Hello, Just wanted some advice with regards to my 8 month old SUPER excitable lab puppy. My sister just got a Great Dane puppy, she is 9 weeks old, and really placid. We obviously want them to be introduced to each other, and ideally to even be able to be in the same room together without my lab bowling her pup over. I am sure many of you are familiar with the GD breed, but for those who aren´t they have very fragile bones, and they just arent as bouncy and exuberant as labs when small pups, so the way in which mine would like to approach - 180 miles per hour, mouth open, and paws on head - just wont work. We tried introducing them tonight at my place, and distracting Huxley with loads of treats, asking him to sit on his matt and generally calming him, all of which he does but as soon as he gets close to the puppy again he starts getting way over the top excited, trying to jump on her, with his mouth open. He is currently around 30 kilos, and she is around 10 kilos with fragile bones, so it´s just not going to work at all. I wonder if anyone has any tips for this? or maybe we just have to wait until she is bigger and they are more compatible size wise?
I would say I'd really wait until the puppy is bigger - first because of the risk to her physically, but also because if she is a placid, quieter pup she really could have a bad experience with 30kg of 8 month old excitable Labrador (we've all been there!) and that would be terrible for her at this early age. It's really important that all her experiences with other dogs are good (this is much more important than her meeting loads and loads of dogs). My boy, although he is super now around puppies at 3.5 years, would have just about been the worst playmate for a small puppy when he was a teenager!
I think you could have hit the nail on the head here....I think he could be almost the worst possible playmate for her. He is SO BOISTEROUS that it´s actually incredible. And whilst he will follow his commands, and come and sit and stay on his mat, he is still absolutely bursting with energy and as soon as he is released he runs at her with all of his force, mouth open. Definitely the last thing we want is for her to get nervous of other dogs, especially as GD´s can have a nervous disposition, and as you say her interactions should be all good ones. It´s disappointing though as obviously I would love to look after her sometimes, and be able to have them at my house together, but as you say it is probably best to wait until they are at least on an even keel size wise.
Yes, teenage Labradors are wonderful things, but gosh, they are enthusiastic - and they just have not yet learned to back off if another dog is unsure. If the puppy was bold, it wouldn't be so bad, but.... I think you can have them together for little bits, but it's about training them to settle and chill out together (having the puppy in a crate helps), not play.
