dog advice needed

[s7ephanie]

bought my new little puppy girl home last night and Fred did not take it well, he keeps trying to lunge and snap at her. any advice? I wanted to introduce them outside first but as it was very late they met in the house (not a good idea!!) little Olive is in cat box up on unit and i am keeping them seperate for the time being. Has anybody experienced an older dog being aggressive to new puppy and did it work out in the end?

 

[Accy cyclist]

I made the mistake of bringing a Jack Russell puppy home when we already had a 4 year old JR. The older dog played very roughly with the pup but when the pup got older and bigger it returned the flavour and picked on the older dog.,so much so that we had to separate them. The older dog went to the inlaws to live a long and happy life but whenever they met again they'd try and fight each other.

 

[Mo1959]

bought my new little puppy girl home last night and Fred did not take it well, he keeps trying to lunge and snap at her. any advice? I wanted to introduce them outside first but as it was very late they met in the house (not a good idea!!) little Olive is in cat box up on unit and i am keeping them seperate for the time being. Has anybody experienced an older dog being aggressive to new puppy and did it work out in the end?

Haven't had to do this, but just wondering if you were maybe a bit hasty just letting them meet like that. Maybe if you could keep the pup in the cage in the middle of the floor in the room you use the most, and then bring the older dog in on the lead and sit near the cage and let him gently sniff and investigate while you give him lots of praise and treats. It might take a few days before you can trust him with her. Hope it works out for you.

 

[awomaninsane]

Post your question on here: www.petforums.co.uk

I've used them loads of times when looking for guidance and support and I'm sure they can give you some real structured advice. Good luck.

 

[Mo1959]

Post your question on here: www.petforums.co.uk

I've used them loads of times when looking for guidance and support and I'm sure they can give you some real structured advice. Good luck.

Yep.........second that. Lots of knowledgeable people on there.

 

[shouldbeinbed]

We've been lucky introducing new hounds at home and not had bother, but all of ours are rescues & used to communal comings and goings. In effect though, bringing a new dog into Fred's home is like me bringing another woman home and saying to Mrs SBIB: this is my new wife, she'll be living here full time and getting the same affection as you do, now be nice and share.

You could well have turned Fred's happy world upside down at a stroke and he's a combo of furious and trying to get rid of the interloper and terrified he's losing you & making sure Olive knows who gets first dibs.

Reassurance and gradual integration: varied walks and outside time on leads with so many smells and distractions will help Fred get used to her presence whilst not needing to fixate in a totally familiar setting. Temporarily caging Olive in these circumstances is a maybe good idea to let Fred find her on his terms - but not him going into the cage, it'll protect her if those terms aren't too friendly at first and helps let him know that he is staying & can still have free access to you. It will also give Olive a bit of security to know she's got a safe place to retreat to if it all gets a bit much as they do get together more.

Good luck

 

[CopperCyclist]

You brought something into his home and let him decide where this thing fell in the pack.

When I met my wife, she had a dog aggressive Staffy, that she never let of the lead because it would run away. It's all down the where the dog sees itself in the pack - it was aggressive because it thought held the dominant role above her (which it did) and it ran off because it was the leader, not the follower.

I had him of the lead on our second walk, and never through his whole life had an issue. The dog aggressiveness took much longer, but by the time we lost him last month he was a perfectly calm dog, living with a second dog and was fine with all dogs.

Just make sure both dogs understand you are the dominant pack leader. You don't need to be aggressive and cruel to do this - is recommend simply introducing then on a walk. Giving the dogs something else to concentrate on (the journey), using up some of their energy, and ensuring you maintain the dominant role by keeping them both on the lead for a while works well (even if you normally let them run free). Have just one of you walk holding both of their leads on different sides. If they try to fight (or even interact) at the beginning just keep them moving forward, don't let them interact - get them focused on the walk, which gives you the dominant role. Once they aren't paying each other attention, swop hands so that they are both waking side by side. Any problems swap back, keep walking and try again later. Once they are comfortably and calmly walking side by side, you are the major part firm the road of establishing a nice balanced pack with them.

It's trickier with a brand new puppy that isn't walking outside yet, just make sure the older dog sees you calmly correct him if he does the wrong thing, and sees you correct the puppy if the puppy "does the wrong thing" and makes him uncomfortable. The puppy will be far too young to understand the correction (just a firm but calm NO and move it away - back to the crate of it becomes necessary), but with dogs if the older dog knows and trusts that you as the pack leader will intercede, he won't feel it as necessary to do so himself.

Good luck! I genuinely believe there is no such thing as an "incurable dog", just vastly varying levels of efforts required.

 

[Aperitif]

Slip a yellow jersey on the puppy and the older one too. Can't have too many Froome Dogs...
Good luck...don't forget to collect the tiny teeth. And those playful scratches from the dew claws...ouch!

 

[Venod]

I made the mistake of bringing a Jack Russell puppy home when we already had a 4 year old JR. The older dog played very roughly with the pup but when the pup got older and bigger it returned the flavour and picked on the older dog.,so much so that we had to separate them. The older dog went to the inlaws to live a long and happy life but whenever they met again they'd try and fight each other.

The daughter had exactly the same same situation with Jack Russels both female both great dogs, but the younger one was always trying to get the upper hand and there was blood on many occasions, she had to re-home the young one in the end as it was getting too stressful.