Help! 1 year old mastiff with new puppy?

[xosarahbear]

Hello all!

I'm needing some help, and I found this forum and got really excited. My boyfriend and I have an almost one year old (she will be one next month!) female English Mastiff named Tuuley. She's such a gentle giant, and normally she gets along with other dogs just fine. When we go to a friends house and take Tuuley with us, she plays with the other dogs without showing any sign of aggression or agitation.

Three days ago, my boyfriend got me a 4 month old miniature dachshund mix puppy. He's a boy (Harvey). I thought with him being a boy, there would be no issues with the dogs competing for the alpha female position.

While Tuuley hasn't shown any aggression towards Harvey, I'm still really nervous that she's going to hurt him. She stepped on him this morning (by accident of course), and I know that she doesn't quite realize how big she is.

We have been very careful and have shown each dog the same amount of attention. I even went to the pet store yesterday to get things for Harvey, and ended up spending money on Tuuley instead, lol. I don't get Harvey out unless my boyfriend is home, just because I know that if something happened, I know I wouldn't be able to control Tuuley. I stay in our bedroom with him, and I let Tuuley in with us when she comes to the door, but I keep the puppy on the bed. I am cleaning house and I have Harvey in his crate because I don't know if Tuuley will harm him if he's running around the house.

As I said, no aggression has been shown, it's more my fear than anything.

Basically, I just want to ask if I'm going about things the right way. Is your Mastiff aggressive toward other dogs/puppies? PLEASE help me, I'm driving myself crazy here!

PS: Sorry for such a long post!

-- Sarah

 

[Smokeycat]

My EM is the younger of my dogs but he does live with cats. A lot of what I've found is teaching him to be careful. He is now 15 months so around the same age as your girl. From what I understood of your post it could just be since she is still a puppy she doesn't understand how much bigger she is than the new guy. Kryten loves little dogs and wouldn't deliberately hurt them but could if he was careless. Unless you are afraid that she is going to deliberately hurt him I would let them play under your supervision. He will be able to tell her when she gets a little too rough and if she gets a little too rambunctious you will be there to take him away.

 

[xosarahbear]

My EM is the younger of my dogs but he does live with cats. A lot of what I've found is teaching him to be careful. He is now 15 months so around the same age as your girl. From what I understood of your post it could just be since she is still a puppy she doesn't understand how much bigger she is than the new guy. Kryten loves little dogs and wouldn't deliberately hurt them but could if he was careless. Unless you are afraid that she is going to deliberately hurt him I would let them play under your supervision. He will be able to tell her when she gets a little too rough and if she gets a little too rambunctious you will be there to take him away.

Thank you for the reply Yes, she hasn't done anything to intentionally hurt him thus far. One thing she does do is put the entire weight of her head on his little body, and he doesn't like that too much. I think one of the things that has me freaked out is that I saw on a website that EM are known to hurt and kill other dogs, but I didn't know if this was true or not. When she stepped on him this morning I got SO scared...

 

[Smokeycat]

Kryten does the same thing with his head. He now knows not to but does it if he thinks he can get away with it. I can understand the panic you felt. When Kryten was 9 months old I brought home a 7 week old kitten (less than 2lbs). 2 days later he rolled on top of her. That was a horrible scream coming from her. I think it made him a little more aware of where he was compared to the cats, it was also the most scared I've ever seen him.

 

[DennasMom]

I've never heard or read about EM's being "known to hurt and kill other dogs"... that's a new one for me. From everything I've heard, EM's are sensitive guardians, not attack dogs (unless trained that way). She may be overly excited and curious... but aggressive? I would not expect that, especially not to a small puppy. Most dogs are very sensitive to young animals, babies have their own special scent.

I do totally see the EM putting her head on the puppy... the ol' EM take-down & hold-em!

I'd keep Tuuley on a leash, so you feel like you have more control and don't have to worry so much - if you worry every time the puppy is around, the EM might start to think the puppy is causing you distress, and she might feel a need save you from the source... so, anything you can do to setup safe together time, so they can meet, bond and interact - so you can be more comfortable - would be good. And, as Smokey suggests, the puppy will be able to communicate his comfort levels to the EM, too... and I would expect the EM to 'get the hint' after a short time.

