Need help

rising_from_the_ashes

suki1964 wrote: »

You have either got to let them sort themselves out - or you are gonna have to rehome one - its that simple

You cant say that your dog wont ever accept a another dog - and then go on to say rehoming isnt gonna happen because if Molly and the new pup cant find their bounderies then you are going to have to or one dog is going to get seriously hurt..

I would think that your husband rushed into this and didnt think about the exsisting dog. Id love another dog but my lad can not toerate other dogs and the stress it would cause him and myself just isnt worth it

I have to agree with this - although I appreciate your OH was devastated when Sam went so suddenly, he did rush straight out and get a pup.

Whilst, you tried to speak to him about Molly maybe not accepting a pup, he went ahead and did it anyway - now you're in this mess.

As I said in a previous thread - she may never accept him, especially now she's in her twilight years.

Muzzling Molly seems extremely unfair to me - she's done nothing wrong, she's just acting naturally.

The only thing you can do is separate them and try to reintroduce them gradually. If it doesn't work, then you will unfortunately have to look at the rehoming option - if it's not "settled" when he gets bigger you're going to have even more problems.:(

Shepherd1

Hi

My pup is now 7 months old and although she is on her own she has had a telling off from a few dogs including my in laws dogs. Every dog who has given her into trouble has been one of her play friends and happened if she got a bit over excited when playing. I used to get really worried thinking she would be scared or it would turn her into an aggressive dog as she got older, but dogs don't think like us and they go straight back to playing as if nothing happened. My dog now has great manners, plays with dogs of all sizes and I get so many compliments about what a great natured dog she is.

Is Molly just teaching him some manners or is she aggressive? Maybe once you can walk the puppy and Molly together they will build a better relationship, but just now maybe you could play a game in the garden that involves both of them.

Good luck

DogsBody

Is Molly actually causing damage when she 'goes for' the pup? If there are no injuries, blood etc, I don't think it is as serious as it looks. Bearing in mind (she's a staff isn't she?) with those big cheek muscles she could kill him in an instant if that was her intention, the fact that she can pin him down without harming him is a good sign IYSWIM?

Don't forget that many older dogs find pups pretty scary (Honestly. I know it sounds daft) and if she has not encountered a pup before she may be finding the squeaky, unpredictable, bitey thing quite horrifying!

Have just introduced a new rescue here, took 6 weeks before she would accept my other dogs approaching without feeling threatened - if she growled, one of us would remove the approaching 'threat' and the other would distract her. We tried to prevent our existing dogs from making her feel threatened, and we rewarded all positive or neutral interactions between them.

However, if she is drawing blood, pup should go for his own safety (an adult can give a 'serious' correction to a pup without harming it, however bad it looks/sounds).

PS Pup should 'cry and freeze' when he is told off by Molly, but how does pup behave towards her afterwards?

Caroline_a

My 2 get on like a house on fire, yet sometimes Oakley will pin the pup down who squeals like a stuck pig. I think you are totally misreading natural dog behaviour. Had she wanted to hurt him, believe me she would have.... the fact that he was not dripping blood to me says that this is just normal dog play and sorting out the pecking order.

When mine play - as they are doing now, the noise can sometimes be horrendous from the pup, but to date he's never been bitten enough to draw blood - and believe me, the teeth on an 8 and a half stone German Shepherd would soon finish off a small Spinone pup! I would say that unless you see her actually drawing blood from the pup then you have nothing to worry about!

Humphrey10

Sounds like normal dog behaviour to me. A couple of times when my dog has been off the lead playing with a puppy, I have heard a yelp and looked over to find the puppy on the ground and my dog standing over it not looking very friendly. After a second or two the puppy gets up and they continue playing together as before. I assume it's my dog saying 'stop being an irritating brat' to the puppy.

The two other dogs we had, one was 'top dog', occasionally he would do seemingly unprovoked things like push 'other dog' off a chair and sit there himself, I think that was just to put 'other dog' in its place.

They do sort things out between themselves if left to it. Just make sure there is no blood as other posters have said.

Darlyd

No there is no blood. But why did Molly just go for him for no reason? It's frightening, he is only little. I been working all weekend, DH has not let them together since that episode. I am going to go in garden with them both, and just stand back. Wish me luck.

rising_from_the_ashes

Hope it went OK?

Caroline_a

darlyd wrote: »

No there is no blood. But why did Molly just go for him for no reason? It's frightening, he is only little. I been working all weekend, DH has not let them together since that episode. I am going to go in garden with them both, and just stand back. Wish me luck.

If you've never seen 2 dogs from the same household play together before then, yes, it can be scary. Honestly, if she wanted to hurt him she would have. And there would have been a LOT of blood. So just let them play, ignore the noise, if you let her teach him some manners he will be an easier dog for you to handle too.

Frugalista

Have I missed something somewhere :huh:?

The pup is 8 weeks old - how long have you had him? It seems like you want to give up before you've even tried .

You have been given some sound advice on here and you need to stop interfering when Molly approaches the pup. Absolutely, you should supervise them and make sure the pup comes to no harm - but back off a little.

I noticed in one post that you said she growled when she was sat on the sofa with you - seems like she was guarding you. Make her sit on the floor too and don't allow any possesive behaviour over you and your OH. Reward her good behaviour.

I have 11 dogs (males & females) ranging from 14 years to two 8 and 9 month old pups. The pups are still occasionally "duffed up" by the older ones if they step out of line - this is how they learn their place in the pecking order. As long as there is no physical injury or "bullying" taking place, I leave them to it. Sometimes the pups shriek like they're being murdered :rotfl:if one of the oldies snaps at them - 99.9% of the time they are absolutely fine. I think you just need to relax a bit.

Caroline_a

Frugalista wrote: »

I have 11 dogs (males & females) ranging from 14 years to two 8 and 9 month old pups. The pups are still occasionally "duffed up" by the older ones if they step out of line - this is how they learn their place in the pecking order. As long as there is no physical injury or "bullying" taking place, I leave them to it. Sometimes the pups shriek like they're being murdered :rotfl:if one of the oldies snaps at them - 99.9% of the time they are absolutely fine. I think you just need to relax a bit.

Respect!! :T