Expert: Jill Connor, Ph.D. - 1/29/2008

Question
I have a 4 year old shih tzu/mix.  He is very sweet, neutered, well trained (well I think he is... he will listen to me in any situation - even with distractions and high stress). Bogie has always seemed to love other dogs.  I often house sit for a friend that has three dogs and Bogie adores all of them and gets very excited when he realizes that we are at that house again.

Recently (ok, just one week) I adopted a 1 1/2 year old terrier mix from the pound.  I brought Bogie up to meet the new dog at the pound just to make sure there wasn't some instant dislike.  They seemed to get on well together - though the terrier wasn't too interested in Bogie.

Bringing the terrier home was another story.  He had no interest in my self, my husband, toys, food, walks, anything.  He just wanted to lick my dog (everywhere!), smell his butt, and hump him.  We thought this would pass, but it has not.  Now he has started this new thing where he will go up to Bogie and put his head on Bogie's back (so they form a "T") and walk where ever Bogie goes, never letting up or moving his head.  I just don't understand it.  Bogie obviously is miserable.  

We have tried everything to get the new dog to do anything but annoy bogie.  I have him on a leash at all times now and he just pulls as hard as he can to get to bogie (to the point of choking himself and making himself fall over from lack of breath)  I have had to seperate them so Bogie can get some peace!  the terrier stays in his crate at night and when I am not home.  bogie is free to roam the upstairs (the terrier is in the crate in the family room downstairs) and Bogie sleeps with us at night.  

I guess my question is, what do I do?  I can't get this dogs attention to leave bogie alone, let alone train him for anything.  Is this just something we will always have to deal with?  Will the terrier calm down?  Should we let Bogie "put him in his place?"  I don't know.  I am very confused.  Please help!  I don't want to have to take the dog back to the pound, but at this point I am not sure we made the right decision.  Maybe I just need to give it more time, but really I don't know.

Answer
There are some dogs that are socialized only to dogs, and not at all to humans.  It appears that your new dog might belong to that category.  I suggest you find a credentialed behaviorist who can observe this interaction in person.  Beware of those with 'titles' from obedience organizations.  Having said that, it takes up to 3 months (and sometimes longer) for a newly adopted dog to habituate to its new environment.  You might want to separate these dogs and observe your new dog's behavior and interaction toward and with you. Should the dog refuse to interact with you, then it has not been properly socialized to humans and will require some specialized behavioral intervention.