When to trust to leave my new Kai with my Shiba alone when gone

So Kiba has made HUGE progress. We are going on having him for 4 months. For the past week, we were actually watching my BF parents dog and for some reason, that really seemed to open Kiba more up and even seemed to help him adjust to my shiba, Taro even more.

Here are the things I am noticing that makes me think when can we no longer separate them when we are not home.
1. He no longer snarls/snips at her when she goes near his crate or closet safe place
2. She literally can shove half her body in his crate/safe place with no reaction (been trying to get her to respect those places, but she still isn't understanding personal space...)
3. He seems to notice her more, but he doesn't engage with her
4. She comes up to him alot with Kiba having no bad reaction. For example she has gone up to him laying down and licked his nose for a bit, she sniffs him a lot, she will nip at him to play (though he doesn't engage, he has never gotten upset or snapped at this).
5. There hasn't been a snapping/growling/barking incident in about 3 weeks. Meaning that there were a few times where Taro wasn't reading Kiba's body language and she got too close to him and he snapped at her.
6. He has never injured her even with the few times he has snapped.
7. When we are home, the dogs are not separated. So after 5PM Kiba is no longer separated and has free run of the apartment all evening and into the morning and there has never been a confrontation
8. This past week with the other dog Ripley, the first day all dogs were left alone, the gate somehow got opened and Kiba was with them the whole day unsupervised with no issues. The second day, we decided to let him stay out, again no issues.
9. My BFs sister when picking up the parents dog, didn't close the gate properly and opened so the dogs were together for about 3 hours alone with no issues
10. Kiba seems WAY less defensive of his "safe place" and has started not spending that much time in them. He moves around a lot more now.
11. There have been a handful of times where we left the dogs alone together when running quick errands from 15mins to an hour with no issues. (mostly because both were sleeping and we would have had to move Taro to properly separate them).
12. From everything I was told about Kiba's personality, that he isn't a confrontational dog since he was the runt of the litter so mostly was submissive, but any dog put in a wrong spot can attack, so can't fully rely on that.

When is it say to assume that it is OK to leave the dogs together while we are at work or out for a long time? So far the dogs are OK and there hasn't ever been an actual confrontation, but of course, I am not sure I should fully trust that until Kiba is fully adjusted to us? He is SOOOO much better with us, but still isn't the best connection yet.

When did you guys decide to trust your adopted/rehomed dogs to be alone with your current dogs?

Comments

  • My short answer is: I don't. My dogs aren't together when we're not here to supervise, because I had no logical reason to do so. Your situation is not mine, however, so what works and doesn't work for me may not apply.

    Instead of saying why you think it might be okay to do so... Please enlighten us WHY you want to do so. What is the purpose, goal, or gained by not separating the dogs?
  • edited December 2014
    The reason why we got a second dog was for a friend for Taro so that she isn't lonely when we are gone during the day. We don't crate her when we are gone because I took more time to train her to not have to be crated.

    Kiba's pack was also not crated a whole bunch when the previous owners were gone, even though Kiba loves sitting in his crate and doesn't mind being crated.

    I want the dogs to interact together because I know many people who successfully leave their dogs together and that is the point I want. That is one of the biggest reasons why I even got Kiba because I already knew that he was successfully left alone with his previous pack, and Taro has been successfully been left alone with my friends dogs when they watch her when out of town.

    I know leaving dogs together when alone is a case by case basis so people who decided to do so, I want to know when they decided to do that. But if most people don't and give me info about how bad this completely is, then I will need to rethink the situation and think if I should ever do it.

    The other thing is when I am gone, neither dog is truly crated. The setup of our apartment only lets keep one crate in the living room, which is Kibas so he has a safe place, but when we are gone, he has claimed the linen closet. So Taro isn't crated and has half the apartment, and Kiba isn't crated and has the other half.
  • The reason why we got a second dog was for a friend for Taro so that she isn't lonely when we are gone during the day. ...

    I want the dogs to interact together because I know many people who successfully leave their dogs together and that is the point I want. That is one of the biggest reasons why I even got Kiba because I already knew that he was successfully left alone with his previous pack, and Taro has been successfully been left alone with my friends dogs when they watch her when out of town.
    Not to sound to harsh, but If this was one of your main goals, why not let them meet each other first, so you could be sure they would coexist peacefully? I think it was a rather bold and reckless decision on your part to take a leap of faith and possible endanger the pups with the "hope" that they will get along.

    My advice- Just give it time. If you have to ask on this board about if it is ok.... You're not 100% comfortable, so no. I wouldnt. I dont even leave my pups alone uncrated, and they love eachother. I also know my dogs have limits.

