Who's the Boss? More Trouble to Come? (Long)

[My Samson]

I often take Samson (4 months yesterday!! ) to my parent's house to let him play with my parents dogs. (They have 4 - one pure-bred lab, 2 lab mixes, and a golden retriever/german shepherd mix.) My neighbors have an older dog that Samson somehow knows not to bother with unless she wants to be bothered (it's so funny how dogs just know their limits).

Anyway, I was at my parent's house and my younger brother was giving all of the dogs treats. Raven (who is the 'leader' of the pack...the oldest of them all - 8) was licking up the crumbs of one of the other dog's treats. Samson saw her by herself and took the opportunity (in true boxer fashion) to jump up and 'box' her a little with her front paws. I don't know if Raven was startled by him or just being protective of her crumbs but she growled and snapped at Samson. As soon as we heard the growl, everyone must have yelled 'HEY' at the same time. Samson came running to me yelping (my heart was racing at the thought of him being hurt) and tucking his head between my legs (I was squatting trying to check him out.) At the same time, Raven ran to hide behind me - as if she knew she was in trouble. It turns out that the top of Samson's nose was a little pink but he was fine (Looking back, I can laugh because I had a yelping Samson hiding underneath me and Raven behind me after the few minutes of chaos.) We were only there for maybe 20 minutes longer and Raven was kept back in a room that entire time.

My question - is it ok to take Samson back to my parent's house with Raven? Will they be ok with each other? I would hate for Raven to have to be 'put away' each time we were there...but I'm also a little scared to have them with each other again. I don't want Samson getting hurt. Raven never really showed this type of aggression towards Samson before. Because she's older and doesn't seem to want to deal with his playful ways, she would usually ignore him or do a low growl to get him away. Why isn't Samson getting that same 'vibe' that he gets from the neighbors dog?

Anyone with a similar experience??

 

[TractorsMom]

I take Tractor to my parents house with me on most weekends. My parents have 2 old Labs, a peeka poo and Maggie, the 3 y/o Mastiff Mix. Tractor is now 10 months old and is very playful.

If Tractor gets in to one of the older dogs space, intentional or not, they snap at him usually at his nose. They have never broken the skin or hurt him but they establish with him that they are to be left alone and he should watch where he is going.

Tractor is much more mindful of where the older dogs are when he is at my parents and we can have peaceful afternoons.

I don't think that Raven was trying to hurt Samson but just asserting her authority by reminding him who is the boss. So long as it was not a brutal attack the dogs will be just fine. They will work things out once Samson knows his place and learns to mind manners around the older dogs.

 

[jenjones28]

I don't think Raven was trying to hurt him, either. I think Raven was just putting him in his place, which is a natural thing for them to do. It does sound like he was getting a little bit out of line, at least in Raven's mind. I'm sure he'll be more careful around her next time, and it does sound like their "pecking order" has been established.

 

[bayleighmom]

I don't think Raven was trying to hurt him, either. I think Raven was just putting him in his place, which is a natural thing for them to do. It does sound like he was getting a little bit out of line, at least in Raven's mind. I'm sure he'll be more careful around her next time, and it does sound like their "pecking order" has been established.

I agree. We have an older dog (11yrs.) and he puts up with a lot. Sometimes he will snap and get her down when she is being obnoxious. The growling sounds terrible but he is just putting her in her place.

I would definately try both of them together again!

 

[Louie's Mom]

he needs to know

The next time you bring him over there and if this happens again don't worry about it, unless he is really bothering her then you need to scold him, not her because she did nothing wrong, and by putting her away is telling her that it was bad to stand up for herself. he needs to learn manners.

Its kind of like an older kid hitting an old lady and her yelling about it, That would make it the kids fault and he should pick up on her not wanting him to do that anymore.

 

[ladyluck_t]

My katie girl and the foster dogs I currently have do this to my puppy. It is the best thing for a puppy or young adolescent to get this kind of "reprimand" from the older dog. She is teaching him to behave pollitely in the doggy world. This will come in real handy as he gets older.
When my older ones do this to the pup, I just watch to make sure they (the older ones) arent getting too stressed. If not, then I just tell the puppy "too bad, you should behave better" and I always say "thank you" to the older dog for helping me train the puppy. But if the older dog is starting to get very stressed, then I remove and distract the puppy while allowing the older dog a place to "run and hide" if he/she needs to.