First Day Worries

[Ros]

Things haven't been quite as I'd hoped, but I know its very early days.  Brodie doesn't like Jasper at all, he's a bit frightened of him and growls whenever he gets near him.  I feel really sorry for Jasper as he so wants to play with Brodie.  I know its too soon to expect much, I was just hoping Brodie would be one of the few who immediately loved the new arrival!  It is quite frightening at times, as Brodie gets really quite nasty, and I keep worrying he's going to go for him.

Can I just check if I should be telling Brodie off when he growls, or should I just leave them to it?  Is there anything I can do to encourage Brodie to like him, or in time should it just happen?

[Aggie]

I was in a similiar situation in August. We bought a beautiful new puppy thinking our very friendly dog would love her. It wasn't the case.

However, Poppy (dog) has never bitten Puppy although it does sound and look horrific.

I wrote in and this is the advice we were given.

Older dog is showing her who is boss and this is normal dog behaviour. Make more fuss of older dog to let her know she is still number one.

Go over the top with praise, particulary voice, treats etc when they are good together or when Brodie doesn't growl if he walks near him.

We were also told to read around the subject, because our romantic vision of them falling in love is misplaced.

Finally are they trained? Ours now attend separate training classes.

It has been hard work for us, (mainly because of our ignorance) but there has been huge improvements.

The growling question will hopefully be answered by someone more knowledgeable- I think though it's just part of the warning system and leave it.

Best of luck

[Ros]

Thanks for that, I looked at your thread and found some good advice on there.  I did do a search, but obviously looked for the wrong words!

One of my worries is now Brodie doesn't want to sit in the room with us & Jasper, and when we try and bring him in he just sits by the door waiting to go out.  I don't know how he's going to learn to accept Jasper if he's just staying away from him, and I feel really bad that Brodie doesn't want to be in the same room as us anymore!

[happydog]

Is Brodie getting less positive attention from you? Is he picking up on your anxiety do you think? I may be talking a load of rubbish here- just thinking aloud that he may be feeling a little left out.

[Elisa]

I was in exactly your position 3 weeks ago.  I thought Bailey would adore a pup.  Never imagined any problems at all.  However, Bailey was exactly like your Brodie.  Terrified and really growly and barky.  I was distraught.  I felt so sorry for Harvey not being able to play with Bailey, but just thought back to when Bailey was a pup, and he didn't have another dog to play with.  I tended to just let them get on with it. 

1 week ago tonight, Harvey was tearing around the lounge like a mad dog.  Bailey got off the settee and started playing with him.  Since then, they have played 2-3 times a day, every day.  Sometimes Bailey initiating it and sometimes Harvey.  They have slept together a couple of times too.  Bailey can still be quite grumbly with him when Harvey jumps on him, but everyday things like both going to the door, getting a treat each, getting their leads on etc are completely stress free.  Everybody told me it would get better, and it has.  In my mind we are not 100% there yet, but maybe I am expecting far too much 

We still give lots of praise to Bailey if there are no grumbles.  Bailey has never hurt Harvey, although there have been a couple of times I thought Bailey was really going to go for him.    I have a couple of times just said No! or Enough! but if I'm honest, these are probably just knee jerk reactions, and more often than not I tend to just ignore things.

HTH   

[Ros]

Is Brodie getting less positive attention from you? Is he picking up on your anxiety do you think? I may be talking a load of rubbish here- just thinking aloud that he may be feeling a little left out.

I am very conscious about making sure Brodie still gets lots of positive attention, he is definitely feeling left out, but wanting to sit in the hall and not with us isn't helping!  I keep calling him in the room, and giving him cuddles, but he stays for a couple of minutes and is then out the door again.  He's definitely not himself.  I'm feeling like a mean mum for bringing a pup into his life!

I was in exactly your position 3 weeks ago.  I thought Bailey would adore a pup.  Never imagined any problems at all.  However, Bailey was exactly like your Brodie.  Terrified and really growly and barky.  I was distraught.  I felt so sorry for Harvey not being able to play with Bailey, but just thought back to when Bailey was a pup, and he didn't have another dog to play with.  I tended to just let them get on with it. 

1 week ago tonight, Harvey was tearing around the lounge like a mad dog.  Bailey got off the settee and started playing with him.  Since then, they have played 2-3 times a day, every day.  Sometimes Bailey initiating it and sometimes Harvey.  They have slept together a couple of times too.  Bailey can still be quite grumbly with him when Harvey jumps on him, but everyday things like both going to the door, getting a treat each, getting their leads on etc are completely stress free.  Everybody told me it would get better, and it has.  In my mind we are not 100% there yet, but maybe I am expecting far too much 

We still give lots of praise to Bailey if there are no grumbles.  Bailey has never hurt Harvey, although there have been a couple of times I thought Bailey was really going to go for him.    I have a couple of times just said No! or Enough! but if I'm honest, these are probably just knee jerk reactions, and more often than not I tend to just ignore things.

HTH  

Thanks for that, gives me hope that Brodie will forgive me and start to enjoy Jasper!  I do hope so!

[Penelope]

We had similar problem when we bought Josie our Springer x labrador home to meet Suki our Saluki cross.  (We also had meg the yorkie at the time, but she was top dog and just growled at Josie so Josie kept away from her!)  
However, we were really worried because of the huge size difference betwen Josie and Suki.  When we asked the vet, he said so long as Suki lets go when Josie squeals, not to get involved!!!!
It has been really hard at times, especially when out on walks and Suki pinned Josie to the floor until she screamed, but Suki always lets go.
We had a bit of a problem when we lost Meg, as Suki was suddenly thrust into the  position of top dog at the tender age of 18 months.  She found it tough, and suddenly every time Josie came running into the room, Suki took to protecting us all from this young hooligan and went for her!  We told her off for that as we felt that it was just OTT reaction to Meg suddenly going.
It has now settled down really well, and they play together brilliantly.  
They are never left alone together (Josie still uses her crate for eating, sleeping and if we leave her) but now she is heavier than Suki, it is for their own protection as their games can get extremely boisterous and although they would never intentionally hurt each other, we fear for our house when they tear around together!
Best of luck, and I am sure it will work in the end.
Enjoy the puppy days as they go soooooo fast.  

[Sarah.H]

Thanks for that, I looked at your thread and found some good advice on there.  I did do a search, but obviously looked for the wrong words!
One of my worries is now Brodie doesn't want to sit in the room with us & Jasper, and when we try and bring him in he just sits by the door waiting to go out.  I don't know how he's going to learn to accept Jasper if he's just staying away from him, and I feel really bad that Brodie doesn't want to be in the same room as us anymore!

We got our second cocker Pepper when our first one Sandy was about 5 yrs.  We were very ignorant and just expected them to get on but Sandy hated Pepper and like yours, wouldn't stay in the same room.  We gave him loads of space and never forced him to go anywhere he didn't want to, but made sure he had lots of attention and walks.  About two weeks later he started digging a hole in the garden (in frustration i think) Pepper started trying to join in and Sandy let him! They played a little bit and from then on they were ok together.  Sandy was never very playfull and Pepper quickly learned to come to us for play instead, we let Sandy be the dominant one and they got on really well and would eat and cuddle up together.  The only thing we couldn't do was give them things like raw hide chews as thats the only thing they would fight over.  Good luck with yours, i'm sure you will be fine