    I say this based on your previous posts:
    if he will ever become a playful dog either with us or our shiba.
    (My shiba is attacking random small dogs, etc. )
    We have only had Kiba for almost 3 months now. He set back a bit because we moved apartments a month ago and that is stressful even for our shiba.
    this will take up to 6 months to a year before we will really see Kiba come around to us
  • edited December 2014
    Not to sound to harsh, but If this was one of your main goals, why not let them meet each other first, so you could be sure they would coexist peacefully? I think it was a rather bold and reckless decision on your part to take a leap of faith and possible endanger the pups with the "hope" that they will get along.
    Well they have already been living together, interacting, walking together, and doing activities together for 4 months. I wasn't wanting to take a "leap of faith", I wanted more of people who have done it and what were the reasons and signs and how they started to move towards that. However, as mentioned there has been a few times we did leave them alone when running to the store which I did understand was a risk in itself but I only did it based off of how their interactions have been for the past 3 months and knowing it was a very short period of time.

    I would never just decide one day to leave them alone all day. That is definitely crazy and 4 months of having Kiba is in my opinion far too soon to truly consider it. That is why I am getting opinions and information to establish if it is even possible after he is adjusted to us later on down the road. I am not comfortable with it now, so I would not do it.
    We have only had Kiba for almost 3 months now. He set back a bit because we moved apartments a month ago and that is stressful even for our shiba.
    Kiba has actually improved IMMENSELY since this post. Even more than in our last place. He comes out of his crate way more, he interacts with us so much more and has started following me around and asking for pets, he is way more lively on our walks and has started to really explore and he does acknowledge Taro's existence. When we were watching the other dog, he REALLY opened up and started to sit on everyones lap, interacting with both dogs and really seemed to be enjoying himself.
    (My shiba is attacking random small dogs, etc. )
    This has been something that has been constantly worked on and has already been decreasing immensly and her issue is only with dogs way smaller than her (4lbs-12lbs) and have a fearful/shy personality (Kiba is 26-28lbs so twice her size) and she has NEVER been aggressive with any dog she knows and is extremely submissive to all male dogs. That is why we got a male dog that was bigger than her because I know her personality and know she will probably never be aggressive with that combo since she has never done it.

    But it is still something that does have to be considered for sure. Although she has never shown any form of aggression towards Kiba even in the times he has snapped and snarled at her the first couple months we had him.

    I was not posting this because I am thinking of doing it now. I want opinions and examples of people who have done it. This wouldn't be a serious discussion for me until I feel Kiba has adjusted to us first and I wouldn't also fully consider it until probably after a year of having him. But if the consensus says that the risk is too great, then the risk is too great.
  • Do you have a cam set up at your place to monitor your dogs?

    I left my shiba and shih tzu mix alone together when I felt comfortable knowing there are "safe" zones my shih tzu can go to if she doesn't want to be bothered by my shiba. Also, via camera, I noticed they don't do anything but sleep when I am away. FYI I use to crate the shiba and give the shih tzu free roam. I probably can still do that but, why not let them sleep on my comfy temperpeudic bed together???!??
  • I don't have a camera, but I want to get one to point towards the gate to see if they are even interacting since they would be able to technically.

    One of the other main reasons why I am considering it, is besides in the beginning of Taro poking her head in Kiba's crate and not paying attention to his snarls, she actually gives him his space and pretty much never pesters him. She will do her quick nip or bow to see if he wants to play but sees he doesn't and she moves on.

    She is pretty much the complete opposite of what he is used too. I've mentioned before, when he was with the breeder, he lived in a house with 9 other kai kens. They dogs were free fed, crated occasionally, and for the most part never had issues, and Kiba was never aggressive with any of them. They only thing he would do is let them know when they are too much for him and needs his space by a snarl and a growl. He is the runt, so he had to deal with dogs that were 40-50lbs and pretty high energy all the time. Taro is the complete opposite of that.

    If I can never get to that point of leaving them alone unsupervised, it isn't the end of the world. That is just how it will have to be.
  • Give it a lot more time. Reevaluate after you've had him a year or so. I have one dog that never gets to be alone with the other dogs, and the other three, who are alone together, it took a long time, and I got them as puppies. I didn't leave the puppies alone with my big male Akita until they were a year old or so, because he simply isn't trustworthy with them. (He hates puppies, so it was a couple of months before he had any interaction with them at all, and though he got better as they grew, I still didn't trust him alone).

    That said, I imagine you'll know when it is time. If you can leave them alone when you go in another room, for example, and if they're getting along fabulously on a day to day basis, then you may be getting there. Err on the side of caution though, and if you have any doubts, simply don't do it. They don't have to be alone together ever.

    Not to say it won't happen--it probably will, but you're still very far from it, I'd think. And I say that because I've had very bad experiences with dogs not getting along, and they were dogs that were raised with one another and "seemed ok" but then one day it all went bad and I almost lost a dog. Better to be cautious.
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