Adding a New dog, with a old dog ??? PLease help

bodytek03 · 11-06-2010

I just recently lost 1 of my 2 dogs i have had for 9 years. My wife and I decided since the other dog is sad and lonely as we are as well, we would add a new puppy to the house. Well my older dog who is alpha all the way, tolerates the puppy for a little while and then he starts showing teeth and growling. I am afraid of his size he would kill her if he bit her. I just got her today, is this going to take time, is there anything i can do ????

reeskujo · 11-07-2010

How old is your dog and how old is the puppy? Are they males or females? What breeds are they?...If you can provide a little more info about them it would be helpful...For now all I can say is that if your dog is a senior and/or has any health issues like hip problems it's possible that he/she is simply getting annoyed with the puppy...a lot of older dogs don't wanted to be aggravated with an energetic puppy...plus your dog may still be grieving over the loss of your other dog..

My best suggestion until you can provide more info is to do your best to not let the puppy aggravate your older dog...try and make sure your puppy gets plenty of excersize so that it burns it's energy...That way he won't be excerting it on your dog....also if you have a crate for the puppy you can put him in there with some toys if he persists in bothering your dog...An even better thing to do would be to take the puppy for a walk or take him outside and play with him so that he burns off the energy.

CorkyMax · 11-07-2010

I don't really have an answer for you at this time. But I am wondering how long ago it was that you lost your other dog? Could the older dog be grieving yet over the loss of his companion for --how many years? Not saying there wouldn't still be a problem with him accepting a new puppy but if still missing the other dog and seeing this 'young' upstart replacing him is prob. not helping the situation. I lost my Corky 5 months ago and I am about to prob. have a similar problem with my other dog too. It would have been good if you would of introduced the 2 dogs in a 'neutral' area before just bringing the new puppy into the home. Also as Yogi has told me---If you would of put the older dog in another room or outside before he got wind of the other puppy being even brought there and gave the new puppy a bath using the same shampoo you use on your older dog and then let them meet. Maybe someone else can give you some good suggestions, lol, I could use some ideas also when I adopt another dog soon. If I get any good info --will pass it on to you! Hope things get better--only been 1 day--maybe it will straighten itself out--The puppy will need to accept the alpha dog as the alpha too. Hopefully this will happen before the alpha gets mean and hurts the little guy.---Best if they can work it out between the 2 of them with no interference but Yes, I know hard to do if the puppy is in danger of attack!

bodytek03 · 11-07-2010

Thanks for replying. Rocky (my senior) dog is around 9 years old and is a rottie/chow mix. Daisy (the pup) is 12 weeks she is a german shepherd. I got her from a rescue group and they were both introduced on netrual ground. They got along really good when they met. We waited a week after loosing our other dog. I know it was short time to wait.

reeskujo · 11-07-2010

Quote:

Originally Posted by bodytek03

Thanks for replying. Rocky (my senior) dog is around 9 years old and is a rottie/chow mix. Daisy (the pup) is 12 weeks she is a german shepherd. I got her from a rescue group and they were both introduced on netrual ground. They got along really good when they met. We waited a week after loosing our other dog. I know it was short time to wait.

Well with the added information my best guess would be that your older dog is one still grieving and two with him being 9yr.s old doesn't have the patience to put up with a young puppy and the enrgy that comes with it...Especially if your other dog was a senior as well..He's use to a calmer companion..

I would advice that you make sure you give Rocky as much one in one time with you as possible and try your best to keep the puppy from directing all of his puppy energy on Rocky...My Akita Kujo was 4yr.s old when I brought my Husky Nina home who was 4 mths old and even at the age of 4 he still didn't have a whole lot of patience for her and by the time he was 6 and she was 2 we were lucky if he tolerated her antics for all of 10 minutes!

Rocky is going through a lot of changes between loosing his long time companion and grieving over that,he can also sense that you are most likely still feeling the loss,the he has a new member of the familt to adjust to that being the puppy, and he has the puppies energy he's most likely not used to either...

It's for sure going to take some time for Rocky to be accepting of your new fur kid but it may be easier on him if you can keep the puppy from pushing himself on Rocky.

Hope this helps and keep us updated.

SnowWhite · 11-20-2010

Puppies are quite an adjustment for an older dog. We recently added a puppy to our 1 dog household, when the pup was 6 weeks old (she was a rescue too)

Adult dogs will do a lot of growling and teeth showing- even biting- in order to train the new puppy what to do. Some dogs have a very low tolerance for puppies, others have a higher tolerance. Our older dog HATED puppies, and was very hard on her for a good six months. Occasionally i would correct him for behaviour we considered acceptable and our older dog didn't. For a long time we closely monitored them when they were together, just to make sure things don't get out of hand

Some of this behaviour towards a puppy is normal, especially for an older dog. If your worried about it, definitely monitor them when they are together, to make sure your chow mix is correcting the puppy the right way and for the right behaviours. Soon your puppy will be a part of the pack and your dog will accept the puppy.

here are some things that help decrease puppy- disdain:
Feed your older dog first- If he is the boss, then he gets to eat first. a remnant from his wolf days.
Always remember that you are the biggest Alpha in the house- don't be afraid to step in if you think either dog is out of line.
Remember to pay adequate attention to your older dog to. He might be feeling a little left out. I know ours was when we got the puppy.

Good luck! I hope things look up soon.

Lunareclipse · 11-20-2010

Our youngest saint wouldn't quit trying to play rough with our senior saint bernard, so we went and adopted him a playmate from the pound. It worked out great. Buster and Porter are good friends that play together and now Buster leaves Sammie alone.