Hi All,
I recently adopted a standard poodle from our animal shelter and he is great except for some issues with our residents small dogs.
We already have a 15 year old maltipoo female who rules the roost and lets any dog know that. And the standard, Kodie, seems to respect that just fine. She made it clear from the beginning that he was to stay away from her food and not bug her.
However Kodie is having problems with our four year old Bichon, Toby. He likes to push him out of the way for attention (which I tell him firmly no and make him move away), and he stiffens up whenever Toby tries to sniff him or touch him. He also likes to try to stand in between Toby and me, which I don't allow but he tries. When they were first introduced Kodie growled a bit when Toby sniffed him but I repremanded him and it stopped. Both males are altered, and Toby the bichon is 100% submissive. He really will never ever start anything. They play the marking game in the yard though.
So, just wondering if anyone has any advice to make this transition smoother. We have only had him a couple days but I want to head off problems before they escalate. And this is our first standard.
Oh, and the stats on Kodie are that he is almost six, has been bounced around from a couple homes, and was found as a stray this last time. Microchip allowed us to trace him to the original person that gave him away. He still has bad ear infections, is about five lbs under weight, and was over all not in great shape.
Any advice would be great!
Megan