Hi All... hoping for some words of wisdom/advice. We have a 10 1/2 year old male lab (Pierre) that we adopted out of the guide dogs for the blind program at 2 years old. He came to us very highly trained and has been the most wonderful dog we could have ever imagined having. He has never been much of a "player" with other dogs, he just is aloof with other dogs after the first sniff or two, this is due to his extensive training. Well...we decided this spring to bring a new puppy (Jaks) into our family and it has not been going as planned, our older dog is not at all tolerant with the puppy. He barks, growls and grunts at Jaks even when Jaks is just walking past him. We have started doing puppy “time outs” when Jaks gets too jumpy/nippy around Pierre and also have been making sure that Pierre is treated with as much love and "treats" as Jaks is. Everyone is saying that "it will take time"... We will have had Jaks for 4 weeks on Saturday (we got him at 7 weeks old) and so far nothing has changed. We looking at hiring a trainer (note we are also doing puppy classes) to help us correct the situation, however, wondering if anyone else has been in a similar predicament. We love both dogs so much, but the stress of them not being able to be "free" in the same space without chaos is really getting to us, we hate to see either dog being so anxious. Not to mention we want to make sure that Jaks is properly socialized. In order to get him used to other dogs, we are taking him to the park and to play with other puppies/dogs in our neighborhood as we don't want him to think that the way Pierre is reacting is what all other dogs are like. Any and all advice would be appreciated
Welcome to the forum I would just say - don't worry. Four weeks is not very long. It will take longer than that for Pierre to adjust to the new pup, but he should be ok in the end. Basically, I agree with all those other people who have said that it will take time. I also think that you are doing the right things by giving Pierre space when the pup gets too much and by socialising Jaks with other dogs. Just a question though - Does Pierre have any age related aches and pains that might make him wary of being bumped by the pup? If he does then sorting that out might make him feel happier around the pup. Do you use a crate for Jaks at all?
Welcome to you. Your dog will come to tolerate the pup, but maybe never to love him! My Twiglet is a Guide Dog puppy, now 12 months old and due to go to Big School on Wednesday. She simply hates small pups. As soon as they reach 6 months and stop putting their paws on her she's fine. Today we had a meet up with all ages of pups, she had to be kept away from the little ones. Some dogs just don't like pups. Guide Dogs get socialised with dogs from a very young age, so I can't see it being a lasting problem for you at all. .
Thanks for your positive reply and encouragement. No, Pierre doesn't have any ailments related to age, he has slowed down a bit because of his age, but still very healthy. We are working on the crate with Jaks. We have two crates, a soft sided one that we keep next to our bed for him to sleep in at night and a plastic one downstairs in our main living/dining/kitchen area. We started with the crate inside a pen and he was just staying in the pen area, not going in his crate much. So we moved the pen to the living area and are trying to do traditional crate training.. for whatever reason, Jaks isn't loving the crate downstairs. Since Jaks doesn't love his downstairs crate yet, we have only been doing his "time outs" in the pen.
You made my morning!! We just want to make sure we are not affecting either dog in a negative way. We don't care if they never love each other, as long as they can find a way to co-exist we will be happy
Yes I agree with what been said. My old Mally was nearly 10 when we got Meg. He's an aloof dog anyhow so was not impressed . He was pretty grumpy with her and she got the odd nip from him when she would not leave him alone. Now she is 2 he really loves her on his own terms and she adores him. They play when he wants and she knows the rules now. So just continue what you are doing and give them time
We got Cooper as a puppy when Tilly was 9. Tilly was OK but not thrilled. They played some, but Tilly kind of rolled her eyes and asked "Why did you do that?" Cooper is a year now and they have definitely played together a lot over the past 9 months or so. I think more as time goes by. Tilly will start the play sometimes, so it is not just Cooper. When she was younger, Tilly often played with other dogs, and she never acted unhappy to be around other dogs. She came from a Gun Dog line and they are bred to get along with other dogs. It might take longer with strains that are bred to be Guide Dogs. The Breeders may have tried to breed a high play drive out of the lines. I know the Guide Dogs for the Blind operation in Oregon has bred their specific line of dogs to fit their criteria. I expect it will get better as time goes by. If there are any activities that they both can do it might help. Does Pierre play tug or chase balls at all?
Not at all!! Guide Dogs are normal dogs in every way when not working. Last Saturday I took a guide dog, Twiglet and another GD pup for a free run on the moors - loopy, the lot of them! They have a huge field and sandpit as big as a tennis court at Big School for the dogs to play in, they play four dogs at a time. .
Pierre's training was over 8 1/2 years ago and even though he has just been a pet to us, he still has retained much of what he learned. They are highly socialized so they are able to work in all types of situations. I really think the issue is that he doesn't have much tolerance for puppies, especially the nipping and jumping on his head. We are having more good moments between the two each and every day. We think Jaks is starting to understand that Pierre is not interested in playing with him and Pierre is being a little more tolerant. The more calm moments they have together the better they are going to figure out a way to co-exist
I think it all gets easier as the puppies grow up and learn manners!! I spend a lot of time walking with my godmother's dogs. The older lab hated Mole to begin with, wouldn't have anything to do with him and growled every time Mole wanted to play. Now at 6 months they are the best of friends and the older one actually seeks out the puppy to play with him. It's gorgeous! Sam and Mole
