Hi, (long post, sorry in advance) I am looking for some advice about my 17 month old male lab who has been growling at the new puppy 8 week old lab bitch since we got her on Sunday. I have 5 dogs now including the puppy. A 3 year old male neutered lab, 2 year old male neutered westie, 17month old intact male lab, 10 month old intact male Shetland sheepdog and now an 8 week old female lab. Oscar the oldest lab has been sniffing her but is not too interested in her, Harry the Westie has given the odd growl but has tried to play a few times, Jamie the sheltie has been playing with her since she arrived and seems very happy about her presence. Hamish the 17 month old lab is not very happy. They all met in the garden on Sunday and each dog sniffed her, the Westie growled when she walked up to him and hamish did the same. We had been separating her to another room as we didn't want to upset hamish too much, she had been going upstairs for naps and too sleep at night but the vet said on Tuesday we should keep her in the same room so he can get used to her. He seems to only growl if she tries to approach him or sniff him but his growl is quite loud and we jump every time he does it. He has been letting her walk past him without growling and yesterday she liked him when he came back from his walk and he didn't react and he lay on the sofa next to her as well. Hamish sometimes gets up and lays on the floor on the rug but if Jamie and the new pup are playing and she bumps into him he growls. She jumped at the couch and he growled this evening. I have been reading through previous posts for reassurance as I am worried the severity of the growl is quite loud however when hamish has growled at Jamie for jumping on the couch and waking him it is the same growl so I don't know if it is normal or not. We haven't experienced this when we introduced the other dogs to each other in the past. Jamie came home in February and wasn't growled at by any of the other dogs, even the Westie who growled at hamish once or twice when he met hamish. Jamie was a very boisterous puppy and has pestered the other dogs since he arrived, all the dogs tolerated him but Harry did growl which Jamie didn't pay attention too. Hamish was exceptionally tolerant of Jamie and only growled when Jamie would get too excited and jump in his face when he was on the sofa, or if Jamie wakes him up. Hamish had growled at the Westie for jumping onto the couch near him and waking him up as well. Sorry for rambling on I am trying to give as much background as possible. All the dogs live with a cat as well who the have no issues with. I have read it could take 3 weeks or longer for progress to be made and I feel there may be slight progress since Monday but as I haven't experienced this before I am anxious to know other people's thoughts. Tonight hamish growled at the other dogs when they were all being fed (puppy wasn't present) and although he will take Oscar the older labs food if we aren't supervising he has never growled at him. I wasn't in the kitchen at the time I was in the dining room so I can't be sure who he growled at but he was taking food from oscars bowl so it may have been him. Hamish has also growled at Jamie when he was playing with the pup and ran past him. I don't know if this is connected to him being unsettled by the new puppy, but he also hasn't been neutered so is this connected? If anyone has any advice I would appreciate it. I also forgot to add the puppy is very calm for the most part, only getting excited when she plays with the sheltie, she spends a lot of time sleeping. So far she has avoided hamish and appears to be taking his warnings. She hasn't been the typical boisterous pup bouncing up to the adults, nipping and annoying them. The only one she plays with is Jamie, she did try to play with hamish when he was laying on the floor next to her and Jamie whilst they were playing and once when hamish was on the sofa she bounced over to him and barked but he growled back and I took her away. She is mostly leaving all the dogs alone, except Jamie who always initiates play. So this was another reason I thought hamish reaction was over the top as she isn't actually annoying him, but is it that his normal growl sounds loud and frightening? All the dogs have been well socialised and spend time around lots of dogs, as my sisters and myself do canicross with the dogs, and both hamish and Oscar the labs are working bred labs as is the new puppy. So I felt confident the puppy would be accepted however hamish growling has been surprising. I hope someone reading can share advice/ experience with me and thank you very much for reading this long post.
Hi and welcome to the forum Having read everything you've said I would not be too worried at this point. Growling is a dog's way of saying to another dog "please go away and do not approach any further". If that is respected then things are usually ok. The growling has not escalated to anything else and the puppy is taking heed and is giving Hamish his distance. So all that is good. I would just make sure Hamish is allowed to do things like eat and sleep in peace - be ready to move the pup away if she is harassing him while he's doing these things (doesn't sound like she is though). Hamish might need a bit more space from the other dogs at mealtimes too though, as with the new source of stress in his life his tolerance for other things might be a bit lowered. That's normal, so it's nothing to worry about, but just be mindful of the need not to add too much to Hamish's plate at the moment (eg nail clipping or other health procedures, exposure to other things he doesn't like or finds a bit stressful, too much new stuff...try to minimise these things at the moment). I suspect that with time things will settle down.
Thanks for replying. From what I've read about it before posting I felt that it was his way of letting her know to stay back and she has been listening. I think you are right about the extra stress lowering his tolerance and we will be making sure he isn't put through any more stress. Hopefully things will start to settle down soon
Just want to say Hi, really, as my experience is limited. I am with Rachael, I think things will settle. We sometimes look after my SIL's female lab who is a year and a half younger than our 6.5yr old. Our Lilly has always been a bit grumpy with our houseguest and doesn't tolerate her invading her space. Licking her muzzle is just the pits! Growling is the order of the day in first day "play". It all gets better over a few days, and by the end of a 2 week stay they are almost curled up touching, having found their boundaries. We are looking after a 16 week titchy labradoodle type right now. Lilly actually LETS him put both paws on her back/head without complaint We were gob-smacked! Just goes to show that no two dogs are the same, but they can learn to live in harmony given a little time and space. And this. Absolutely. Don't force them to be together if it isn't natural. Hope you let us know how things progress too.
