Will my older dog ever like my new puppy?

[lukenick1]

Hi everyone.....looking for advice. Have an 8 year old small breed male dog at home and just got a new small breed female puppy. My older dog has seemed timid around the pup and any time pup goes near older dog he will growl and snap at pup. Has not made contact with her just doing air snaps trying to scare her off. I have only had her 1 week and I am only letting them interact with supervision and little bits here and there. I have a play pen for the pup to be in so older dog can have a break. I am making sure to give older dog extra attention and treats. Pup just isn't getting the signals from older dog to back off. She just wants to play and she is not even trying to jump, bite or scratch at him, she just want to sniff older dog and chase him but he is not having any part of it. At first he avoided the rooms she was in and he would stay far far away from her but now he is getting braver to come in the same room at least. ON day 2 they played so nice in the yard but it was only that one time and now he is being awful grouchy toward her. Any tips on how to make things better? I am feeling discouraged he will never like her. Obviously I don't expect him to cuddle with her but I don't want to feel she will be in danger with him in the future. Once she is full grown she will be about his size and stature. I really don't want to rehome her and willing to give it time and patience. I just want to know if this is to be expected at this early stage. Older dog seems nervous right now.

 

[cabanafrau]

One week in, who can tell? Maybe you should seek out some professional training and advice to ensure a good outcome.

 

[yoopermom]

How old is the older dog? Has he ever lived with another dog?

Change your mindset, he doesn't need to like her, but he does need to be respectful. You are the top dog, then him, then her (although she's too young to know that yet).

Definitely keep them separated until you can get a professional trainer or behaviorist in to assess your individual situation. Not only could the pup be physically hurt, the older dog being allowed to growl and snap at her is reinforcing. If you insist on having them in the same room together, I would put her on a leash, with you on the other end and watchful, so she can't get close enough to him to play (in her mind)/antagonize (in his mind). Definitely safest would be to crate one while allowing the other freedom.

Google to find a professional, or call your local animal shelter or training facility.

Terri

 

[lukenick1]

How old is the older dog? Has he ever lived with another dog?

Change your mindset, he doesn't need to like her, but he does need to be respectful. You are the top dog, then him, then her (although she's too young to know that yet).

Definitely keep them separated until you can get a professional trainer or behaviorist in to assess your individual situation. Not only could the pup be physically hurt, the older dog being allowed to growl and snap at her is reinforcing. If you insist on having them in the same room together, I would put her on a leash, with you on the other end and watchful, so she can't get close enough to him to play (in her mind)/antagonize (in his mind). Definitely safest would be to crate one while allowing the other freedom.

Google to find a professional, or call your local animal shelter or training facility.

Terri

Older dog is 8 and never had another dog living in home, does play with neighborhood dogs and is afraid of cats. He just seems nervous to me which I can understand she gets in his space. Maybe he thinks she is a cat? I am getting mixed responses when talking to trainers. Some say let him growl and snap to teach her his boundaries and some say I need to stop that behavior from him. So confused......

 

[yoopermom]

Have you actually had a pro out to observe the specific situation? I would not let them "work it out" without a trained professional there to supervise, at least at first. It's easy to offer suggestions (over the phone or internet), but it's important to ascertain the severity of his reaction to know how to progress.

Time and normalcy will help, so just keep them separated, on regular schedules, and don't fret, yet.

Terri

 

[yoopermom]

Have you actually had a pro out to observe the specific situation? I would not let them "work it out" without a trained professional there to supervise, at least at first. It's easy to offer suggestions (over the phone or internet), but it's important to ascertain the severity of his reaction to know how to progress.

Time and normalcy will help, so just keep them separated, on regular schedules, and don't fret, yet.

Think of it as if your 80 year old grandfather had lived alone his whole life, and all of a sudden a toddler is thrown into the home. His negative behavior is understandable, but not acceptable.

Terri

 

[SteveH]

Yes!

Now let me share our experience. We have two older dogs, a 13.5 year old Golden Box of Rocks aka Golden Retriever, sweet and cute but not the brightest dog out there. The word retriever is false advertising with her, but we love her. We also have an 11 year old Wire Fox Terrier (terrorist) and in October we added a Wire Fox puppy to the mix.

The drive home with our older WFT and the pup didn't go well, the older one didn't want anything to do with younger one as was extremely "butt hurt" over the whole idea. The puppy wanted to play, and get to know him. That first week we were really unsure if we'd made the right decision, but then after a couple of weeks they began to actually play together. Tug of war, chasing each other, etc.

Over the past few months they have warmed up to each other and become buds. But our older one is still a bit cranky, but they play. The pup has also helped to bring some spunk back to our older Golden, not a lot but enough we can see her playing with him at times, she's also been a calming influence on the puppy too. While the puppy could be annoying, the older WFT liked to have a playmate. The puppy managed to pull a lot of his beard/whiskers out as they chased after the same ball, but older one rarely ever nipped at him.

 

[GreatLakes]

It is too late for you OP but if you have a dog and are going to adopt another the best thing to do is bring your dog with you. We had two dogs and lost one. When it came time to rescue another dog we brought ours with us to help us decide. If they didn't get along at the first meeting we didn't bother with bringing the new dog home. We ended up passing on a few we liked because either our dog was timid or aggressive towards them or the other way around. When we found the dog we ended up adopting the meeting was good right from the start.

