After the death of our old JRT we adopted a new fella from the Rescue.  He is called Pip and he is a bit of JR cross, wired haired and cute.  We also have a Westie bitch, adopted from a private home two years ago. She is 5 and Pip is 18 months.

We have had the normal (Rescue) issues with him, peeing in house, bad with our cats(!) boisterous with the Westie etc but things are calming down and he is turning into a lovely dog, gentle and loving.  He is not nearly as aggressive as other JRs we have had.  However,  if I give both of them a chew there is a terrible fight.  Lucy the Westie can't play with her toys which she loves as he tries to get them and then there is a fight.  When I bought him his own,  she just pinched it and put it under the stairs with her own toys,  and then there was another set-to.  So I have hidden all the toys for now.

Is this normal behavious for a Rescue dog?  We had him neutered last week and we have started taking him to training classes every week.  If I could sort out the possessive streak and the issue with the cats (lunges at them at every opportunity) he will make a splendid dog!

Any general advice please?

Leonora

Hi Leonora,

You don't say how long you've had your new boy?  But good on you for taking on a second-chance fur kid :P  Perhaps he and your existing Westie haven't had sufficient time to bond or suss one another out and therefore there is more of an issue with toys and treats etc than there would be if given a little longer together?

Is is possible also that your older dog who died (sorry) was not as toy oriented as your Westie and therefore they had no flares? 

Being a rescue, it's hard for anyone to know what he's been like until now and I think you're doing the right thing about hiding toys in the meantime and taking him to classes.  Perhaps if you could provide a bit more specific info on your Westie as well, it might help give other posters more of an idea about how best to advise.

Regards, Teri :)

I've a rescue dog that I've had about 18 months (he's 5). With the cat issue, I was advised he wasn't good with cats and when I got him home that was the understatement of the year! He would have done damage. However, slowly he accepted that the cat was there and he chased him less and less. The cat got more confident and now there's no problem and they sleep on the bed together and have play fights. I'm sure yours will get used to the cat, just needs time. The less the cat runs away, the less fun it is to chase.

With the toys thing, he had no idea what a toy was for when I got him and his possessiveness was biscuits etc. He was snappy at first when I tried to remove things from him but I think it was because his last home there were lots of dogs and competition. Once he realised things weren't going to disappear if I removed them he was fine. He'll still only let me take things from him but I'm working on that. Classes are a good idea, they helped us. Good luck with your dog, he sounds great and I'm sure it will all work out :)

CG

We have only had Pip since 27 December, so not a month yet and there has been a huge improvement in his general behaviour!  Even the cats (who are new rescue cats too!) are becoming more confident.  They haven't been outside yet as I won't let them until they are quite relaxed around the dog, don't want them running off.  On the toy matter,  our old JR was never in the least interested in toys and when I got Lucy, he was already 18, so was rather staid.  Lucy has always been rather quiet and self contained but seems to have changed character since Pip came!

However the only real issue that I am finding it hard to deal with is that Pip and Ludy will tear around the house "play fighting".  It is not really aggressive but I find it tiresome to say the least and however I yell and holler for them to stop, they take no notice.  I usually end up putting them outside for a bit, but feel there must be a better way of dealing with it.

So more advice would be handy.

Leonora

Do you put them BOTH outside?  I think you'd be better of seperating them for a short period instead.