My older dog hates my new puppy – what should I do?

[Karolina245968]

Hi everyone,
I recently adopted a new puppy. My older dog, Max, is 4 years old and usually very calm. At first, I thought they would get along quickly, but Max seems unhappy. He growls sometimes when the puppy comes near him, and he doesn’t want to play at all.
I really want them to become friends, but I’m not sure what to do. I try to give them attention separately, but it doesn’t seem to help much.
Has anyone experienced this before? How can I help my older dog accept the new puppy? Any tips or advice would be really appreciated!

I would highly recommend the Facebook group called dog training advice and support the original group. It is not a discussion group. It is a social learning group with a design designated guide guides including guides on puppies and guides on multi dog households. There are professional advisor there. I would really recommend you read guides one, two, 10 and 12 and then if you still find your questions are not answered, which is very unlikely, then you make a post and admin can reply.

mainly you will absolutely have to separate them and give them their own space until gradually and very gradually they begin to adjust to each other’s presence. You must give the senior dog absolutely no opportunity to growl at the junior and you must not let Junior approach the senior dog in any way that causes them stress.

we have a 12-year-old dog and a 14 week old puppy and we have followed their advice with very careful management and I highly recommend them. There is no shortcut. Just because you want them to be friends does not mean that the senior has to adjust to this.Their primary connection needs to be with you and not with each other.

The group https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1DEAUabXeW/?mibextid=wwXIfr

If it's very recent just give it time and make sure your older dog has space to escape to a quiet place.

My older dog who was great with our previous dog surprised us by seemingly hating a puppy we brought home around 6 months after his companion died. They are now the best of friends but it took a few weeks for him to even look at her.

How did you introduce them? What is Max like with puppies that he meets out of the house?

Thank you very much for your detailed response and for recommending the group. I’ll definitely look into the guides you mentioned and follow the advice

Thanks for your reply!
I introduced them at home — I let Max see and sniff the puppy from a distance first, and then I allowed short interactions while supervising them closely. Max has always been a calm dog, but he hasn’t had much experience with puppies outside the house, so I’m not really sure how he would react to them.

I had a dog that loved every dog he met on walks and wanted to play with them all. So it was a huge shock when I got a puppy and he absolutely hated her. I had to keep them separated by stair gates for three months before he accepted her.
They could see each other through the gates. We took them for trips into the garden and short walks together. Always on lead and at a safe distance, so they could see each other, but not interact. Over time, we let them get closer for quick sniffs and greetings.

The best way to introduce new dogs is on neutral territory - so a friends house or garden, rather than bringing the new puppy straight into the older dogs’ space.

However it’s done now so I would just make sure you can keep them separate (at all times if necessary) as well as making sure you can do walks and training separately too as Max needs to keep his routine as much as possible.

Unfortunately while lots of dogs love a canine companion, there are many who don’t so you just need to have lots of time and patience (and maybe wine) 🍷

Thank you

Thanks for sharing your experience — it’s really reassuring. I’ll give them time and make sure my older dog has his own quiet space. Hopefully they’ll warm up to each other soon

Thank you for the advice! We didn’t manage the neutral-territory intro, but we’re doing our best now to keep things calm and give Max his normal routine. We’ll take it slow, keep them separated when needed, and hope time and patience will do the trick

I‘m sure they’ll settle eventually - they generally do!

Thanks for sharing your experience!

This is what happened when I introduced the cutest pup to the coolest dude.

Studied indifference, with the occasional flash of 'fuck off, you annoying little twat'. Within six months they were inseparable.

I miss them both so much.