Old Dog Not Happy With New Puppy

[thebear]

Hello,

We have a 10 yo female Rotti & 8 yo Male Blue Heeler Kelpie X, both desexed. The rotti now has arthritis and can't run and play with the heeler so we decided to get him a new playmate. Both dogs have always been fine with other dogs, our neighbour has a maltese terrier that is always coming over to play with no problems. I took the heeler to the shop to meet the new puppy but he was more interested in getting home. He is a nervous nature in strange surroundings, and my husband an our rotti are his 2 life supports.

We have bought a 10 week old female red heeler x puppy.

The rotti doesn't care about her, but the heeler isn't too impressed. He's not trying to go at her unprovoked, but he's snarly if she comes to him an he's given her a couple of warning snaps.

We know that the pack now has to be establishe and we are not ignoring the other dogs for the puppy. We give them treats all together and feed them together. He is getting praise when he either ignores her or gives her a sniff, but we also let him know that snapping at her is not allowed.

Is there any other advise anybody can offer?? At the moment I don't trust him to be left alone with her.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Kerry

Edited January 16, 2011 by thebear

[persephone]

Sorry - I can't help...as I would never get a young puppy to be company for two old/middleaged dogs.

I guess it is done frequently..and with success ...however

I just don't think it's fair on any of them...The puppy will want to race and jump and play... and older dogs may not be keen.The puppy WILL get grumped at by both dogs

The pack is now unstable....

the old rottie now has a rambunctious puppy to cope with, as well as her arthritis

The heeler male may well be quite happy to take life at a slower pace, now..and be much happier having extra time with his humans- doing training,going for longer walks ...

You are doing right in not leaving them alone...and praising him at those times

I can't offer anything else useful, I'm sorry .

Hope it will all settle for you.

[RIP HERO]

Hello,

We have a 10 yo female Rotti & 8 yo Male Blue Heeler Kelpie X, both desexed. The rotti now has arthritis and can't run and play with the heeler so we decided to get him a new playmate. Both dogs have always been fine with other dogs, our neighbour has a maltese terrier that is always coming over to play with no problems. I took the heeler to the shop to meet the new puppy but he was more interested in getting home. He is a nervous nature in strange surroundings, and my husband an our rotti are his 2 life supports.

We have bought a 10 week old female red heeler x puppy.

The rotti doesn't care about her, but the heeler isn't too impressed. He's not trying to go at her unprovoked, but he's snarly if she comes to him an he's given her a couple of warning snaps.

We know that the pack now has to be establishe and we are not ignoring the other dogs for the puppy. We give them treats all together and feed them together. He is getting praise when he either ignores her or gives her a sniff, but we also let him know that snapping at her is not allowed.

Is there any other advise anybody can offer?? At the moment I don't trust him to be left alone with her.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Kerry

To the shop ? Oh no you didnt buy from a pet store did you? It will just take time for him to adjust to her being there. He will put her in her place in the pack order. Just make sure to keep a close eye so she doesnt get hurt. My OH has a pomeranian who just turned 7 months and even though my 8 week old samoyed is already bigger than her she isnt too impressed with his rough play and puts him in line which i think is vital and constant supervision ofcourse..

[thebear]

Thanks for your reply Persephone.

We got the pup as a playmate for the heeler, as he is always trying to get the rotti to run an play but she can't. She also can't do the long walks anymore, but he can. But he won't go for walks without the Rotti. Our vet also said to us this was a good time to get another dog so that our heeler had a ready established relationship should anything happen to the rotti. Whenever we've had friends over who bring their dogs he runs and plays chasey happily with them.

In hindsight maybe we should have got a mature dog, around 2 years + but hindsight is a wonderful thing.

I have been watching them today and the puppy is wanting to be with the others and has been happily laying with the rotti. The 3 of them slept together with no problems for over an hour the puppy seeming to respect "their space" sleeping about a metre away. She's not an overly hyper puppy wanting to play non stop which was one of the reasons we chose her.

We are giving treats to the other 2 when the puppy is around to make the puppy a good thing, and I've been doing some training with her tonight, just sit and come and then getting the other 2 to do a trick so they also get a treat. We're making sure not to exclude the older dogs when introducing the puppy to anybody and make it clear to everyone that they have to give our other 2 just as much attention as the puppy.

I'm hopeful we can overcome this hurdle as we're not the type to get a dog and if it doesn't work out to give up.

[Clyde]

Crate train your pup so that your older dog can have some time out. Good luck!