We just added another doxie to our family a few weeks ago. She is 3...very sweet and likes to sit with us all the time. We already had a 4 year old female. When they met for first time there was some growling and barking but for the last few weeks they would just smell each other. Each has their own crate. When we come home the new 3 yr. old goes crazy in her crate, happy to see us and get out. She's not a barker but kind of makes a whining sound which drives the 4 yr. old crazy and she starts barking and jumping in her crate. Yesterday they were outside with my husband and each on a leash that was staked to the ground. They were fine for quite a while. As I walked toward them to bring them in, the whining and barking started....and then I think the 4 yr. old started growling at the other and before I knew it they were all over each other barking and yelping. Any ideas on how to get them to accept each other? Thanks for any advice!

I’m sorry about your girls not getting along. Just curious, did you introduce them on neutral grounds? It seems that the 4 year old doesn’t recognize you as leader of the pack and has taken over the household. You need to regain your position as leader and everything else will fall into place. This is not a difficult task but will take time, patience and commitment on your part. Have you considered obedience training? This would be helpful getting them to obey you. Why are they staked to the ground? This in itself might start aggression. A good idea would be to exercise them (45 min walk) to get rid of the pent up energy they have built up. A good exercise program would be to do this twice a day along with the obedience training. I would feed them separately, either in their crates or lock one in another room. This way you would know what and how much each one is eating and can save on starting a possible food aggression situation.

It’s really difficult to tell you how to handle the girls without being there. It’s quite possible you may be inadvertently doing something improper you are totally unaware of. In any case, I highly recommend you seek advice from a certified pet behaviorist. The sooner the better, so the problems don’t escalate.