things are looking up :-)

[ebony girl]

at some of you would have read last week we introduced a new cocker puppy into our home with resident cocker ebony....things didnt seem as good as i expected when ebony growled at the puppy and didnt want to be anywhere near her  

well, a week on and things seem to be looking up and they appear to be making friends  

the pupster (gypsy) will follow ebony round the garden/house and they run around together nicely with tails wagging etc. Ebony will give pup gypsy kisses on her terms. Ebony will even share the water bowl in the garden at the same time.

Every now and then though gypsy will get abit hyper and nip/jump at ebonys face and ears and ebony will growl and tell her off.......i assume this is just normal dog behaviour of putting pup in its place???

im still being very cautious in that they are never left alone together, i dont allow gypsy anywhere near ebony whilst shes eating and ive put ebonys most fave toys in her crate where gypsy cant get to them but ebony can still go snuggle them ...i hope im doing all the right things.

i really hope they can be friends, i think ebonys life would be so enriched with a companion and as much as i already love gypsy im not ashamed to say that at this point ebony is my top priority and i love her more.

any ideas on how to improve the situation further would be greatly received

thanks for reading, lucy, ebony and cheeky gypsy x  

[elaine.e]

It sounds like you're doing all the right things and that Ebony is beginning to get used to Gypsy. When she growls at Gypsy for being too hyper and pushy that's a perfectly normal thing for an adult dog to do to a rude puppy and will help Gypsy to learn boundaries, which will be very valuable when she starts meeting other adult dogs.

You're wise not to leave them together unsupervised at the moment, just in case Gypsy pushes her luck too far and Ebony tells her off too harshly, although I think that's unlikely from what you're describing.

Has Ebony got places where she can get away from Gypsy and have some peace? That helps too, but it really sounds like things are going well.

[Mudmagnets]

Looks to me like you are doing OK. Like everything else, different dogs react in different ways. If Ebony has been numero oneo, it may take her time to adjust to having a new kid on the block - but at least you can see progress, which is good - after all it is only a week    

[ebony girl]

thanks elaine e, yes they have their own crates so ebony can go in hers out of the way and ebony can get up stairs out of the way and ive put a bed at the top of the stairs for her at the minute which she knows is there, and obviously gypsy cant get up there.....but as of yet ebony hasnt shown signs of wanting to get out of the way too much which is a positive sign.

i also take ebony on 2 long walks each day so she gets away from her for a couple of hours which gives her time to let off steam...

[ebony girl]

thanks mudmagnets .....

im thinking that for a week in we're doing good 

one more hooligan to take on a run round the woods x

[Danni and Freya]

Glad to hear things seem to be improving. It really sounds like you are doing everything you should be, to the letter, and clearly its working  Hope things get better and better, i'm sure they will 

[sallyb]

We're in a similar position to you with a 4 year old and a 5 month old.
It took just two days for Poppy to crumble and start playing.
Now they playfight all day and it does sound awful but they seem to enjoy it - I often catch them rolling around each with the other's ear in their mouth 
Poppy will do a different growl if Bix oversteps the mark but that hasn't translated into acts of aggression.

[Jackie]

Best to let dogs sort things out between themselves, but always be around for supervising purposes. Situations do change over time, I think its the uncertainty of a new arrival in the pack, it can take time, ( although my older two accepted our Toby straight away ) and the  daily routine will help, once older dogs and new puppy get into a daily routine then new pup will get to be accepted better as one of the pack.

[Mudmagnets]

thanks mudmagnets .....

im thinking that for a week in we're doing good 

one more hooligan to take on a run round the woods x

Fritton won't know what's hit 'em he he - went there the other week and noticed all the tree felling they seem to be doing, very busy, busy.