New Puppy Interaction

[rockslider]

I brought a new puppy home...he's 9 weeks old. Bermese Mountain/Collie/Lab named Lucky

I have an existing 18 month German Shepherd/Collie/Lab named Chance

http://www.chazhound.com/forums/showthread.php?t=73616 for pics

Question:

We've spent a few days getting them used to each other and they seem to be doing fine. They like to go out potty together, they don't have food issue's and both drink out of the same water bowl(at the same time).

My only concern is that Chance(older dog) is a very playful with a ton of energy and he likes to mouth the puppy around the head. Not hard biting but he will mouth the puppy's neck ALOT. Sometimes the puppy barks or yips but as soon as I seperate them the puppy will follow Chance or be playfull and sometimes pad him with his paws and then rollover on his back. Course Chance see's this as play and it goes on...and on...and on. I end up with a very wet head puppy. Eventually Lucky get's tired but of course older dog doesn't and wants to continue so I eventually have to seperate so they can both calm down.

So, should I allow this to continue to happen? I never have them together without me being in the room and we also do seperate playtimes and such. Since the pup is going to end up being bigger then Chance I want to try and avoid any issue's later on. Sometimes I read that just let them play and if I hear real growls then jump in but otherwise not worry....but then I also hear that allowing the older dog to mouth the pup alot on the neck is bad.

Note: Chance has a playpal once a month that is a Golden Retriever 7 years and plays well with her...but they do like to really wrestle around alot but never had a problem.

 

[lizzybeth727]

I don't think it's necessarily bad to let the older dog mouthe the puppy on the neck, as long as they are both relaxed it's an appropriate way to play.

 

[621mum]

I was having similar concerns about my new puppy and my 3 year old dog. But, in the last week I think things have changed. The big dog has figured out how to play with the little dog more easily and wrestle around so that puppy won't get hurt. She takes the top of her head and uses it to roll Indy over. It's cute. And, for her part, puppy is starting to pay attention to big dog's "enough" signals. We were all relaxing on the bed this morning (after the lovely 5:13 a.m. start to the day) and puppy was pestering the heck out of big dog. Finally, big dog gave her a nice big growl and air snapped in her face and puppy backed right off and ran over to sit by me. I was glad to see it because up to now she's been rather relentlessly persistent. It sounds to me like your dogs are working things out too : )

 

[Sanas_K]

I too had this same issue, and in a way I still do. I have a dog that's a year old and a dog that's about a month old. The older one, Sana, is some type of mix, I think maybe German Shep and Chow...the younger one, Jin, is also a mix of a Dachshund and Chihuahua...so the size difference is a bit extreme.

To see Sana mouthing the puppy's head and neck freaked me out, so I'd separate them...bad idea...Sana started to want what she couldn't have and a friend of mine said that if I kept separating them when I saw the mouthing, that Sana would start to become aggressive and never learn the limits of the little dog and that she'd always be too rough. I did as suggested and let them play it out and now Sana has learned to be gentle. The playing is much more realistic and I don't have to worry about Sana mouthing too much, the puppy lets her know when enough is enough.

Let em play it out too, they'll both learn their limits.

 

[Sanas_K]

Oops, I mean the little one's about 2&1/2 months old. ~.~ My mistake.

 

[rockslider]

It does seem to be slowly getting better. They are getting pretty good when I say "no" or "stop"...they both look at me all innocent but then they start it up again and go rolling around and see if I say it again. They have begun to play chase a bit...course it's the puppy chasing the bigger dog around...funny to watch as Lucky can get under the coffee table so he get's some shortcuts and can cutoff Chance(who has to take the long way around).

Lucky had his 10 week checkup and shots and everything came back A-Okay! Up to 26 lbs already....hard to call him the puppy when he's almost 1/2 the size of my Shepherd/Collie/Lab now.

Just glad their getting along. And I think I'll let them play it out a bit more as the post above says.

 

[lizzybeth727]

When you say "no" or "stop" and they stop and look at you, make sure to reward that BIG TIME. Give them lots of praise, treats, toys, whatever. It's a really big deal for them to see you as more interesting than each other.