# New puppy and older puppy. Problems!



## shamble (Apr 16, 2012)

We have an almost 7 month old staffy x labrador boy. He's a very good boy but very excitable and we done wrong by babying him. He's not aggressive with other dogs, just overly playful. Overly playful to the point where most other dogs just get angry at him.

Tonight, my other half returned home with a 6 week old male Jack Russell puppy. We were told he was 8 weeks old. My partner received a text just as he got home with "oops sorry, he's 6 weeks" 

When my partner got in, I took the puppy from him and sat on the floor and allowed our older puppy to come up and sniff and was whining. He has not stopped whining since and it's been about 3 hours! He was sniffing but quite forceful with it and licking him from head to toe. Little puppy wasn't fazed. After a while of this, I put little puppy on the floor whilst I was still sitting RIGHT behind him and older puppy continued to sniff and try to lick him all over. Little puppy tries to run away from him but, whilst running, older puppy will swat him with his paw or force him to the ground with his paw on little puppys back, stopping him. We thought he was just trying to play but stopped him when he appeared to be playing too rough or when little puppy cried or yelped. 

Then I read somewhere that you should leave them to it and only seperate them if older pup looks to be getting aggressive? So we left them to it... and it turns out almost 7 month old male unneutured pup is trying to hump 6 week old male pup...

What can we do? We don't have a crate as my partner "doesn't believe in them" :rolleyes5:


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## Halifu (Jan 22, 2012)

Hi,
firstly 6 wks is a bit early to separate a pup from the mother/litter.
There is a lot of social skills that the pup learns from its mother & litter mates.
We have 2 dogs 1 is just over a year and the other 8 months.
When we first introduced the younger dog we let older dog have a sniff then kept apart for rest of that evening.
Using a baby gate so they can see ,smell each other.
Then gradually introduce them to each other with constant supervision.
I wouldn't let the older dog get to carried away.
The humping thing is either anxious behaviour or older dog is trying to dominate the younger pup.
Either way it's not a desirable behaviour so I would be inclined to nip that in the bud.
Just say no and gently redirect there attention to toys to play with.
The youngster is going to need a lot more sleep than the other dog to so may be a good idea to get a crate for him
So he can be quiet and rest when he needs to.
Hope it all works out


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## Twiggy (Jun 24, 2010)

Keep them in separate rooms unless you are there to supervise.

Personally I don't leave my puppies unattended with the older dogs for several months but then I'm a believer in crates, to keep the puppies safe and sound.


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## Halifu (Jan 22, 2012)

Sorry I didn't see the last bit of your post re: crates .
Most Dogs like them.
There is nothing wrong with them In my opinion,we have had dogs for years and I never used to think they were good.
Both our new dogs have been crate trained,it was easy to do.
Gives them somewhere of there own to go and rest,
We have also not had any problems with separation anxiety.
They are safe from harming your possessions and them
Selfs when in there.
Also we have found these two dogs to be a lot calmer than other dogs we've owned that haven't been crate trained.
So all i all crates are good in our books,as long as used sensibly.
never use the crate as a punishment and only put pets in there when there in a calm state of mind.

H.


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## shamble (Apr 16, 2012)

Thanks very much for the help guys, it's much appreciated.

i desperately want a crate for puppy! Still working on my partner. For now, I've fashioned a little crate type thing myself out of boxes with a bed in one end and toilet in the other to get my partner used to the idea and puppy slept in it fine until about 5am when he cried for about an hour.

When he's out of the little crate, older puppy will NOT leave him alone. Literally won't leave him alone and NOTHiNG will distract him from little puppy ut:


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## Halifu (Jan 22, 2012)

Sounds like the older dog is an exitable type from what youve mentioned.
Agree with above keep them apart and gradually introduce.
Have you tried giving the older dog a good walk 1st then introduce when he's a little calmer.
Crates are good


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## shamble (Apr 16, 2012)

He's a really excitable dog! Literally nothing will calm him down when it comes to puppy... even after long walks, he'll come home and as soon as he sees puppy, his energy is at 100% and he will not leave him alone.

We're keeping puppy in the little box-come-crate just now and have just fed him in there and now he's sleeping. I'm hoping to win my partner around within the next 2 or 3 days with the crate. Will we leave puppy in his makeshift crate just now, bringing him out a few times a day for snuggle time and to let older puppy sniff about? What about when we get the proper crate?


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## PennyGC (Sep 24, 2011)

shamble said:


> Thanks very much for the help guys, it's much appreciated.
> 
> i desperately want a crate for puppy! Still working on my partner. For now, I've fashioned a little crate type thing myself out of boxes with a bed in one end and toilet in the other to get my partner used to the idea and puppy slept in it fine until about 5am when he cried for about an hour.
> 
> When he's out of the little crate, older puppy will NOT leave him alone. Literally won't leave him alone and NOTHiNG will distract him from little puppy ut:


I hope you didn't actually leave him to cry for an hour?  At 6 weeks there's no way this pup can 'go' all night without relieving himself, and was probably hungry too! Out for a toilet break and back for breakfast would have sorted this out - bladders need time to mature and tums need 'little and often' at this age!

