Another Puppy Question.

[hairymuttly 8]

Hello again. I am after some advice on my pup again. I have made some good progress with the peeing on the kitchen floor all the time now. She is doing alot better with that, thanks to some help off of guys on here.

I wanted to ask your thoughts on her behaviour, she is acting quite dominant over my other dog, to the point where if my older dogs is wet and shakes herself off the pup goes for her. One of the places I walk them is an old farm lane and it is quite narrow, the pup gets quite aggressive towards the older dog if it passes her and gets in front. I have noticed that whilst we are out she runs and dives on the older dog alot growling as she is doing it as though she is trying to bully the older dog. The older dog is at the point now where she won't walk in front of me any more, she just hangs back and waits for the pup to walk in front of her. Is this normal for a pup to be doing, I haven't had any experiences of this with any of my other pups. They have always seemed pretty chilled out and just slotted into life with another dog. I always make the pup wait to go through doors before me and always feed her after we have eaten etc. She just seems to be going out of her way to stamp her authority over the older dog. She has even taken over the older dogs bed. Would this concern you at all, is it just natures way of selecting the leader and it will sort itself or is it going to lead to problems. . . ???? Thanks in advance for any advice. She is a beardie/border greyhound cross, she has thrown more to the border collie. If that helps at all.

Thanks.

[forest of dean redneck 11,777]

Sounds to me like pups trying to advance up the pack ladder, I've always stopped any nonsense between dogs ,as sometimes the younger dog can really make an older dogs life miserable and its not fair on a dog that has already lived with you in my opinion,

how old is the pup I'm guessing due to the breeding its a Hancock and trouble is if they are kept in straw pens its hard for them to learn how to behave and also with the toileting.

[jcm 2,327]

From my experience the older dog normally puts pups in place.

Don't forget it's a very young puppy and sometimes what you may view as aggressive behaviour from s pup is more play just with the added growles, all the pups iv had have pulled on the older dogs neck ears etc and growl whilst doing it but if the pup hurts the older dog it will be out in its place.

 

Look st s litter if pups they pull each other to bits and make a racket but it's just all rough playing.

 

I wouldn't worry to much but if your older dog is getting fed up and not doing nothing about it then you should step in and make the pup know it can only play do rough

[hairymuttly 8]

Thats exactly what I was concerned about. My older dog is 5 now. The pup is 15 weeks. The pup has come from a chap who had bred them for years. He has the mother and the grandmother to the pups. He has worked them for years. It hasn't come from Hancock. I visited the chap who has bred them twice and spent some time looking at the pups and the mother. The mother was calm as anything. She was very chilled out and seemed very level headed. Never uttered a word when I turned up, seemed friendly and relaxed even when we were handling her pups she never bothered. Question is how do I stop it. She went through a spell of growling at me, but after talking to Minkennry on her I seemed to have curbed that and put her in her place.

[hairymuttly 8]

Thanks Joe. I know what you mean about it grating on you. I am amazed that my older dog hasn't tuned her in by now. I have had a battle with her over the years with her fighting with other dogs, she was an arse for years til I had a zapper collar on her and it has made her into a totally different dog, taking her for a walk used to be a nightmare. I like what she has become now. But she just doesn't seem to bother about the pup trying to rule her, which amazes me.

[hairymuttly 8]

Thanks Joe. I know what you mean about it grating on you. I am amazed that my older dog hasn't tuned her in by now. I have had a battle with her over the years with her fighting with other dogs, she was an arse for years til I had a zapper collar on her and it has made her into a totally different dog, taking her for a walk used to be a nightmare. I like what she has become now. But she just doesn't seem to bother about the pup trying to rule her, which amazes me.

[socks 32,253]

I have never bought into the pack hierarchy theory ... in my yard there is one alpha and that's me the rest are all on an equal basis and I stamp out any aggression or bullying immediately ... my dogs can all chew on the same bone together eat from the same bowl and there's never so much as a grumble I start this from when they are pups ... they learn that they can't try and bully the older dogs they have to share they can't steal another dogs food ... it all makes for a nice quiet happy easy going pack ......

[jiggy 3,209]

Thanks Joe. I know what you mean about it grating on you. I am amazed that my older dog hasn't tuned her in by now. I have had a battle with her over the years with her fighting with other dogs, she was an arse for years til I had a zapper collar on her and it has made her into a totally different dog, taking her for a walk used to be a nightmare. I like what she has become now. But she just doesn't seem to bother about the pup trying to rule her, which amazes me.

the fact that she was zapped in the past is most likely stopping her correcting the pup and allowing it to be dominant. Will the pup bully the older dog off its food or can you correct it to allow the older dog eat without looking over its shoulder it sounds like the pup is taking liberties because it gets away with it and probably wouldn't behave like that if brought out with a more dominant dog that wouldn't take that from it and swiftly put it in its place. You seem to be allowing the pup to do what you previously punished the older dog for and now it's creating a pecking order. Edited January 11, 2017 by jiggy

[hairymuttly 8]

Thanks for the replies. I try and correct the pup whenever I see her doing wrong. I don't let her jump at the older dog or try and stamp her authority in the house. When we are out and off the lead it is a struggle because I am not always next to them when she does it. The million dollar question is how do I get her out of trying to be top dog? She seems to have accepted me as the boss, she will wait now to go through a door after me etc but when it comes to the other dog she tries to do what she wants. She doesn't bully the older dog off her food because I feed them seperately. The pup has her meals in the crate. I would imagine the older dog would hammer the pup if it went near her food, I have never given her the opurtunity to try.

[leethedog 3,071]

Perhaps let the old dog hammer her over the food then but be close by to stop it if it goes to far