I rescued a new dog two weeks ago, but my new and old dogs won't play together at home. Why?

Question

They will play together at the dog park, but at home, they give each other the canine cold shoulder. My resident dog is 2-4 years (another rescue), and my new dog is 11 months. What gives?

Answer 1

I'd say give it time. i have a dog already which is a male staffy lab mix who is 5 years old and is lovely. We recently got a puppy, a female staffy lab mix and now 9 months old, we got her when she was 4 months...

at first they just ignored each other, in fact the male didn't like her very much... after 2/3 weeks they suddenly formed a bond now to the point where they sleep in the same basket snuggled up (which is ridiculously cute) and when they are seperated they cry out for each other...

just give it some time... they'll get use to each toehr after a while and probably enjoy the company :)

Answer 2

I had the same problem for a while, I have a 4 year old dog and we adopted a 6 month old puppy and they would never play. I just gave up and then about 2 months later they started to play, in fact I can't even have them in the house together because they play so much. I think they just needed time to adjust, I mean the older dog was an only child for a while and isn't used to having someone around to play with. So I would wait a month or so before you worry to much.  

Answer 3

give it time, they need time to figure out their places in the "pack". though they might be thinking of the dog park as a place for play, and home for relaxation.

Answer 4

maybe they are the same gender