Hi Rachael, Hamish lay down next to Jamie and the puppy when they were playing but when the puppy noticed him she wandered over and hamish growled. Hamish will come in and sniff her and wag his tail while she is sleeping on the sofa but it seems whenever she tries to go near him/interact with him he growls. We never force them to interact, and are careful to make sure if she starts trying to play with hamish we take her out of his space and distract her. Hopefully this will work and hamish can come round in his own time. I will definitely let you know how things progress.
My thirteen year old spaniel will not tolerate being touched by puppies. She growls loudly if they come too close and will back that up with a warning bark if they ignore the growl. Within a few days the puppy learns that she is just a stuffy old dog and not worth bothering. During those few days I don't leave her unsupervised with puppies, and make sure she can easily get away from the puppy if she wants to. Once the initial 'getting the rules straight' is over, everything is fine, and the puppy will only try to initiate play with dogs that give off the right signals and don't mind. I suspect, and hope, you'll find the same. And provided it is supervised it isn't a bad learning experience for a puppy. Puppies can get hurt bowling up to strange dogs that don't welcome their advances. Learning about the warning growl teaches them that some dogs just don't want to play, and to be a little cautious in making advances.
My 3.5 year old dog has been less than impressed with the new puppy. He hasn't growled at her, but that's just because he just wouldn't - he's a bit of a Gent like that. I really wish he was more inclined to give her some warnings, to be honest, and she has got away with far too much as my older dog goes to sit in a corner with a puppy bouncing off his head, looking miserable and waiting to be rescued. He had enough of her today though, and booted her down the field when she was just unbelievably annoying. I felt like cheering (she wasn't hurt, just very surprised!). She has been much better behaved so far today! He still didn't growl though - can't help thinking it would have been better if he had!
Thanks Pippa. I hope you are right Hamish was 9 months old when we got Jamie and we never had this problem but now hamish is 17 months old maybe becoming an adult has something do with it. I think because the growling is so loud and makes us jump every time he does it that makes it seem worse that it is. I think he is unsure of her and needs time to get used to her.
My Tatze adores all pups. Zaba, who stays with us a lot, is also 3 years old but he hates them. They soon learn to leave him alone. He stands stiff, turns his head to the side and growls. ....
Homer will growl at younger dogs and puppies especially if they bounce up to his face. Give him time and a chance to 'tell' the pup and he's usually fine.
Thanks for replying. It's reassuring to hear all your comments, I think that's the reason I posted more than anything as I've read that its just how some dogs react.
I have posted this on another forum and one user seems to think bringing a female puppy into a group of boys was a bad idea. Does anyone have any insight into this? Two of the dogs are neutered and the othe two were due to be neutered last week but as the arrival of the puppy has upset them it has been put off until things settle down as I don't want hamish to have anymore stress. Once all the dogs are neutered would having a female dog still be an issue? Would it still be an issue if she was spayed as well?
I hadn't heard of this? We have 2 male labs, one entire, and introduced a 8 week old female lab without any problems. Indeed she is 10 months old today, and my older boy, who is nearly 8, was a bit grumpy, now seem to quite enjoy her company
I've never heard that either - my dog is an entire male. He doesn't like the puppy (well, he likes her more now than he did ) because she's annoying. She bites him and jumps on his head. I don't think it's anything to do with the fact he is an entire male.
I'm hoping we won't have any problems in time once hamish gets used to her, just panicking a bit as before we had all the boys we only had one German shepherd who was female and she was an only dog her whole life. So haven't had a mix before but I thought a female puppy would be fine coming in. To be honest when we got Oscar we wanted a girl but took him instead and before we knew it had all boys, it wasn't a deliberate choice but we never had any bother with them all together. Maybe because the two intact boys are still young, it could be different as Jamie gets older but the plan is to neuter them so hopefully we will avoid any issues there
I really wouldn't worry about the gender issue. I would see it as more of an individual dog personality thing. Could've happened just the same with a male puppy. It sounds like your pup is aware of other dogs' signals and has quickly learned to modify her behaviour. That's great. Another puppy might've been more clueless and made it harder. So it sounds to me like you got just the right puppy! Try not to worry
Thanks, I feel like it shouldn't be a gender issue at least at this point and do think a male puppy would probably have gotten the same reaction. Im glad of the input from people with more experience and thought that might help me worry less but the post from the other site had the opposite effect
My 7yo labradoodle growled at Bessie for the first couple of weeks and wouldn't play with her at all. A lot of it was that she was indeed bounding at him, jumping at his face and trying to bite his beard, etc. To reassure you, after a couple of weeks they started playing together like old pals. He gets a bit annoyed with her at times, but so do I! I have learned to read his "overwhelmed" noises/growling and separate them to give him some space from her.
We have a 6month old Lab male ( Jesse) and adopted a 4 month old yellow lab girl (Bella). He is generally good with her and she likes him. He barked her a lot the first day but it was for her to chase him and then they ran around in the back yard. She growls at him when he doesn't let her be , and he get over excited . I have been taken him on walks and worked some with him in the front yard, to give some alone time. He is about 50 lbs and a big boy and she is maybe 30 lbs and smaller then him. I knew raised to pup's together and the rough play worries me most likely then either one of them is. I have their area to eat in separate spots and each has their own toys. Any tips ?