We also have a cat (a cranky 16 yr old), and Denna knows not to put a paw on her... mostly because the cat grows at her and bops her on the nose before she gets a chance (without claws... she knows Denna's a pushover). We enforce the cat's will with "leave it" and "gentle", and they cohabitate fine.

There are some cute youtube videos with similar situations - in both cases they try to keep the EM on the floor, so no 'stepping' on the little one!
[video=youtube;zzuiymgMJXQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzuiymgMJXQ[/video] and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwX40hLwGxM

 

[riffy]

LOL that vid! Loki used to play with a chihuahua all the time and half the dog would disappear inside his mouth. People would FREAK! But he was really gentle and they were really good friends for a long time. I used to use the "careful" command too and he'd be extra gentle. Nowadays it's just Loki & Sophie and they play ROUGH with one another, and LOUD too. They're used to each other.

Sophie has learned to just move if Loki is about to lay down. He's notorious for laying on top of her or me. My back is messed up right now because of a certain someone falling onto my back instead of gently laying down, it's like he just collapses on top of me. When you get crushed you learn pretty fast to move out of the way. I'd be more concerned with when they play. Mastiffs are a little clumsy and don't always watch where there feet land. After a while I'm sure they'll do work it out like mine did. Just keep a watchful eye. Mastiffs are clumsy & heavey!

Loki does the head thing too. The loving heavy head, Sophie HATES that, she'll growl at him when he starts to do it. LOL I swear Loki's head weighs like 40lbs sometimes!

 

[angelbears]

Agree with all the above. Make sure Tuuley doesn't feel left out. That will do more harm than anything. I know it is hard but you have to let Tuuley learn to be easy with her new baby. Yes, it is her new baby too. If you let her feel that way she will love and protect Harvey just as she does you.

Hogwash, about them being puppy eaters. You do have to help her learn easy, just as you would a human two year old with a new brother.

 

[xosarahbear]

Thank you all for the replies. He got down from our bed last night and cuddled up with Tuuley to sleep. She's trying to be loving with him, but she still doesn't quite understand her size. Also, I've noticed that she gets a little attitude when he goes near her toys, so we always make sure those are put up. With her still being a puppy herself, she likes to jump around, so I always make sure I have him when she's going "crazy" lol. Harvey absolutely loves her, and he licks her snout and tries his best to cuddle, but Tuuley doesn't quite understand how to handle it yet.

 

[riffy]

That's the exact same look Sophie gets when Loki puts his head on or near him when she's on the couch. LOL

 

[Smokeycat]

Wow facial expressions can cross species lines. I have pics of my cats looking like that with a dog head laying on them.

 

[xosarahbear]

LOL it looks like the head move has the same reaction all around!

I just wanted to say THANK YOU all again for taking the time out to respond to my post, I really appreciate all of the help. This mommy has calmed down (for the most part), and now I let them run around with each other and do their thing. Harvey won't even sleep in bed with Lee and I now, instead he cuddles up with Tuuley in her bed.

This is what our afternoon has been like! So proud of our big girl!

 

[cinnamon roll]

That is the cutest pic ever!

Sent from my HTC VLE_U using Tapatalk 2

 

[jenypri]

I kind of feel that you seperating them is only going to cause a rift later. By putting him in a higher location or carrying him above Tuuley, it puts him in an automatic superior position above her. Then you put off limits to her which does not allow them to communicate like normal dogs, so there is a block in their communication. If they show no aggression toward each other, I cant imagine why you would need to walk on egg shells for them. Dogs have an ability to feed off of humans energy and if you are putting off scared uncertain energy every time they are together, there is a potential for an issue to arise.
I dont think Tuuley would hurt your dog if she hasnt already showed signs of aggression, just be cautious during feeding and play time, establish boundaries for them. Dogs dont understand human emotions because they do not exist in the dog world.

 

[jenypri]

LOL it looks like the head move has the same reaction all around!

I just wanted to say THANK YOU all again for taking the time out to respond to my post, I really appreciate all of the help. This mommy has calmed down (for the most part), and now I let them run around with each other and do their thing. Harvey won't even sleep in bed with Lee and I now, instead he cuddles up with Tuuley in her bed.

This is what our afternoon has been like! So proud of our big girl!

This board is full of really great advice, you will find some amazing people that will give you the best information!