Can't we all just get along?

[juliep]

My son has a 2 year old Boxer named Max. I have 2 Shih Tzu's weighing 9 lbs each. Every time my son brings Max over, my dogs stay clear and Joey barks barks and barks, growls and tries to go after Max. Even tho Max is like 4 times bigger than Joey, Max doesn't seem to care. Max is very friendly and likes everybody. My questions is, how can I get my dogs to like Max, and what do I do when Joey barks incessently at Max. It can get very chaotic when Max is over (not because of Max), because of MY dogs. I don't want to separate them, because I think my dogs need to learn to accept Max. Help, advice, suggestions sure appreciated.

[Seravieve]

When you first introduced them, was it simply by Max walking in your house and they all met INSIDE? Or did they meet on neutral territory?

When we introduced Eli, we took the dogs out one by one (on leash) and had them meet across the street in the neutral grass. We started with Zeke, because he's alpha dog, and then he was ok, so we took him back inside, brought out Bunny, and she was ok, and then we brought them both out. I had Eli on leash and J had Zeke and then Bunny on leash. Since B and Z are usually dog agressive, we used muzzles.

Might help to take them all outside and 'start over' the introduction...

[juliep]

When they first met a couple years ago, Max came over to our house as a puppy. You know how puppies are, all over the place, and so friendly. Well, my dogs, especially JOEY, did not like that at all. So it was not neutral territory. Even if we are over my sons house, and my dogs are with me, Joey still acts aggressive and barks at Max. Again, it is not Max, he is just being friendly, it is MY DOGS, who don't like him. thanks for your post, and cute dogs too.