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I really can't afford to take Caleb too (ask Widget why). It's $300 to put him on the plane, and with the expenses of bringing the other one back, it's well over $1000 to bring Widge AND Caleb. I would do it, though, if I thought it would help. Caleb is not dog aggressive in the least; he's dominant. There will be fights if the newbie does not submit (which he may not; he's six years old). Caleb is still very puppyish, though, and several older dogs have cut him quite a bit of slack and ignored his attempts to establish rank. It doesn't make any difference who I bring home, unless it's a female. That's why I just plan on separating them and rotating them until I see how they do. If I don't feed them near each other (which I don't do with the other GSD in the house) it should be ok. Caleb is not a fighter; he's just an a$$, but I've never seen him after his domination attempts have failed, either. Other dogs usually submit immediately, and all is well and playtime continues. These were the problems between Caleb and Widge; Widge was not about to give up his rank for this puppy who was all the sudden huge (Widge is of the mindset that size doesn't matter), and we had some major issues; they've worked it out where they mostly ignore each other except for the occasional cheap shot :wink: .

Jenni Williams said:

..... Caleb is not dog aggressive in the least; he's dominant. There will be fights if the newbie does not submit (which he may not; he's six years old). .......

Click to expand...

I hope others will jump in here.

I believe that the intro is really important, and I have \"guided\" an intro for two people whose dogs I helped train.

Both times the dogs were introduced in neutral territory (my yard), and while they were meeting, another family member (not the primary handler) was setting up the new crate, the new dishes, etc., so they were \"just there\" when the dogs came home. The old and new dog were taken on a walk together, one on each side of the handler, before going home. They became familiar with each other w/o having to \"face off.\" (Last week I saw Cesar Millan do something similar, which made me feel pretty good! )

The meeting was no-excitement, no fuss, no emotion.

We may have just lucked out, but it worked out both times. In one case the \"old\" dog dominated (casually) and in one it was the opposite.

Ed Frawley has a new podcast about this very topic! I haven't heard it yet, but his other podcasts are really good.

Here's the podcast: http://www.leerburg.com/dogtrainingpodcasts.htm

(Scroll down to the dog-meeting one.)

This was a huge problem with Jaeger and Dominic. It still is, actually, but to a much lesser degree. Jaeger isn't dog aggressive, either - just dominant, like Caleb. The only time he gets upset is if another dog challenges his rank. As long as he feels that's secure, however, another dog can bite at his heels, growl, posture...whatever...and he doesn't care.

When he and Dom were first introduced, it was fine. They were fine the entire car ride home from PA. Once we got home, though, it was a totally different story. And not because Dom challenged Jaeger for the alpha male position - obviously not at 9 weeks old - but because Jaeger became very jealous of us giving any attention at ALL to Dom. He doesn't mind us giving attention to Bruno (our Corgi) or Buffy (our Pomeranian), but they were already in the family when we brought him home...

Over the past few weeks, we've had to monitor Jaeger closely. He's bitten Dom pretty solidly a couple of times, drawing a little blood once.

Every time, he's been disciplined, which has only pissed him off exponentially...

Tonight was the first breakthrough. Dom and Jaeger ACTUALLY played...pretty nicely, too. Dom started it by going over to Jaeger, who was laying down, and crawling on top of his head...and then laying down on it. It was a very odd gesture from a puppy who has been very cautious around Jaeger for a number of days now. I was quite nervous, but nothing happened. Jaeger sniffed him and they started playing. I made Jaeger stay in a down position, but they rolled around with each other, play fought, growled, showed their teeth, barked... I honestly think Jaeger had fun with Dom for the very first time. So YAY!!

I guess what I'm trying to say in my very long post (I'm good at those guys, sorry...) is that even if Caleb and this new boy don't get along right away, give them some time... I bet they get used to each other (unless this other dog is just downright aggressive).