Girlfriend and her Dog moving in! Options

[goodfellow]

She and her 4yo female lab are moving in with me and my 5yo male beagle/dachshund. We'll both have separate bedrooms, though we'll sometimes sleep in my room, sometimes sleep in her room.

Both dogs are neutered and have met and like each other in general. The problem arises when my girlfriend and I are sharing a bed or couch and watching a movie; both want to be right there with us and protecting their respective master, and that's led to some fighting.

An issue with my dog in particular is that he doesn't growl to warn other dogs when they've gotten into forbidden territory, he goes straight for the nipping and biting. I know they need to establish their pecking order to some degree, I just have concerns he'll be too rough.

Is suddenly forbidding both of them in the bed or couch the only way to go?

[JMM]

Instead of forbidding, how about teaching them they must be invited up and get off on cue. I would also do a long down stay every night. Each dog must lay on their respective mat until released. I build this up to be a 30 minute event (perfect for you to watch a show). These things will have the dogs looking to you for guidance instead of taking things upon themselves.

[GmDeM13]

[b][color=#CC0000] I agree with JMM. Me and my Boyfriend got an AmStaff (Charlie) before we moved in together. Because it was so exciting to have a new dog, when I was not sleeping next to my boyfriend,my side of the bed now became his. I repeatedly told him, do not let him sleep with you do not let him sleep with you, but he didn't listen.
Because this became such a re-occuring event, sooner rather than later Charlie would get angry and growl or even nip at me if I tried to go to bed in "his spot" its a territorial thing. and my boyfriend learned the hard way. aside from teaching him the lesson of listening to me by sleeping on the couch and letting him sleep with the dog (hahaha) we then came to the conclusion that it could not go on.

We went out and we bought charlie a kong toy( they are heaven sent) and got him a dog bed to lay at the foot of the bed frame. we left the kong there when we were getting in bed so that once we turned off the lights, he was so into chewing that he wanted nothing to do with us. we continued this for three weeks while enforcing other rules such as "too big for the couch" "dont steal my sock" and we tried to use possitive reinforcement for all of these. He is now a little over a year old, and I get my side of the bed every night and he does not say a thing about it.

Good LUCK!!