Bringing a 2nd dog into the picture ?

We have a 3 year old female bull/mix dog we've had since a puppy - She has basically been spoiled for the last 2 years by my better half. She seems very jealous when the wife and I try to get close to one-another - she will do whatever she has to do to get in between us.

When the wife is watching tv at night, the dog will stay very close by if not already on the couch with her, and should I walk in the room, the dog will pounce on top of the wife, again to get in between us.

The dog also sleeps in the bed with us, however I started that by allowing her to sleep with me when she was a puppy, before my wife was in the picture. Generally my wife goes to bed before I do, and the dog will lay at the foot of the bed. That is of course until I enter the room to go to bed - she will than get up and move to the top of the bed and plop down before I can lay down to get in between us.

So in short, she is spoiled, jealous, and has to be the center of attention in which she will now have to share with another dog. I was wondering if anyone thought it would be a better idea to bring in a male or female dog to add as an addition to our current dog ? She is fixed - just wondering if the transition would be smoother with another female, or a male, or would it matter at all ?

Any thoughts here ?

Thanks

Mike

Honestly a second dog would be a bad idea until the issues your dog already has are worked with. All the behavior that she displays is asserting dominance over you. Best bet would be to consult a behaviorist and do some training with her. To bring another dog in could be asking for a a violent situation. To start with, she should no longer be allowed on the furniture at all. To allow her to come to your level shows her that there is no heirachy in your pack and you are allowing her to be on top. You need to train her to either sit or stay before she is allowed to have the leash put on her, to got through a door, to be fed, etc. Hold off on a second dog until she realizes where she stands in your family. JMHO

I agree with techgirl. I think adding another dog would be compounding the problem/issues. It's time to show her who the leader of the pack is. This in now way means anything in the lines of being mean or harsh. Who feeds the dog, walks her, in general takes care of her basic needs? If it's the wife, as I suspect then she sees her as leader and you are under her in the pack. I also agree to get into an obedience class. Let the instructor know what you want to work on and I'm sure you will see a noticeable difference soon. Make sure the class uses positive reinforcement or clicker training. I am not promoting any company but I work at Petco on the weekends <don't boo me LOL> and I just finished the CEI <canine education instructor> and this Sunday is my first class to teach alone. Set rules for the house and hold to em. I let my two Rotties and German Shepherd lay where ever they want, but when I wanna lay on the sofa or sit in the chair they have to get up when I tell them to. We also let our 124 lb female Rottie sleep in the bed but when we want her to sleep in her kennel which is in the bedroom we tell her to kennel up and she does it. Of course it's easy with her as she is always willing to please. Now our male Rottie is another story but I am the one to feed him and take care of him when he's sick so I am leader of the pack.

Jerry

I would definitely deal with her dominance problems before bringing another dog into the house.
At the moment it looks like she see's herself as higher in the pack than you.

Does your wife feed her etc? If its possible you should take over that role so you become her pack leader and provider. Perseverance is the key, she's been spoilt for 2yrs but with proper training she will learn to know 'her place'.

Usually a male/female pair would be the best group. One thing I have always done, except for once because it was an emergency and now I realize that not doing it made for alot of the problems. I let my dog chose who he wants as a friend. I usually have someone in mind when I go to the shelter, but I always bring him in and let him chose and meet new dogs on neutral territory. If my big male will accept the new dog, then everything will be fine. His first buddy was a male shiba inu. Oddly enough these 2 males act like they have been together forever, both neutered!! I wanted to bring a girl into the mix and picked out a border collie/husky I had been working with at the shelter. The aussie liked her, but the shiba didn't. But so long as the large one accepted her, we were fine. He is the top of the canine pack. So once you have established yourself with your current dog, then I would say the both of you can go and chose a new member to join. Females are usually alot more tolerant, but I would definitely let her have a say in who she likes. My aussie does alot of what you say, he always had to squeeze his way in between, or try and leave no room in the bed. You just have to be the boss and not let her do it. If you let her continue, she will always be above you. For me it came down to getting rid of one of my dogs or the ex..... the dogs are doing great!!!