To answer your question though it really depends. If both dogs are Alphas it will be hard for it to turn out well unless the older dog gives up the leadership of the pack.

 

[StephMK]

I think its early but you're smart to consider the options. Having an older dog and a puppy is how we ended up with a 3rd dog!

The two boys got along fine but we realized the younger one wanted to play much more than the old man. So we ended up getting a female the same age as our younger dog. She is respectful towards the older one and wears out the young guy because she is faster than he is.

Probably not the example you wanted. I know our older one enjoyed the younger one more once he got bigger and less in his face so much.

 

[tzolkin]

I’m certainly no expert, but perhaps you’ve been rushing into the relationship?

Several rescues and trainers I know recommend a “2 week shutdown”. You can look it up online for details. Basically for the first two weeks you don’t have a bunch of guests or bring the new dog out places while you’re giving him/her time to get used to you and the new home. During this time it’s also not recommended for the new dog to interact with other dog(s) in the home. Basically they can smell and hear each other so that gives them time to “get to know/get used to” each other from a distance.

I think it’s a similar idea to walking dogs “together” (two separate people at a bit of a distance) to introduce them in a non-confrontational manner rather than just allowing them to rush right up to each other and get in the other dog’s space.

 

[KayaWildfire]

We also had this issue with our two dogs. Same story-8 year old dog with no experience living with another dog and small hyper 8 week old puppy. Our older dog was good with other dogs he met, but the first couple of months with them together was hard. Our older would growl, which we allowed, but we never allowed any sort of aggressive behavior including snapping. The older dog was told no firmly and the puppy removed from the situation. We played with the puppy ourselves and when outside in the yard, the older dog was loose and the puppy on a leash. We only let them interact under supervision, but we basically let them work it out. And I'm happy to report 18 months later, they love each other and are happy to snuggle. This picture was about 2 months in so there is hope! Hope it all works out for you!

 

[lukenick1]

Thanks for giving me hope! What I am gathering from this is that my older dog is just intimidated by the pup. He is so skiddish, if the pup slowly comes up behind older dog just to sniff back leg of older dog it startles the older dog and he jumps and runs. I sure feel better knowing this could get better. I am currently reaching out looking for a trainer to come to my home.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Many adult dogs don't like the energy of a pup. Mine doesn't - ironic since he came home as a pup when older dog was still here. He can sniff out a dog under a year old without fail!

I would work to tucker out the pup with exercise, playing and training, so that she has less energy pent up at home to bother older dog with. (Because a tired dog is a happy dog!) And keep older dog in a safe space where he doesn't have to be bothered by puppy, for now.

Give it time, but remember where each is coming from. Older dog is used to a quiet home by himself. Pup is just a baby who recently left the safety and security of her mother and probably siblings. She is drawn to older dog, and may not be able to read the signals too well still. Keep at it and just be aware of respect and safety issues.

It sounds like you're doing ok - it's not a perfect process. Different trainers will approach things differently.

Pick up a copy of My Smart Puppy.
https://www.amazon.com/My-Smart-Puppy-Effective-Training/dp/044657886X

 

[Skywalker]

I remember reading an article by someone who rescues dogs and she specifically said she has never had a dog just automatically take to a new puppy moving on in lol. I believe she said it was at least 3 weeks before the older dog could even get some level of comfort and tolerate the puppy. She also said, in all cases they eventually did peacefully co-exist or actually become friends. We just went through this as well about a year ago and thought it wasn't going to work out (which is why I was searching out such articles in the first place lol). Here we are now the two dogs are inseparable, they are still each other's greatest aggravation sometimes lol, but also best friends who play together, sleep together, eat together and go on adventures together! They prevent each other from getting bored and keep each other warm on the couch. Hang in there!

 

[serenitynow]

We also had this issue with our two dogs. Same story-8 year old dog with no experience living with another dog and small hyper 8 week old puppy. Our older dog was good with other dogs he met, but the first couple of months with them together was hard. Our older would growl, which we allowed, but we never allowed any sort of aggressive behavior including snapping. The older dog was told no firmly and the puppy removed from the situation. We played with the puppy ourselves and when outside in the yard, the older dog was loose and the puppy on a leash. We only let them interact under supervision, but we basically let them work it out. And I'm happy to report 18 months later, they love each other and are happy to snuggle. This picture was about 2 months in so there is hope! Hope it all works out for you!

Sweet picture!

 

[Mariearistocat]

We adopted a 3 month old last spring after our elderly dog passed away. At first our 3 year old seemed completely annoyed by the puppy. She ignored her attempts to play (and this is a dog who desperately tried to play with the elderly one for two years to no avail!). She was standoffish and would steal the puppy's food. One night, maybe a month in, the 3 year old slowly came over to the puppy and awkwardly tried to entice her to play. Now they are inseparable buddies, run around together and roll around (one is giant next to the other). Give it time!

 

[Tuffcookie]

My Std. Poodle, Gracie, was 5 when I brought a Malshi puppy(Maltese/Shih tzu mix) home. Gracie had been the center of my universe for 5 years and she was not too pleased to share me with anything. It took a good year before she accepted Molly. It took alot of supervision and patience but now, 3 years later, they are the best of friends. I never punished Gracie for her actions towards Molly but I made it clear that Molly was here to stay. I just had to let Gracie work thru her feelings to get to the place we are at now.

TC