Dogs That Dislike Puppies

[Cosmolo]

That is an excellent point Corvus. Using dogs as 'teaching dogs' is great but we must ensure the teaching dogs are not getting the raw end of the deal.

[Lady Flying Furball]

My dog Tonka is like that if the pups are getting in his space. His breeder actually used to let him run with her springer pup litters to teach them manners :) He certainly doesn't put up with crap :laugh: When I heard this I have really relaxed with him around pups as I understood that pups learn manners from the older dogs as part of their development. Obviously there is no great reactiveness in him and if the pups are around he is calm and just gently nips or growls if they start jumping over him.

The best puppy training action I saw was at the dog park with him (4kg papillon) and two huge wolfhound pups. A breeder was there and she liked that Tonka was not deterred by the size difference and did a great job of letting them know if they crossed the line as they all ran together :)

[RiverStar-Aura]

I'd like to thank you all again for your advice and follow on with an update on Kirah.

We've been back to the park a few times since I last posted and I've already seen a huge improvement in Kirah's behaviour. When a boisterous pup approaches her, I've been letting it say hello, however, I've been standing very close by ready to intervene. A few times she's given the pup an 'enough' warning but it continues to harass her so I've stepped in. The owners have been really good about it too as I've explained to them what's happening and what I'm trying to do with Kirah -- as I've mentioned before, we're a really close knit community and I love the close friendships we've all made.

She's even progressed to the point of stepping in and playing with these puppies -- there are four really goofy ones that are the best of mates: a Bull Arab cross, an Aussie Bulldog, a Mastiff x Great Dane and a Golden Retriever, who roll all over each other. Kirah circles around the group bouncing in her happy 'play' way and even gives the occasional excited bark, like she's cheering from the sidelines. Then the funniest thing, she bounces over to me, sits at my feet and looks at me with a 'did I do good?' grin.

I'm so pleased with her progress so far -- that she's starting to initiate play with the puppies on her terms. She's having a ball playing from the sidelines and while she's not directly interacting with them, I'm happy with how things are going. The puppies are also fantastic in that they're so focused on each other, that they never even bat an eyelid at her and are happy for her to join in, in her own indirect way.

When she's had enough she comes over to me for pats and praise and then is happy to follow me around for a bit before bouncing off to explore or to chase her brother Zeus for a bit. I think we're both starting to feel more confident in each other and that she's starting to learn that I'm around to protect her.

Lastly, thanks so much for the link to that He Just Wants to Say Hi article -- so very informative and all puppy owners should read it!!

[hankdog]

That's so cool, nice to hear happy dog endings!

[tdierikx]

Awesome news RSA... Kirah sounds a lot happier about the situation now.

T.

[Loreley]

my daughter moved out and they got an 8 week old pup. our old boy (5 years) was terrified of the pup. You could clearly see it in his eyes.

The pup is now 11 weeks old (shepherd) and our boy is acting like the pup is just another dog for the vast majority of the time. Pup overstepped the bounds yesterday, Dodge flipped the pup onto his back, told him off until the pup squeeled then backed off. My hubby was horror struck that I didn't step in, he's accepted my explanation but I'm not sure he believes me. lol