New Puppy

[brenda taulbee]

So our house of roommates just adopted a new puppy form the local Animal Control. He looks to be a little Shepherd X of some sort, and is a very sweet little guy.

Does anybody have any tips on incorporating puppy into a previously one-dog household? The household's other dog is a nine-month old female pitbull, Bryndle. She's a shy little girl, but has warmed up to the little guy pretty quick. She is a little jealous though. Any tips on making them both feel at home?

 

[marineangel]

Hi! Congrats on the new puppy! We have a Boxer and about 2 weeks ago we got a German Shepherd, we try to do everything at the same time for both of them, we feed them at the same time, we take them out potty at the same time, and take them out for walks together as well, that way the oldest dog doesn't feel like you're giving the little one all your attention, this has worked for us pretty good, you can let them play together with your supervision if the bigger dog is not aggresive towards the puppy, we let them play together but we supervise them a lot just in case something may happen. Try to do everything together with them! Good luck!:dogsmile:

 

[sarhaspups]

HI. Well my advise is the opposite from Marineangel. When I got Ace at 9 weeks old I had 2 dogs (females) that I had had for 8 & 5 years. They were used to our routine and being the only ones in the house. When Ace arrived I kept him seperate from Zoe and Heidie for 2 or 3 months. I kept him in an ex pen in the room I was in, with toys and I would sit in there with him and train or play with him. I let him out seperately , I trained seperately... everything was him and I , one on one. Keeping him in the ex pen he wasn't able to ignore me and interact with the girls on his terms. I also paid attention, played , walked ...ect the girls away from him. I believe 100%that this helped Ace and I connect on a better level and kept him from bonding with Zoe and Heidie BEFORE bonding with me. I did however give them play time, about 30 minutes a day or so, always on my terms. Ace doesn't bark or whine in jealousy when I work Zoe in front of him. He waits patiently for his turn. I think that is because I worked on our bond before he could bond with the dogs? I could be way off but that is what I did and will do with any new puppy I ever bring into my house.
Something to think about............

Sarha

 

[dreamr802]

we had let the puppies both out and we kept them separate from one another and then we would switch who was holding the dogs so that they could get familiar with their scents then we would let them play and if it got rough we would pull them apart until they calm down.

 

[snooks]

the puppy we got 4 years ago taught us a lot and we went through a behaviorist and trainers and ended up loving agility, rally, freestyle, obedience and loads of other stuff. what i found from all these great experience people is that puppies need to be separated from other dogs sometimes. the older dog needs a break and safe time to not be constantly assaulted by what can be a very exuberant puppy. while things may be fine at first the puppy permit (where they get away with a lot because they are babies) will expire and if you aren't watching or intervening you could end up with two dogs that have problems with each other.

In a multi-dog house i always feed separate and high value treats like chewies separate. stealing or competition can foster fighting. as puppy matures he will start testing both you and the other dog. prevention is the best way to not end up with two dogs that fight. both dogs deserve separate training, play, and affection time and will love you for it. if you allow unlimited access there is a risk he pup will bond more to the other dog than to the humans.

the now 4yo dog used to pester the heck out of our older golden who had been raised with two older females but he'd never been pestered by a puppy. he got mad and overcorrected her so we set to solve it before it escalated. many dogs may do fine sharing bowls and food etc but why risk it.

i realized with my more recent puppy that when i put her in the crate with her kong and went to train with the 4yo that the 4yo just blossomed and started acting like a happy puppy again and could do all the stuff she loved without worrying the puppy would intervene. puppy can be a bit of a bulldozer and my 4yo is a little shy like your older dog. so give them individual time and strengthen your bond and allow for some stress relief every day.

i also never leave a puppy unsupervised with an older bigger dog because accidents can happen. most puppy broken bones are the result of accidents that were innocent. big dogs can hurt puppies unintentionally. you also want to watch for any signs that they don't get along and take action before it develops into anything more.

hope you guys all have a happy wonderful life together.