Our 2 year old lab Oakley seems to be doing ok with the puppy most of the time. However, I am not great with knowing what is appropriate behavior and what is not for our 2 year old. Our puppy has been with us 4 days now. Oakley will try to just take every toy the puppy has even when we give him one of his favorites, we now tell him to leave it and not allow him to bully like that. If the puppy (Bentley) gets too close to him when he has a toy he will growl and get up and bark at him sounds terrible which petrifies the puppy, I don't know if that is ok, he has shown his teeth on occassion. I know it's new for him to have a new puppy here but again not sure what is ok and what isn't. We have been sitting between them and and let them interact and are praising Oakley when he is being nice, he even drops a toy in front of the puppy wanting him to pick up the other end but the puppy doesn't understand that yet. I just worry about puppy approaching him when he has a toy and his growling and barking at him he may even have snapped at him but my husband wasn't quite sure as it happened so fast.
Hi Mom2Labs, congratulations on bringing home Bentley! Oakley sounds a little unsettled by the arrival of a new puppy. Which is understandable, and it's still early days. An experienced dog trainer has written a great article on our main site about dealing with the behaviors you're experiencing at the moment - you can read it here. Good luck and let us know how you get on!
I think you are right to be watchful, but I would not tell the older dog off for playing with the puppy's toys. You want the older dog to associate the puppy with fun and reinforcement, not with being chastised. You are much better off assuming that all toys will be shared. And making sure that there are enough to go round. If they both prefer the same toy, get another identical one, so they can have one each. This is completely normal and is a sign that the older dog is being pushed into accepting the puppy too quickly. Making friends and accepting a new dog into their family is a huge leap for most adult dogs. Your two year old is doing pretty well if he has coped being around the puppy without a break for the last four days. At four days in, all my new puppy's interaction with the older dogs was taking place with a baby gate between them. So the older dogs get accustomed to the smell and sound of the puppy. I tend to take things very slowly and let new puppies mix with older dogs on a very limited basis to start with. So the puppy is restricted to the kitchen and hall, and the big dogs remain mainly in the carpeted area or in the laundry room where they sleep. Much of their interaction with the puppy takes place in the back garden where a low fence keeps the puppy near the back door and the big dogs can hop in and out as they please. My current puppy is just 12 weeks old and spends five to ten minutes, six or seven times a day, with the older dogs outside. And is allowed in with them indoors for just a few minutes at a time, at intervals throughout the day. I think it sounds as though your older dog will get along with the puppy in due course, but for now needs a little more space and time to get to know the new arrival. Let him enjoy the puppy toys, and keep any that you think he'll damage for when the puppy is separated from him.
This is a timely read as our new puppy is due in about 5 weeks and want to prepare as much as I can. We will likely sleep near her with our older dog as well as she sleeps with us and use the crate so puppy can sleep on her own. I'm worried our older dog will want to sleep with the puppy when we go out. I plan to leave the puppy in the crate so the older dog can still have her normal area?
