how long is too long?

[virginiawoolf]

i have had my dog, olive, for 5 months. she is one year old this month, and was poorly socialized when i adopted her. she is iffy with a lot of bigger dogs when she first meets them. we thought that she would hate my sister in law's gsd/lab mix forever, because of her snarling, growling, barking behavior she took on when they were introduced. it took about 4 on leash interactions of a couple hours each, until they could be let off-leash together. now they play and play and play, until olive just collapses in exhaustion.

anyway, on monday a rescue group brought over a foster that i am potentially adopting. he is a bigger dog, a boxer/dane mix and about 7 months old. she growled and barked, but eventually ignored him. we took them inside, and it was the same story. we decided that no progress would be made if on the next in home visit, we went through the same rigamarole, because they hadn't been around each other in almost a week, so we decided that keeping him starting that night would make the most progress.

they've progressed to being able to be off leash in the house together, and for the most part they pay each other no mind. he is very submissive, and is letting olive take her time. occasionally if he stands up quickly, or does something she's not fond of, she will bark at him pretty aggressively, though i can see definite improvements. when we take them on walks together, they can be side by side, and he even licks her face and she's fine. it's just when we get inside that she gets territorial.

i'm sorry so long, i was just wondering how long you think i should give her until it's too long for this behavior to persist. it's only been about 1 1/2 days, and i know that is no time at all.

[c0_re]

Sorry I wish I had an answer for you, boy he sure does sound sweet heart though.

[Sophie45]

It sounds to me like good progress...some dogs need a bit of time to learn their roles. I would definitely recommend them not be left alone unsupervised.

Any updates?

[Estie]

Ummmm...how about 4-5 months. We had Cassy for 2 yrs, then got a foster in April, Sammy, who we adopted in June. First couple months, got along fine - some rough play, but no biting, etc. Then Cassy went through this little "act" of being quite snotty to him, wouldn't play, growled, etc. and basically being nasty in order to get rid of him!! Then she figured out that he wasn't going away, so lately, it's been just awesome how they've gotten along. However, one mistake I made - paid more attention to Sam (he had some health issues) and kinda skipped the one-on-one with her that we enjoyed together. So I would take her for a walk alone, and we would go to some of the places where she and I had gone before. After that, is was all good!