To be honest it's far too soon to get another pup when your other is still very much a baby and it'll be very hard work. My advice would be to take the pup back - if you're determined to keep him, ignore your partner and go and buy a crate or more sensibly two and get the older one used to one as well - it will be far easier for you as you're going to have to keep them separate for many months - when youngster is old enough you're going to have to walk and train them separately or they'll become too attached (or the pup too frightened) to do things together.


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## hutch6 (May 9, 2008)

I don't envy you one bit   

1. Get the older pup on a leash when in the house. You can't lock the little pup up just because older pup has free roam as the young won't get to experience anything and the older dog wil never learn how to behave around the little one. Older pup is only allowed near little pup if he approaches calmly and friendly. If he doesn't then he is lead away - he will soon get the idea.

2. Get older pup booked into obedience classes immediately, do plenty of 1-2-1 training with him - 6 x 10mins sessions throughout the day using high value treats as rewards (cooked chiken or favourite toy - not the little pup).

3. Read up on crate training both dogs and get two crates - if you are local to me I have one that you can have for free that will suit your JRT for it's whole life.

4. Get your pup innoculated and get it socialised as much as you can. If it isn't innoculated yet stick it in your jacket and get out walkign with it and the other dog so it starts to get an idea of the world.

5. Remeber training two dogs is three times as much work - older pup on its own, younger pup on its own and then both pups together.

6. Speak to your aprtner about the consequnces of impulse buying.


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## shamble (Apr 16, 2012)

No no, he wasn't left to cry for an hour! He cried and was up for about an hour before settling back to sleep. Sorry for the misunderstanding!

Partner has come around and I think we're going to buy a crate today.

Thanks, hutch. Sadly we're in Edinburgh! But as I said, I think we're buying a crate today.

Once we have the crate home, what do you suggest we do from there? What you said in #1?


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## Halifu (Jan 22, 2012)

At 6 wks he will be needing 4 feeds a day and regular trips outside for toilet training.
We had our pups in the crates asleep for couple hrs at atime in the daytime then up out to toilet back in for feeding, little bit of play trainning then back out for more toilet trainning. Then back in crates .
We found the crates invaluable for toilet training think it took us about a wk to crack it .had the odd accident. That was religiously letting them out at set times or if they looked like going whilst they were up and awake,day and night to begin with...
Bit obsessive 
When you get the crate, put it in a quiet place out of drafts so he wont be disturbed when hes resting,put some bedding in there and make it cosy may be something of yours with your cent onit in there.
Always have water available in the crate.
We have to large dogs so bought crate dividers to make the big crates smaller whilst the pups were tiny. It makes them feel safer and they tend not to poop in the crate if there isn't to much room.
Lead him to the crate or even better let him discover it for himself with help from you, may be put a bit of something safe to eat for him in there a kong toy with a bit of cheese or ham init,and a couple of safe soft toys.
Then sit and see if he settles, if he does (we said good boy in your bed to ours,now if we need them to go in for any reason they doit to that command) close the door take a deep breath and walk away. 
Keep a check on him so he's safe, if he stirs or starts to create leave it for. A few mins to let him settle himself, if he doesn't then go and check on him.
We didn't really pet our pups if they were fretting just stood beside the crate and waited for them To calm, as long as there was nothing wrong like its been a while since toilet time or they've had plenty of sleep and it's time to PLAY!!!
I'm no expert though there's plenty of threads on here about crate trainning.
It would be advantageous to crate train them both like mentioned above 
Patience and lots of time 
Good luck.
H.


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## shamble (Apr 16, 2012)

Thanks very much!

We're going to get the crate tomorrow so will be doing that 

So feed him in the morning when we wake up, lunch time, dinner time and a little later after that? Shall we leave him to rest in the crate the rest of the time? When he comes out to eat, he'll do the toilet, play with him for about 30 minutes, toilet again then back in the crate for a couple of hours? We've never had a puppy _this_ young (did I mention we were told he was 8 weeks at first?) so we're not 100% sure and I'd rather ask 254235 questions so I get it right.

With regards to older puppy, what should we be doing with him whilst little puppy is out of the crate? I just want to get this perfect... older puppy is very excitable and appears to just want to play but is too rough; he doesn't realise his strength or how vulnerable the baby is.


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## springerpete (Jun 24, 2010)

Sorry,only just read this, I dont know where you live but I have a small dog/puppy crate you'd be welcome to if you want to pay the postage. No idea how much it would be mind. If you're within an hour of Pembroke I'd even deliver it for the cost of petrol. I want nothing for it as it's of no use to me.


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## shamble (Apr 16, 2012)

Thanks Pete, but we're in Scotland! We're picking one up tomorrow 

What should we do if he just cries and cries in the crate?


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## shamble (Apr 16, 2012)

*BUMP*

We have the crate. We fed him, played with him, he done the toilet, played with him some more, toilet again then tried to put him in the crate for a rest. He was having none of it! After 10 minutes of whining, I brought him back out for more play. He was out for about an hour then started trying to lie down so now he's back in his crate and fast asleep. Am I doing this right?


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## Halifu (Jan 22, 2012)

Sounds ok to me, you will have to play it by ear.
Slowly but surely you'll get there


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