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my 4 pound 6month old toy poodle does some wierd stuff with my miniature 11 year old poodle (weight 18 pounds) The puppy seems more aggressive/annoying to my older one. Whe n she first came she would jump up at the face of the older dog and lick lick lick, always tonguing at her. The older dog would growl but not bite. Then she started grabbing the older dogs ears with her teeth, the licking toned down once she could do this. Still the older dog just growls and tries to get away from her. The puppy almost seems like the alpha dog. She pesters the older dog to get out of her bed(even though she has her own and takes over and the older one tries to curl up on her tiny pillow. Is my older dog wimpy or just worn out? She tolerates the puppy, never bites but clearly isn't loving her. The puppy is so excited in the morning to see my older dog(who sleeps in our room) Puppy sleeps in her crate. Is this indicative of the puppy becoming the alpha dog? I almost feel like the older one could care less although she does hoard the chew toys sometimes .
I need some help with this issue. We have a female German Shepherd who is 4 years old, we have a female Westie who is 13 weeks old. At first they got on great. Ziggy (the Shepherd) was very relaxed and there was very minimal growling, it was more when Ziggy was laying in her basket trying to relax and Phoebe (the westie) would get in the basket too forcing Ziggy out. There was brief growling or snarling then it would calm back down again. We would get Phoebe out Ziggys basket. The last couple of days Phoebe only has to walk past Ziggy for the growling to start, it escalates into Ziggy clawing and chasing Phoebe rather aggressively, whether it be in the garden or house. Its got to the point where i let Phoebe out for her pees etc.... as she cant hold it as long as Ziggy, then i change them and Zigs goes out. Its a shame because they did play quite nice, we want to get this back.
One thing i did just think of was, my husband usually works from home so i guess hes the pack leader, hes had to work away this week and the behaviour has gone down hill. Is this just coincidence or could Ziggy just be thinking shes top dog when my husbands not here? And if so how do we deal with this?
All suggestions will be greatfully recieved!
Michelle
Could Ziggy be jealous of the puppy? I think you are wise to be careful right now due to their size difference.
Hopefully, someone else will come along with some advice.
After some help from this forum, I did determine that I was paying waay too much attention to my new puppy (hard not to) and not enough to my first dog. Once I started spending more time with my first dog than my new puppy . . . things did settle down and he was not so quick to growl or jump at her.
I need some help with this issue. We have a female German Shepherd who is 4 years old, we have a female Westie who is 13 weeks old. At first they got on great. Ziggy (the Shepherd) was very relaxed and there was very minimal growling, it was more when Ziggy was laying in her basket trying to relax and Phoebe (the westie) would get in the basket too forcing Ziggy out. There was brief growling or snarling then it would calm back down again. We would get Phoebe out Ziggys basket. The last couple of days Phoebe only has to walk past Ziggy for the growling to start, it escalates into Ziggy clawing and chasing Phoebe rather aggressively, whether it be in the garden or house. Its got to the point where i let Phoebe out for her pees etc.... as she cant hold it as long as Ziggy, then i change them and Zigs goes out. Its a shame because they did play quite nice, we want to get this back.
One thing i did just think of was, my husband usually works from home so i guess hes the pack leader, hes had to work away this week and the behaviour has gone down hill. Is this just coincidence or could Ziggy just be thinking shes top dog when my husbands not here? And if so how do we deal with this?
All suggestions will be greatfully recieved!
Michelle
It is perfectly normal for an older female to growl at any puppy within their vicinity. That is not necessarily a sign of aggressive behavior, but more of a "this is my space, and you have just invaded it" type of growl. In other words, there is no anger or animosity behind the growl.
Both times that I brought home a puppy when I already had a female older dog, the older female would growl at the puppy anytime the puppy came within 3 feet of the older female. In fact, my current older female (Blizzard, who is now 7 years old) growls almost continuously when playing with Buddy (who is now 2 years old). Blizzard is a very vocal dog, when she is not growling at Buddy, she whines and woofs a great deal at anything that grabs her attention or when she wants something.
It is particularly funny watching Blizzard growl continuously while Buddy licks her face or ears. Blizzard loves it when Buddy licks her ears, she leans into to him so he will lick her some more, but she is growling the entire time.
Watch the hackles on the back Ziggy's neck. If she is growling and the hackles stay flat, she is not being aggressive. The hackles on a dog will rise when they are afraid, feel threatened, or have any intention of becoming aggressive.
