hi there, i just wondered if anyone could offer me any advice.
i've read the post regarding introducing a puppy to another dog and the post about agressive behaviour and i'm desperatly hoping my two existing dogs will accept the puppy. My parents are divorced and i live with my mother with two greyhounds both 7 years old, and my dad has an 18 months old weimaraner. when we first got ted the weimaraner, we got advice off Kennel club and breeders etc and learnt to socialise him with people and dogs. so he often took trips to my mums house and played happily with my greyhounds. we regularly take the dogs out together and they play off the lead fine. when the greyhounds get bored of ted's energy they simply ignore him. at the most they give him a gentle growl. they have never snapped at him.

Ted is perfect with other dogs and simply wants to play with other dogs no matter how big they are! the two greyhounds are also fine with dogs but due to their size sometimes overwhelm other dogs. They have recently been through a bad patch with a neighbours cat (which didnt end very well for a cat) but they are ex racers and you cant untrain a greyhound from chasing something. only buddy is allowed off the lead as he doesnt like not being able to see me while juno is permantly on the lead as she will run a mile if she sees anything move. When Juno was younger and allowed off the lead, she did chase a small terrier out of the field but has never been purposfully aggressive to another dog. They played with ted when he was only 10 weeks old and never attempted to attack him. occasionally their hackles would go up and a little growl to tell him they've had enough, but it would just be a rummble, they have never shown their teeth. However, although they have been great with ted, he was only a visiting puppy and has never stayed in their house. im worried with a puppy living in their house, would they get territorial? buddy and juno are very close to each other and im worried that introducing a new puppy would bring out the worst in them. buddy is very soft natured and juno although being the female, is probably the more dominant. i haven't purchased the puppy yet as i want to be sure how my greyhounds will react, i would be devistated if i returned home to find they had attacked it.

i planned to keep the puppy in the kitchen when i'm not at home with the door shut so that the greyhounds cant get to it, and it wouldn't be left alone for any longer than 2 hours. they would be walked together and fed together. the greyhounds would have priority over the puppy and i will encourage the puppy to sleep in its basket not on the furniture or the beds like the greyhounds (they are quite spoilt!). however i dont want to cause large seperation between the dogs

would anyone be able to give any advise on how to introduce the puppy to the two greyhounds?
which sex of puppy would be better?
how can i ensure the greyhounds accept the puppy?
how can i stop any rivalry between them?

any help would be greatly appreciated!

Hi - you don't mention what breed of puppy you're planning on buying? 

It doesn't sound, to me, like any of the 3 dogs you mention have aggression problems, so theoretically you shouldn't have any more problems than anyone else.  But you're right that the puppy and the adult dogs should not be left alone unsupervised for a long while, until you know you can trust them all 100% together.  You should definitely introduce them on neutral ground and I'd have another person to help - one person to deal with the puppy and one person with the greyhounds - ideally you should introduce them off lead, but if you're worried the greyhounds might bog off, you could put them on an extending lead.

It's kind of impossible to say what sex puppy would be better - maybe when we know what breed it is, that might help.  If you get another female, well, bitch-bitch fighting is known to be the worst kind there is.  On the other hand, most bitches can live together fine.  If you get a male, you might end up with the 2 males trying to establish superiority, especially because there's a bitch present.  So there's no magic solution if you already have one of each.  (And not much of a solution if you didn't have one of each either!) 

The other thing I would advise is that you feed the puppy separately (in another room) to the greyhounds perhaps permanently but at least until you know they have no guarding issues or worries about the puppy.  And crate them separately at night....

thanks very much for your help. I'm still contemplating as to which breed would be best suited for me and the dogs at the moment. I'm quite interested in a siberian husky and have done some research on the breed so i know what temperment, attitude and care they require. I know they can be rather destructive if they get bored and i'm hoping the other dogs will keep it entertained while i'm not around. The garden is also fenced in, and we have fields behind the house where it can recieve plenty of exercise. I also noticed that some users are saying this breed can't be let off the lead. is there anyway the dog could be trained as a puppy to return? especially if one on my greyhounds returns when called, maybe that would encourage the puppy??

The bitch greyhound has only ever lived with two other males, and the weimaraner is also male so i'm not too sure how she would react to having another female introduced to her teritory. They each have muzzles which they wear when walked, would it be a good idea to put them on when they are introduced to the puppy or would that make the situation worse?

Husky pups are often very pushy with older dogs, and do not always listen to a warning