A close friend of ours found a Cocker Spaniel we believe to be around eight months old crossing a busy street. She picked him up and our little network of dog sleuths posted him all around (we have reunited many lost dogs with owners over the past five years). No one claimed him. No chip. No collar. We suspect he was abandoned.

The friend is pregnant and has two Australian shepherds along with some cats so they were not a fit. She asked us if we might take him in.

When I came to pick him up, he bit me twice, but not deep single bites without persistence. He also bit my wife lightly on the hand. We put a muzzle on him to bathe him thoroughly. Since then, he has been well-behaved at home, taking to some of our behavioral suggestions and taking a real liking to my wife and our son, who is 2 and a half. We keep him enclosed but take him for three or four walks a day. We have a Maltese he has interacted with and he's been fine with our neighbor and her two small dogs.

I took him to get vaccinated and evaluated. First, our vet said she doesn't recommend cockers with a child so young. Then she began her exam. He was healthy –– no fungi or parasites inside or out –– and initially receptive, but when she went took at his teeth he went fucking *crazy*. It took me and two other large men as well as two vets to restrain him effectively. He was *very* persistent and aggressive.

Both vets cautioned me strongly against keeping him. We only have one child and will not be having any more. Our Maltese is our little angel and very well behaved, he is 9. I don't want to put any of the four of us at risk.

At the same time, my heart breaks for the new little guy as he seems to love having a home and some affection. He is very attached to my wife already and our son to a degree, too, even after less than a week.

I want to make this work but I am very concerned that it cannot. Knowing a bit about Cockers and how they can be when agitated and also seeing what happened at the vet –– it didn't come out of the blue either, which is why I had a muzzle with me –– has made me very concerned. What do you all think? Thank you in advance.

I took a video of Dollys first time getting her teeth brushed and wow, the shine off her! She’s still got some skin issues, she’s going to be like a diamond once her dandruff clears up.

Right now, we have a 5 year old Springer Spaniel, Bennie. We’re obsessed with him. He’s an absolute psychopath and the cutest thing ever.

We’ve been going back and forth on the idea of getting a second dog for a while, and recently were confronted with the option to adopt a 7 year old male Cocker Spaniel. He was given up to a kill shelter, a rescue org got him, and right now he’s staying with a foster family that has 2 young kids and a 10 year old permanent dog (a German Shepherd, I believe they said?). He’s gotten all flying colors in terms of reviews on behavior, etc. We’ll call him George.

Our Springer is the gentlest guy ever, but I must admit I’m a little worried about bringing a different, older dog into the home. The rescue agency would require them to meet and get to know each at the foster’s house before we could bring him home, but that’s just obviously not the same.

Does anybody have experience with bringing an older Cocker into a house where a younger dog is already the established “Alpha”? Do I need to be worried about this dynamic, or am I just overthinking it?