Question:
Declan - my 8 yr old big boy has a few...issues shall we say... which as I get to know him are coming to the forefront. He doesn't know how to greet dogs at all (bark lunges) and we've been working very hard on "ignore" based on advice given here. Now I have a new boyfriend (she says quietly so as not to jinx it) who has an intact six mth old puppy and who is likely to stay intact (show dog and breeding reasons). Clearly there won't be any face-to-face introductions for awhile but, planning ahead - there may be occasions (in the far far distant future) when they may need to be in the same house (along with my two grrrls) Having never had a non-neutered male will this drive Dec right round the bend? Do puppies have pheremones? I was thinking of baby-gating three separate areas into grrrls, Declan, the puppy spaces. Or should I just fork over the $120 for an overnight sitter?

Answer:
There will probably be problems. At 6 months, they start to get smellier. Boo and several of his neutered buddies at the park smell an intact before we can see them coming. After a while, some neutereds just don't like younger intacts. To me, it's a dominant smell, so the neutered has to prove himself more...

hmm... not to jinx it, but why are you even considering dating a guy who wants an intact doggy? (*sarcasm...)

Answer:
Originally Posted by Prin
hmm... not to jinx it, but why are you even considering dating a guy who wants an intact doggy? (*sarcasm...)

I am NOT going there Prin (you wee wanton thing you !) she says blushing ferociously

Okay - so here's another duh question. Is there a dawgie product /anything safe you can buy to mask the pheremones/ boy smell?

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None that I know of... Well... There is one... Stitches.

Answer:
Doing rescue, we often have intact males come in. My own guy is neutered and rather happy go lucky most of the time. He oddly has more problems with the neutered males that arrive than the intact ones. Normally, we allow each dog to join the new dog in the yard until the crew has met the new arrival. I have more females than males so the girls normally organize everyone into playing. My old gal just barks at the new dogs head or chases him around the yard a bit then just stands and surveys.. she cuts the new dog off in the chase if she feels he's getting to big for himself. Rarely do we have problems doing it this way as my dogs view the back yard as separate from the house, thank heavens.

I would suggest that you arrange off property controlled playdates to get them used to each other. Leave long leashes on both dogs so that they can be grabbed and corrected if it's getting too silly. I would think there's an advantage to the intact male being a pup right now... that may change as he moves into 1-2 years old. He'll be possibly more assertive then. But if they are good buddies before that happens then perhaps interaction won't be so difficult then.

Just some thoughts. The more experienced members will I'm sure have additional thoughts and suggestions.

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