12 Week old (BM) puppy terrorizing 10 year old Cocker

[mikec4986]

Hello everyone!

I have a question on how to handle a 12 week old Bull Mastiff puppy (Kramer) terrorizing my 10 year old Cocker Spaniel (Boomer). We brought Kramer home three weeks ago, and he has been pestering Boomer ever since. Boomer kind of has a stick up his butt about other dogs, but he's never reacted violently towards Kramer - whenever Kramer wants to play and mess around, he would either growl or chase Kramer away. Boomer generally avoids him, but he greets him whenever he comes home (Kramer goes to work with me ) , and I think he generally likes having him in the house. However, whenever Kramer starts getting into a playful position or nibbles at Boomer's toys, while Boomer's playing with it, Boomer growls and chases him away from his vicinity. Like I said before, it never turns violent, but it gets tiring after 30 minutes of growling and chasing and we eventually separate them. We generally reserve about an hour a day to relax in front of the TV with these two, but half that time is spent on us shooing Kramer away from Boomer, and yelling at Kramer for jumping on Boomer.

I know Kramer's trying to get Boomer to play with him, but Boomer's 10 y.o. and I figure he's earned his right to be a grouch. However, I don't want this thing to turn into WW 3 when Kramer passes Boomer in weight and size (they're about the same height, Boomer out weighing him by 5 lbs), and decides not to run and test himself with Boomer. Should I:

1. Let them be and leave it up to doggy politics.
2. Prevent Kramer from pestering Boomer.

I wish Boomer could humor Kramer for even for 5 minutes so that Kramer could get it out of his system, but Boomer's 10, and he just wants to lie around and chew his rawhide. So any suggestion would be appreciated.

-Mike

 

[Oak Hill Farm]

Honestly you sound spot on. As long as it is not over aggressive, I would let Boomer tell the pup off. just realize at some point Kramer will lose his puppy license and a bigger skirmish may happen.

There is certainly nothing wrong with separating Kramer either if he is persistent. It's certainly fair to your senior dog to get a break from a young pup. For tv time perhaps leash Kramer to keep a handle on him.


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[evilfeline007]

Well, I have that issue with my mastiff pup and older dog who is very sensitive and won't stand up for himself. After a couple of breaking ups, I invite the older dog on the couch with me and give the puppy a selection of toys at my feet on his huge dog bed. When he goes after my older dog, I block him and simply say no and he gets it much faster.

Someone said letting one dog on the couch and not the other could create sibling rivalry. I figure it's okay because i also invite the pup up on occasion for a snuggle. The house rules are, dogs are allowed on the couch when invited.

Originally I was going to avoid this scenerio, but due to my puppy's resource guarding issue, giving him a great treat is not something you can do when you're trying to write a paper in peace (i'm a student...lol)

However, I think in your case, you can allow your older dog to tell the pup himself, just allow the older dog to have some pup-free time as well

 

[DennasMom]

I like the suggestions above. I'd add, that you might try a mixed approach - let Boomer have the first say ... just in case he finally decides to play some time. But, if Boomer tells Kramer, "Not now... go away"... make sure Kramer heeds the warning, and leaves him alone. Older dogs don't always have patience for puppy antics, and the corrections from Boomer may get less "polite" as Kramer gets bigger.

Boomer also needs to know that you're there to support his decision. And Kramer needs to learn that ol' grouches don't HAVE to play when the puppy says so.

We're dealing with a similar situation... only we have a 14 yo cat instead of an older dog. Denna is much better at "leave it" now, and the cat has figured out that she just wants to play. The cat still will growl, hiss and swat, but Denna 'listens' to her and will leave her alone now.

For TV time - I'd put the puppy on a leash and tie him up to your chair. That way you don't have to be actively correcting him all the time, and Boomer can have free access to the area outside of leash range.

Do they get some walk time together? I know Kramer is too young for a long walk, but just down to the end of the block and back together might help them bond a little more. It might also help tire Kramer out... a little... before TV time.