# grumpy old dog and new puppy?



## scottscottyscott (Mar 25, 2011)

hey guys, just joined the site, it's been very helpful with our new puppy. but actually i'm having a different problem. we've had our 11-year old pomeranian mix, jake, since he was 3 weeks old. he's a very good dog with people, but he's never been social with other dogs. he's not overtly aggressive, that is he doesn't go out of his way to attack or be mean to other dogs, but he growls, barks, and snaps at them if they get close or try to play with him. we just adopted an 8-week old beagle puppy named caesar and we're having the usual issues with jake. i was wondering if there are any tricks or training tips to help jake get used to caesar. thanks in advance.


----------



## Labmom4 (Feb 1, 2011)

Welcome! 
Based on my experience with this, I wouldnt even try to make them get along. I'd keep them seperated and as the puppy grows and calms down, Jake will be more accepting of Ceaser. At least, thats how things have gone in my house. Most older dogs have no patience at all with puppies.


----------



## doxiemommy (Dec 18, 2009)

I kind of agree. Jake is getting on in years, and puppies have so much energy! Make sure that Jake has lots of one on one time with you, gets separate walks, and is fed separately. 
Whenever you DO have them in the same room make sure that you are there to supervise every second. Get to know both dogs' body language so you can take action BEFORE there's a problem. And, it would be great to teach Caesar the "leave it" command, when he starts to get too close to Jake.


----------



## sassafras (Jun 22, 2010)

Welcome to my world.  Although he's fine with adult dogs Pip isn't crazy about puppies so we've had to manage his time with Squash pretty carefully. They're never together without close supervision (and the exercises below), when we can't supervise they are separated (crate or baby gates). Outside, Pip is MUCH more tolerant of Squash and so whenever possible I take them outside together and dispense a lot of treats for calm and relaxed behavior around each other.

A couple of other things we do inside... when they are loose together, randomly practice a LOT of high-value rewarded "watch me" with each of the 3 dogs. Also, we click/treat any time Pip shifts his attention off Squash or being worried about Squash. For example, if he is watching or growling at Squash and turns his attention to us. Or if things get a little more intense, we interrupt or divert/diffuse Pip's attention -- say he's really staring hard at Squash, we'll just casually walk between them and practice a "watch me", or if Pip is approaching Squash stiffly we call him over. If Pip is just doing his thing and ignoring Squash altogether, we jackpot him fairly frequently, especially if he ignores Squash as he's walking right by Pip or something like that.

Fortunately, Pip is VERY food motivated so he's very responsive and it works for us. He's also responsive to Squash's appeasement signals once any tension starts, so that's good. We haven't had any serious problems, and as Squash grows I think the tension will disappear altogether.


----------

