Overweight and My original dogs nose has been put out

[carolinejay]

Hi

I am really confused and in need of help . Some of you may remember about 4 and a half years ago I bought a second hand cocker spaniel off Loot called Coco , He came to us having already had 5 houses within his short 7 months of being born . obviously he had issues , he still does but nothing of the magnitude he had when he arrived :
Biting / humping / biting ( drawing blood ) snarling / growling / Coveting stuff all really very aggressive behaviour .  >:(But hey after 4and a half years he has changed considerably , he's still anxious and doesn't like you leaving the house but so cuddly and loving its fantastic .

I have always wanted two dogs but due to Coco's strange qualities I have put this off till now. We found another little guy up for sale close to us to  buy two days ago and we have him at the moment on trial as Coco has to like him and fit in  , he is 4 a black cocker spaniel and such a loving, needy dog . Great on recall but bad on the lead .

My dilemmas are as follows:-

1. coco has been the only dog for 4.5 years and just ignores us at the moment he won't look at us sleep with us come near us and I am really worried I have upset him he is off his food, doesn't play all his usual games with us nothing . He normally spends 3 hours playing but no not interested . When we take the two dogs for a walk they get on . Coco hasn't snarled or that at Ash ( new dog ) or bit him or any bad behaviour towards him he is just ignoring everyone . I feel awful ,  :-\I really hope I haven't upset him I thought it would be good having a pal . I am scared I have got it wrong . Coco constantly humps Ash ( any ideas how we can stop this as Coco gets aggressive with us , not Ash )

2. Ash the new dog is a bit overweight is it easy to reduce their weight when they are 4 years old .He is a great dog such an affectionate strong dog . He was used as a working dog but believe me he has some mussels on him . He would make a great Rugby tackler . He only eats dry food ( coco eats butchers choice / fresh chicken and liver and tins of tuna ) just need help on what I can do as I know being overweight for a dog is not healthy .
I'm taking Ash to the vets for a once over , but know he is going to say about his weight . Any help on any of these topics would be great

I also hope I have posted this on the correct forum .
Regards
Carol

[Linz13]

I've no advice really, but Murphy's nose was out of joint when we brought Maddi home, but he snapped out of it soon enough. 

Someone will be along soon with super advice I'm sure.

xx

[spanielcrazy]

Green beans (tinned) are great for helping with weight loss, and are well tolerated by dogs. Just substitue part of his portion of food with green beans. If he needs a little incentive to eat them you can drizzle some of the water from Cocos tuna on it.

As far as Coco goes, his nose probably is a bit out of joint, but his behaviour is probably more due to getting to know Ash and establishing the pecking order. He probably isn't engaging with you as he is spending all his time thinking about this new addition, worrying about where he is and what he is doing.

It takes time to settle a new dog in for all concerned. Just be patient, they'll get used to each other and when he's more relaxed Coco will go back to being with you

[AnnieG]

I, too, think it's too early to think you've made a mistake.  It takes a month at least for most dogs to settle down with a new mate. They are not squabbling so you must be doing something right.    Humping is probably just a pecking order thing and, unless it's distressing Ash, probably best totally ignored.  He may well stop if he's not getting any reaction from you. Poor old Ash - another one on a New Years slimming kick. Have you tried putting chopped raw veg on top of his dried food?  Carrots, beans, courgettes - anything really except onions and leeks.  It makes life more interesting for the dog and it lets you cut down the dried food without the dog feeling so hungry.  Hope you don't mind but Coco's diet seems a bit protein rich to me.  But I could well be wrong and, anyway, you probably don't want to mess with something that's working well at such a sensitive time. Good luck.  

[LouiseAS]

It does take time for them to adjust.  I added a second dog after having Meg for 5 years.

One thing I did do though was not fuss either dog too much until they had established their relationship.  I left them to it unless things got really ugly but I only had one blood shed incident.  Once they had sorted themselves out I want back to paying them attention but making sure that I did it equally so Meg didn't feel left out.

Good luck and it does take time.