Hello everyone, this is my first thread in this forum, but I just have a few doubts and I hope you will be able to give me some advices.
To start, as the title says, I have a new dog in the house. My mother found it wandering around near a road, so she caught him and brought him home. He had blood on his hair because of the fleas, so when my mother got home she gave him a bat. Apparently it's a Shih Tzu dog, a Chinese breed that's quite new in Europa, a hundred year's old, they're supposed to be very clever dogs and he's all white. He's quite small and doesn't even weigh five kg. The veterinarian we took him say's he's aged from nine to twelve years old, she isn't sure. He has an eye cataract and a heart murmur, so he's really slow, but the veterinarian says it's nothing to bet very worried about, only if he starts coughing a lot. He doesn't eat much. We've had him for 3 days, and only today I've heard him bark. The first day my other dog wouldn't let him quiet so he growled a lot, but today he followed the other dog everywhere and he wouldn't pay him any attention. He's a really obedient dog, so we don't know why would anyone abandon a dog like that.
Well, my main question is what can the other dog react? He's been with us for eight years and wasn't social with other dog, so him a bit concerned he will get sad and attack the new dog, but he hasn't until now.
Also, the new dog sometimes urinates inside the house, is it too late to teach manners?
Any advice would be welcome.
Best regards,
António.
You and your mother have done a good thing by saving that dog. He might have been abandoned because he was in such poor health, and that could be why he urinates inside the house. If you encourage him to go outside, and show him that you are not pleased when he does it indoor, he might stop doing it.
Your dog has not attacked the new one so far, but he might not like all the attention you give to the new one. It would be best if you make sure there is always someone to watch them. I think in time your dog will get used to having another dog in the house. Let them spend time together when you or your mother are there, and they could become good companions.
Thank you for the reply, Rube. Yes, I also believe we did a good thing. The veterinarian said, even thought he's a pretty dog, if he went to the kennel, he would probably put down after a while, because people wouldn't want to adopt an already grown dog and because he's not in his best health. We can give him comfort for some years, I hope. About urinating in the house, he just did that in the first day, now he has been going to the garden and doing what he has to do outside, so he's a clever dog. He also sits and lies down when we tell him to.
We have been giving attention to both of the dogs, I even take him for walks outside the house and leave the new one inside, as he can't see very well and doesn't like to have a collar, so he just stays in the house. At night they sleep in the same room, and haven't done any noise, so I assume nothing bad will happen. We dog is just a bit a-social with other dogs, I don't if they will be good companions, but if they can coexist in the same house it would be nice.
I would suggest you take the new dog out in your yard to a back corner of the yard and walk him until he pees. Praise him highly for it and try to take him to the same spot several times a day. When taking him out make a fuss about going for a walk. Soon he will come and beg you when he needs to go out. A old dog can learn given proper encouragement.
Sometimes dogs go in the house to mark their spot in an a new home. But with a bit of time and patience he will learn the house rules.
Hope this is of some help to you. Let us know what works. I am glad you gave the dog a home.
The new dog now goes out to the yard to do what he needs to. The only problem is we have some parts with soil around the yard, but he does everything in the middle part, so we have to clean it everyday, thankfully it's just once a day. We are trying to teach to do in the soil part, but he doesn't seem to like it. We don't take him out for walks because he can't see very well and walks slowly, so he just goes to the yard.
It has been proven in studies that you can teach old dogs new tricks so teaching your dog to do his business outside can still be done. I know your new dog does not see very well but unless he has trouble physically moving he still needs his exercise. Dog's need guided exercise/walking to maintain their health. You can try to slowly walk him around the yard with a leash on. Wandering around an area without a purpose is not the same thing as my Vet had explained to me before. I also thought that a yard to play in was enough exercise for my dog too.
