Helping new puppy and 5 yr old dog get along

[Lincoln Hawk]

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Hi, I've recently got a wee miniature jr bitch , Florence, (now 11 wks old) and I already have a male 5 yr old, Grayson, same breed. Introducing them went fine and they seem to get along but at times wee Florence annoys Grayson and he will eventually react by growling and snarling at her. She then lets out a high pitched squealing noise which makes him back off. He has never actually bitten her, just mouthed around her neck etc. Now I have asked an experienced dog trainer about this and he assures me this is fine, even normal, behaviour. It can however be annoying to watch and I'm hoping someone else has been through similar stuff with pup and older dog. If anyone has will this behaviour between the 2 last for long or will it dwindle out and how long should this take?

 

[eingana]

Hi Lincoln Hawk and welcome to DogForum

In a lot of ways I'm with the trainer that you consulted. The high pitched squeal is something that you are likely to use later on (you squealing) when Florence gets too rough with human hands or skin, but for the moment it's Florence's way of telling Grayson that he's being too rough with her, after Grayson has decided to tell her off.

If he's not leaving marks on her then he's perfectly under control, so don't worry about that. His teeth would shred her with no problems at all if he wasn't under control, so everything he's doing is teaching her manners and when to back off from bugging him.

If you want to provide him with some space to sleep or rest without her (if she's really giving it some and he's getting really frustrated with her) then that is up to you, but as long as he's not harming her and when he tells her off she is gradually improving, then he's teaching her lessons that are incredibly valuable and which will make her a nicer dog to be around as she grows up. Single dogs that don't have this sort of control when they're in their early puppyhood still need to be taught to back off sometimes, and it's nothing like as easy for humans to make that distinction to the pup as it is for another of the same species.

As long as Grayson isn't really losing his cool with her then he is teaching her a good lesson

 

[Raven oaktree]

Hi and welcome It sounds like your older dog is just teaching your pup some very valuable lessons on manners Like eingana says , if your older dog wanted to attack her, he would !!. I have a very lovely, very patient very gentle old dog and a very energetic youngster. My 10moth old bitch was hand reared and then bullied by her siblings so didnt learn any doggy language or manners from mum..all she learnt is when a dog growls she needs to fight back . this has caused huge problems for us as when she was tiny my very patient old dog was very gentle with her and by the time she was 12 weeks she was bigger than him...so when she jumped on his head (as puppies do) my old dog would growl to warn her enough is enough and she would go straight into fight or flight mode and ..well..start a fight. My old boy protects himself , but causes her no harm, the pup on the other hand was quite nasty. !!! she is desperate to be friends with him and other dogs but as she dosent speak 'dog' very well she dosent understnd things like calming signal so well. For example , a dog should never be punished for growling. Growling is a valuable tool in dog language meaning back off, i dont to want to fight but i don like that , back off . If you punish a dog for growling and they stop doing that , then the next step for them it to bite without warning...its not the dogs fault Willow will play and play with other dogs, but if a dog growls to ell her to back off she will fight- not because she is aggressive but because she dosent understand whats been said to her and after her experience as a very young pup, she feels she needs to protect herself. Willow is being trained by a fantastic behaviour specialist who is very gentle and holistic in her approach and she is learning calming signals and doggy language now ...but your pup will have had training from mum, and now will learn boundries from your older dog. Older dogs are fab at teaching manners to younger ones ..As long as your dogs have got a space they can go to chill by themselves should they choose to, i would relax . Your pup is still very much a baby, things will settle soon enough as she learns her boundries . good luck x

 

[Lincoln Hawk]

Hey folks, thanks for responding first of all!

Glad to hear your views and that this is very much expected behaviour. My concern was that this may lead, in future, to the wee pup being aggressive towards other dogs when she starts to be out and about more often (thinking that because she behaves that way with Grayson, she may replicate this with other dogs)? Also, this 'carrying on' between the 2 of them could easily last 30 mins or longer if left to their own devices. If I crate Grayson for a wee while then let him back in they seem to just settle and lie together (usually dozing off lol). I'm guessing that after a period of time this 'play' and mouthing will ease off and eventually stop altogether? If so, any ideas on a time scale...........like so many weeks?? Or longer??

 

[chalkie222]

I loved reading this post. I have a 5yr old rottie and a 10yr old Staff and have just got a 7wk 5day old pup. First introductions went well. The male Staff likes to play with her..Most of the time it's fine once in a while he gets a little bit to play full and I step in and calm it down a little. The rottie is like a strict mum to the puppy.she rumbles and sometimes does a half hearted growl and uses her muzzle to nudge the puppy.if the puppy to hyper she tells her if pup tries to climb on sofa she tells her..