If anyone needs help with dog behavior...

What color dog bed would go with both the dog and the room?

Lucille, it's hard to say without being there to make a recommendation. I would pick an existing accent color and buy a dog bed to match it. Try to keep it in the same flavor as your other dog beds. Art

Art, so much for the carefully planned introduction. I was feeding them, and they got a nice big dinner with chicken broth and bits in their food because I'm making my son warm chicken salad for dinner which he likes.
Anyway, I fed them in different locations and when I opened the patio door to bring the dirty dog dishes in to wash, the new dog (I have got to decide about names soon) pushed past me to the porch.
It was a scary moment, because I know I do not have the strength to keep two dogs from fighting if they have a mind to.
The new dog is powerful and batted hard enough at Jake the GSD puppy to actually bowl him over. He then pummeled Jake and tried to mount him.
There was never a fight. Jake thought all this was play and proceeded to come back for more. They are perfect together.
Muffin the Shih Tzu, heretofore the alpha, has taken a standoffish approach so there were no fights there either.
Thank goodness it worked out. I appreciate the careful plan though.

Lucille, I don't know if this would work for your dogs (or if it's even a wise approach...) but we used to have problems with our two male shelties battling over who was going to hold the "Alpha Dog" title. One of them is fixed and the other isn't, although that doesn't seem to affect things much in this case. However, my mother decided to teach both of them that SHE was the "Alpha Dog" and that they had to answer to HER and that she wasn't going to put up with any nonsense from EITHER of them. They listened. It took a while, especially because the younger one wasn't even a year old yet at the time, but it worked. Just a thought.

The 'alpha' title is still held by the Shih Tzu. The new dog came over and was about to bat this tiny dab of neutered fluff and the most amazing growl emerged from little Muffin. They actually fought for a minute after which the new dog backed off....
Size isn't everything.

It's not the size of the dog in the fight, but rather the size of the fight in the dog.

Lucille, the new dog is showing a lot of dominance behavior. Don't put off dealing with this. Paul's mother is a good role model. For peace to reign in your household of three dogs, YOU have to be the alpha. I recommend requiring the new dog--heck maybe each of them--to sit and be calm BEFORE dropping the food pan. Feed the shi tzu first, then decide which of the other two is going to be next in the hierarchy and feed him. Most subordinate dog eats last. Be consistent.

A dog should never be in the habit of bulling through a doorway or gate. You go first, then dog waits for permission to go after you.

If you have to, at least in the beginning, leave the leash attached, especially during challenging situations, so you have it to use for correction and control.

My litany goes like this, "daily exercise and obedience, daily exercise and obedience, daily exercise and obedience...."

Tired dogs are contented dogs. They are less motivated to engage in troublesome behaviors. The exercise causes them to spend nervous energy.
And you are going to be in such good shape after all that walking!

Obedience establishes that YOU are the boss and in control. It also teaches them manners.

PS. After a fight, stroke each dog all over and look through the hair daily for the next several days so you can catch any bite abscesses that might develop.

I work for the local Humane Society and I recently took in a 9 month old "Boston terrier" mix. He definitely looks nothing like it, but since he was born there we at least know what his mother is. He was once adopted and returned for continually digging out. Leave a pupy in the back yard, he's going to dig. But my problem lies in that he will not use the bathroom outside. He has been in the kennel for so long (6 months this time around) and has no idea what it is like to live in a house in a civiized manner. He is crate trained, that is where he is this moment. In the last several days I have only managed to get him to poop outside once. I have been keeping him in his crate at all other times aside from feeding, which I am going to change that today, and being walked outside. I have tried walking him for up to 1 1/2 hours with no results. Would it be better to limit his time outside to say a 15 minute period? If he goes, great! If not, tough luck and back in the crate. Or should I stay out there as long as he needs to go? I am thinking the first, otherwise I will be out there all day. I have to fix this problem. I cannot return him as he is scheduled to be euthanized in 10 days if I don't give him this chance. I won't turn my back on him. I have had huge success with all my other dogs in all aspects of training, but this guy is going to be my greatest challenge. Once we get past this potty issue I'll have him cleaning my house and doing tricks all day just like the others.

Originally Posted by Bar None Reptiles

I work for the local Humane Society and I recently took in a 9 month old "Boston terrier" mix. He definitely looks nothing like it, but since he was born there we at least know what his mother is. He was once adopted and returned for continually digging out. Leave a pupy in the back yard, he's going to dig. But my problem lies in that he will not use the bathroom outside. He has been in the kennel for so long (6 months this time around) and has no idea what it is like to live in a house in a civiized manner. He is crate trained, that is where he is this moment. In the last several days I have only managed to get him to poop outside once. I have been keeping him in his crate at all other times aside from feeding, which I am going to change that today, and being walked outside. I have tried walking him for up to 1 1/2 hours with no results. Would it be better to limit his time outside to say a 15 minute period? If he goes, great! If not, tough luck and back in the crate. Or should I stay out there as long as he needs to go? I am thinking the first, otherwise I will be out there all day. I have to fix this problem. I cannot return him as he is scheduled to be euthanized in 10 days if I don't give him this chance. I won't turn my back on him. I have had huge success with all my other dogs in all aspects of training, but this guy is going to be my greatest challenge. Once we get past this potty issue I'll have him cleaning my house and doing tricks all day just like the others.

My first suggestion would be to figure out when he has to "go". For example, if it's first thing in the morning, right after eating, etc. and then take him outside for 10-15 minutes until he goes. Learning my dogs' "cues" was a big help in house-breaking them.

Also, are you scolding him for when he does have an accident in the house? I've always been pretty sold on a firm "NO" right at the scene of the accident followed up by placing the dog outside. On that same note though, when they do "go" where you want them to, an excessive and downright absurd amount of praise right after the success seems to sink in.

You mentioned he's been having accidents in the house and that you keep him in his kennel, but does he ever have accidents in his kennel?

Perhaps I should have gone into a little more detail. He has to go, I know he has to go, he holds it in because he is not used to going the bathroom outside of his kennel. By his kennel I am referring to his previous enclosure at the Humane Society, his run if you will. Keep in mind this dog was born there and has spent 8 out of his almost 9 months alive in this environment. He will crouch down and assume the position, it takes a peek, but never contacts the ground. Trying not to be too disgusting there.. Even an hour later of walking and what not, he still will not relieve himself. We have a concrete driveway similar to the surface in his run at the kennel and no luck with that either. SO today I have tried him being exclusively in his kennel for all activities aside from the 15 minute breaks for potty purposes, still no luck. Sure, he went on the floor within 5 minutes of being outside before I decided it was the last straw and placed him in his crate, but surely that was not all he had to do. I was just outside with him not too long ago, I could see the pressure building, but no crouching. He has not relieved himself in his crate during any point of this, as I said he is crate trained. Tonight, no matter how much it hurts me to do this, I know I must leave him in his crate. I have never had to spend more than a few days potty training any of my dogs so this is proving to be quite frustrating.

Oh and I forgot to address the praise issue. Yes, the few times he has gone outside I have given him stupid amounts of praise. I always felt that you may look stupid doing so, but it works better than anything, even treats. You get the most results that way. And when he has gone in the house, he was scolded, especially when caught in the act. But what gets me is when I do catch him in the act I first issue a verbal reprimand, this doesn't stop him. I have to physically stop him from going and interrupt the action to get him to stop. I've never had a dog keep on doing what they are doing when confronted aside from him. I just hope that his previous behaviors are not too far etched into his brain.