Puppy bully!

[idoliketobebesidethesea]

Hi we have a wonderful 4 year old who is such a softie, Sherlock. After much thought we have expanded our family with another wee lovely 12 weeks old, Dorcha. One week in things are going very well. She does get manic at times (like an overtired toddler) but our older boy always has an escape route and although they play roughly (I think watching!) she never cries or yelps and if he stops playing she runs after him for more. Pees and poos going wellish!
She's crated at night to allow him full respite and this too is going great.
Feeding time, this is the problem! Our big boy gets a mix of dry and wet and nearly always leaves some dry to snack on (I know I know...I should take away what he doesn't eat) My problem is that she is muscling I'm on his food. I've tried locking her in the crate to eat but she just cries to get out which then upsets him too. I've temporarily moved him to puppy food too as I'm PETRIFIED of her getting diarrhoea from eating adult food.
Should I just ignore and let the older dog tell her by growling or barking to back off at grub time? Or ignore their distress and crate her for meals. He really is a softy! I've attached a gratuitous puppy ( and big boy ) pic! Thank you for reading.

Should I just ignore and let the older dog tell her by growling or barking to back off at grub time? - No. This is a sure fire way to turn your older dog food aggressive. You need to separate whilst they are eating and then take the food away at the end. You can separate either in the crate, in a separate room, or if you are willing to be there then you can supervise and tell the puppy 'no' and move her away. But you can't let the dog train the puppy - that's your dog.

My dog was a complete softy, would let the puppy take food from his mouth etc. We thought it was really cute! Except now he is food possessive over anything food related, even if I drop a treat on the floor by accident. Was very sudden and unexpected but completely our fault.

Ps Very cute pictures!

Thanks @Nesssie that's exactly the reassurance I needed, that was my gut. Madam can complain away in the crate at mealtimes! Thank you, they are fantastic and apart from eating I think we've got it! ( touchwood!)

Definitely sounds like you have a clever puppy and a good bond with your existing dog which is great.
Different dogs to the ones above but one of my new dogs took months to settle in, the existing dog absolutely hated him! They ended up being best buddies, but at the time she was so stroppy about the intruder! Its much easier when they instantly bond.