So, yesterday we collected an 8-week-old German wirehaired pointer pup. He's ace, absolutely brilliant and remarkably chilled for a pointer. I'll put a pic on the dog thread in a bit, if I can.
Anyway, we have a party fence with our neighbour complete with 85cm-high wrought iron gate. They have a sweet, but under-exercised and barky West Highland terrier - 5 years old - who is currently going nuts whenever our pup is in the garden, which is frequently atm as we're crate and toilet-training him.
Basically stands at the gate barking his little head off. Any thoughts on the best way to introduce them in a positive way? It's all new for the pup, though he's more alert than scared. I could temporarily put a solid board over the gate, but it's obviously not an optimal solution and I don't know if it would help much anyway. I'd rather that they learned to get along.
Any thoughts? We're a bit new to this, so experienced advice would be welcome. Fwiw, we've walked the Westy in the past and he's a nice little soul and not reactive to other dogs.
I assume at 8 weeks he's not had his second jabs yet so won't be meeting any dogs.
However, on lead walking in the same direction is a good way to introduce them. Bit of distance between them and gradually reduce as they get closer. Let the dogs decide what distance they're comfortable with. Swap around so both dogs get the lead position. I assume your neighbours would be happy for you to walk their dog if they don't want to help with this.
It's the same technique we use to help poorly socialised dogs at the rescue with our stooge dog. If you can find a calm dog to try it with as well that's even better so that the new boy can learn that calm behaviour.
That dog next door is always going to bark... Get used to it 😩
I’m inclined to agree with sharkbait but I think it will depend more on the other dog and its approach to dogs near its garden and how often they are together as to whether they see each other as a ‘pack’. Some dogs will just not want to share their garden with an outsider. Does the westie still have his nuts and will you be hoping to keep your dogs nuts? If yes to both, I’d be looking at ear defenders and some way to make it a solid barrier at least. Otherwise you’ve got two competing males protecting their gardens. I don’t let my lad spend too long with another male when passing outside because one of the two of them is bound to suddenly think ‘I’m the top of this pecking list’. They could be totally fine when away from your homes together but once they’re back on their garden it’ll be a different matter.
Is it your first GWP? I’ve considered the breed before and considered them fairly similar to the wire haired vizsla I went for but I’ve a friend with a similar aged female and I’m shocked just how stubborn and mute to the owner she is. Enough to put me off for life!
If you can get proof the other dog is vaccinated and you know its temperament is good - then just let them run around together for a bit.
My daughter bought a new puppy home a few weeks ago and he and our current dog just spend hours and hours rolling around on the lawn!
My main concern for future is an 85cm gate will be nowhere near high enough to keep a pointer in!
My main concern for future is an 85cm gate will be nowhere near high enough to keep a pointer in
Yeah I know, we'll be making some changes to the driveway gate too. I think I'll board over the gate for now though, it has proper head-trapping potential for inquisitive pups apart from anything else.
Is it your first GWP? I’ve considered the breed before and considered them fairly similar to the wire haired vizsla I went for but I’ve a friend with a similar aged female and I’m shocked just how stubborn and mute to the owner she is. Enough to put me off for life!
I have mates with GSPs and Vizslas. I know they have a reputation for being a little more stubborn than the short-haired pointer, but they're also super bright and trainable and, if they get the considerable amount of physical and mental stimulation they need, are also super loyal and affectionate. We'll see, I guess, but there are plenty of well-trained, obedient WHPs out there.
Wire-haired Vizslas are also supposed to be more stubborn than the standard issue ones, apparently partly because they have an element of GWP to them. Uh oh...
Ta for the inputs so far. I suspect it's going to be a question of introducing them under positive conditions and seeing how it goes.
Pay the tax, and then you can have my advice.
Is it your first GWP? I’ve considered the breed before and considered them fairly similar to the wire haired vizsla I went for but I’ve a friend with a similar aged female and I’m shocked just how stubborn and mute to the owner she is. Enough to put me off for life!
GWPs are the best....we're on our third. Like any intelligent dog, they can be stubborn, but so biddable if you work at it, and figure out the right rewards (the answer is cheese). None of ours have responded to being "told off"...they react much better to positive training (like all dogs probably).
