Jetty Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 Having problems with my nearlly 4 month old fox terrier x 'Jet' when he is around my 7 year old pure breed fox terrier 'Jessie'. When Jet is playing with Jessie he bits and jumps which i know is typical for a puppy just playing. However Jessie does not like it one bit and growls and tries to bite Jet. Then they start barking and i can't seem to get the puppy away from Jessie even if i try to play with him instead. Is there something i can do to make the puppy learn that Jessie does not like it? She is old and just sleeps alot of the time and feels very protective and territoral since the puppy has arrived. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stitch Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 Try taking them for regular walks together so that they can start to bond in a controlled situation and the puppy can be corrected for unwanted behaviour. Do you take the pup to dog training classes weekly and also practice lead work daily?? If not then I recommend you do! The pup needs to learn some manners and your old girl is attempting to do that by growling etc. If you step in and do the daily training with him on a lead then things will improve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jetty Posted May 14, 2009 Author Share Posted May 14, 2009 Try taking them for regular walks together so that they can start to bond in a controlled situation and the puppy can be corrected for unwanted behaviour.Do you take the pup to dog training classes weekly and also practice lead work daily?? If not then I recommend you do! The pup needs to learn some manners and your old girl is attempting to do that by growling etc. If you step in and do the daily training with him on a lead then things will improve. The puppy has already finished his puppy preschool, i do not take them on daily walks but i do as much as i can to take them a few times a week. I am going to start doing it daily though and see how i go. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas Posted May 14, 2009 Share Posted May 14, 2009 (edited) In cases like this the only interaction your puppy should have with the older dog is when the puppy is onlead and controlled by you until such a time where it has learned what is acceptable. For my dog in most cases it was around 6 months of age but it wasn't fully until 1.5 years of age that he really got his act together. The also need to be seperated when you're not home. Some puppies are just right little buggers! You can't just leave it up to the old dog to correct the puppies behaviour, this is your job as the leader. Edited May 14, 2009 by sas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jetty Posted May 14, 2009 Author Share Posted May 14, 2009 In cases like this the only interaction your puppy should have with the older dog is when the puppy is onlead and controlled by you until such a time where it has learned what is acceptable.For my dog in most cases it was around 6 months of age but it wasn't fully until 1.5 years of age that he really got his act together. The also need to be seperated when you're not home. Some puppies are just right little buggers! You can't just leave it up to the old dog to correct the puppies behaviour, this is your job as the leader. he is a little bugger! he's very smart! i will give this a go thanks. The old girl is really grumpy, its ok at the moment coz she sits on the couch and the puppies not big enough to get up there but no doubt very soon he will be able too. should i be investing in a pen or something to keep them seperate when they are outside? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sas Posted May 14, 2009 Share Posted May 14, 2009 Yep, you're old girl is bound to be grumpy! My old girl was as well. It is good for the pup to be around an adult that will put them in their place but what I learned the hardway is not to leave it up to the adult dog to dicipline....looses your leadership and when the adult dog doesn't repremand the way you want them too the little bugger of a puppy just gets worse. The couch was also a safe haven for my old girl too. If you get your pup on a lead, you can tether the pup (only when supervised by you) to the sofa leg if you want and pup learns to relax on the tether which is a positive thing and then maybe 3 or 4 times a night (if you're only home at night), take your pup on a lead to the mature dog and encourage positive interaction, use treats (for both dogs for good behaviour) and encouraging vocals (not too excited) to get your puppy to return to you (whilst on lead) if puppy is harassing the adult dog too much and then once calm the puppy can try again. Repetition, it takes around 40 instances for a dog to learn something new (fully learn). And with rat bad puppies it can seem to take a long time, just be 100% consistent and you'll get there faster. Yeah you really need to be seperating pup outside because not only is puppy annoying your older dog which is cementing this bad behaviour the pup could also become injured from being such a nut bag. Kennel runs are good ideas as the pup can still see the older dog, or a fence boundary down the middle of the yard etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stitch Posted May 14, 2009 Share Posted May 14, 2009 (edited) It is a juggling act that I do all the time as I always bring my puppies into the house of an evening and my alpha bitch is always with me. If you keep them too separated the pups do not learn to be together with an older dog in a calm and relaxed way. If you keep them together all the time and the pup is a pest then the older dog will sometimes practice some 'tough love' that may not be appropriate or the pup will try to dominate the older dog and make its life a misery. You really need to concentrate on training the younger dog and train it daily working towards being able to control it by your commands. You start off with it on the lead at all times when it is with the older dog. Really you should continue on to dog training - puppy preschool is OK but you should work towards being able to control your dog around all the other dogs and distractions - which I would guess at the moment would be a bit difficult! Proper & regular dog training classes will give you all that! Edited May 14, 2009 by STITCH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Her Majesty Dogmad Posted May 14, 2009 Share Posted May 14, 2009 Excellent post STITCH, you are spot on with all this advice. Please start proper training asap, I see a lot of dogs who've been through puppy preschool and it simply wasn't enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jetty Posted May 15, 2009 Author Share Posted May 15, 2009 Thank you all for the advice. I have booked him in for an Obedience class with VIP Pet Foods, hopefully this helps his behaivour improve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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