Hi, I am also new to this site. I also just got a 8 week old lab and she IS irritating my 3yr old lab. Shes charging him, jumping and nibbling on tail. he is doing everything to get away from her including jumping on our lap I'm in desperate need of help. I do put her in the cage for naps and bedtime she is getting me up everywhere one and a half to two hours to go outside I have now learned to just take her out and put her back in to sleep and ignore the crying I finally got 4 hours of straight sleep. my 3 year old lab that's the most gentlest kindest lab you will ever meet now he is showing his teeth he's not being aggressive at this point and I'm afraid he might bite her. although he has never ever bitten anybody can anybody give me suggestions onhelping them to get a long and helping me sleep. we've had her for 3 days. thank you
Re: Old dog and new puppy Hi and welcome to the forum! There are lots of people here who have two dogs and I'm sure they will give you some good advice. Don't worry, I am sure you will get some good strategies for helping dog #1 cope. I have never had two dogs at once so don't have any first hand experience but I wouldn't worry too much about your older dog actually doing any harm to the pup. Dogs seem to instinctively know when they are dealing with a pup and will be careful with them. However, they will also show them their place if the pup gets too irritating, which could include growling or showing teeth or even a quick snap that doesn't connect but let's the pup know she's gone too far. This is all part of the pup learning grown up manners. However it is probably good to have some times when your pup is separated from the big boy just to give him some relief from it all- when you can put her in the crate with a toy for a little bit, or something like that. But as I said, I'm sure others will come along with more help, so hang in there! As to sleep, well, for the first little while you are going to have to get up in the night to let the pup out for a wee. Again, it's been a looonng time since I've had a pup, but I would think that twice a night should be enough. She doesn't need water in the crate with her overnight, that could lead to more need to wee than is necessary. The best thing to do is to get a schedule going and stick to it, she'll soon get the hang of it. Then if she is waking up at other times you will know it's just because she's lonely and expects you to come get her, and you can just ignore that. Lots of new puppy owners here as well, keep watching this space and you'll find plenty of advice! In the meantime, post a picture! We love puppy pics around here! Lisa and Simba (1 1/2 yrs, choc LabX)
Re: Old dog and new puppy Welcome to the forum!! Since your puppy is only 8 weeks old i guess you just got him. I only got one dog atm but your situation reminds me of when my parents got their new newfoundland dog puppy. They owned a 5 year old newfy boy at that time and he just went crazy when the little one approached him for the first few days. He would jump up(very funny to see a 75kg dog jump 1m in the air and legs it because of a little pup about 1/10 of his size ;D ;D ;D) and shoot of like set on fire. ;D ;D It took about 2 weeks for him to get used to the new family member but i remember the day like it was yesterday when we came down in the morning and the little one had his head rested on our big fellows paw and both where sleeping. They've been best friends since then. Just give them a little time to get used to eachother but if you see any signs of aggression in your 3yr old i would recomend to not leave them on their own unattended. Christoph and Odin(1yr black labby)
Re: Old dog and new puppy Hi there, and welcome. It may take a bit of time, but your two will probably end up the best of friends. It is however very important that your older dog has a place he can escape to where he is 'safe' from the puppy. Maybe use a baby gate to keep the puppy out of one room where only the older dog can go? Spend time just with the older dog - take him out for walks on his own - make sure he knows he is still the centre of your world. Don't worry about him growling and showing his teeth at the puppy, he has to show her what is acceptable and what isn't. But don't encourage him to do it either. They will sort their problems out, you just have to allow the older dog to get away when he needs to. I've been there; and although it is difficult at first it does get better. It took about two months (sorry!!!), but then my 13-year old and my four-month old dogs suddenly became great friends.