If you're friendly with your neighbours I'd introduce the dogs by just leaving the gate open...the yappy thing may make a lot of noise initially but might just settle down after a bit....otherwise it's higher, solid fences all the way round. (Having said that, we raised all our borders to 7feet high before Randal arrived...absolute waste of time....he couldn't even jump into the car when we first got him, and has never so much as put his front paws up on the walls/fences 😂
My point of view is to put a board over the gate, I wouldn't want my puppy's early potentially defining experience of meeting another dog for it to be barked at.
Will it scare your dog? Will it make your dog anxious? You don't know, so why take the risk.
(Having said that, we raised all our borders to 7feet high before Randal arrived...absolute waste of time....he couldn't even jump into the car when we first got him, and has never so much as put his front paws up on the walls/fences
Mates have a Vizsla, they endeavoured not to actually 'teach' him that he can jump over things, consequently he doesn't ever appear to have realised that the low fence separating him from his best buddy next door would barely stop a motivated Dachshund.
Anyway, I think the answer is likely to be that 'it depends'. We're being a little cautious right now because we only picked the pup up yesterday, so he's still finding his feet, but he comes from a busy breeder with a lot of resident dogs and has been exposed to a bunch of stuff already and is pretty chilled so far, we picked him partly because of his calmness. He's mostly unphased by the barking and I'm pretty sure it's excitement behind it rather than territorial aggression.
Next door's dog is actually a real sweety, so we'll likely introduce them carefully later this week, maybe after the Westy's had a walk, and see how it goes. I know there are no guarantees, but I'm optimistic that they'll get along. It would certainly make life easier and potentially save us the expense of a new gate.
Failing that, we'll just have to move. 😕
Don't introduce them in he gardens.
Keep to a neutral place. The last thing you need if for not to go well and lock in border guarding.
Still no photos.
Evening, I have a German Shorthaired Pointer (bitch) & GSP x Vizsla cross (dog) and both have been raised since 8 weeks with a Border Terrier (partners sisters) we've never had an ounce of bother with them, as the Terrier is the eldest she's in charge of the pack and no questions asked! We found that socialising was the key, just get them used to it and in our experience everything else will look after it's self. Good luck with the first two years of the GWP, both mine were a menace!
[quote data-user
Don't introduce them in he gardens.
Keep to a neutral place. The last thing you need if for not to go well and lock in border guarding.
Still no photos.
Sprocket, looking deceptively mellow. His life is dominated by one simple question: Will it fit in my mouth?
He is ace.
Ta for all the advice all.
Pup is gorgeous 😍
He looks Fab 😍
He is awesome, we are properly blown away by him. I never realised I could grow to love the faint aroma of tripe... There may be some transitioning on the Sprocket Fuel front as time passes 😀
Get ye to the "can we have a dog thread"
A quick update in case anyone's interested. So far, all okay. Sprocket, our GWP pup has been with us a week now and is fantastically bold and curious. He's remarkably indifferent to the yappy dog next door, mostly wants to play with it, but in the main just ignores the barking and the odd growl.
We gently teased out of the neighbours that their dog is 'a little overdue for its annual booster' - we're thinking about four years overdue - so they won't be meeting until our boy's fully vaccinated, at which point he'll be spending a lot less time out back anyway, as we have a whopping great recreation ground 50m from our front door and the fringes of the Peak District NP out back.
It's obviously not ideal and a bit of a short-term ball-ache - if the idiots had vaccinated their dog, they could at least meet on neutral ground and potentially be mates - but that's what you get for living next door to anti-vax conspiracy nut-jobs. If there's a saving grace to all this, it's that the almost total lack of exercise their dog gets - mostly it exists on instagram rather than real life - means that the chances of it being exposed to anything infectious are pretty small.
Of course, if it did actually get the occasional walk, it wouldn't be quite so bloody hyper. Anyway...
Sounds much like Benji one of our neighbours dogs. I only really know what his front teeth look like because one of the fence panels is a bit bent at the bottom and I can see him snarling at me through it.
Similarly not walked or socialised. Also largely ignored by our well adjusted boy.
To be fair, next door's dog isn't nasty or reactive, we've walked him a few times and he's fine with other dogs on lead at least. He just has a load of pent-up energy with no outlet. After he's been walked, he's like a big pussy cat. I'm optimistic they'll be mates in time, but for now, it is what it is.
