What would you do with my new dog?

Question

anyone that follows my q & a knows that i have 2 existing dogs and was looking for a 3rd resuce. well, i got my 3rd sat morning and she is awesome. not the brighest in the bunch but has true potential. here's my problem. after deciding this new dog would be perfect for my environment and really wanting her, they told me she's crate aggressive and asked how i would handle that. i have 2 almost empty rooms in the house so i figured i'd put her in one of them when i go back to work on tues. i did a trial lock up yesterday for about 2 hours. she did an angry pee on the floor and kept scratching at the door. i can't have either one of those. the new dog hasn't give any indication she's going to be destructo dog and destroy the house if i don't lock her up but then again i'm not sure she won't. there is some aggression issues with the food and toys and the existing dogs. there's been a few fights, nothing serious, but i don't think it's wise yet to leave them all together unattended. i'm not one to leave any of my dogs outside during the day so that's not an option either. my girlfriend who takes care of my animals if i can't for some reason has agreed to come over during the day to check on things and work on training the new one. all three need to learn to listen to her as well as me. problem is, she won't be there all day and they'll still have a few hours alone. so, what do i do with the new dog?

Answer 1

Is there a way to gate off rather than closing the door so that they can at least see each other.  Be sure they cannot/will not jump the gate.  Put things in that room that makes the dog feel more comfortable like a doggie bed/pad and some toys/chews.

I would absolutely NOT leave them alone unattended.  It would only take a matter of minutes for severe damage to occur to one of the dogs if a fight were to occur and no one there to intervene.  

Answer 2

You could try putting a baby gate in front of the closed door (on the side she is on of course).  If it works, your new dog shouldn't be able to destroy the door.  I hope the new dog works out eventually.

Also, when they get used to each other, maybe you can leave the gate up and open the door.  Then, when they act like the best of buds, you can leave them all in the same room together.

Answer 3

Don't leave it loose and unattended with your other dogs, you just don't know what may happen.

Although the dog was not happy being locked in the empty room, it is probably the best decision.  The dogs just do not know each other well enough and have not worked out their pecking order.  Keep them separate a while longer, they will work it out.