Let them continue to play together, as long as you can supervise. Also keep in mind that puppies are continuously looking for someone to play with, and if that is not you or your husband, then it will be Ziggy. Even Ziggy will need a break from the puppy after awhile. So be sure to give Ziggy some "alone" time away from the puppy from time to time.
Dogs also tend to be competitive, so what starts out as good mannered play, could escalate into more aggressive behavior. I have trained both my dogs to stop playing whenever I give them the command "enough." You need to develop your own command that will let both dogs know that play time is over.
I also bought Buddy a lot of toys with the idea that he would spend more time with his toys than bothering Blizzard. However, it turns out that Blizzard gets great enjoyment from stealing Buddy's toys and then Buddy follows her around trying to get the toy back. If Buddy begins to get too frustrated with Blizzard he will bark at her, and that is when I end the game. I take the toy away from Blizzard, let her know that she is a good girl and Buddy is a good boy so they know that neither did anything wrong and I am not upset with either of them. I do not give the toy to Buddy but rather hold on to it for a few minutes before returning it to his pile of other toys. That way they both know the game is over and I am not mad with either of them.
It will take some time, but I have every confidence that Ziggy and Phoebe will develop a relationship that they both can live with. My Buddy and Blizzard share the same bed, and often times I will find Buddy's head on Blizzard or Blizzard laying on Buddy (who is bigger), but as soon as Blizzard wakes up, she goes back to growling again.
It is perfectly normal for an older female to growl at any puppy within their vicinity. That is not necessarily a sign of aggressive behavior, but more of a "this is my space, and you have just invaded it" type of growl. In other words, there is no anger or animosity behind the growl.
Glitch - Thank you so much for your quick response.
Is it normal for Ziggy to invade Phoebes space and start the growling etc? Sometimes its not even Pheobe approaching Ziggy its Ziggy that starts it all.
Ziggys hackles never rise on her neck, she just looks so vicious, baring her teeth and the growling is so loud she cant hear me. Phoebe then gets scared and scampers around trying to get away from Ziggys chase, there is no let up from Ziggy, even me going out there doesnt stop her.
Glitch - Thank you so much for your quick response.
Is it normal for Ziggy to invade Phoebes space and start the growling etc? Sometimes its not even Pheobe approaching Ziggy its Ziggy that starts it all.
Ziggys hackles never rise on her neck, she just looks so vicious, baring her teeth and the growling is so loud she cant hear me. Phoebe then gets scared and scampers around trying to get away from Ziggys chase, there is no let up from Ziggy, even me going out there doesnt stop her.
When I brought Blizzard home as an 8 week-old puppy I already had a 9 year-old female named Shasta. Any time I played with the puppy Shasta would come over and growl at Blizzard. As if she was admonishing Blizzard for biting me.
Growling and barring teeth is normal and will not go away even when the puppy becomes an adult. You will be able to tell by the level of the growl whether Ziggy is merely annoyed or becoming frustrated with Pheobe. Of course, you should continue to supervise them both, but let them continue to interact with each other. You should be able to stop Ziggy if you think she is becoming to rough or harrassing Pheobe too much. Ziggy needs to obey you at all times, even when she is growling. She may continue to growl, but if you tell Ziggy to "go lay down" or whatever your command is for "knock it off", she should obey. If she doesn't, train her so that she does. You will not be able to control the growling or barring of teeth, but Ziggy should continue to obey your commands.
I have a 5 month old female Aussie Terrier and 2 old male Yorkshire Terriers. The 11 year old Yorkshire has had issues with other dogs. He was patient with his 9 year old Yorkshire brother when he was a puppy but he's not patient with the new Aussie. She is full of energy. The 11 Year old Yorkshire tried to attack her when he first met her when she was just 3 months old. I had them met away from home but that didn't help. I took him for aggression training which has helped some but I do not trust him with my puppy. He can be around her and not attack but when she wants to play he tries to bite her not just snap. I realize old dogs should teach young dogs but if the old dog has issues it can be a bad situation. I tell him not to bite and tell her not to jump on him. They're both food oriented and very well trained. I have them train together and do tricks together with no problem. It's just when she wants to do the puppy play is when issued occur. I do keep them separate if I'm not right there to watch. Has anyone else had to deal with a situation like this and if so how long does it take for puppies to stop jumping at old dogs in general? I think if she'll stop jumping at him they'll do fine.
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