I think he could have a much better life, but that's mostly outside my agency.
In case anyone's remotely interested, it's ceased to be much of an issue - 9mm ply over wrought iron gate so no sightlines. Occasionally scrabbling and minor barking. Our pup doesn't give a stuff, neighbours take their dog inside when it gets loud, so a double win there.
Next step, now our dog is fully vaccinated, is to arrange some sort of meet-up on neutral ground and see how they get on away from the garden territory stuff. If they become mates, great, if not then it's not a big deal. We're also about to get a solid, taller gate fitted along with extended fencing to make the garden more pointer secure. He's around 13 weeks now and growing exponentially.
So anyway, what felt like it was a bit of a problem has thankfully turned out to be pretty minor. I'm grateful we have solid fencing between us rather than some sort of wire mesh barrier, that would, I think, have been pretty nightmarish.
What's happening with this site!!!??? - A puppy post without pictures - get it sorted man 😠
That dog next door is always going to bark... Get used to it 😩
Yup, some dogs are arseholes.
My point of view is to put a board over the gate, I wouldn't want my puppy's early potentially defining experience of meeting another dog for it to be barked at.
+1
It's probably not as bad as that though. <6 months everything is new and therefore unless it's really traumatic everything is also normal, that's just how the world is to them. After 6 months everything new becomes different and scary. A good example is dogs born in the summer are usually good with fireworks, dogs born in January are less likely to be calm around bonfire night / new year.
Introducing them might help, but if the other dog barks when excited rather than out of aggression then it won't stop it.
What you definitely don't want (for your own sanity as well as the dog's anxiety) is to teach it to bark like next doors dog (remember, <6 months everything is normal, don't let barking at everything become normal). If it will stop barking if it can't see your garden then just block off the gate, but if it's going to bark as the sound / smell of your dog then maybe have words and ask them to keep it inside if they can't control it's barking.
We help run a puppy "socialization" class in the local village hall that get's 20+ pups in at a time (it's the highlight of my month 😂). It's NOT just dogs meeting dogs, they get exposed to people dressed as police, roadworks, an inflatable T-rex costume, Santa, a Christmas tree, loud bangs, loud music, loads of different textures / surfaces like astroturf, bridges, tents, ball pools, play houses, a 'cafe', 'vet', 'groomer', etc. Highly recommend something like that.
Our neighbors arsehole dachshund barks at everything and everyone. So they got it a friend, a little French bulldog that was lovely, until it learnt all the Dachshunds barking at everything and now it's an asshole too.
What's happening with this site!!!??? - A puppy post without pictures - get it sorted man
There are a few in the dog thread, however 🙂
Introducing them might help, but if the other dog barks when excited rather than out of aggression then it won't stop it.
What you definitely don't want (for your own sanity as well as the dog's anxiety) is to teach it to bark like next doors dog (remember, <6 months everything is normal, don't let barking at everything become normal). If it will stop barking if it can't see your garden then just block off the gate, but if it's going to bark as the sound / smell of your dog then maybe have words and ask them to keep it inside if they can't control it's barking.
Our pup doesn't bark, just wags his tail and wants to play. Doesn't care. Pointers aren't renowned for barking anyway. West Highland Terriers oth are notoriously vocal and this one is under-stimulated, under-exercised and bored.
If you read the rest of thread - I'm not telling you to btw, just explaining - I boarded up the gate with plywood and the neighbours, to be fair, have taken the dog in / quietened it when it does bark more than a few times. Probably because it does their heads in too.
I also, fwiw, did some impromptu training work with next door's dog - very basically rewarded it with puppy kibble when it was not barking, ignored it when it was. That also had a significant impact if you can interject before he really gets going.
Gratifyingly the distraction hasn't impacted Sprocket's training - the other day he recalled instantly on the whistle in the midst of a cross gate barking session, if anything it's made it's created a useful higher distraction environment.
I updated the thread mostly because it's no longer a significant issue for us and I kind of dislike archived threads where you never find out what the outcome is.
He is a calm, balanced pup with not a hint of lunatic goofball, oh no...
If you read the rest of thread - I
Pfffttt, that sort of thing will never catch on 😂
awwwwww
He is lovely. Is he named after the dog in Fraggle Rock?
