Puppy Driving Older Dog Crazy

[ConnorK]

This is the first time I've ever had a puppy at the same time as an adult dog. (I've had two unaltered adult males before.....yikes.) They five month puppy does his typical play/harass behavior with the 4 yr old, and there's lots of growling and fun and that's fine. But after awhile, Finn (the older dog) is done playing and wants to be left alone. The puppy just won't stop. Finn will even snarl and give a non-play growl and the puppy comes back for more. The pup doesn't seem to understand the correction/intention from Finn.

At that point I will intervene and give Finn some respite by separating them. Should I "let it go" further?

I walk them together and they seem to get along well other times, such as hanging out in the yard, but when play initiates it seems to escalate beyond what Finn wants.

I guess what I want to know is how do I tell when to "let them work it out" themselves and when/if I should intervene?

 

[BxrMommieNAZ]

IMO yes you need to let them work it out. Fionn will let your pup know when enough is enough and your pup NEEDS to learn these signs and by you stepping in your pup jsut won't learn (which eventually when he's out of the puppy stage can be dangerous).

You may want to watch from afar, but I would (and did in my own home) let them work it out on their own.

 

[ConnorK]

Thanks for the advice. It's hard when the puppy whimpers and seems like he's being hurt. I'll give them more space and watch from a distance.....

 

[BxrMommieNAZ]

Thanks for the advice. It's hard when the puppy whimpers and seems like he's being hurt. I'll give them more space and watch from a distance.....

He's not being hurt, he's being a puppy. And your older dog knows these signs. They're not human beings, they're dogs and they communicate differently than humans do. Yep, my dogs yelp and wimper and whine when they're playing...nothing is terribly wrong that is how they communicate with each other and they "get it" and back off or move on or whatever is appropriate for what is going on. Trouble is as a puppy he's getting more room from adult dogs right now because they get that he's a puppy and learning still, but if he doesn't learn these critical things he'll grow up be an adult and won't get it still but he's lost his "puppy pass" and it can end up being downright dangerous for him. So, this is the time that he needs to learn. Your older dog will set the puppy straight and the puppy will learn boundaries which need to not only be taught but also learned or it can spell trouble down the road. Dogs don't typically stand for rudeness from other dogs so better than he learns now rather than later.

 

[ConnorK]

Thanks so much again.

I'm putting Connor in a couple "under 35 lb" play groups weekly moderated by trainers, so he'll get some feedback from someone other than Finn. ;-)

 

[Kilby'sMum]

When we brought Kona home, she was a MENACE and poor Kilby got no respite. I gave them an hour a day apart (a set hour every day, not because of their behaviour so much but just so they had time to go at their own pace for a while!) and now 2yrs later (Kilby age 4.5yrs and Kona just over 2yrs) they actually still separate themselves for about an hour most days.

I also took Kilby for walks on her own when Kona was little so she still had some one-on-one time with her Mama and that helped a lot IMO.

I found that Kilby in fact wouldn't give any real signals to Kona when she was really little, just put up with it. As Kona got bigger, Kilby appeared more comfortable in telling her when she'd had enough (to me it was like she was saying "okay, it was annoying when you were little but your big now, you should know better!") but I think Kona just has one of those personalities, testing testing testing :p

Just keep an eye and keep doing what you're doing, it takes time to adjust

 

[ConnorK]

Thanks!

We had the same experience with Finn. Early on, he was SO patient and suffered anything the puppy dished out. Now he's becoming more assertive and as you said, is letting the puppy get away with far less. So the change made me worry Finn was *changing* in a negative way but as many have told me, it's normal.

Finn will take the pup's entire head in his mouth, yet there's never even any indentations in the pup's hairline! And this is new>>> Finn will snap at the pup in a *laid back* way, while lying down, and the pup will face Finn and bark, maybe with his rear end up and wagging, like "c'mon, play some more." And Finn will just BARK in Connor's face with an "I mean business" volume..... and suddenly....Connor has something else more interesting to do! It's pretty amusing to watch!

 

[sasmeow]

Gus was all over Izzy as a puppy, and Izzy would correct him when he would go too far. Izzy snapped at him a few times, and even left marks a few times. She punctured his ear and a small spot in his mouth. It wasn't really a bite, it was more she snapped at him and her tooth got him. I was so worried they would never get along. I just made sure I still paid as much attention as I did before to Izzy and let them work it out. They LOVE each other now. They are rarely apart. They are 19 months apart in age. They hate to be seperated now.
You should keep doing what you are doing, they should work things out. I remember being worried for a while, but I am glad I let them work it out. If I hadn't, I am sure I would have problems now. Izzy set down the "laws", LOL. She is food aggressive (which I still don't know how to fix), but Gus knows this and won't touch her food unless he "asks" her. He knows she is the boss.
I think you are doing a good job and they will grow up to love each other.

 

[Miramum]

Thank you!

I just wanted to say this discussion thread totally put me at ease after I brought Mira home. I have a seven year-old beagle who wasn't interested in playing with Mira for hours on end, and was tolerating her constant nipping/pushing/etc without any behavior telling her to back off. After I stumbled across your discussion, I knew they needed to work it out on their own. Two weeks later, my beagle lets Mira know when he wants some peace.
We'll see how things are when Mira is three or four times his size!