Give it time. The aggression is the older one attempting to establish dominance or Alpha status...which is normal and, imo, you should help him establish it, as his rightful place in the hierarchy of the home...after all, he was there first. I know a LOT of people will disagree with me here, but I have had chis for more than 20 years and I feel a little spit fight can help them establish their places, so long as it doesn't get to the point that anyone is seriously injured. I would go so far as to bet, that if they attempted to get into a scuffle, the newbie would quickly submit, and the older one would only use the force actually necessary to make him understand. However, there are times when a newbie is a natural alpha and if you get into a situation where you have two natural alphas, the only way it will be solved is when one of them does actually hurt the other...you certainly do not want that...but that is rare.....in most cases it will be a quick "fist fight" so to speak and everyone will know their place and there will be no more trouble. (maybe a few of those little "fist fights" in the beginning...but it doesn't take long)
Even if there are no alpha issues going on with either dog, it simply takes time to adjust....one day is NOT going to do it. I would make sure I spend time with the older one out of the presence of the new one and vice versa and just give it some time do not force them to move quicker than they are comfortable with. A week should do it..... Marsha Do not tell God how big your storm is. Tell the storm how big your God is. ----- Original Message ----- From: dzmindy To: [email protected] Sent: Saturday, September 15, 2007 8:03 PM Subject: [Chihuahuas] new and need advice Hi....I have a 3.5 yr old long-hair and just today adopted a 1.5 yr old short hair (both are neutered males). They seemed to get along "ok" at the shelter when I took the older one to meet the younger - no aggression or anything - actually the older one was pretty shy and not too interested at all. I adopted the older one almost 3 years ago from this same shelter and I know they would not have let me adopt the new one today if they didn't think these two could get along. Now that we're home, my older baby doesn't want anything to do with me and is showing some aggression toward the new baby. I've managed to get the oldest pulled out of his new "hiding" spot (You know, the one where he's really in plain sight but doesn't think so) and have tried snuggling with him, etc. to show him that he is still loved and that he's not being replaced, just gaining a playmate. He is ok with this until the new fella tries to join in (or even comes near us). Of course, I'm single so I don't have anyone to help with this; even my mother who normally would be here to help with the adjustment is out of town for a few days (the shelter couldn't keep the new one until she returned with any guarantee he'd still be available next week; she did go with me yesterday to check him out first). The new little guy has taken to our home like a fish to water, so I can't even fathom that we can't get this to work out! I can't stand the thought of it being so traumatic to the older one that I'd have to return the new fella to the shelter. Does anyone have any advice at all? I've actually found myself in tears twice today already over this.
