my hat's off to them, but for me, the short answer is "no" []

ORIGINAL: sillysally

Well, if you look at it that way someone with an aggressive dog shouldn't have a family, a job, a social life or a hobby, as all of those things could take away from the dog that needs the rehab.

That proves my point, you have to do all that BESIDES help and aggressive dog BESIDES a new puppy

Lets say that is not a pet but a working dog, how do you train him to do what you want, how o you teach him that he can attack coyotes but not you? you need time to teach him that

An aggressive dog is a hand full
A puppy is a hand full
Have both at the same time (next to eachother or not, working dog or not) and still continue with your own personal life

It is fair to any of both dogs?