We lost our almost 10 yr old yellow lab in August to cancer. I thought introducing a PUPPY to the household might reduce aggression to be "top dog". We knew our adult lab (Maddie) would probably growl or snap at the newcomer (Charlee) as necessary to teach the little one who's the boss, but twice now I think Maddie might have killed Charlee if we hadn't intervened. Charlee wants so much to play that she jumps at Maddie's face. I obviously do NOT want come home to a dead puppy, so if anyone has any suggestions, PLEASE HELP ME!!
Hi there and welcome to the forum! I can sympathize with your situation, having had an older dog and a puppy myself. I think with a bit of time you will find that things settle down in your household between your two dogs. The first thing is to make sure your older dog has a safe place where she can go to get away from the puppy, and to make sure she gets a lot of your attention, and time alone with you. It can be very stressful for an older dog having suddenly to deal with the playfulness of a puppy - in order for this not to escalate into aggression you need to give her the opportunity to be able to escape. I remember that when we got Poppy she was very, very boisterous and rough with our old dog. Like your puppy, she bit his face - but he was a complete softy, and just used to shriek and cry until we came and rescued him... I can reassure you that after a couple of months they did become good friends, but it took a while and a lot of intervention on our part, to protect him from her needle-sharp teeth. Maddie was used to being together with your old dog, and then alone with you. It is a life-changer, suddenly having a puppy leaping at you and wanting to play all day. Put up a baby gate so that they can be in separate rooms but can see each other and slowly get used to each other; of have a section of your living room blocked off so the two are separated. I can well remember the first time my two lay down together and had a sleep - I was so relieved.. Above all, do not leave them alone together, it really is not fair on either of them and could indeed be dangerous. If you have to go out and leave them, put the puppy in his crate (that will be fine for an hour or two), or else as I said above separate them into different rooms or use a baby gate to keep them apart. Good luck - and keep us updated!
Hi and welcome. Some great advice from Karen and I would just add that Maddie telling the pup off is perfectly and normally sounds an awful lot worse than it actually is. It's not Maddie wanting to be top dog or the dominant dog it's her telling the puppy enough of play and biting. As Karen says keep them separated when no one is around and ensure that Maddie can have peace and quiet away from the pup but also quiet time with you. Let us know how you get on.
I've had puppys with older labs and the older ones do need to be protected from the monster sorry i mean puppy. I supervise them very closely at first and never leave them alone together until I'm sure. Older dogs need sometimes to go into protective custody to get a break form puppiness. I make sure everyone gets a break from puppy, paticularly if the pup is tired and over excited. my older dogs often tell the puppy off its a very deep growl which is very distinctive and different to an aggressive one. I let them do this but keep an eye on things. Midge has no time for puppies with bad manners and is great at teaching them proper behaviour. She is calm and careful and usually ends up playing with the puppy once its learned not to jump up her and annoy her. It just takes time and all dogs are different. Your dog is not trying to be Dominant just trying to teach the pup whats she finds acceptable and well within her rights to set so ground rules. Its just that they are dogs and do it differently to us. It would be very unusual for there to be real aggresion most older dogs are very good with puppies and they do let them get a way with murder. I found male dogs to be very soppy and indulgent with female pups. Girls with girls is always harder if it goes well its usually very good if it works but can in some situations cause real problems. I would never at the moment introduce another female dog into the household with my current female Midge she would hate it. Introducing a boy was hard enough she refused to eat and would not get off the sofa for about 3 days. She loves him now he is her toy boy and slave. I would just take things slower and if you are really worried speak to a behavourist. Hope things get better.
Thanks so much for everyone's input. We fully expect & allow Maddie to growl & even snap at Charlee to help set boundaries. Sunday evening, Charlee was nipping at Maddie's face, and rather growl/snap Maddie turned on her almost viciously & left several bad abrasions on her face before we could pull her off to stop the attack. (Charlee is wearing a protective cone until she's healed. ) Most of the time Maddie ignores her or warns her, but that time she went way overboard. Obviously, those are the times that concern me.
OMG...ignore that crazy face implanted in my response!! It implies that I think the situation is funny or something!!! TOTALLY NOT TRUE
Hello there Well, that does not sound like an appropriate response to a puppy being annoying. Very important you do not leave them alone together. When you say your older dog was being aggressive to be 'top dog' what do you mean by this, exactly, and how have you been dealing with this up to now?
Make sure the older dog has a couple of places where she can get away from the pup even when you are around and, like others have said, never leave them alone together. But older dogs do tell persistent pups off in a very alarming manner sometimes. This happens when the pup doesn't read the body signals which mean 'back off' correctly. So, as soon as you see those signals (stiff legs, head turned away, growling) then YOU make sure the pup stops. That way he will begin to learn the body language which means 'stop NOW'. For some reason the pinning down by the older dog is simply interpreted as play by some pups - so the older dog does it even more firmly. Don't worry - it still isn't aggression, just the older dog trying to get some space! If she were trying to kill him she would have done it first time, no trouble! But please make sure you supervise really well or your older dog will become very unhappy.
