Older Dogs Behaviour To Puppy

[Kingbob]

I have started to growl at puppy as well when he's annoying big brother, along with a "NO" so he associates the word with the action. And he is learning to stop and move away when that happens.

I stop when he's moved to his bed, the beds are next to each other and he normally goes over his to get to Bennies.

Puppy definitely acts like a boss, and because the older one is so soft and non-alpha, he gets away with it.

But, hopefully can stop the annoying behaviour between them.

[persephone]

pup is acting like a BRAT, not a boss ;)

[Kingbob]

pup is acting like a BRAT, not a boss ;)

That too :D

[Ci]

Time will tell if he is boss rather than a naughty puppy. And from what you have described, he sounds naughty. Dominant dogs don't huff and puff, they just are.

It's quite amazing what older dogs will put up with from a youngest. That is until the youngest is not so young any more. I had a dominant male, very much the pack leader, and he has just the most amazing patience with pups and young dogs, they can hang off his ears but if an adult did that to him and he wasn't in the mood to play, it would be a completely different story.

Personally, I would actually physically move him away. You don't have to be mean but a sharp No and physically redirecting to his own bed or where ever. And I would be stopping him from even getting to the stage of annoying your old dog. Stepping in before your dog feels the need to start growling and telling him off. Set very definite boundaries for the puppy and he will hopefully learn very quickly where his place is. Once your older dog gets on his bed, puppy is to leave him.

I am sure they will be good friends as you sound like you are aware and watching closely.

Edited September 6, 2015 by Ci

[Kingbob]

When you look this cute, you can get away with a lot! :D

[GenY]

I'm not an expert, but I do know that years ago my family had two male dogs who were a couple of years apart. They didn't downright hate each other, but they were never the sort of dogs who slept near each other, groomed each other etc. They had some enormous, frightening fights from time to time but otherwise got along okish. When I had my first house of my own, I quickly decided to get a dog, and got a male. We decided after a few months to get him a friend and did a fair bit of research, most of which suggested that the easiest way to have two dogs that get along well, is to have a male and a female. This has worked really well for us and in the 10+ years that we've had dogs, the fights have been very, very minimal without any injuries and a quick "OI!" from us split them up. This could, of course, just be coincidence?

Re one dog being inside and the other outside, if I did that to my dogs, one would absolutely get jealous and it would be a nightmare (I know because I tried it!). For that reason, the pup sleeps in a crate in our bedroom (this is quite inconvenient as he is 30-odd kilos and in a HUGE crate, which takes up a lot of space in our tiny house. The old girl sleeps on her bed next to him.

Would love to know how you get on :-)

[Kingbob]

Re one dog being inside and the other outside, if I did that to my dogs, one would absolutely get jealous and it would be a nightmare (I know because I tried it!). For that reason, the pup sleeps in a crate in our bedroom

No i never do that! Archies crate is next to my bed, and Bennies bed is next to that. Though Bennie often sleeps on my bed, or in the shower in warmer weather.

Dont get me wrong Bennie doesnt dislike the puppy. On the contrary, they do happily play, love a good tug of war, and i see both doing the "play pose" when they're having fun. Archie really does worship his big brother, wants to be wherever he is, and always follows him close by if they're both off the lead at a park.

The grumbling only happens if Archie fidgets while touching him, its really easy to hear it as a "eeww he's touching me!" or "stop fidgeting!" kind of sound.

But i'm trying to move the pup away whenever Bennie grumbles, and/or grumble as well and say NO so he gets the hint. As soon as he steps away to his own bed its all good. We're getting there.

[The Spotted Devil]

Why not reward the pup for being on his own bed? It's much easier to teach a dog to DO something than tell them NOT to do something.

[Rayhay]

If I was Bennie, I would get the grumbles too!

As was said earlier it actually remains to be seen who will be the dominant dog, dominant dogs do not make a song and dance, they do not carry on like nutters, they just are the dominant dog.

Sounds to me that your newest little one does need boundaries and discipline from you, stop the annoying behavior before poor Bennie is distressed or annoyed, no one likes a naughty child and to be put in a situation where there are no options to let someone know they are being a pain, so Bennie uses the "grumble" to get his point across. This is the way Bennie communicates with your puppy, is it the noise of the growling that makes you feel uneasy? Poor Bennie has no other way to speak out, this is his voice, the only real way of communicating when he has had enough, if you don't let Bennie use this communication tool, what can he do and how will the puppy know when Bennie has had enough?

Make no mistake, although it appears the puppy is ignoring Bennie, your puppy is very much aware that Bennie is annoyed, how he chooses to react to this is also very much up to the puppy, however, given that the puppy is very immature and wants to "push the envelope" so to speak, this is where you come in to play and let the pup know "that's enough now" and remove pup from the situation with Bennie for some time out.

Ray

[Scottsmum]

How are you getting on?

[Kirislin]

You have given great background and detail and sound like a very attentive and observant person. I'd be inclined to let them work it out but certainly have 2 beds where each can go although I'm assuming pesky puppy will follow Bennie where ever he goes. It's going to be up to Bennie to tell him off.

It reminds me alot of the relationship Feather 13 yo whippet and Neko 2 yo Italian Greyhound have. Feather is very non alpha too and grumbles and Neko who ignores her. Sometimes eventually after much provoking Feather will bite Neko and then there's much screaming and yelping.

[tdierikx]

Gotta love the shock screams - no harm done, but they can get loud when it happens, yes?

T.

[Kirislin]

Gotta love the shock screams - no harm done, but they can get loud when it happens, yes?

T.

You bet! The very first time it happened Feather bit Neko on the toe. The was a tiny bit of blood but much screaming and I was in such a panic I rushed Neko to the vet, which was totally unnecessary and a waste of money but from the carry on she made I thought she must have been mortally wounded. She even put poor Feather in a panic.

[tdierikx]

Zeddy used to be the queen of scare nips to wayward puppies - and she was so fast that it would freak them out, and they'd scream like she'd removed a limb... lol!

I'm a mean mummy though, and would ignore them... they needed to learn manners, and Zeddy was excellent at teaching them those...

T.