Hey folks, this is my first post on here but been using the site a lot and its extremely good and insightful. We have 2 Labs, Barnabas who is 14 months old and is a really well behaved dog, walks off his lead, recall is good and is so passive and playful with other dogs that its untrue, he's amazing, that was until this weekend, we decided to get another puppy to give him a companion, the issue is that Barnabas has changed his behaviour when my wife tries to bond with Aston, Barnabas comes in between them and stops the puppy approaching. I suspect that Barnabas is overly possessive as its generally been all about my wife and dog since he first turned up. I don't think Barnabas would harm Aston but he does seem to try grab attention and follows Aston around sniffing his puppy parts and earlier today charged him and knocked him over, we are giving Barnabas lots of fuss. I hope this is just an initial phase. Kind Regards Alan
Hi Alan and welcome to the forum from me and Juno, my 14 month old chocolate girl from Normandy in France. I've never had two dogs at the same but would guess that Barnabas is acting pretty much like a lot of young dogs with the introduction of a new puppy into the household. I would keep,the two separated and spend time with each separately and restrict interaction with the puppy when Barnabas is there. Although 14 months old Barnabas is not much more than a puppy himself so expect some rough play between him and the new puppy. Other forum members will no doubt be along shortly who have more advise for your circumstances.
It will settle with time. Make sure to spend quality time with both dogs separately so you can bond properly with Aston & Barnaby doesn't feel abandoned. When Barnaby is trying to push the little one out don't let him do that - he has to learn that there's a new family member that has the same rights as him. Barney was quite the same when we brought Shelby home but we were firmly telling him no & he finally got the message. Now they are best friends
They will soon settle down, but both wanting attention at the same time is normal and doesn't go away. We tend to fuss one each then swap.
