Can another dog negatively influence your own?

*adele*

I have a 4 month old Westie/Bichon cross and we are currently minding my aunts dog(3 year old Westie) both male. Im kind of worried that the older dog will be a bad influence on my own one. Hes quite terretorial and barks a lot. The dog will be staying with us for ten days and I was wondering does anyone know whether this will affect the personality of my puppy?

looserock

*adele* wrote: »

I have a 4 month old Westie/Bichon cross and we are currently minding my aunts dog(3 year old Westie) both male. Im kind of worried that the older dog will be a bad influence on my own one. Hes quite terretorial and barks a lot. The dog will be staying with us for ten days and I was wondering does anyone know whether this will affect the personality of my puppy?

Yes it will.

Millie

I do think their behaviour rub's off.
I sometimes stay at my Aunts along with my dog (who is very bubbly) and my Aunts dog is usually very docile but when he sees my dog he follows her actions and becomes so much more out of himself.

stevoman

of course it will monkey see monkey do. or this this case doogy doo!

*adele*

Crap And will it be irreparable?

stylie

Yes, dont know will ten days make permanent character changes to your dog but he will get some influence from the other dog. Its amazing to see the changes in a dog when another one is around it for a while, almost human like. Just dont let the new dog usurp your position as pack leader and you should do fine

mary123

As all the others have said im afraid the answer is yes. I hade a rescue dog here that was a brat for barking at anything and everything and he had my dogs at it. Also another dog here wasnt house trained so had my dogs peeing and pooing all over the place.

looserock

*adele* wrote: »

Crap And will it be irreparable?

Very few behavioral problems are totally irreparable, but it would be better if he didn't pick up the bad behavior in the first place.

ergonomics

My boyfriend's dog is very old and tends to shake a lot and she also wheezes a bit. As she is old and sick she gets a lot of attention. Since my dog met her she's starting shaking and wheezing whenever she wants attention. I find it very funny as my dog is so blatantly copying the other dog.

Morganna

it will rub off

Alfasudcrazy

Biggest problem I see is that once a dog has other dog company they have to have it forever. Expect a few tantrums when and after its time to say goodbye to the other dog.

Sigma Force

They do tend to and especially if they are together permanently.

Depending on how much a follower your dog is will depend on how much she picks up on it. One thing to do is perhaps work on the visiting dogs behaviour when he arrives, from the very start so he knows his place.

You could try contacting Dogs Behaving Badly aka Maureen/Westie rescue she really knows her westies and perhaps a consultation with her will give you some tips on how to cope with it and also some helpful tips that you can pass on to his owner to work on his barking. The tips could also help you with keeping manners on your own pooch once the naughty visitor has gone.

Dogs can also have postative infulences on each other but they do tend to pick up bad habits.

*adele*

Thanks for the help guys,
Ah I guess theres worse dogs he could be like, the older dog has quite a nice personality. I suppose all males are gonna be terretorial now and again. Ill look into getting tips about it too.
Thanks again

sorella

We now have a collie who tries sometimes to bounce up and down like our Jack Russell/Basset cross.. she looks ridiculous doing that. But the smaller dog is the dominant bitch and never tries to dance like the collie.