Re: Old dog and new puppy Hi Dawn and your furry family. Welcome to the forum. Each older dog that we've had has taught manners to the pup by gently showing them what is and isn't acceptable, what they'll 'put up with' from the puppy. It's different with each dog too, and the pup learns what acceptable and what isn't. For example our puppy, Charlie, would jump on our young dog, Harrys, head, pull his ears the full monty. But with our older dog , Alfie she was a lot more respectful, going to him to get her face cleaned, and to cuddle up to sleep. It wasn't instant though. Everyone (us included!) had to find a new routine to include Charlie. It took us about 3 weeks or so. Neither older dog ever hurt Charlie, but until they were firm firends they were never left unsupervised together either. On the plus side, house training has always been easy as pie, they just copy the older dogs!
Re: Old dog and new puppy I can echo what the above posters have said. With 3 labs, a 3yr old, one at 19 months and the devil Indie at 12 weeks. From day one the older girl put the pup in its place, with a lot of growling and teeth showing the pup was very determined but kept coming back for more? So she was shown by the older dog in no uncertain ( it is a bit scary but they won't bite ) terms how to behave they have been fine since, in fact the pup often curls up with the older dog. Now with the younger dog (who has the most soft nature) the pup pesters her all the time and she will not tell it off? We have to intervene to give the dog some space, I find by gently pushing the pup down on the floor with your finger and thumb around the neck and growling like the mother does, certainly makes the pup back off. She is getting better in fact, as I type this they are in the crate together asleep Just waiting for the next installment LOL.
Re: Old dog and new puppy Thank you all so much for the welcoming and comfort that everything will be fine.
Re: Old dog and new puppy They just got done playing in the together. A sweet site to see. Yes there was a lot of barking and growling but they had fun. YAY. I tried to load pictures but said file to large ??
Re: Old dog and new puppy That's great to hear! I am not sure if you have looked at these threads but they might have some clues as to how to get a photo up. We'd love to see a pic Method for posting a photo: http://www.thelabradorforum.com/index.php?topic=47.0 Posting a photo from Flickr: http://www.thelabradorforum.com/index.php?topic=1903.0 Help for when photo won't appear: http://www.thelabradorforum.com/index.php?topic=903.0 I hope that might help a bit!
Re: Old dog and new puppy Hope you don't mind my suggestion.......... I have always used TinyPic hosting to upload/post images (edited by Pippa see below) You don't need to store any pictures on line, it works directly from your computer and is EASY! So, go to the site, click on the link above, the first page is titled "Upload Images and Videos". Click "Chose File" Select the picture you want to upload from your computer - either double click it or highlight it and then press "choose". You will be taken back to TinyPic opening page Go to "Resize" and from drop down menu select "Message Board (640 X 480)" or smaller. Don't leave this as "default", it is HUGE! Press the green "Upload Now" button. You may have to go through a security thing - just follow the instructions. Once uploaded you will be taken to the "Share this image" page Go to the second option "IMG Code for Forums & Message Boards" Highlight the code - left click on it, and "copy" it. Come back here (forum) and "paste" the code. It will look like ****** And there you are. NOTE: The code must have the [ IMG][/img] each end - no spaces anywhere. Links removed by Pippa because tinypic's homepage contain's explicit images not suitable for family viewing
Re: Old dog and new puppy Glad they seem to be making friends,I have Dexter my first dog and he will be my only dog ;D...certainly at the same time! The forum is a great place to get some good sound advice ,it's really helped me. Best wishes and welcome from angela and Dexter 16 month old yellow boy x
Re: Old dog and new puppy [quote author=cheddar-caveman link=topic=4333.msg52548#msg52548 date=1391676142] Hope you don't mind my suggestion.......... I have always used TinyPic hosting to upload/post images at - http://tinypic.com/?ref=jjlds3 [/quote] thanks for the tip! great idea! you should also post this under the technical help section of the forum...... really useful!
Re: Old dog and new puppy I tried to upload a video and after I did it showed other peoples video s as well as an obscene male.(gross) So once my picture/videos are uploaded can I delete it some way on tinypic?
Re: Old dog and new puppy Hi Dawn, thanks for drawing this to our attention. The links to this site have been removed. Pippa
