Older dogs and Pesky Puppies
Older Dogs and Pesky Puppies!
When it comes to introducing dogs, introducing a puppy to an older dog can be problematic.
Most people love a puppy. Cute, bundles of joy who constantly want to play and bound around. But while humans find puppies irresistible, many adult dogs do not. The day you bring home a puppy to meet your resident dog may not unfold into the joyful scene you’re imagining. The puppy may be met with a friendly greeting or a physical assault. Your dog’s personality, history and age are all factors in how they respond to a puppy. The older dog may communicate to the puppy in a number of ways but as yet the puppy may not have learnt these signals, and you may witness behaviours such as:
· The older dog communicating through hard stares and a stiff posture.
· The older dog slinking around the house and clearly avoiding the puppy (much to the puppy’s frustration!)
· The older dog hogging resources either through hard stares, growls or even bites. These resources can be anything the older dog values including and very often you!!!
Introducing an Adult Dog to a Puppy
Dogs who are generally calm or even cautious and don’t like to play can find a puppy to be extremely obnoxious. Gauge how your adult dog feels about puppies before you allow her unsupervised time with a pup. (Do not allow unsupervised time with an adult dog that doesn’t get along with the puppy.) The way you introduce the dogs can help with your adult dog’s attitude.
You’ll need someone to help you with the introductions, because you want both your puppy and your adult dog on a lead when they meet. Make the introduction on neutral ground. That means a place where neither dog has spent time and laid claim. Let the dogs approach each other slowly and allow them to sniff each other. If the puppy starts trying to jump on the adult dog, don’t be surprised if the adult dog growls or snaps at the pup. This is an appropriate response considering the puppy is behaving rudely. Most pups don’t know the rules of dog etiquette and need to learn them.
If your adult dog ceases the assertive behaviour after the pup backs off, they are most likely going to be fine being around a young dog.
If the puppy doesn’t do anything overt yet the adult dog becomes aggressive at the mere sight of him — growling, snarling, snapping or lunging assertively — end the introduction. Realize that your dog may be a “puppy hater.” Some adult dogs just don’t like puppies. If this is the case never leave the adult dog unsupervised with the puppy, particularly if the adult dog has shown aggression toward the pup. It is likely that the older dog will learn to tolerate the younger pup and signals of communication will also be picked up by the puppy as it starts to learn. Try to ensure that during the socialisation period (typically 8-12 weeks) the puppy enjoys some positive interactions with other dogs.
While your senior dog will probably do a good job of letting the puppy know how to behave, you still need to intercede if the puppy is particularly annoying. This means giving the older dog a break when the puppy gets too obnoxious. Confine the puppy to a crate or pen to teach them to settle down while also giving the senior dog some peace and quiet. Your senior will be more patient with the puppy if she’s able to get away from her for a while. Finally, a few tips you can follow:
· Cancel out any competition- feed the dogs in separate rooms or in crates and avoid leaving toys on the floor.
· Avoid over arousal- keep your excitement to a minimum and relax, try to avoid being on bated breath waiting for something to happen, dog’s will pick up this anxiety.
· Give each dog some down time- puppies can be very annoying to older dogs, So, give each dog time to itself.
· Go out of your way to spend one-on-one time with each dog, even if its 5 minutes.
· Don’t punish the older dog for growling, they are giving out a warning signal and if you punish them for this, they may resort to not giving this signal and just attack when you least expect it. Make a note of the trigger that preceded the growl, e.g., was the puppy too close, did the puppy take all of your attention. Once we establish the triggers, we can work towards desensitising them.
· If there is an altercation be prepared to step in and separate them or distract them with a loud noise.
· Begin a program in which each dog learns that rewards are given when they are patient and polite. Teach a seemingly possessive dog that they can get petting from you and a treat reward if they sit and wait whilst you give some attention to the puppy.
Roy Young BCCSDip.AdvCanBhv
Contributions
https://www.dogster.com/dogs-101/introducing-dogs-to-your-new-puppy
P McConnell: Love has no age limit 2011 McConnell Publishing