# Older dog growling at new puppy



## shirleyt001 (Apr 16, 2010)

One of our dogs took ill and had to be kept away from our other dog for a few days, He was so sad and cried at night and hated being alone in the day so we thought we would get a new puppy to become his friend because we knew we were going to lose our Lovely Kassie and we didnt want Teeg to be alone, Kassie passed 2 days after we brought home the puppy, Teeg is happy to be in the same room with the puppy and will share a bed, but he keeps eyeballing and growling at the puppy who is from a rescue and is 13 weks old, if the puppy gets close to him at all he growls we are scared he will hurt the pup, we keep giving him lots of attention and love, we need to leave the dogs together for a couple of hours each morning and afternoon, my Hubby has had this week off work to settle them together but after 4 days we dont feel we are getting any closer to them being friends, we dont want to return the puppy nor do we want Teeg to be lonely, but the puppy needs to be safe, please can someone help us with this problem, Our bitch was the Alpha dog, so maybe he is trying to mark his role.


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## GSDlover4ever (Feb 21, 2009)

shirleyt001 said:


> One of our dogs took ill and had to be kept away from our other dog for a few days, He was so sad and cried at night and hated being alone in the day so we thought we would get a new puppy to become his friend because we knew we were going to lose our Lovely Kassie and we didnt want Teeg to be alone, Kassie passed 2 days after we brought home the puppy, Teeg is happy to be in the same room with the puppy and will share a bed, but he keeps eyeballing and growling at the puppy who is from a rescue and is 13 weks old, if the puppy gets close to him at all he growls we are scared he will hurt the pup, we keep giving him lots of attention and love, we need to leave the dogs together for a couple of hours each morning and afternoon, my Hubby has had this week off work to settle them together but after 4 days we dont feel we are getting any closer to them being friends, we dont want to return the puppy nor do we want Teeg to be lonely, but the puppy needs to be safe, please can someone help us with this problem, Our bitch was the Alpha dog, so maybe he is trying to mark his role.


What age is your other dog?

it can take weeks and even months for dogs to settle with each other.

i would advice buying a crate for the puppy and putting it in that to basically keep it safe and also for a time out place for when the puppy gets to much for the other dog. Some dogs can't be bothered with puppies and they just want to relax!

it could also help them get to know each other as well.

how did you introduce your current dog and the puppy?

my mum got a new puppy and my GSD didn't like her at first and she would growl too, but after a few days she has started to play witht he puppy although she cn be a bit rough at times.

the puppy and my GSD love to wind each other up. My GSD is currently teaching the pup some manners.

i noticed my GSD can be more grumpy when in the house, as she likes to relax. However when out in walks together they are fine and the pup fallows me about rather than pestering my GSD.


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## Jackie99 (Mar 5, 2010)

Personally until they are comfortable together safety has to come first so when you have to go out I'd seperate them with a safety gate for example just in case your older dog snaps.

I'd make sure your older dog gets plenty of attention, they have all their own things such as bedding, toys, food bowls and you feed, treat, make a fuss of the older dog first.

It might time a bit of time and patience


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## goodvic2 (Nov 23, 2008)

Your new pup needs to learn the rules. Unlike us dogs can't have a conversation. Instead they have to rely on barking, growling etc. As others have said u will prob have to crate train one of them to keep the pup safe. 

Best of luck and well done for rescuing x


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## shirleyt001 (Apr 16, 2010)

thanks everyone for the comments, we brought the puppy home and our other dogs were in their pen, this is quite a large pen 24 ft x 22ft, we introduced them at first through the fench with the puppy on the lead, then we introduced to the alpha dog in the garden, then our other one, this went well, things are not to bad when they are out in the garden together, they just tend to ignore each other, its when they are both in the room with us, the older dog growls when the pup gets to close to us or him. We have got a crate but when we tried the puppy in it you would have thought we were torturing the little thing, and the noise was increddible, so now we are leaving the crate set up so the pup can get more used to it, i have given it some treats in there and thats fine until i close the door, the dogs will share a bed in the same room at night so long as me or the hubby are there with them, so we have taken it in turns to sleep on the sofa, if we leave the older one on his own he cries like a baby, but this week his long time friend died and he is missing her,and we dont want him to think we are favouring the puppy by having it with us when he is alone.


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