Dog Community

My puppy and my parent's 6yr old dog

Posted : 10/2/2006 9:44:45 PM

I posted this in the behavior section, but I only got one response (thanks Jones!). It is pretty long, but I would appreciate some guidance.

My little guy, Buddy, loves other dogs. He goes nuts for them. He licks them, jumps at them, tries to engage play all the time. This is a problem for my parents' 6 yr. old mini schnauzer, Maizy. Maizy has never liked jumpy, hyper dogs, even as a puppy. She is very curious about dogs, approaches slowly, wants to smell them, cries and whines when she is held away from them, but as soon as the other dogs approaches her she backs away. We went through obedience training with her for almost a year, but since she seemed leery of the dogs we never pushed interactions, only let her initiate them.
When I got Buddy the first place we went was my parents house to introduce the dogs. The initial meeting went well, with Maizy letting Buddy approach her and Buddy even rolled over in front of her in a submissive position. The next two times they met, the interactions slowly deteriated. Buddy became more comfortable with himself and the environment and tried harder to engage Maizy in play. Maizy started snarling and huffing and puffing at him and constantly backing away from him. It will sometimes escalate into growls. Now, Buddy is constantly on a leash around her or behind a gate. We keep them separated in the house.. They are together 2-3 times a week, always at my parents house. We have taken them for walks together and Maizy will tolerate Buddy better while we are out walking and Buddy will leave Maizy alone more while we are walking.
When Buddy is behind a gate, Maizy will approach the gate and watch him and if Buddy's behind is near the gate, she will creep close to try and smell him. But, if he turns around and jumps on the gate to engage her, she backs away, sometimes with a huff and a puff or a bark.

I live 15 min. away from my parents and are extremely close with them. I am at their house all the time. They know that Maizy has a problem and welcome Buddy into their home with open arms. We have tried to manipulate the environment as much as possible to make this relationship work. What can we do about this? Do you think this will take care of itself over time? If Buddy calms down as he gets older, will the relationship get better? Buddy is 5mo. now. Is it worth it to get a trainer or behaviorist to work with us?

Sue

Sue and Buddy

Posted : 10/3/2006 11:01:24 AM

No one has any advice? I'm surprised! lol

sue

dogslyfe

Posted : 10/3/2006 2:03:19 PM

Personally, if my puppy (and at 6 months he's still very puppy) was in her face and she was telling him to back off - and he was ignoring it - I would let her handle it. Within reason of course. But that's just me.

For example, last weekend, I was at our herding lesson, and had my 11 week old with us. He was running around sniffing the adult dogs. One of them very clearly said to Nick, "Get out of my face" - by growling and lifting a lip. Nick ignored him. The dog nailed him. Didn't draw blood - scared him enough that he yelped though. Nick picked himself back up, went on about his business. Stayed out of that dog's face from that point on. Agreement reached.

You have to do what you're comfortable with though. Sometimes a little growling and posturing happens before they'll decide to be friends.

Susan Chandler

Posted : 10/3/2006 2:53:50 PM

I totally agree with dogslyfe on this one. Allow them (within reason) to determine this. It is much like when kids fight. Let them handle it and it is handled once and for all (most times). If a parent gets too involved, it gets muddled. They'll handle it but "if" it gets carried away, just be there to remove them from each other.

Pam

Posted : 10/3/2006 3:40:30 PM

My English bulldog from about age 5-10 really didnt; like smaller, obnoxious dogs and puppies. I kept my brothers puppy away from her cause I didn;t like the look she was giving. SHe hated the bigger golden we adopted and nipped him almost daily. He jsut laughed at her and still tried to entice her to play,,,very happy guy,,,while she was pissed off.
Anyway, I think when the puppy outgrows puppydom, everything will be fine. The puppy will learn to stay out of her face and they will reach a truce. Just keep bring the puppy over but make him drag a leash everywhere,,that way you can step on it quickly if the pup is getting obnoxious. I think separating them is fostering more mistrust.
that is one cute puppy BTW !

Eric Mies

Posted : 10/3/2006 4:07:04 PM

First, I second that you got one cute puppy on your hands there!

Second, I'm also an advocate of letting the dogs handle it - again, within reason and making sure your around to split them up if need be. My little 23lb (she gained another pound!) pup plays with my buddys golden and even though the golden is very sweet, every once in a while my puppy will just annouy her and she will hold her down with a paw, or growl or what ever. My pup usually stops and comes to play with me - only once have I had to intervien and they were fine a few minutes later and ever since. For the msot part, they know when they have crossed that line and further I think it is important socialization for them to get "schooled" by other dogs - our parents "schooled" (grounded/punished) us and it was for our own good right?

Sue and Buddy

Posted : 10/3/2006 10:53:12 PM

Thank you everyone! Another aspect that I didn't touch upon in the OP was that my mom and I were involved in a dog fight when I was younger. I was walking our cock-a-poo near the end of our driveway when the across the street neighbor's white GSD charged us and attacked my Snuffy. Snuffy fought back and all I could think to do was pull her by her leash to get back into the house. She finally pulled out of her collar, fought a little more and then ran through the open front door where my mom was standing after hearing all the ruckus. Then, my mom's nightmare began. Snuffy ran through the house spraying blood everywhere. My mom wrapped her in a towel and put her in a dishpan and drove with the neighbor to the vet. I can't remember how many stitches she had, but I do remember they were all over her body. Surprisingly she survived and lived a few years more. So, we have come by our nervousness quite honestly.

I think we will give it a go this week. Thanks again

Sue

Pam

Posted : 10/4/2006 3:15:20 PM

IS he part french bulldog ! He is adorable !

We have a large Golden mix named Red, our puppy is Lola (6 months /36 #). I take her collar off for the play.. Anyway, my puppy usually starts it by going over and grabbing Reds leg and the tussle is on. He will grab her by the neck and drag her several feet on her back, almost choking her. AS soon as he releases her, she is back in his face,,,,over and over. Sometimes he grabs her back leg and tries to drag her at which point I scream "Leave her leg alone" and he stops. So I have to monitor them closely as I dont want Red to accidently hurt her legs. I prefer that they roughhouse in the house so the carpet is soft on her and I can grab one or the other easier. Outside, they will chase each other and Red stops listening to my commands and trys to grab her legs. He is only doing it casue she did it first,,,but I have to tell him to not hurt the puppy.

Just watch them closely and have several toys or no toys so no fighting.

Sue and Buddy

Posted : 10/7/2006 8:42:30 PM

We did it! I am so thrilled that we did this. The dogs did okay and my mom did great!. Maizy did a lot of barking at Buddy and Buddy acted like a typical puppy...all up in her face. I think Buddy did some learning today, though. Maizy let him know when he was doing something she didn't like and then he left her alone. Twice while they were outside Buddy got Maizy to chase him all over the backyard. It was hilarious to watch. Maizy was barking at him the whole time and Buddy kept looking behind him to make sure she was still there.

Thak you for your wonderful advice and my mom thanks you, too.

Sue