Rewarding with food or play is in the prey drive. Rewarding with praise or petting is in the pack drive. Rewarding with distance or space is in the defense drive. < Older Post Newer Post > Share Tweet Share Mail DEALING WITH A PUPPY AND AN OLDER DOG The new puppy and the older dog. The new dog and the established dog. These are tricky waters to navigate for dog owners. As with many scenarios in dog training the best of intentions can turn into a big problem in a hurry.
Dog owners can just be trying to give their dog a friend or be trying to give their kids a younger more energetic dog as their current dog ages. The first mistake people make is assuming that their older dog is "nice" so there shouldn't be any issues. The second mistake is assuming it's the older dog's responsibility to deal with the new dog. As with any interaction whether it's between two or more humans or two or more dogs the "nice" one can still be targeted.
You can be the nicest person in the world and get stuck around a bully twice your size and have lots of problems. Or just be around someone who is very annoying to you and you just lose your patience. It always takes at least two to tango. Now your new dog or puppy may not be trying to be mean, they could simply be over excited, have no off switch, not understand how to appropriately play yet etc. Your older dog can simply be telling your new dog to stop or to go away from them.
Learn to read your dogs and learn when to step in. The vast majority of older dogs are not trying to seriously injure your new dog. Dogs use body language and different vocalizations to communicate with us and each other. Most of the stuff that looks bad to the untrained eye in these situations are actually called agonistic behaviors which means behaviors used to create space between dogs that are annoying or potentially threatening.
We should be seeing the signs before it gets to the point of air snapping, growling, showing teeth or biting though. We should step in and advocate for our older dog from day 1. When you see your new dog demand barking at your older dog to play, jumping on your older dog, acting obsessed with your older dog, getting to close when your older dog is eating or chewing a bone etc you should be intervening before your older dog feels like they have to.
I personally use spacial pressure, squirt bottles and dressage whips ( used as an extension of my arm, not as a whip) to separate dogs and provide space for my older dog. It is also our job not our older dog's job to teach our new dog how to behave. Until you know your dogs are safe together I never suggest leaving them alone together. Always use crates, gates or exercise pens to keep them separated when they are unsupervised.
Having both dogs obedience trained is crucial, but until they both respond well they need to be managed. Cues that are helpful in these situations are the place command, come when called, wait, boundaries and relaxation. Most often we have to start with teaching our dogs to just learn how to exist around each other before they can learn to accept and like each other. Management is crucial in the beginning as well as having good things like small training sessions occur near each other and going on walks together.
